james wilkinson nicolas sola thames valley university, london developing intercultural competence...
TRANSCRIPT
James Wilkinson Nicolas Sola
Thames Valley University, London
Developing Intercultural Competence
Education in a Changing Environment Conference,Salford 12-14 September, 2007
•
3. IICEE Project Partnership
4. Project Outputs
• 3 Learning Units
• Module Guide
• Research
• Website: http://iicee.tvu.ac.uk
5. Defining Intercultural Competence: some apparent contradictions
• Goal
• Scope • Application
• Underpinning conceptions of culture
Coherence versus Cohesion
Rathje (2007)
Coherence versus cohesion-based view of intercultural interaction
Rathje (2007)
Rathje’s (2007)“Tentative definition of intercultural competence”
“ Foundation: understanding culture as existing within human groups, characterized by cohesion due to familiarity with inherent
differences. Scope: intercultural competence can be defined as a culture-generic skill. Application: relevant in interactions between individuals from different human
groups experiencing foreignness …. Goal: that leads to culture production by creating familiarity and thus
cohesion among the involved individuals allowing them to pursue their interaction goals.”
(Rathje 2007: 13)
Thus, IICEE can be seen as equipping individuals with practical knowledge and skills which allow them to pursue their interaction goals
Developing three types of learning:
cognitive affective conative
Integrating theory and practice
1. Interpersonal and intercultural communication teamwork and presentation skills
2. Creative problem solving strategies
3. Cross-cultural project management and team facilitation
Atmosphere for Creativity*
Threatening controversial neutral cooperative supportive
A T M O S P H E R E
E
N for
E individual
R and
G team
Y
Energy required for emotional survival
Energy available
for task and success
*adapted from:Ceserani and Greatwood,1996
6. Project Working Methods
The IICEE project is itself a case study in
• interpersonal and intercultural teamwork • creative problem solving • cross-cultural project management
Intercultural andInterpersonal
Communication, Teamwork & Presentation
Skills
Assignment 1
Group Project
(weeks 1-10)
Presentation andWritten Report
Cross-cultural Project
Management and Team
Facilitation
Creative ProblemSolving
Strategies
IICEE at Thames Valley University (2006-2007)
Assignment 2
Critical Evaluation
(weeks 11-15)
Individual Report
Reflection on
international / intercultural aspects of project management,based on
Experience of multicultural
project teamwork
Critical evaluation of relevant literature
Intercultural andInterpersonal
Communication, Teamwork & Presentation
Skills
Assignment 1
Group Project
Weeks 1-12
Presentation andWritten Report
Cross-cultural Project
Management and Team
Facilitation
Creative ProblemSolving
Strategies
Next year…
Assignment 2
Weeks 1 – 15
Reflection oninterpersonal / intercultural
aspectsof project management,
based on :
• Experience of multicultural project work
• Critical evaluation of relevant literature
Individual Report
The Student Experience
“In professional life, it is not important to know a lot about the people you work with”
“In order to work effectively in a team, I need to know the other team members well”
“Silence does not necessarily mean ‘Yes’ ”
Dissemination Activities
• Nice Network: Nice, Tralee, Sopot, Gijon, Ljubjlana, Heilbronn
• International Association Conferences:CECIOS - KaunasEAIE – Krakow, Basel, Trondheim; IATIS – Cape Town; SPACE – Edinburgh; CyprusIALIC – Passau
ECE - Salford
The need for an open approach
“ to provide frames of reference, to give analytical tools to explore in-depth trade-offs among short and long term alternative decisions, to involve individual managers in assessing their own values and paradigms in order to be more lucid and responsible in their own choices.”
(De Bettignies, cited by Schneider and Barsoux 2003: 258).
In Conclusion
“Through this module, I have met lots of different people from different country who even have not traditional personalities that people assume they should have. I have really learned and experienced intercultural communication. They are all so unforgettable, which help me to have knowledge and experience to deal with different people with different culture in future.”
(MA in Tourism Management student, TVU)
Contact Details
Project Coordinator: [email protected]
Learning Unit Coordinators:
LU 1 Interpersonal and intercultural communication: [email protected]
LU 1 Creative Problem Solving: [email protected]
LU 3 Cross-cultural Project Management: seidenspinner@fh-
heilbronn.de
References
Ceserani, J. and Greatwood, P. (1996) Innovation and Creativity. London: Kogan Page
Rathje, S. (2004) Corporate Cohesion – Handlungsansatz zur Gestaltung interkultureller Unternehmenskultur, in Bolten, J. (Ed) Interkulturelles Handeln in der Wirtschaft – Positionen, Modelle, Perspektiven, Projekte, Sternenfels 2004 (Wissenschaft & Praxis): 112-124
Rathje, S. (2007) Intercultural Competence – Status and Future of a Controversial Concept, Retrieved 15th May 2007 from http://www2.uni-jena.de/philosophie/iwk/publikationen/intercultural_competence_rathje.pdf: 13
Schneider, S. and Barsoux, J. (2003). Managing across cultures, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall: 258