Action Plan on Cultural Differences as a Communication Issue in Education - Literature review Example

Action Plan on Cultural Differences as a Communication Issue in Education Schools today experience the influx of students from many ethnic backgrounds who also come with their different cultural settings into the institutions. Cultural differences among the students may arise from aspects such as the differences in colour, race, sex, tribe and their originality. However, in the United States, the notable difference is in colour, which occurs between the blacks and the whites. Cultural difference is a very broad term. However, the scope of this plan will cover the issues such as the culture itself and racism that exists among the students. All this will take place while relating to the way the students interact with each other in the classroom. Introduction Researchers have so far listed many definitions on the cultural differences in relation the environment of education (Kay and Jackie 56). The definitions may come with so many versions of explaining the issue as an element of communication issue in the education system. However, the appropriate definition of cultural difference as a communication issue in an educational setup lies to work well. The efficiency of the system, however, works under the influence of the rough environment brought by the variety of cultures that surround the area or the system of learning (Pauleyand and Joseph, 64). As an issue of communication barrier, the need for understanding the cultural differences in a learning set up will be useful in knowing the role played by the elements of culture. The elements include race and racism in a learning society such as the schools. For instance, racism is the section of the group in the society vested with the power over others (PeÌrez and Raffy, 49). Coupled with the two primary elements of culture such as the race and the racism, culture as an issue in communication, in this case, determines the success of education among the learners. The Action Plan As a way of solving the educational inequities brought by the difference in cultures, an action plan should present an analysis on the on a certain area within its scope. For instance, whether the effects of suspension are either racial, ethnical or linguistic type oriented in most of the learning institutions. Consequentially, the plan proceeds to evaluate the attendance of the pupils in the class as another option of establishing the causes of suspensions in learning institutions. In another related development, the action plan will seek to evaluate the main cause of suspension of students and also whether such causes are within the laws of the institution and the country at large (Ubbes, 78). Sometimes the management authorities do suspend the rogue students with an objective of making them change their behaviours. As a result, the action plan will seek to establish the validity of this theory (Ubbes, 95). After the establishment of the relationship of the suspension and the behaviour change among the students, the plan will compare the statistics found in the non-whites and the whites trends in suspension cases. In relation to the cultural difference, the action plan in this instance will compare the causes of suspension among the whites and the non-whites. After the comparison, it will draw a conclusion or conclusions from the findings got (Van Slyke, 97). An Example of a Talk on Culture Difference as Communication Issue; LeBaron, Michelle, and Venashri Pillay. Conflict across Cultures. Boston: Intercultural Press, 2006. Print. According to Michelle, and Venashri Pillay, the forms of communication that takes place are cultural oriented. The instance of this is that every individual always learn to communicate through the use of the non-verbal messages. Consequentially our forms of communication never take place the same way it happens in the previous day, week, month or year (Michelle, and Venashri Pillay, 56). Such personal influences such as the context, the individuals upbringing and the mood swings are the major players in the determination of the way of communication between people. The players draw their origin due to the difference in the cultural set ups of the concerned individuals. Since the communication is an interactive issue, cultural difference, in this case, plays a pivotal role in the determination of its levels of occurrence between the concerned parties. For instance, the effects of cultural difference may draw its constituent influencing factors such as the variation in goals or interests, perceptions that each and every individual in the world and the difference in ways of enhancing the effective communication without the influence of the cultural difference (Michelle, and Venashri Pillay, 67). In summary, the talk presents establishes that ideas, attitudes, and behaviours that individual may have when communicating with others may, however, reach the respondent through the influence of the below factors or the components of cultural difference in communication (Michelle, and Venashri Pillay, 79). Time and Space Fate and Personal Responsibility Face and Face-Saving Nonverbal Communication When taken into consideration, the above component of the cultural differences in the communication, there is a hope that there could a systematic form communication with a lot of fluency and awareness among the participating individuals in the communication set up (Michelle, and Venashri Pillay, 92). The Gold Nuts Susan Sontag highlighted that; “Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life – - its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness – - conjoin to dull our sensory faculties’’ (Kay and Jackie 65). –The instance being emphasized here is the variation in culture among the individuals is the determinant of their lifestyle forms such as education. Tony Robbins said, “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world” (PeÌrez and Raffy, 71). - The gold nut here stresses the need to consider the cultural difference as communication determinant factor. Nelson Mandela pointed, “If you speak to a man in a language he understands, you speak to his head. If you speak to a man in his own language, you speak to his heart’’ (Pauley and Joseph, 68). –Nelson Mandela, in this case, emphasizes in the native language of an individual as the language communication can take place effectively. Native language here forms the element of cultural set up of the individual and by use of another different language; there will be a barrier in the communication system. John Kotter said, “Good communication does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences…..Simple and clear go a long way” (Donders and Vladimir Volodin, 82) –. The essence of this gold nut is that an individual just need to be contented with his or her culture for effective communication. M. Scott Peck, "The key to community is the acceptance, in fact, the celebration of our individual and cultural differences. It is also the key to world peace " (Pauleyand and Joseph, 98) – Every society’s member should appreciate each other’s culture for the purposes of realizing good communication system between them. Minnie Kellogg stated, "Culture is but the fine flowering of real education, and it is the training of the feeling the tastes and the manners that make it so” (Pauleyand and Joseph, 102). –Culture forms the primary base of acquiring the essential knowledge that can enhance good communication system. Stephen Roberts noted, “Culture is a framework in which we communicate” (Ubbes, 115)–The gold nut here notes that all forms of communication derive their background from the cultural difference in place among the concerned parties. Marye Tharp stressed, “Any communication needs cross- cultural research & communication skills to be able to succeed in the future” (Van Slyke, 109). –The essence of this gold nut is the need for understanding each and every individuals set up for research purposes for the purposes of realizing good communication. Oscar Wilde noted, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” (Donders and Vladimir, 63). –The gold nut here calls for self-belief from an individual in enhancing effective communication despite the cultural difference in place. “Landscape shapes culture” – Terry Tempest Williams. The environmental set up of a person determines his cultural set up that in turn affects his communication system. Claude Levi-Strauss said, "A wise man doesnt give the right answers he poses the right questions"(Ball, and Cynthia, 75). – . Take the time and listen to arguing. It could be the explanation of this gold nut. Recommendations Due to the impacts of the culture difference in education so far highlighted above, learning institutions should, in this case, evaluate the strategies and the policies that may help towards dealing with this menace. For instance, the institutions may come up with an awareness campaign program that encourages the learners to believe in themselves. As a result, this learner will strive to work hard and deliver quality results despite the influence of differences in culture in their learning environment (Donders and Vladimir, 76). Apart from the self-belief among the learners themselves, the institution needs to come with a system of education that normalise and integrate all the culture of the students in the institution. The system should it ensure that it makes each learner to be part of the intuition and, as a result, will motivate the students to work harder without fear of discrimination or stigmatization from other students (Ball, and Cynthia, 87). Conclusion Teachers will always influence the effectiveness of the cross-cultural relationships since they know much about the cultural differences between the students. In addition, teachers do have a lot of time with the students in classrooms and, as a result, they do get to know the cultural variations of the students more than anyone else. Consequentially, teachers, in this case, can dictate their way forward for cultural difference as an issue in communication during the learning process among the students. Works Cited Ball, Arnetha F, and Cynthia A Tyson. Studying Diversity in Teacher Education. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011. Print. Donders, Yvonne, and Vladimir Volodin. Human Rights in Education, Science, And Culture. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Pub., 2007. Print. LeBaron, Michelle, and Venashri Pillay. Conflict across Cultures. Boston: Intercultural Press, 2006. Print. Pauley, Judith A, and Joseph F Pauley. Establishing a Culture of Patient Safety. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press, 2012. Print. PeÌrez, Miguel A, and Raffy R Luquis. Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008. Print. Ubbes, Valerie A. Educating For Health. Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print. Van Slyke, Craig. Information Communication Technologies. Hershey, Pa.: Information Science Reference, 2008. Print. Read More