CH.1
CH.1; 1.1 What is culture? Visible and invisible culture
Edgar Schein: culture consists of layers, like an onion;
1. Artefacts of culture
2. Norms and values
3. Basic assumptions
Artefacts of culture
Artefacts are the first things you notice when entering a new country (for example in The
Netherlands; bicycle, large windows, grachten, bread and milk during lunch etc.).
Norms and values
Written and unwritten standards of correct, desired behavior (for example the norm is to
arrive 10 minutes earlier). Values express what we think is good or right (for example; stand
up for an elderly person).
Basic assumptions
They are abstract and invisible, we learn them very young and we are unaware of their
influence. The perception of the world around us and the judgements we make about others
are very much shaped or distorted by the basic assumptions of our culture.
Intercultural communication is about bringing basic assumptions of our own culture to our
awareness and to recognize the basic assumptions of other cultures.
Geert Hofstede: ‘culture is the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes the
members of one group of people form another’
1.3 Cultural programming
Culture is learned/ programmed. We are programmed through upbringing, socialization,
norms and values and perception. A lot of programming comes with our upbringing (for
example; a simple handshake). A lot of other things we learn through socialization, by
interacting with others (for example; through socialization you learn just how firm a
desirable handshake is, and even the right smile and eye contact). Part of programming
happens through perception. Just by looking around us we make conscious or unconscious
choices about how we want to behave.
There are three levels of programming;
• Individual; may choose to eat it all up by themselves, regardless of the community’s
disapproval or possible sanctions.
• Cultural; put food on a plate and eat it with fork and knife
• Human nature; if we haven’t eaten for days, HN makes us look for something to eat
and devour it with our hands.
1.4 Culture and subcultures
Culture is the collective mental programming of the human mind (collective; the group or
subgroup we belong to). Examples of possible subcultures;
o A continent -> Asian culture
o A country -> Chinese culture
o Ethnic -> Indonesian in the Netherlands
o Regional -> Catalan culture in Spain
, o Urban or rural culture
o Religion -> catholic culture
o Social class -> middle-class culture
o Gender -> the culture of men
o Age -> culture of young people
o Profession -> health care, engineering
o Hobby -> hockey, dancing
o Corporate -> MBO, HBO, University
When cultural differences are ignored or left unmanaged, culturally diverse teams can have
a lot of problems understanding each other and coming to an agreement. If managed and
trained in intercultural sensitivity, and when cultural differences are appreciated, they turn
out to be the most creative and dynamic teams.
1.5 Intercultural Communication
Communication is the exchange of meaning. It is transmitted through a channel, which is
called the ‘medium’ for communication. Face to face; air and the space between you,
written communication; paper and with emails; electronic. The receiver decodes your
message and responds or gives feedback, once again encoding the response where you
decode it again. All communication takes place within a context, for example a business
context or a family context, crisis-situation and intercultural context. Intercultural
communication is between sources and receivers from different cultures. Sometimes
misunderstanding is caused by what we call ‘noise’ in the communication.
1.6 Communication Noise
Noise is anything that distorts or blocks the message, that distracts the receiver or causes
them not to understand the message.
o External noise (physical noise); from the environment
o Internal noise (psychological noise); involves emotions, worries or personal
prejudices (vooroordelen) that get in the way of paying attention to what is actually
being communicated.
o Cultural noise; occurs when differences in cultural programming distorts the
message.
1.7 TOPOI Model, Intervention for cultural noise; Edwin Hoffman, 2012
The TOPOI Model distinguishes five areas of possible misunderstanding in communication
(taal, ordening, personen, organisatie en inzet).
o T; tongue/ language (It’s about meaning, the language aspect of communication, the
verbal and non-verbal). Verbal language is a frequent source of misunderstanding.
o O; Order (realizing there is never one truth or reality)
, It’s about each participant’s view. How do they view, order and organize reality? Our
behavior is guided by our own sense of logic, what makes sense to you may not seem
so logical to another person. Make the differences in views clear and just leave them
as they are.
o P; Persons (The relationship part of the conversation).
It can determine or alter the meaning of what is being said. Who are the people
involved and how do they relate to each other? Relationships can be; symmetrical
(between equals; 2 friends, 2 brothers etc.) or complementary (between people at
different levels of authority; parents and children, teacher and student).
o O; Organization (The social and professional organizational context of the
communication). Organizational structures that are not familiar with us can be the
cause of misunderstanding.
o I; Intention& Influence (What is the aim, intention, need and motive for this
conversation?).
How does it work; use the 5 letters and what they stand for as a checklist to reflect on the
miscommunication and ask 3 key intervention questions;
1. What is my share in the misunderstanding?
2. What is the other person’s share?
3. What is the influence of the social environment – the norms, values and general
beliefs?
1.8 Global Citizenship, definition
It’s a sense of belonging to a broader community and common humanity. It emphasizes
(benadrukt) political, economic, social and cultural independency and interconnectedness
(onderline verbondenheid) between the local, the national and the global. It aims to
empower learners to assume active roles to face and resolve global challenges and to
become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and secure world. GC
is a competency, it includes knowledge, skills but most of all an attitude and behavior.
Windows on the World; class where GC is teached. It covers 8 topics; Diversity, Identity,
Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Globalization, Division, Peace& Conflict and Global
Interconnectedness. There are several approaches to GB. They roughly share these
competencies;
o An attitude, for understanding multiple identities and collective identity
o Knowledge and cognitive skills.
o Non-cognitive skills and behavior; social skills, communication, skills and aptitudes
for networking.
o To act collaboratively for the collective good at local, national and global levels for a
more peaceful and sustainable world.
A GC attitude includes understanding multiple levels of identity. A switch from competitive
to collaborative behavior makes a world of difference.
CH.2
2.1 Communication; high and low context
All communication takes place within a certain context. But exactly how much or how little
meaning is communicated through the context itself differs from culture to culture.
