Cultural Self-awareness Research Articles

Intergroup benefits of metacognitive cultural self? Cultural self-awareness and multicultural involvement on attitudes towards migrants

The investigation of attitudes towards different groups is crucial for improving intergroup relations and increasing acceptance of diversity. The present research examined the potential of metacognitive understanding of cultural self in improving attitudes towards migrants, as individuals reflectively consider their cultural assumptions in evaluating migrants. We tested the effect of individuals’ awareness of culture’s influence on the self (i.e., cultural self-awareness) and how such an effect was moderated by how much individuals’ life experience involved foreign cultures (i.e., multicultural involvement). Study 1 measured American participants’ cultural self-awareness and attitudes towards immigrants. Studies 2 and 3 manipulated Taiwanese participants’ cultural self-awareness and measured their attitudes towards Southeast Asian migrant workers (Studies 2 and 3) and marriage immigrants (Study 3). Results showed that cultural self-awareness had a more positive effect on attitudes towards migrants for low (vs. high) multicultural involvement individuals. The positive role of metacognitive cultural self in intergroup relations and the boundary conditions for such positive effect are discussed.

Students’ Perceived Cultural Styles, Second Language Communication, and Confidence ‎in Communication

A common challenge for most students in intercultural contexts both in their academic studies ‎and future careers is balancing speaking opportunities for talkative and less talkative students. ‎The differences in individuals’ communication styles due to their backgrounds may lead to ‎some concerns about intercultural competencies. In this respect, this study intends to explore the ‎possible relationship between students' confidence in communication levels, their self-‎perception of English proficiency levels, and cultural styles. For this purpose, three ‎questionnaires were carried out by the participation of 106 students at a state university. The ‎obtained data were analyzed by conducting ANOVA tests. The findings indicated that ‎participants have low to medium levels of English proficiency and as their language levels ‎increase, their cultural self-awareness and cross-cultural communication levels increase as well. ‎In addition, there is a significant relationship between their levels of confidence in ‎communication and having outgoing personalities.

Study on How to Interpret China’s Stories in English Class during Primary Education

Interpreting China’s stories well is conducive to manifesting its cultural soft power, enhancing its cultural competitiveness and national power, thus improving its international status. To do so can strengthen cultural exchanges between China and other countries, enhance their mutual understanding, promote Chinese culture to the world, enhance the attractiveness and influence of Chinese culture in the international arena, and establish a good image of China in the world. It is also conducive to demonstrating the unique charm of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural self-awareness and cultural confidence, and firmly taking the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Telling stories of China in English Class during primary education is crucial to the development both for students and for our country. To tell good stories of China in English class, we need to extend the culture, to extend the stories, to incorporate the current events and to integrate with other subjects.

Growing Together Through Our Cultural Differences: Self-Expansion in Intercultural Romantic Relationships.

Intercultural romantic relationships are increasingly common and although the obstacles such couples face are well documented, the factors that facilitate their success are less studied. Although cultural differences may present challenges, they also offer opportunities for self-expansion-personal growth via new perspectives, knowledge, and identities. In three studies using cross-sectional, dyadic, longitudinal, and experimental methods (NTotal = 896), self-expansion was associated with relationship quality and identity outcomes (i.e., identity integration, cultural self-awareness). Self-expanding through a partner's culture (i.e., cultural self-expansion) was uniquely related to identity outcomes, beyond self-expanding more generally (relational self-expansion). Furthermore, actively sharing cultures and discussing their differences were linked to greater cultural and relational self-expansion, which in turn differentially predicted partners' relationship quality and cultural identities. These studies provide a first look at the role of self-expansion in intercultural relationships, demonstrating that the way couples negotiate their cultures is linked to both relational and personal outcomes.

A collaborative autoethnography of developing a ‘Cultural Stories’ exercise for intercultural teaching in China

ABSTRACT Intercultural teaching often emphasizes exposure to and understanding of cultural differences. Although it acknowledges the importance of cultural self-awareness, little research has been done to explore how such a goal is achieved. This article adopts collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to explore the creation, development, and use of variations of the ‘Cultural Stories’ exercise to enhance cultural self-awareness in intercultural education. Three culturally diverse instructors (in background, generations, contact/integrated cultures) narrate developments of this process for foreign language teaching in China as creators, teachers, and researchers. Analysis focuses on: (1) transformative learning process and experience of using the ‘Cultural Stories’ exercise; and (2) enhanced pedagogical understanding of intercultural teaching in China gained through developing and using this exercise. Results indicate that: (1) cultural stories have the potential to shape or start transforming students’ originally essentialized understanding of culture and identity, and (2) contextualized pedagogical implementation and reflective professional commitment help inspire and bring greater reflection or transformation to the teachers’ understanding of intercultural teaching. Implications of this instructional intervention and the research process are also discussed.

Cultural Sensitivity Training for Bulgarian Teachers: Results from an Observation Experiment

Abstract: The articles presents training methods and results from an observation experiment in cultural sensitivity training of 39 Bulgarian teachers from a multi-ethnic secondary school in Vetovo, Ruse region. School children belong to 5 ethnic groups: Bulgarians, Bulgarian Christian Roma, Bulgarian Muslim Roma, Bulgarian Turks and Gagauz. The teachers were trained for 3 days in developing their cultural sensitivity, digital literacy and pedagogical competence. They were trained by 4 university professors and were divided into 4 groups of 10 people each, where each group had to switch training to go through all modules. The author's module included developing cultural sensitivity among teachers of all ages. The training included 6 tasks employing the following pedagogical methods: role play, discussion, feedback and group work. The following skills were developed: team work, creative thinking, conflict reconciliation, negotiation skills, adaptability, cultural intelligence, cultural self-awareness. Teachers shared in the course briefing that they felt it was difficult to adapt and use newly developed cultural sensitivity skills in the classroom because of the bureaucratic requirements in their daily work routine. They also expressed concern about the cultural distance between them and their pupils, which could become an obstacle to applying the newly learned skills in the classroom. Key words: cultural sensitivity, multicultural education, digital literacy, pedagogical competence, cultural intelligence.

Beyond the Dotted Line: Empowering Parents From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families to Participate

Parent participation in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process is a critical factor in improving the effectiveness of children’s special education programs and services. However, many families, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds, are unfamiliar with the IEP process and their rights under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For families with young children with special needs in preschool, this process may be even more daunting when they may have just transitioned from early intervention services to the school system. The article will focus on the critical need for early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers to support and empower families to become active participants in their child’s IEP. The article will 1) examine the importance of cultural self-awareness in developing collaborative relationships with families, 2) discuss supports for CLD families, and 3) provide an easy-to-follow checklist for ECSE teachers as they support and empower CLD families to become active participants in their children’s IEP.

Paper-Cutting Pattern Design Based on Image Restoration Technology

Paper-cutting is one of the valuable intangible cultural heritages of China, with distinctive features such as “round as the autumn moon, sharp as the wheat mane, square as the green brick, missing as the serrated teeth, and thread as the beard,” and is a widely spread folk art. The art of paper-cutting brings new inspiration to the design of structures, and by changing the topology of the raw material, the material/structure can undergo significant changes in physical properties, such as optical, thermal, acoustic, and mechanical aspects. The protection of intangible cultural heritage is a process of cultural self-awareness and a kind of cultural reflection and enlightenment. In the history of promoting socialist cultural development, the protection of “intangible heritage” paper-cutting is undoubtedly of great significance. The purpose of digital image repair is to restore the integrity of the broken image, and the process is to fill in the specified area of the digital image with information, requiring a natural transition between the filled area and the original area of the image and minimizing artificial traces, so that the image looks as if it has never been broken. In this paper, the paper-cutting pattern design method based on image restoration technology is investigated, starting from the preprocessing of paper-cutting images by acquiring the edges of the images and using the Criminisi image restoration algorithm with image broken edge reconstruction to realize the image broken edge reconstruction design of paper-cutting graphics. Therefore, the paper-cut graphics generated by the method in this paper are concise and coherent as a whole, which reduces the difficulty of paper-cut design while satisfying individual design requirements.

예비 한국어 교사를 위한 문화적 자의식 교육 사례 연구

This study theoretically considered the identity in terms of 'cultural self-awareness education' in order to cultivate the intercultural communication ability of prospective Korean language teachers. Based on this, as a reflective approach to identity, it was intended to seek specific and practical educational measures for mutual culture awareness. To this end, the concept definition and type of identity were examined. In addition, the correlation between the characteristics of identity, language and identity, and intercultural communication and identity was confirmed. Through this, the plurality, relativity, dynamics, and variability of identity were confirmed. In addition, the characteristics of social identities that act as cultural components were reviewed. In addition, based on the fact that personal identity and social identity appear simultaneously in individual speech, the necessity and importance of considering identity in intercultural communication situations were confirmed. This study specifically presented cultural self-awareness education plans for prospective Korean teachers, which were rarely covered in previous studies, in terms of identity. In addition, there is a difference in that the effect was confirmed based on the actual class case. In particular, it is significant in that reflection on identity is not limited to the theoretical aspect but sought to improve communication skills between cultures in a practical sense.

Elava rahvalaulu juurde jõudmine: Herbert Tampere teadlaseisiksuse kujunemine

Elava rahvalaulu juurde jõudmine: Herbert Tampere teadlaseisiksuse kujunemine

Cultivating cultural awareness among medical educators by integrating cultural anthropology in faculty development: an action research study

BackgroundIn faculty development, understanding each participant’s cultural context is important. However, there is scarce evidence on how to improve cultural understanding in faculty development. Cultural anthropology is a discipline that focuses on developing cultural self-awareness by understanding different cultures. Professionals from this field can be crucial to the goal of cultivating cultural awareness among medical educators. The aims of this study are to 1) develop and modify cultural anthropology sessions in faculty development and 2) evaluate the effectiveness of these sessions, including their long-term impacts.MethodsThe cultural anthropology sessions were organized as part of a longitudinal faculty development program—Foundation Course for Medical Education—at Kyoto University in Japan. The study included 47 medical educators participating in faculty development and three lecturers: two cultural anthropologists and a medical educator. We developed the cultural anthropology sessions and implemented them in the longitudinal faculty development program. In these sessions, cultural anthropologists used inquiry-guided reflection. An action research methodology was employed and repeated in four cycles from 2015 to 2018. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected during the action research cycles. The qualitative data were thematically analyzed.ResultsThe cultural anthropologists’ inquiries fostered learning during the sessions, and three themes—cultural relativism, attention to context, and reframing—were synthesized. As a long-term impact of the sessions, the learners reported becoming more aware of the cultural contexts in their daily educational and clinical activities.ConclusionsThe cultural anthropology sessions in the faculty development program were shown to have enhanced the participants’ awareness of cultural contexts. The concept and format of these sessions may be used more widely in faculty development programs.

Upravljanje procesima implementacije kulturne kompetentnosti u zdravstveni sistem

Culture has a significant impact on shaping people's attitudes about health, well-being and their perception of health care. Health cultural competence is the ability to function effectively as an individual or organization in the context of the cultural beliefs, practices and needs of patients and communities. Cultural and linguistic competences are a set of behaviours', attitudes and policies that enable effective work in intercultural environments. Culturally diverse patients have poorer access to health services and face different barriers. The cultural competence of health professionals includes awareness, knowledge and cultural skills to reduce these barriers. The paper presents three models of the development of culturally competent health care, Campinha-Bacote, Milton Bennett and Darla Deardorff. Models are being improved in line with new research and knowledge. It is proposed that the management of health institutions consider aspects of cultural self-awareness, intercultural communication skills and analysis of socio-cultural barriers in health care. Education and training of health professionals towards achieving a balance between intercultural knowledge and communication skills is the best approach in the development of cultural competencies.

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT ON EFL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT DURING LEARNING FROM HOME

The purpose of the study is posed to diagnose the developmental stages of intercultural communicative competence during family interactions of Indonesian EFL higher education students at home context. An ethnographic approach with distant observation taken in this study due to the Covid-19 health protocol. A triangulation technique involving online interview and archival model was conducted to enhance the observation. The data collection was analyzed based on the Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence (Deardroff, 2006) and the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (Bennett, 2017). The result implies that the students’ intercultural communicative competence development viewing from the dimension of requisite attitudes covers valuing other cultures, openness to other people attitude, and tolerance in a different view. On another result, the dimension of knowledge and comprehension encompasses deep understanding and knowledge of contexts and worldviews, cultural self-awareness, and sociolinguistics awareness. In conclusion, EFL students' intercultural communicative competence development commonly promoted ethnorelative stages more than the ethnocentric stage.

Towards equity literacy: exploratory enquiry with Finnish student teachers

ABSTRACT Equity-centred teacher education recognises the dual challenge of preparing teachers to support the learning of all students while encouraging future teachers to recognise and challenge societal systems reproducing inequity. The paper focuses on analysing Finnish student teachers’ perceptions of teachers’ skills related to diversity and equity. The data are drawn from written individual and group assignments completed during three master’s level courses in home economics teacher education. A qualitative content analysis of students’ assignments present student teachers’ collaboratively produced understanding of teachers’ diversity skills. Their self-assessment of both professional strengths and areas of development are evaluated against Paul Gorski’s equity literacy framework. The findings are suggestive of a relatively strong cultural self-awareness and response-ability related to learner diversity. More attention should be given to unfolding structural inequities to enable future teachers to develop the equity literacy necessary to create and sustain equitable learning environments.

Enhancing CBT Consultation With Multicultural Counseling Principles

The use of multicultural principles to enhance cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals of marginalized backgrounds has received increased attention in light of the heightened national awareness of systemic oppression and racialized violence directed towards Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. However, there has been less of a focus on applying such principles to consultation for skill development. If ethical guidelines are expected to influence the behavior of clinicians in session, guidance is needed to indicate how and where and when clinicians should receive training in implementing culturally responsive CBT. Individual reading and reflection are necessary but are not sufficient in acquiring new clinical skills. Consultation is recommended and strongly suggested when clinicians are working with new populations or delivering a new treatment, or even using a new modality. Consultation can also be useful when adopting a new approach or stance to therapy. For practicing clinicians who have not developed these skills, additional consultation can and should be used to address this gap. Moving forward, integration of cultural responsiveness into standard consultation will ensure that these skills are seen as a core competency, rather than an optional additional skill that may be (or not be) elected. This paper presents core experiences that may be integral to a CBT consultation model that aims to enhance providers’ ability to provide CBT in a way that is culturally responsive to their clients. These recommendations attend to both content and process within CBT consultation and reflect guiding assumptions for helping clinicians to develop the ability to practice CBT in a culturally responsive manner, including (a) normalizing discussions of cultural identity and oppression, (b) an emphasis on cultural self-awareness, (c) emphasizing culturally informed CBT case conceptualization, and (d) skill development in applying cultural elements to CBT interventions.

Promoting positive teacher-student relationships through creating a plan for Classroom Management On-boarding

Abstract Classroom management is cited as a frequent concern by many teachers. These concerns with classroom management are commonly rooted in a struggle to effectively engage students and a failure to form authentic relationships with students. Centering Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is crucial when effectively engaging and building authentic relationships with students – especially for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students identified with Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD). Mainly, teachers should hold a high self-efficacy of themselves and high expectations for their students, build and maintain authentic classroom communities, and demonstrate a passion for their work. Unfortunately, many teachers do not prioritize the need to be culturally responsive to their students’ families or the need to investigate their own cultural self-awareness. Additionally, these teachers often feel uninformed and ill-prepared to prioritize the aforementioned elements to successfully engage students in the classroom, as educator preparation programs often provide too little information, training, and reinforcement regarding the basics, as well as more specific strategies, of effective classroom management. Schools persistently fall short in providing an educational experience for students with EBD that leads to appropriate and desired educational outcomes due to a lack of teacher training in understanding the foundation and function of behavior, as well as how to appropriately address problematic behaviors. These shortcomings become particularly complex in classrooms with students with EBD, given the students’ multifaceted academic and social behavioral needs. Moreover, given the overrepresentation of African American males in the EBD disability category, the importance of specific cultural components cannot be ignored. Thus, when teachers do not structure their classroom culture in a manner that is Culturally Relevant, many students, especially African American male students with EBD, experience challenges meeting their goals to function properly in various environments—both in and out of the classroom. One strategy that teachers can use to improve their teaching of students with EBD is Classroom Management On-boarding (CMO-b). This paper identifies specific techniques that could guide the development of a plan for CMO-b that emphasizes the importance of the teacher-student relationship as the foundation for building a positive and effective classroom for teachers of students identified with EBD, and especially for African American male students.

The content and structure of intercultural competence of future translators

The article considers the content and structure of intercultural competence of future translators. Problems of teaching students in these majors involve obtaining the necessary knowledge and opportunities for professional development. The issues of future translators training in the bachelor's degree have been studied by many scientists from different countries. The article highlighted the «intercultural competence» concept. Analysis of research on the «intercultural competence» concept in terms of different approaches, revealed that an important role in its development is played by emotions and personal qualities. Intercultural competence is defined as five elements: motivation, knowledge, skills, context, and outcome. The focus is on the compositional model of intercultural competence (D. Diardorf's research), which determines cognitive knowledge (elements of cultural self-awareness, understanding of culture, culture-specific information, and sociolinguistic awareness); affective elements (attitude, respect, openness, curiosity, and tolerance for ambiguity); behavioral dimensions (listening, observation, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and relationship). It is established that the concept of professional competence of a modern bachelor-translator can refer to the professional qualities required for translators engaged in translation activities, including professional knowledge, professional ethics, ability to interpersonal communication with clients, etc. Translation competence is properly manifested: in the strategy of work in real-time, namely, in the process of authentic translation; in distinguishing between two languages in solving translation problems; operating knowledge in the labor market of translators; solving translation problems in different types of text, using appropriate strategies.

О «втором дыхании» цивилизационного развития (размышления о докладе Н.И. Лапина)

The text is a response to some of the passages of the report by N.I. Lapin, which was pre­pared for discussion of the methodological grounds of the “Russian Civilizational Devel­opment Project” (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences). In the continuation of the methodological searches of N.I. Lapin, the concept of the historical development of the civilization of K. Jaspers is considered in more detail in accordance with the all-human idea of A.V. Smirnov, as well as in the context of the justification of civilizational unity through the phenomenon of transversal reason (V. Welsh). Based on these ideas, the justification for the importance of constructing the unity of world civiliza­tion, which should take place not through the priority of individual cultures, countries or their associations, but on the basis of their originality, is provided. The concept of histori­cal development of K. Jaspers allows us to conclude that the distinction of the first axial time is the formation of cultural identity, local cultural self-awareness as a result of the path of civilization to the transcendent. The second axial time tends to the formation of an all-human civilization, transversely “collecting” local cultural achievements. In modern times, the most important factor in this formation is the progress in science and technology, which determines the main paths of civilizational development. At the same time, the social and humanitarian sciences have a mission to ensure cultural dialogue and participate in the general process of dis­cussing the current problems of our time. Globalization can be thought of as interaction, including the interaction of projects of further world development, taking into account both the unique cultural features and the history of civilizations, and their coexistence in the world as a whole.

Rethinking Cultural Competence Education in the Global Era: Insights from Fei Xiaotong’s Theory of Cultural Self-Awareness

Since humanity entered the 20th century, diversity has become a key feature that manifests itself in all aspects of society. As a venue for people and ideas to meet, universities face ever-increasing challenges in fulfilling their cultural mission. With unprecedented human connectivity, cultural competence is more than a goal. It has become an essential skill for students and a key concern for policymakers and practitioners across the world. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to cultural competence education, this article aims to elucidate the significance of the notion of cultural self-awareness proposed by Fei Xiaotong, China’s premier social anthropologist. It explores how Fei’s insights can facilitate universities to rethink their conception and delivery of cultural competence education. By challenging the tendency for cultural competence education to be segregated among a range of disciplines and moving it to the core of the university’s curricular offerings, the article promises an approach whereby all students, regardless of their disciplinary backgrounds, can benefit from the full development of their cultural capability, as can the institution, wider community, and society as a whole.

Service providers’ cultural self-awareness and responsible use of racial power when working with ethnic minority victims/survivors of child sexual abuse: Results from a program evaluation study in Australia

Abstract With Australia’s expanding diversity, there is a rising onus for the whole mental health and sexual assault workforce to be appropriately trained in ‘racial self-awareness’ to help enhance the quality of services; a combination of cultural self-awareness and awareness of white privilege. Client’s fear of breached confidentiality and ensuing preference for a non-ethnically matched worker, as well as risk of increased harm from judgmental ethnic minority workers or interpreters, further add to this need. To help address it, a professional development program was delivered and evaluated over six months using a mixed methods design (T1 n = 112, T2 n = 44). Since most participants were social workers and counsellors, they were already trained in social justice issues. Thus, instead of gains in knowledge about white privilege, they more appreciated the opportunity to have frank discussions about racism, skin colour, and intersectionality (which distinguishes white from brown feminism). Although the cross-wave sample size was small, the results contribute new and innovative empirical data. Overall, the results show that the relevant workforce is as diverse as the client group, who may be seeking either ‘culturally safe’ or ‘colour blind’ services. Psychiatrists can assist clinically unwell victims/survivors, general practitioners (GPs) can model good engagement with other professionals and provide referrals, and social workers, counsellors, and psychologists can talk through and share trauma with the aim of reducing the symptoms of emotional distress. When practitioners receive training in cultural competency, the ethnic minority client victim/survivor is more likely to receive a service aware of how racial power could be abused (even unintentionally) in the clinical setting and therefore have a chance to take professional responsibility for it.