Cross-cultural Study as an Exchange Student in Australia - Essay Example

Cross-cultural study as an Exchange Student in Australia Name Institution Date Reflective essay Introduction Learning has become internationalized in many countries especially in Australia. This has led to cultural diversity in the tertiary institutions as they accommodate students from all over the world. Learning has therefore become diversified as students from different backgrounds have different approaches to learning and may also differ in their learning behaviors from the local students. The experiences of learning in a classroom with students from different cultures is challenging not only to us the Australian students but also to the foreign students. This is the moment that I was able to discover my own cultural background and how it is different from many other cultures. The cross cultural learning process required that for successful learning, we must all have common goals and learning practices that will enable us to understand each other’s behavior in class. We were also required to work as teams and this could not be easy with the strong differences in cultural backgrounds. Some of the areas where cultural differences were highly felt includes in communication, coordination and teamwork. Through interaction with other students, one also becomes sensitive and more aware of own culture and is able to develop more culturally. It is however important for students to develop a global mindset that will enable them to interact with others the different cultures globally. However, in my case, this was difficult due to cultural schemas that were hidden in me and could not allow me to understand the behavior of the foreign students. This essay is a reflection of my experiences in the institution during the interaction with the foreign students. Teamwork experiences Through the team work experiences, I was able to feel a lot of cultural influence on how members of the group interacted with each other. For example in communication, our Australian culture only appear dot be close to then of the students from Finland. Due to this cultural influence, I was very friendly, outgoing and informal while interacting with other members of out team. This culture enabled me to treat ell the members with equal regards and I could share all the information with all the members. This is a very important aspect in teamwork since it involves a lot of sharing of ideas and opinions. Through the team interactions I was able to learn about myself as being distinct from others in this aspect of communication. However, this was different from what I experienced about other people. Most of the students from other countries were not outgoing and made very little participation in the group work. They liked keeping to themselves and shared very little information to the group members. I noted a very distinct behavior in my fellow Australian students in the same group where we were making a lot of contribution to wards the group unlike the other students, second from us were the Finnish students who were also very outgoing and shared the information they had. From this experience, I learnt that I knew very little about other cultures which I was learning as we proceeded with the course. Sometimes I could become upset when the students from other countries could not give their ideas or opinions. However, I learnt that I need to learn more about other cultures and learn to accommodate the differences. The other students however need to learn that in international collaboration, it is very important to emulate the behaviors of other people especially when working towards a common goal. I also learnt that the Australians were very humorous people. This made our team not to be very cold and dull. Through our interactions, we were able to create a common set of norms and some shared frames of reference. We set out rules and regulations for the team for example on punctuality and attendance; we also assigned every member each day to lead the group discussion. This worked very well in ensuring participation since everyone was expected to give own ideas and opinions on the day he/she is leading the discussion. This way, we were therefore able to learn more about each other and we also understood their cultural background from the way one was conducting the discussion. We were also able to learn well in a multicultural setting. However, I would have wished that we have several activities apart from the class work so that we can learn more about other cultures for example dancing activities. International team insights as an Australian student To introduce my culture to people from other cultures in class, I would first begin with the human interaction. This is because culture is clearly expressed in how people interact with each other. For example, greetings, how I would address my superiors and my team members. In the Realgame team, I would insist on how in Australia we respect other people’s opinions, how we treat them with equality and avoiding conflicts by not taking things personally (Smitz, & Blake, 2007). In the Finnish/Australian discussion team, here I would insist on communication. Communication is very important in group discussion since we all have to get the person’s ideas clearly. One difference between Australian and Finnish culture on communication is that Finns like keeping silence after solving an issue while Australians believe in more conversation. So, to the Finns, I would introduce to them our need for more conversation during discussions. However, since I now understand the Finnish culture better, I can adjust to their norm of silence at times where to the, silence is taken positively unlike in Australia where we take it negatively. After learning that, I can create a balance between silence and conversation when we are interacting during the group discussions. I would also like my culture to import some norms from the Finnish culture especially on autonomy in teamwork. Finns divide the work into parts where each person does one part instead of going through the whole process as a big group. This method helps in saving time when doing class work. This is unlike with us the Australians where we go through the whole process as a team and we end up consuming a lot of time on one thing. With the Finns, the group starts with brainstorming, then they divide the work into individuals and then finalize as a group. There are a wide range of norms among my classmates and some of them are a challenge when discussing issues in class. For example, students from the United States do not stare but they like eye contact. In Australia we believe in both staring and maintaining eye contact especially when listening to our lectures or when discussing with our classmates. Just like the Australians, the Americans are informal in their approaches to other people; they prefer free speech and candor. Those from Germany are usually formal when approaching others. In our class made of students from such countries, we need to adapt to the norms of each other for a successful multicultural class. For example, Germans can adapt to the norms of informality when approaching others. This would be important when holding class discussion and it creates a free learning environment. We the Australian should also adapt he norms of the Americans of maintaining eye contact and not staring since if we stare at them during class discussions we might create tension. This can also hinder an effective face-to-face team in the class. Generally, we have to adapt to the norms of each other so that we can have a free learning environment. The main difference between Australian and Finnish culture on communication and coordination is on autonomy and verbal communication. With the Finnish, there is a large barrier when a subordinate is communicating with the superior and autonomy may be implied unlike in Australia where an employer and an employee can communicate amicably (Beamer & Varner, 2001). Australians consider verbal communication as positive and see importance of using the words such as ‘please’ and ‘promise’. The Finnish people assume that these words go without saying. They therefore prefer keeping silence. However, to have a successful multicultural face to face team, it is very important for each of us to adapt to the norms of the other. For example, in the group discussion, we as the Australians should try to adopt the autonomy of the Finnish members, try to practice it and compare it with our mode of work. Ta the same time, the Finnish should also try to practice our method and wee which works better. After trying the norms from both sides, the group members should evaluate to see which works better and the adopt it. On communication, it is good to first asses whether the Finnish appreciate our mode of verbal communication as opposed to their silence. If they do prefer it, we can compel them to adopt it since it would be difficult for us the Australians to adopt silence which is not considered positive. Having a common ground on the conflicting aspects of culture can help us have a successful team of Australians and the Finnish (Nakane, 2007). Personal evaluation The experience of learning in a multicultural environment has made me realize so many things that I did not know about myself. First thing, I did not know how different my norms are from those of other people. The interaction in the class has enabled me to realize this. I have however discovered that learning in a multicultural environment requires a lot of patience and understanding. Another thing I discovered about my taken-for-granted schemas is that am very rooted in them. Cultural schemas influence every aspect of behavior. For example, how we have been interacting with our Australian classmates was also reflected on how I was interacting with the foreign students. My pats experiences when handling conflicts, when presenting ideas and when approaching others greatly contributed to how I did the same things with the foreign students. These are some of the aspects that I have been taking for granted but I came to realize that they have an impact on how I carry out myself. The multicultural learning happened in a very successful way. However, in the beginning we faced various challenges before we got acquainted with each other’s norms but patience and understanding enabled us to deal with these challenges. After that, everything went on smoothly, we learnt from each other and adopted some norms which we found beneficial to our academic work. There are many factors that I personally learnt from the class. One of the most important things that I would take from the class is how cultural interaction makes learning was easier. This is because other people have simpler ways of doing things that appear difficult when done on our cultural context. Therefore, before approaching a problem, it is important to know how other people from different cultures do it since they may have easier ways. This is an insight that I leant from the multicultural class and that will guide me in the future global team memberships. The international collaboration gave me a very useful exposure of how things vary globally. With this experience, I am well equipped to team up with members from any country in the world. This is because I have learnt to be patient and have understanding when dealing with people from different cultures (Pedersen, 2004). Conclusion Multicultural learning gave me a very nice experience both academically and socially. This is very important within and outside the classroom. The experience has really expanded my knowledge on many matters of life. However, I have learnt that culture is very diverse in the world. People have very different norms some of which they are deeply rooted into. I have also learnt how cultural schemas influence my current behavior. However, with much interaction with foreign cultures, one is able to change some norms. However, it is also important for one to maintain and observe own culture for reasons of identity. At the same time, flexibility is important so that one can change where it is necessary for example in multicultural learning. References Beamer, L., & Varner, I., (2001). Multicultural communication in the workplace, 2nd ed. Boston: Mc graw Hill. Pedersen, P., (2004). 110 experiences for multicultural learning. New York: American Psychological Association. Smitz, P., & Blake, B., (2007). Australian language & culture. Melbourne: Lonely Planet. Nakane, I., (2007). Silence in intercultural communication: perceptions and performance. Sydney: John Benjamin’s Publishing Company. Read More