Reflection Essay-Final

Reflection Essay

Tally Ann Bringas

Intercultural Communication/COM 40164

Prof. Undraye Howard

December 8, 2011

Sadly discrimination is not something that will end in my lifetime or my grandchildren’s lifetime either. This realization is disheartening, but sobering at the same time. As the world's population is approximately 6.8 billion, the current United States population represents a mere 4.5% of the world's population so about one in every twenty people on the planet is a resident of the United States of America (Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2011).

With this vast amount of diversity it is amazing that the situation is not a more positive one. As citizens of this earth we all occupy a portion of the time spent and are ultimately responsible for our contributions before we pass. In this day and age with the amount of diversity we are experiencing far more than our parents and grandparents ever have (Nakayama, 2010).

 This brings forward some new hope for the future and what we need to teach our children in order to be prepared for the future to come.

            With the workforce making a serious attempt to diversify there staff and brand the “diversity” mindset within their organizations it is interesting to see that institutional discrimination becoming more of an issue at the place of work. This form of discrimination has always has always existed, however there is equal attentions being paid to our school systems and teachers. Recently there was a study conducted on black and minority ethnic teachers facing an "endemic culture of institutional racism" in schools (Kershaw, 2009). About half of black and minority ethnic teachers say they have faced discrimination during their careers, according to a study by Manchester University and Education Data Surveys. And seven in ten black and minority ethnic teachers and school heads believe it is harder for black and minority ethnic teachers to gain leaderships jobs in schools (Kershaw, 2009). This study examined the experiences of more than 500 black and minority ethnic teachers working in state schools in England to analyze how discrimination affected their careers and chances of getting senior posts. It concluded that the majority of black and minority ethnic teachers did not believe that the teaching profession was inclusive (Kershaw, 2009). NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "This report reveals the true extent of the problem of racism and discrimination which, regrettably, is still all too pervasive in our schools (Kershaw, 2009).  "This research is an important start in unlocking the way in which discrimination operates and should help in identifying what needs to be done to create greater fairness and transparency in the way that teachers' skills and potential are recognized and rewarded (Kershaw, 2009). This attempt to correct this openly obvious inequality is only able to correct itself with communication and awareness. Should this situation continue and be sensationalized by the many celebrities we see on the television, than there may be hope.

            Today we are surrounded by media and pop culture icons that have a great deal of influence on our own culture and our identities as a Nation as well as individuals. Should the inequities in the schools systems form such a powerful ally than there may be hope for a revolutionary type of change? Unfortunately today the pop culture influence machine seems to be behaving as a spoiled teenager would and is locked in her room texting and tweeting all day. The change and growth we should b experiencing in our cultural identities are seemed to be lost in pop culture within the celebrity and reality shows. The influence a television show or the vehicle we drive are forms of conditioning we have placed on our selves to fit in, or meet an expectation for ourselves. Objects such as a certain vehicle can not be consider pop culture as it is a consumption item, it can however be associated with a cultural atmosphere that depicts an affiliation of sorts.

            There are choices we make on how popular culture can influence the formation of our cultural identity, this can be something as simple as turning off the television form a particular show that does not bring value to our lives (Nakayama, 2010). There are magazines for sale in stores that build their business on influencing out thoughts and occupying our lives with imagines of pop culture or celebrity individuals. This is an opportunity to bypass this nonsense and show our children by example that there is no validity to these articles. These will in- turn will allow our culture to be formed by our traditions and bot outside influencers. Should we make correct choices and lead by example we may not have the insecurities to compete amongst ourselves in life and provide our own canvas for our cultural identities. This is possible by avoiding items or circumstances such as pop culture shows that would derail us from meeting our expectations we have set for ourselves.  This is possible by only participating in activities to better ourselves by having a strong education and occupation or career.

When discussing work in relation to intercultural communication it is obvious the importance of having an open mind and understanding on what each individual brings to the work environment. This is ever present in all facets of work and companies as there is a forced collaboration with individualism and collectivism. These forces if ideas bring some work place conflicts that can be avoided by understanding the different mindsets and cultural norms.  When you have an employee who works better in the environment that is based on individualism (bonus structure and metrics based) you can run into issues when their needs to be a collaborative work group or team. It is important to weigh in all factors and assure that the task at hand is balanced with the relationship of the staffers. This balance needs to be set and understood as a form of operation expectations in a team environment to allow for all styles of communication and group interactions.

This understanding is how I believe all groups can be more interculturally aware and savvy in their everyday lives. With the simple task of wearing the “Thinking Hats” these six different and assigned colors have a meaning and allow everyone to step outside of their comfort zone and be an equal participant in tasks regardless of the their level of expertise (De Bono, 1985). I use this to allow everyone to have a say regardless of his or her cultural identities and communication styles.

Examples of the six different “Thinking Hats” (De Bono, 1985):

*      Information: (White) - considering purely what information is available, what are the facts?

*      Emotions (Red) - instinctive gut reaction or statements of emotional feeling (but not any justification)

*      Bad points judgment (Black) - logic applied to identifying flaws or barriers, seeking mismatch

*      Good points judgment (Yellow) - logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony

*      Creativity (Green) - statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a thought goes

*      Thinking (Blue) - thinking about

This seems to bring everyone on the same page regardless of our cultural beliefs or communication styles. This exercise provides input and a collective agreement to one thing and that is solving the problem at hand. This tactic can be used outside of work as well, as I just attempt to place their (the person I am communication with) hat on me and think of a better way to solve an issue or slow down to understand better.

            There are times when I am speaking with someone that does not speak English or Spanish and I find myself attempting to draw from his or her body language and non-verbal cues as well. If the language is Latin based I can usual pick up enough of the language to understand the just of what the person is trying to communicate. Should it not be Latin based I rely heavily on body language, tone, and the current surroundings. This allows me to collect all of the information and communicate the best I can. I have not yet attempted to do this in an environment that was completely foreign, it works in theory; however it is not truly tried and tested.

I should hope that in the near future we are better off than we are now in terms of understanding other cultures. It is only our ability to be open and honest about our shortcoming when we can truly understand any other culture or ethnicity. There is no superiority in any race or ethnicity only a perceived sense of ownership to who we are. When this is taken or challenged I would like to see what the world would be like without races, or ethnicity just humans.

Reference

De Bono, Edward (1985). Six Thinking Hats: An Essential Approach to Business   Management. Little, Brown, & Company.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2011). World Population Publication 2010 revision. United Nations. Retrieved 2011-12-07.

Kershaw, Allison, 2009 Teachers face ' institutional racism claims' Press Association http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teachers-face--institutional-racism-claims-1816209.html

Nakayama, T. (2010) Experiencing Intercultural Communication: An Introduction. McGraw Hill.