Education That is MulticulturalModule 3

Cultural Sensitivity &

Communication

Casey Keyser

Today’s Objective

• To recognize bias and stereotyping

• To learn how to speak up against bias and stereotyping without blame or guilt

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

Today’s Ground Rules

• Keep an open mind• Participate in the activities• Listen and respect other points of view• Honor starting and stopping times• Silence all electronic devices

What is Bias?

It is…

Bias is…

A predisposition to see things or people in a certain way. You can be biased toward some people and predisposed to see them in a positive light.

Likewise, you can be predisposed to see others in a negative light, based on their appearance, group, etc.From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

Stereotyping and You

• Think of a time when you heard a racial/ethnic slur/joke or a prejudicial comment. How did you react? If you could replay the incident, would you respond differently? If so, how?

Write a response to each of these questions:

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

Your Experience?

Stereotyping and You

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

• Assume Good Intent / Explain Impact

• Rephrase

• Repeat and question/ Ask a question

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

• Interrupt and redirect

• Make it Individual or Broaden to Universal Human Behaviors

• Say “Ouch!”

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Assume Good Intent / Explain Impact

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

When you assume the best, there is no need to blame or insult the person who just said something biased or demeaning.

There are effective ways to speak up.

For example, “I’m sure you meant that to be funny. That stereotype is no joke. Unfortunately, some people actually believe that.”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Rephrase

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World

by Leslie C. Aguilar

With this subtle technique, you do not directly point out the language that was demeaning. Rather, you restate it in a more inclusive way when the opportunity arises. This is helpful when you do not want to interrupt the flow of conversation, yet you want to leave more inclusive language in people’s minds.

For example, someone comments, “Both Christians and Non-Christians attended the ceremony.”

Rephrase: “People of many faiths attended the ceremony.”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Repeat and question/ Ask a question

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World

by Leslie C. Aguilar

Repeat: Sometimes people don’t realize what they’ve said. Repeating a question gives them a chance to rethink their comment.

For example, “It sounds like you are saying… Is that what you really mean?”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Repeat and question/ Ask a question

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World

by Leslie C. Aguilar

Ask a question: This is an easy, low risk, highly effective tool that everyone can use. You can change the outcome of a situation through the use of a non-blaming question.

For example, “What do you mean?” “What are you saying?” “What is it that leads you to say that?”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Interrupt and redirect

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

This technique changes the direction of the conversation abruptly, without necessarily soliciting further discussion.

Imagine someone makes a slur or begins a joke that you suspect will be derogatory.

Your response might be,

“Let’s not go there.” or “Let’s not assume that all…”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or GuiltReveal the Contradiction

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World

by Leslie C. Aguilar

This technique may reveal that while a certain behavior or characteristic may be true of an individual, it is not true of everyone in a group.

Stereotypical statement: “Supervisors don’t care about us.”

Seek Contradictions: “Don’t you know any supervisors who do care?”

Stereotypical statement: “Immigrants don’t even try to speak English.”

Seek Contradictions: “Actually, I’ve met dozens who have learned English or are trying to learn it. It’s not an easy task.”

Techniques for Taking Action Without Blame or Guilt

Just Say “Ouch!”

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

“Ouch!” Says…

Your words had a negative impact on me.

“Ouch” is a word that says a lot with little effort.

Communicating Respect and Inclusion

While we may never be completely free of all bias, we can work toward communicating in bias-free ways that are most likely to respect and include the listener.

From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World by Leslie C. Aguilar

 

     ”… We all grow up in different environments, with different influences and experiences that shape our opinions and views of life. 

…In spite of our differing views and opinions, it's important to realize that what constitutes a "good" human being cannot necessarily be judged by the external things one sees about them.” 

John Alston, “To Relate Well to Others, Practice Understanding” Feb 8, 2006

“Communication provides the legs for bias, carrying it from person to person, from generation to generation.

Eventually, however, communication will be the way to end discrimination.”John N. Bailey, Past President,

International Association of Business Communicators Without Bias

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”

Anthony Robins

What are the implications in an educational setting?

For Group Discussion. . .

Thank you

for your participation, openness, and honesty.

Afrikaans (Africa) - Dankie

Arabic - Sukran

Burma(Myanmar)  - Jae Zu Din Pa De (Thank you)

Cantonese - M'goy (sp? -- thank you for the service)

Cantonese - Do jey (sp? -- thank you for the gift)

Cherokee (Eastern) - Skee (Thank you)

Chinese (Mandarin) - Xie_Xie (shieh shieh)

Danish - tak (tahg)

German - Danke (dahn'-kuh)

Greek - Efharisto (ef-har-ris-tou')

Greek - Efkaristo poly

Hawaiian - Mahalo

Hebrew - Toda (toh-dah')

Hindi - Shukriyaa , Dhanyavaad

Italian - Grazie (grahts'-yeh)

Japanese - Arigato (ah-ree-gah'-toh)

Japanese - Domo arrigato

Korean - Kamsa hamaida (kam'-sah hum-nee-dah' )

Polish - Dziekuje (dsyehn-koo-yeh)

Spanish - Gracias (grah'-syas)

Swahili - Ahsante (ah-sahn'-teh)

Vietnamese - Kam ouen

Xhosa (Africa) - Nkosi

Yiddish - A dank - Yasher Koach (KOY-ACH)

Yoruba - Modupe

Zulu - Ngiyabonga

Final Thought

• All human beings are programmed by cultural “software” that determines our behavior and attitudes.

• Once we recognize what our programming teaches us, we have the capacity to control our choices.

Awareness + Knowledge = Choices