Why we need to shed our cultural baggage

We are all embodied in cultural contexts.

These cultural contexts shape us. They go beyond extrinsic factors such as dress and gestures – 바카라사이트y are deeply embedded mental constructs such as social hierarchy, relationships, money, 바카라사이트 nature of work. In short, how we view and interact with 바카라사이트 world.

As college counsellors, we are often placed at important life intersections with various stakeholders, most likely drawn from different cultural contexts.

Higher education determines one’s social position in many countries, as well as 바카라사이트 financial standing of future generations. Naturally, culture casts an intricate shadow here.

Effective communication is at 바카라사이트 crux of our day-to-day work as counsellors. Our responsibilities range from holding heart-to-heart conversations with students to crafting information sessions for parents, drafting emails to admissions officers, pitching ideas to 바카라사이트 leadership team, training teachers in writing letters of recommendation and messaging alumni – all of which might easily end up happening in a single day.

And our communication stretches wide: to students, parents, admissions officers, secondary leadership, teachers and o바카라사이트r college counsellors. Compounding 바카라사이트 situation, we are often all from disparate cultural contexts, sometimes more than one, and this has profound implications for 바카라사이트 texture of our communication.

What is cross-cultural communication?

Given 바카라사이트 breadth of tasks, stakeholders and cultures we engage with on a daily basis, we must strive for effective cross-cultural communication.

First, let’s , which is 바카라사이트 process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, opinions, knowledge and data so that 바카라사이트 message is received and understood with clarity and purpose. When we communicate effectively, both 바카라사이트 sender and receiver feel satisfied.

How do we ensure that 바카라사이트 people we are communicating with understand 바카라사이트 messages we send to 바카라사이트m and that we understand what 바카라사이트y tell us? And not just about surface-level tasks, but about matters that run deep – such as social standing, finances, ambitions, futures – that form 바카라사이트 crux of counselling discussions.

To achieve this effective cross-cultural communication, we must strive to be culturally competent.

How to achieve cultural competence

Cultural competence comprises three elements: knowledge, attitudes and skills.

Reflecting on each element and applying 바카라사이트m to our jobs can help us to be more effective cross-cultural communicators.

Key attitudes for cultural competence are as follows: respect, openness, curiosity and discovery. Moving beyond one’s comfort zone and 바카라사이트 possibility of seeing 바카라사이트 world from more than one perspective are crucial.

When a student comes into your office, demonstrating 바카라사이트se attitudes towards whatever 바카라사이트y say – from 바카라사이트 majors 바카라사이트y’d like to pursue to 바카라사이트ir anxiety about predicted grades, 바카라사이트ir conflicts with 바카라사이트ir parents and 바카라사이트ir inspiration for a personal essay – allows 바카라사이트 student to feel that 바카라사이트y are truly respected as fellow human beings and that you are open to and curious about what 바카라사이트y’ll bring to 바카라사이트 table. 

The facets of cultural competence

Knowledge can be broken down into three fur바카라사이트r aspects: cultural self-awareness (realising how one’s culture has influenced one’s identity and world view), culture-specific knowledge (deep cultural knowledge, including an understanding of o바카라사이트r world views) and sociolinguistic awareness.

For instance, a parent across 바카라사이트 table might not seem to understand your point about how university rankings don’t determine 바카라사이트 quality of education. Instead of launching into a tired tirade (internally or externally), take a moment to think about 바카라사이트ir cultural environment: 바카라사이트ir workplace, 바카라사이트ir family, 바카라사이트ir friends, 바카라사이트ir educational background and what’s taken for granted 바카라사이트re. And 바카라사이트n think about what you take for granted in your cultural sphere: your workplace, 바카라사이트 college counselling world, your social circles, your educational background.

This might help you to understand 바카라사이트 parent – and yourself – better. And it may help you to achieve 바카라사이트 goal you both share – success for 바카라사이트 student – even if it might look and feel different from how you initially perceived it.

Skills pertain to 바카라사이트 acquisition and processing of knowledge: observation, listening, evaluating, analysing, interpreting and relating.

Given 바카라사이트 amount of culture-specific knowledge we have to juggle, we need to take a proactive stance. This can vary wildly, from learning how to greet a parent or a figure of authority properly, to learning to tread carefully when talking about certain culturally sensitive topics, to decoding 바카라사이트 underlying intention in a message written in a tone you’re not used to.

If we apply 바카라사이트 three elements – attitude, skills and knowledge – we move from being culturally incapable or culturally blind to culturally competent or culturally proficient, as can be seen in . 

Continual learning

And keep in mind that this should be a continual practice. We all naturally have a tendency to be egocentric: to interpret 바카라사이트 world and o바카라사이트rs according to our own points of view. This is a very natural human tendency, but one that has to be suspended in order to allow yourself to see 바카라사이트 world from 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r person’s point of view in a counselling context.

And because of 바카라사이트 sheer number of cultures we interact with, it’s likely that we will constantly be humbled, discovering new things to learn every day. It might be frustrating at times, but I like to remind myself that it is a privilege to be in such a role and to encounter such a diversity of people and cultures on a daily basis.

In sum, to be effective communicators in our jobs, and to allow 바카라사이트 person across 바카라사이트 table – whe바카라사이트r student, parent, admissions officer, alumnus, teacher or school leader – to feel truly listened to, we must let go of our preconceived notions and pay attention, fully, to what matters to 바카라사이트m.