Human Diversity in Action Workbook

Human Diversity in Action

Developing Multicultural
Competencies for
the Classroom
Kenneth Cushner
Kent State University
Work book | 1
Ive often thought there ought to be a manual to hand to little kids, telling them what
kind of planet theyre on, why they dont fall off, how much time theyve probably got
here, how to avoid poison ivy, and so on. . . . And one thing I would really like to tell them
about is cultural relativity. I didnt learn until I was in college about all the other cultures,
and I should have learned that in the first grade. A first grader should understand that his
or her culture isnt a rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and
they all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there
are lots of alternatives to our own society. Cultural relativity is defensible and attractive.
Its also a source of hope. It means we dont have to continue this way if we dont like it.
Kurt Vonnegut, 1974
This may be the start of that manual.
Kenneth Cushner, 2006
About the Author

Kenneth Cushner (Ed. D.) is Executive Director for International Affairs and Professor in the
College and Graduate School of Education at Kent State University. He is a frequent contributor
to the professional literature in multicultural and intercultural education and is internationally
known for his work in the professional development of educators through workshops and
consultation. Among his publications, Dr. Cushner is the author or co-author of Human
Diversity in Education: An Integrative Approach, 5th ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2006); Beyond Tourism:
A Practical Guide to Meaningful Educational Travel (Scarecrow Education, 2004); International
Perspectives on Intercultural Education (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998); Intercultural
Interactions: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed. (Sage Publications, 1996), and Improving Intercultural
Interactions: Modules for Cross-Cultural Training Programs, Volume 2 (Sage Publication, 1997).
Dr. Cushner has developed and led international travel programs on all seven continents. In his
spare time, Dr. Cushner enjoys music (percussion and guitar), travel, and photography.
Work book | 2
Table of Contents
Preface
xi
Online Resources for Human Diversity in Action xv
Part I Getting to Know the Culture of Self

Activity 1
Mental Maps of Culture: An Icebreaker
4x
Activity 2
Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity
Activity 3
The Nature of Culture and Culture Learning
Activity 4
Childhood Experiences
12
Activity and Reading 5

Understanding Cultural Complexity
13
Activity 6
Proverbs as a Window into Ones Culture
18

Cultural Values in American Society
23x
Activity 8
Family Tree: Tracing Ones Roots and Family Experiences29x
Activity 9
Who Am I?
32

The Culture Learning Process
34
Part II Getting to Know the Culture of Others: Intercultural

Interaction
Activity 11
Adjustment to Change
45

A Culture-General Framework for
Understanding Intercultural Interactions
48
Activity 13
Critical Incident Review
58
Activity 14
Observing Cultural Differences
69
Activity 15
Learning About Others
70
Work book | 3
Activity 16
Community Scan: Analyzing Available Resources
That Support Multicultural Education
72
Activity 17
Stereotypes and Their Impact on Interaction and Learning.................................75
Activity 18
Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack
78
Activity 19
Interviewing Non-Native English Speakers about
Their Experiences in This Country
81
Activity 20
What Does It Feel Like to Be Excluded?
84
Activity 21
Gender Role Socialization
88
Activity 22
Observing Gender Differences
90
Activity 23
The Plight of Women on a Global Scale
93
Activity 24
Sexual Orientation: A Matter of Experience?
96
Activity 25
The Student with Special Needs
100
Activity 26
Understanding Religious Diversity
102
Activity 27
Institutional Discrimination: Social Class in Focus
104
Activity 28
Writing Your Own Critical Incidents
107
Part III Modifying Curriculum and Instruction to Address the

Goals of Diversity
Activity 29
Futures Window
109
Activity 30
Ethnic Literacy Test: A Cultural Perspective
Differentiating Stereotypes from Generalizations
113
Activity 31
Determining Bias in Textbooks
129

Learning Styles
131
Work book | 4

The Goals of an Education That Reflects Diversity
134

Modifying Existing Instructional Material to
Reflect the Goals of Diversity
137
Activity 35
Now Its Your Turn: Modify a Lesson to Address
the Goals of Diversity
142
Activity 36
The Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (ICCS)
144
Glossary
150
References
152
Work book | 5
Preface
We find people becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent, both on the
domestic front as well as across the globe. The smooth functioning of many governments,
economies, and businesses increasingly requires more people to have greater awareness,
knowledge, and skill in order to interact effectively with those whose cultures may be
quite different from their own. It is increasingly clear that people must strive to better
understand those who are culturally different as well as to make themselves better known
to others. This will be no simple feat given what we know about the manner in which
people learn about others.
Why It Is Important to Use This Workbook
The fields of cross-cultural training and intercultural education continue to grow in
response to these very real needs. One thing that stands out in the research of
intercultural education and training is the critical role that meaningful experience plays in
culture learning. That is, while it is relatively easy to transfer a significant amount of valid
information to others through cognitive approaches such as lectures, books, and films, just
having new information itself is not sufficient to make people behave any differently. Thus,
typical multicultural courses that emphasize lecture and readings may fall far short of
achieving the very goals they set out to accomplish; students and teachers just do not
become more effective in their interpersonal interactions or in modifying their instruction
simply by being presented with new information. Rather, people learn to live and work
more effectively with others as a result of long-term immersion and active experiences
that engage the emotions, and often precede or accompany cognitive inputs.
This workbook was developed with the intent of providing the student of culture with
structured experiences designed to increase awareness, knowledge, and skill in
intercultural understanding and interaction with the ultimate impact being on teachers
and students in schools. Through this workbook, students and instructors can become
actively engaged in many practical exercises that examine critical elements of the
educational process that are influenced by culture. They can then discuss their
experiences with others, gaining comfort with what are often difficult concepts and topics
to speak about. Thus, users of this workbook benefit by reflection, dialogue, and
collaboration.
Work book | 6
To the InstructorUsing the Workbook

This workbook will be useful to those teaching a variety of courses where culture and/or
human diversity are central elements. People have found these exercises to be of value in
such courses as multicultural, global or international education; social studies or other
methods courses that require students to attend to diversity in very real ways; new
student orientation courses that emphasize diversity issues; as well as in a variety of field
experience settings, including student teaching seminars. This collection of activities can
also be a very useful addition to the professional development of practicing teachers,
providing the workshop consultant with a variety of activities designed to bring aspects of
diversity to the forefront.
To the StudentWhy You Are Using This Workbook

It is important that you understand that you must be an active participant in your own
learning if you are to truly understand diversity and issues surrounding culture. Culture
learning is not effectively accomplished in a passive mode. Thus, this workbook is
designed to be consumable, and is intended to be linked closely with the content you are
reading about in your textbook. That is, you are encouraged to write in this workbook and
to use the various exercises as guides to help you develop a more culturally sensitive
approach to your interactions with others, and ultimately a more authentic approach to
teaching and learning.
The Organization of the Workbook
This workbook provides several exercises that are presented in three different sections, or
levels of culture learning. Part I provides basic content related to the concept of culture
and the development of self. It is essential that anyone seriously interested in exploring
the complex phenomenon of culture and intercultural interaction look closely at the
various dynamics that have gone into the formation of self. Part II provides basic
frameworks and skills in the analysis of cultural differences and the processes involved in
intercultural interaction. Part III presents exercises to provide insight into cultures
influence on teaching and learning as well as a number of strategies that can be used to
modify existing curriculum and instruction. You are encouraged to use these exercises over
a relatively long period of time, such as throughout a semester or academic year, as the
changes that we are all required to make, both within ourselves as well as within our
institutions, are quite dramatic and will not happen overnight.
Acknowledgments
A project such as this cannot develop and improve without the insights and assistance of
many individuals. To this end, the following individuals deserve thanks:
Work book | 7
CharlesErvin,FloridaA&MUniversity*LynFroning,UniversityofAlabamaatBirmingham*CarolynB.
Hines, University of Southern Indiana * Regina M. Schaefer, University of La Verne * Ellie-Ann
Shahinian Baldwin, Mesa State College * Howard Starks, Wayne State University *
Gary Stiler, University of Southern Indiana * Anh Tran, Wichita State University *
Kathleen Wheeler, York College
Work book | 8
p a r t
o n e
Getting to Know the

Culture of Self
Work book | 8
A c t i v i t y
Mental Maps of Culture: An Icebreaker

Purpose
1.
To reflect upon your early experiences related to culture and intercultural

interaction.
2.
To learn about others as you each share and discuss your early experiences
and understanding of the concept of culture.
Instructions
Reflect upon some of the experiences you had growing up that may have
influenced your understanding of the concept of culture. Perhaps you grew up in an
environment that was filled with culturally diverse experiences and encounters. Or,
perhaps you were raised in a rather segregated or protected environment and had
little direct experience with people different from yourself. When did you first learn
about different people? How did you react to this experience? What messages did
others give youeither intentionally or not, that you still remember today? How
have you come to understand the concept of culture today? Reflect back over your
life and try to recall events and experiences along the way that have influenced
your feelings and thoughts about people from different cultural backgrounds.
In the space below, or on another sheet of paper, make a drawing or diagram
that includes your experiences and your thoughts, feelings, and understanding
related to culture. Then, using your drawing, introduce yourself to one or two other
people while sharing your experiences with culture. In your discussion, look for
similarities and differences in your feelings and thoughts, the events and
experiences that contributed to their development, and the people who influenced
you along the way.
Work book | 9
A c t i v i t y
Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

Purpose
To complete a self-assessment instrument regarding your intercultural
experiences.
Instructions
The following questionnaire asks you to rate your agreement or disagreement with
a series of statements. Please respond honestly as there are no correct answers.
You will find another copy of this in the last section of the workbook that you can
complete at a later time. You can compare your responses from the beginning to
the end of the book.
Please circle the number that best corresponds to your level of agreement with
each statement below
1 = Strongly Disagree 7 = Strongly Agree
1. I speak only one language
1234567
2. The way other people express themselves is

very interesting to me
1234567
3. I enjoy being with people from other cultures1234567
4. Foreign influence in our country threatens our
national identity
1234567
5. Others feelings rarely influence decisions I make1234567
6. I cannot eat with chopsticks
1234567
7. I avoid people who are different from me
1234567
8. It is better that people from other cultures avoid

one another
1234567
9. Culturally mixed marriages are wrong
10.I think people are basically alike
1234567
1234567
11.I have never lived outside my own culture for any

great length of time
1234567
Work book | 10
12. I have foreigners to my home on a regular basis 1234567

13.It makes me nervous to talk to people who are
different from me
1234567
14.I enjoy studying about people from other cultures1234567
15.People from other cultures do things differently
because they do not know any other way
1234567
16.There is usually more than one good way to get
things done
1234567
17.I listen to music from another culture on a
regular basis
1234567
18.I decorate my home or room with artifacts from
other countries
1234567
19.I feel uncomfortable when in a crowd of people1234567
20.The very existence of humanity depends on
our knowledge about other people
1234567
21.Residential neighborhoods should be culturally
separated
1234567
22.I have many friends
1234567
23.I dislike eating foods from other cultures
1234567
24.I think about living within another culture in the future1234567

25.Moving into another culture would be easy 1234567
26.I like to discuss issues with people from other cultures1234567
27.There should be tighter controls on the number of
immigrants allowed into my country
1234567
28.The more I know about people, the more I dislike them1234567
29.I read more national news than international news
in the daily newspaper
1234567
30.Crowds of foreigners frighten me
1234567
31.When something newsworthy happens I seek out

someone from that part of the world to discuss
the issue with
1234567
32.I eat ethnic foods at least twice a week
1234567
Scoring the ICCS

The ICCS can be scored by subscales. Simply insert the number circled on the test form in
the spaces provided under each subscale heading. Reverse the values for the items
marked with an asterisk (*). For instance, reverse scoring results in:
7=1, 6=2, 5=3, 4=4, 3=5, 2=6, 1=7
Work book | 11
Then, add the values in each column for the subscale score. A total ICCS score is obtained
by adding the various subscale scores together. Individuals can be ranked relative to
others in a particular group. You can also identify relative strengths and weaknesses that
may lead to more focused orientation and planning.
ICCS Scoring Guide
C Scale
item score
Subject ID_______________
B Scale
item score
I Scale
item score
1*
____
____
____
6*
____
7*
____
8*
____
11* ____
13*
____
14
____
12
____
19*
____
20
____
17
____
25*
____
26
____
18
____
30
____
31
____
23* ____
24
____
29* ____
32
____
item
A Scale
E Scale
score
item score
4*
____
5*
____
9*
____
10
____
15* ____
16
____
21* ____
22
____
27* ____
28* ____
Totals
C Scale = ____
B Scale = ____
I Scale = ____
A Scale = ____
E Scale = ____
Total ICCS Score = ____
* Reverse score all items marked with * as these are negatively worded items.
Work book | 12
Interpreting the Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

The ICCS is a 32-item instrument that provides dimensional scores for individuals on each
of five subscales. Individuals can be ranked relative to others from high to low levels of
sensitivity on issues and experiences related to cross-cultural or intercultural interaction
(the higher the score, the more sensitive an individual is presumed to be). While the ICCS
should not be used in a predictive manner, results can be used to raise peoples
awareness of some of the issues to consider prior to intercultural interaction. (The
technical details of the ICCS can be found following the ICCS in Part 3.)
The five subscales and the range of scores include:
Subscale
Range of Scores
Cultural Integration (C Scale): assesses the degree

to which an individual integrates elements from
cultures other than their own into their daily activities. 1070
Behavioral Scale (B Scale): assesses the degree to
which an individual has adopted behavior that is new
or has a degree of comfort when interacting with others.
642
Intellectual Interaction (I Scale): assesses the degree

to which an individual seeks out knowledge of other
cultural orientations.
642
Attitude Toward Others (A Scale): assesses the degree
of openness toward others.
535
Empathy Scale (E Scale): assesses the degree to

which an individual identifies with the feelings of others535
Total Score Range
32224
In which areas are you strongest? Weakest?
What are some things you might do in order to increase your abilities in each of the
dimensions of the scale?
Work book | 13
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
The Nature of Culture and Culture Learning

Purpose
To identify qualities that characterize the concept of culture.
Instructions
Read and review the following material. Respond accordingly in the space provided
using examples from your own life.
The process by which people come to believe that there is a right way to think,
express themselves, and act in other words, how people learn their culture, is
called socialization. It is the process by which individuals learn what is required of
them in order to be successful members of a given group, whatever that group
may be. Socialization is such a potent process that people are hardly aware that
other realities can exist. The result is ethnocentrism, the tendency people have
to judge others from their own cultures perspective, believing theirs to be the
right or correct way to perceive and act within the world.
Most people in todays industrialized societies can be considered to be
multicultural because they have been socialized by a number of different
individuals or groups that influence their behavior and thought patterns (e.g.,
gender, nationality, ethnicity, social class, religion, and so forth). At this point, it
may be helpful to look at how culture, in the broadest sense, influences peoples
behavior. Brislin (2000) and Cushner and Brislin (1996) offer a discussion of
features that are helpful in understanding cultures influence on behavior and that
can be applied to the multiple influences suggested above. This list is summarized
below. You should consider each, and then apply it to your own lives and
experiences with the various groups with which you interact. First, individually
identify examples from your own past that reflect each of the aspects of culture.
Then, share your responses in small groups. Be ready to share an example of each
aspect with the larger group.
1. Culture usually refers to something that is made by human beings rather

than something that occurs in nature. Thus, while sand along a beach may
be a natural occurrence, the condominiums along the beachfront are not.
My example:
Work book | 14
2. Culture concerns itself with peoples assumptions about life that are often
unspoken or hidden from consciousness. Thus, most Americans, when
putting a hand out to greet someone new, assume they will do likewise and
then can shake hands. This may not be the case when meeting someone
from Japan.
My example of an aspect of my culture that I believe is hidden or a secret:
3. Culture is a collective creation that most members of the group practice. In

the United States, as well as many other countries, it is common for people
to unconsciously walk on the right side of a hallway or sidewalk. In other
countries, such as Britain, Australia or New Zealand, it is common for
people to walk on the left side of hallways and sidewalks.
My example of something most people from my cultural group practice that might
be different from another group:
4. There exist clear childhood experiences that individuals can identify that
help to develop and teach particular values and practices. For instance, the
American value of individualism is often introduced to young people
through early jobs they may have had (paper routes, babysitting, etc.).
My example of something I did in my childhood that teaches a cultural value or
practice:
Work book | 15
5. Because culture is often a secret and most people do not share a common
vocabulary and understanding, people are often unable to comfortably
discuss cross-cultural problems with others. Thus, cultural differences
become most evident in well-meaning clashes.
My example of a culture clash that occurred because people did not understand
the differing cultural perspectives that were operating at the time:
6. Culture allows people to fill in the blanks so they do not have to repeat the
rules for every action to other members of the group. Thus, when someone
is invited to a happy hour after work, it is clear to most people that they
should expect to spend no more than a couple of hours at the bar or pub,
and not plan to make a night of it.
My example of a common behavior that seems mostly automatic and commonly
understood:
7. People experience strong emotional reactions when their cultural values are
violated or when a cultures expected behaviors are ignored. Thus, recent
rulings in France that students heads must remain uncovered in school has
drawn strong criticism from the Islamic community.
My example of a strong emotional response I have observed when peoples
cultures clash:
8. When changes in cultural values are contemplated, like legalizing same-sex

marriages or outlawing the right of citizens to carry handguns, the reaction
that this will be a difficult uphill battle is likely.
My example of a major cultural change that is or was difficult for people to make:
Work book | 16
Work book | 17
A c t i v i t y
Childhood Experiences
Purpose
To identify early socialization experiences that have influenced ones cultural
values, beliefs, and practices held today.
Instructions
In order for culture to be a shared phenomenon it must be effectively transmitted
to the young. Recall example 4 in Activity 3, Clear childhood experiences that
individuals can identify exist that help to develop and teach particular values and
practices. Identify three examples of cultural beliefs, values, and practices that are
expected of successful representatives of American culture (or another culture
with which you are familiar). Your list will include desirable beliefs, values, and
behaviors.
Beliefs
Values
Behaviors
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
Next, consider an example from each column. What childhood experiences did you
have that may have helped you to develop the cultural traits that are expected of
you? (For instance, a paper route helps one develop responsibility, individuality,
business sense, initiative, and so forth.) Describe early childhood experiences that
may have helped you to achieve the desired and expected outcome.
Work book | 18
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
Understanding Cultural Complexity

Purpose
To help you identify the complex and rather broad manner in which people
use the concept culture.
Instructions
Review the following material and respond accordingly at each section.
The definition of cultural diversity that is most useful given the time and
circumstances in which we live encompasses not only those individuals whose
ethnic or cultural heritage originates in another country, but also those among us
who have been socialized by different groups, those who may have special
educational and other needs (e.g., those who are deaf), those who may share
significantly different lifestyles (e.g., rural and urban children, people who live in
extreme poverty), those who are significantly influenced by variations in class and
religion, and so forth. In other words, culture is a very broad term, and in many
ways, by this definition, everyone in a pluralistic society such as the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Israel, and so on can be considered,
to some degree, multicultural.
The Deaf population is often used as an example of a group that has
developed a unique culture with both subjective (invisible) and objective
(observable) elements. People often think of deaf persons as being just like persons
who can hear, except that they sign instead of speak. In most situations, this is not
the case; the Deaf community has a culture specific to its members. Speech, for
instance, is not valued, and is often considered inappropriate. Most people who are
deaf do not sign Standard English (e.g., put signs together in Standard English
word order) except when signing with hearing people. When interacting with other
deaf people, American Sign Language (ASL), which has its own syntax, is used.
Accompanying the use of a distinct language among the Deaf population are
patterns of behavior that are particular to the group, including some early
childhood socialization practices. Children of deaf parents may grow up in
environments with much greater visual orientation lights may accompany a
ringing telephone or doorbell, or people may depend upon gestures in
interpersonal communication. The Deaf community is also very tightly knit, placing
strong
emphasis
on
social
and
family
ties.
Eighty to ninety percent of people who are hearing-impaired marry others with hearing
losses. Thus, a strong in-group orientation develops, making it difficult for outsiders who
do not know ASL to enter.
Work book | 19
Interactions between hearing and Deaf populations are often filled with feelings of
anxiety, uncertainty, and a threat of lossfeelings that are all similar to those
encountered in other intercultural exchanges. Using this as an example, it is easy to see
the range of possible intercultural interactions that can occur between individuals and
groups that have distinct subjective cultures.
The field of cross-cultural psychology offers educators the following set of ideas or
principles that can be used to study the complexity of culture in schools and communities
as well as in the classroom (Pedersen, 2000).
1. People tend to communicate their cultural identity to others in the broadest
possible terms.
For instance, upon meeting someone for the first time you may communicate many
different things about yourself; including your age, nationality, ethnic group, religious
affiliation, where you grew up, and the nature of your family. At other times you may
describe your status at work or in the community, your health, your social class, or the
way you have come to understand your gender. In other words, people often share such
things as demographic information, ethnographic information, as well as information
about their status and various affiliations. Each of these sources of cultural identity carries
with it associated rules for behavior. We offer such information to new acquaintances
because by doing so we give them cultural clues regarding what to expect from us and
how to interact with us.
People, thus, have multiple cultures influencing them at various times: their
nationality, ethnicity, religion, and gender, to name just a few. Each and every one of us
may be considered multicultural. It might be helpful for people to consider themselves to
be composed of hundreds of different cultural influences.
What are some of the significant forces in your life that you can identify at this time?
Try to identify at least three different cultural influences that guide your behavior and
thinking. Then tell how each influences you.
Cultural Influence
How It Guides Me
_____________________________
___________________________________
_____________________________
___________________________________
_____________________________
___________________________________
_____________________________
___________________________________
_____________________________
___________________________________
_____________________________
___________________________________
Work book | 20
2. Culture is not static, either in the individual or in the group. Ones cultural
identity is dynamic and always changing.
As our environmental circumstances and group associations change, we adapt our cultural
identity and behavior patterns accordingly. In certain circumstances our gender-related
knowledge and beliefs may be predominant; at another time our religious beliefs may be
most evident; and at still other times our ethnicity may be at the forefront. Thus, our own
multicultural nature leads to behavior variations that are sometimes difficult to
understand and appreciate.
Consider two situations you have experienced when distinctly different cultural forces
influenced your thoughts and/or actions.
3. Culture is complex, but it is not chaotic. Good students of culture look for
patterns in peoples behavior. When these patterns are understood, the
complexity that was perceived at first can be better understood.
Culture helps individuals make sense of their world and, thereby, to develop more routine
in their behavior to fit different environments. Common phrases such as the culture of
the organization, the culture of the community, or the culture of the society refer to
the fact that culture is not simply patterned for an individual, but also for a setting, a
community, or a society as a whole. When viewed from the outside, these patterns can at
first appear quite complicated and difficult to understand. Yet each of us moves quite
easily among the many different cultural patterns with which we are familiar. When
confronted by someone whose behavior is not familiar it is the responsibility of the
outsider to listen, to observe, and to inquire closely so that the patterns of that person (or
social group, or society) become evident and understood. To do so decreases the
possibility of misunderstanding and conflict, and increases the likelihood that new and
useful understanding and appreciation will be gained.
Try to identify a situation with which you are familiar where different patterns of
expectations and behavior are evident. In what ways do these patterns differ from other
similar contexts with which you are familiar (for instance, you may be aware that the
Jewish celebration for the New Year is different from the Christian celebration). Briefly
describe this context to the best of your ability.
Example:
4. Interactions with other cultures can be viewed as a resource for learning.
Work book | 21
Culturally different encounters help to prepare individuals to deal more effectively with the
complexity that is increasingly a part of life. That, in essence, is one of the major goals of
an education that is multiculturalfor people to become more complex thinkers, bring
more insights into various situations, and thus be more accurate in their interpretations of
others behavior. In short, the number of cultural variables we learn to accommodate will
determine our ability to navigate within a fast-moving, ever-changing society.
Tell of an occasion where you interacted with someone from another culture. What do
you think you learned about that group as a result of your interaction? How certain are
you that your knowledge is accurate?
Interaction:
What I learned:
Is my knowledge accurate?
5. Behavior should be judged in relation to its context.

This means that observable behavior cannot be understood apart from the context in
which it occurs. Seen outside its context, anothers different behavior can, at best, seem
meaningless, and, at worst, be profoundly misinterpreted. Contextual inquiry allows us to
be accurate in our judgments of others.
Work book | 22
Consider this example of a particularly troublesome 11-year-old boy who would

become rowdy and disruptive in the classroom every day about 2:00 in the afternoon.
Inevitably, the teacher sent the child to the office where, because it was late in the day,
he was promptly sent home. Defined in terms of the middle-class cultural context of the
school, this was definitely a troubled child, and he was so labeled by nearly all the adults
in the building. Eventually, an astute counselor recognized a pattern and did some inquiry.
It turned out that the mothers boyfriend came home every day about 2:45, oftentimes
quite drunk and abusive. In his rage, the boyfriend frequently abused the mother. The boy,
quite accurately understanding the cultural patterns of the school and the home, figured
out that his misbehavior would result in his being sent home, and that if he was sent
home by 2:30, he would arrive before the boyfriend and thus be able to protect his
mother. Suddenly our so-called troubled boys behavior makes sense and he becomes
something of a hero because he found a way to protect his vulnerable mother. Again,
without full knowledge of the context, behavior is often meaningless or badly
misinterpreted.
Give an example of an instance where you initially misunderstood something that was
going on. How did you come to finally understand that the situation was different from
how it initially appeared?
Work book | 23
6. Persons holding a multicultural perspective continually strive to find common

ground between individuals.
In a sense, we must strive to be cross-eyed. That is, we must be able to see the
similarities among people as well as their differences. While it is the differences that tend
to stand out and separate people, it is precisely in our similarities where common ground,
or a common meeting point, can be found. A multicultural perspective allows two people
to disagree without either being wrong. In other words, dialogue between people can
continue, which is a key to furthering cross-cultural understanding and mediating
differences between people. In this view, cultural differences become tolerable and an
us-them or a we-they debate is avoided. There are no winners and losers. We are all in
this together. Either we all win or we all lose.
Give an example of a compromise you are aware of. What common ground was found
between the two parties? How was the common ground established?
Work book | 24
A c t i v i t y
Proverbs as a Window into Ones Culture

Purpose
1.
To examine proverbs as a reflection of culture.
2.
To explore the influence of American mainstream values on behavior and

educational practice.
3.
To compare mainstream values with those of other groups.
Instructions
Generating a list of proverbs you have grown up with is an excellent way to explore
underlying values that may guide your own behavior. This proverbs exercise has
three components:
1. Generate a list of proverbs that you recall hearing as you grew up or that
influence you today.
2.
Identify what underlying value is expressed by the proverb.
3. State how this value or belief might influence your beliefs and behavior as a
teacher.
In small groups, try to find at least four proverbs for which you can complete all
three parts. Groups should be as homogeneous as possible (e.g., all males or
females; separated by ethnicity; etc.). Subsequent group discussions can then
consider culture-specific experiences. For instance:
Proverb
The early bird catches the worm.
Underlying Value
Initiative
Influence on Education
A person holding this value might more readily take advantage of the educational
opportunities provided to him or her.
Proverb
Work book | 25
Work book | 26
Underlying Value
Proverb
Underlying Value
Proverb
Underlying Value
Work book | 27
Proverb
Underlying Value
Proverbs: A Cross-Cultural Survey

Following are examples of proverbs from other cultures. Consider some of these, and in
small groups discuss what you think the underlying value might be and examples of
proverbs from your own culture that you believe are similar.
African
He who sows nettles does not reap roses.
A horse that arrives early gets good drinking water.
By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree.
Little by little grow the bananas.
It takes a village to raise a child.
African American
You got eyes to see and wisdom not to see.
Muddy roads call the milepost a liar.
Every bell aint a dinner bell.
The graveyard is the cheapest boarding house.
Work book | 28
Arabic
An empty drum makes a big sound.
If you take off clothes you are naked. If you take away family, you are nothing.
Doing things quickly is from the devil.
If you want to know somebody, look at her or his friends.
Do not stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles.
Live together like brothers and do business like strangers.
Canadian
Dont sell the bearskin before you kill the bear.
Chinese
Ice three feet thick isnt frozen in a day.
If one plants melons, one gets melons.
The plan of the year is in the spring. The plan of the day is in the morning. The plan of
life is in hardship.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Talk doesnt cook rice.
German
Joy, moderation, and rest shut out the doctors.
Young gambler, old beggar.
Indian
I grumbled that I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.
With every rising of the sun think of your life as just begun.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Israeli
Keep a small head.
If youre clever, keep silent.
Life is not a picnic.
Light is not recognized except through darkness.
Dont spit into the wellyou might drink from it later.
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
A half-truth is a whole lie.
Dont be too sweet lest you be eaten up; dont be too bitter lest you be spewed out.
Italian
He who knows little quickly tells it.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.
He who knows nothing doubts nothing.
Japanese
You will gain three moons if you wake early in the morning.
Work book | 29
Even monkeys fall from trees.

You cant get clams from a field.
Too many skippers bring the boat to the mountain.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
Fast ripe, fast rotten.
The reverse side also has a reverse side.
Mexican
To win a dispute is to gain a chicken and lose a cow.
True friendship is one soul shared by two bodies.
Of doctor and poet, musician and madman, we each have a trace.
The sun is the blanket of the poor.
Native American
After dark all cats are leopards. (Zuni)
Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself. (Pima)
Every animal knows more than you do. (Nez Perce)
It is less of a problem to be poor than to be dishonest. (Anishinabe)
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax. (Navajo)
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. (Dakota)
Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. (Blackfoot)
Polish
Fish, to taste good, must swim three times: in water, in butter, and in wine.
The greater love is a mothers; then comes a dogs; then a sweethearts.
Do not push the river, it will flow by itself.
A good painter need not give a name to his picture, a bad one must.
Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.
A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year.
Russian
Every peasant is proud of the pond in his village because from it he measures the sea.
Every road has two directions.
The hammer shatters glass but forges steel.
He who doesnt risk will never get to drink champagne.
Ask a lot, but take what is offered.
Spanish
One bird in the hand is worth one thousand flying.
Your getting up early doesnt make the sun rise earlier.
Dont speak unless you can improve on the silence.
From a fallen tree, all make kindling.
If your house is on fire, warm yourself by it.
Work book | 30
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
Cultural Values in American Society

Purpose
To explore the relationship between cultural values and their expression in
institutions, especially the American school, and to consider how some of these values
may be changing.
Instructions
Read the following discussion of traditional American values. Then, respond to the
questions according to how you see the particular value expressed in society.
American culture is complex, and many would say that it is difficult to identify a
national culture or what might be called typical American cultural patterns. Many
European Americans, for instance, think of themselves as having no culture, as being
citizens of a nation too young to have really developed a culture. Nothing, however,
could be further from the truth. Every group of people with any history has created a
culture that pervades their thoughts and actions. American society is rich with diverse
cultural patterns that, for many, come together in the schools. Since cultural patterns
associated with the European American middle class have provided the foundation in
most schools in this society, these patterns will be analyzed in terms of the school
experience and school readiness. You should be making comparisons to other groups
within American society.
A brief reflection on American history suggests that those who colonized North
America had relatively weak ties to their homelands. The extended family,
important in the country of origin, was separated, leaving the nuclear family as the
predominant source of strength and identity. This had a tremendous influence on
the development of the American character, since peoples orientation had to
shift from the larger collective to the individual or nuclear family unit. It is here that
we see the beginnings of an individualistic orientation. In addition, as people came
to settle the United States, the need to adjust to uncertainty, as well as to focus on
change and development for survival, became paramount. Many of these values
are in conflict with those held in many ethnic communities today.
Over the years, a dominant European American middle-class culture emerged
that rests on six major values. In the previous exercise you explored values by
looking at proverbs and sayings that have become a part of our folk wisdom. Since
such proverbs express the values of a people, they are an excellent indicator of the
folk-knowledge that supports and integrates society.
Work book | 31
Reflect upon each mainstream value presented below and how it has influenced
schools. Then, try to identify where another groups cultural value might be in support or
conflict with it. If you represent a non-American culture, what values are reflected in your
home society? Then, respond to similar questions.
1. European Americans have a tendency to view themselves as separate from
nature and able to master or control their environment.
As a result, a high value is placed on science and technology as the predominant
means of interacting with the world. This results in objectivity, rationality, materialism,
and a need for concrete evidence. Proverbs and sayings such as Necessity is the mother
of invention, and Well cross that bridge when we come to it reflect this belief.
How do you see this value expressed in society?
How do you see this value expressed in schools?
Can you identify a cultural group whose values might be in conflict with this one? Support
your response.
Do you have any indication that this value is undergoing change in recent years? If so,
please explain.
2. European Americans are action-oriented.

As with number 1, this results in measurable accomplishments and an emphasis on
efficiency and practicality. Progress and change thus become important concepts. Our
schools expect such an orientation, as evidenced by an emphasis on testing and
measurement as well as a nearly religious belief in the efficiency of paperwork
assignments. Proverbs such as Seeing is believing, and The proof is in the pudding
emphasize this cultural trait.
Work book | 32
Work book | 33
your response.
please explain.
3. European Americans have a future orientation; they believe in the

promise that things will be bigger and better.
Most middle-class European Americans are seldom content with the present; they
wish not to be considered old-fashioned, and they believe that effort applied in the
present will affect their future. Progress is, in many ways, their most important
product. Proverbs such as I think I can, I think I can, and A penny saved is a
penny earned, reflect this tendency.
your response.
Work book | 34
Work book | 35
please explain.
4. European Americans are self-motivated and comfortable setting their own

goals and directions.
From an early age, the majority of European Americans are encouraged to reach out
on their own, to attempt for themselves, to satisfy their own needs. Such proverbs as
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, If at first you dont succeed, try, try again, and
The early bird catches the worm, reflect this trait.
your response.
please explain.
Work book | 36
5. European Americans have a strong sense of individuality.

The belief that the self as an individual is separate from others results in a tendency
to emphasize individual initiative, independence, action, and interests. From an early age,
children are encouraged to make their own decisions and to develop their individual skills
and abilities, and in the traditional school, children are expected to work alone in their
seats, rarely coming together for group work. Proverbs such as Too many cooks spoil the
broth, Dont judge a book by its cover, and God helps those who help themselves
stress this value.
Work book | 37
your response.
please explain.
6. Finally, European Americans believe in the mutability of human nature.

This belief, that it is relatively easy to change and that a cultural environment can
mold people, underlies the assimilationist ideology that has pervaded American public
education for so many years. A stranger is only a friend you havent met yet, and
Leaders are made, not born may reflect this notion.
Work book | 38
your response.
please explain.
Work book | 39
Activity
Family Tree: Tracing Ones

Roots and Family Experiences
Purpose
To discover your familys experiences in past generations and compare them
with those of immigrants and refugees today.
Instructions
Respond to the reflective questions below.
Most people in the United States can trace their family history, or roots, to
someplace other than where they currently reside. Speak with family members and
look through old family photographs (if you have any) to trace your familys
heritage as far back as possible. If you were adopted or do not know your
ancestors, respond in terms of an adoptive or foster family, or one with which you
closely identify. Respond to the following questions as best you can and share your
responses with others.
From what parts of the world did your family (or families) originate?
What motivated your ancestors to leave their homeland for a New World?
When did they leave? If your ancestors were always in North America,
what was their life like prior to European contact?
What hardships did your ancestors face in previous generations, either when
they first arrived or soon after contact? What did they do to overcome any
hardships? Do they recall any prejudice that was experienced?
Work book | 40
What did your ancestors do in the previous two or three generations? How did
this influence what the family does today?
What languages did your ancestors speak? What has happened to these
languages in your family today?
What family traditions or practices have been performed over the years that
are special or unique to your family?
What do you know of the meaning behind your family name? How, if at all, has
it changed over the years? Do you know the reason for any changes?
How are the experiences of your family similar to or different from those faced
by various immigrants or refugees today?
Work book | 41
In what ways was this exercise easy or difficult for you to do? Under what
circumstances might an exercise like this be difficult for a student to do? What
might you do as a teacher to modify it in special circumstances?
Work book | 42
A c t i v i t y
Who Am I?
Purpose
To generate a list reflecting the categories with which you identify.
Instructions
Complete the statement, I am a(n) ___, rather quickly 20 times in the spaces provided
below. Do not think too long about your responses as no answers are right or wrong.
1. I am a(n) ___________________.
2. I am a(n) ___________________.
3. I am a(n) ___________________.
4. I am a(n) ___________________.
5. I am a(n) ___________________.
6. I am a(n) ___________________.
7. I am a(n) ___________________.
8. I am a(n) ___________________.
9. I am a(n) ___________________.
10. I am a(n) ___________________.
11. I am a(n) ___________________.
12. I am a(n) ___________________.
13. I am a(n) ___________________.
14. I am a(n) ___________________.
15. I am a(n) ___________________.
16. I am a(n) ___________________.
17.
I am a(n) ___________________.
18. I am a(n) ___________________.

19. I am a(n) ___________________.
20. I am a(n) ___________________.
When you have finished, divide your responses according to the underlying categories you
are able to recognize. This strategy can help you gain a picture of the image you have of
yourself.
Work book | 43
How many entries represent individual

traits (singer, dancer, student, for instance)?______________
How many entries represent collective
affiliations (member of a choir or
dance company, for instance)?
________________
Ethnic group identification is often used to describe human groups who share a
common historical heritage, a sense of peoplehood, or the feeling that ones
own destiny is somehow linked with that of others.
How early on your list did ethnic identity appear? _________
What does its placement suggest about you and your identity with an ethnic
group? If it appeared toward the bottom of the list, to what do you attribute
this? If it appeared toward the top of the list, to what do you attribute this? If it
did not appear at all, to what do you attribute this?
What would you miss if your ethnicity were taken away from you?
Compare your responses with those of others in your class. Discuss the
relative number of individualistic versus collective references on your list. How
does the placement of your ethnic-group identity relate to the number of
individualistic or collective identifications on your list? What might this mean
about the importance of ethnicity to some people?
Work book | 44
Activity
and
Reading
10
The Culture Learning Process

The following is further expanded upon in Human Diversity in Education: An Integrative Approach, 5th ed., 2006, Kenneth Cushner, Averil McClelland, and Philip
Safford
Purpose
To identify the results of major socializing influences on your life.
Instructions
As suggested earlier, individuals tend to identify themselves in a broad manner
and in terms of many physical and social attributes. For example, a young man
might identify himself as an attractive, athletic, Asian American who intends to be
a doctor and live in upper-class society. It is important to note that others also
identify individuals according to these attributes and that interactions among
individuals are often shaped by such identifications. Incorporated into Figure 10-1
are twelve such attributes or manifestations of culture that researchers suggest
influence teaching and learning. Who learns what, how, and when it is learned will
be briefly described below. You will be asked to examine yourself in regard to each
of these attributes.
Work book | 45
What Is Learned: The Attributes of Culture

Race
Biologically speaking, race refers to the clustering of inherited physical
characteristics that favor adaptation to a particular ecological area. However, race
is culturally defined in the sense that different societies emphasize different sets of
physical characteristics when referring to the same race. In fact, the term is so
imprecise that it has even been used to refer to a wide variety of categories that
are not physical, such as linguistic categories (the English-speaking race), religious
categories (the Jewish race), national categories (the Italian race), and even to
somewhat mythological categories (the Teutonic race). Although race has often
been defined as a biological category, it has been argued that race as a biological
concept is of little use because there are no pure races. Recent research in
mapping the genetic code of five people of different races demonstrates that the
concept of race has no scientific basis (Akron Beacon Journal, 2000). In the United
States, race is judged largely on the basis of skin color, which some people
consider very meaningful and use as a criterion for extending or withholding
privileges of various kinds. Racism results from the transformation of race
prejudice and/or ethnocentrism through the exercise of power against a racial
group defined as inferior, by individuals or institutions, with the intentional or
unintentional support of an entire culture. Simply stated, preference for or belief in
the superiority of one own racial group might be called racism.
Work book | 46
How is race evident in your life?
Sex/Gender
Sex is culturally defined on the basis of a particular set of physical characteristics. In this
case, however, the characteristics are related to male and female reproduction. Cultural
meanings associated with gender are expressed in terms of socially valued behaviors
(e.g., nurturing the young and providing food) that are assigned according to sex. Such
culturally assigned behaviors eventually become so accepted that they are thought of as
natural for that sex. Thus, gender is what it means to be male or female in a society, and
gender roles are those sets of behaviors thought by a particular people to be normal and
good when performed by the assigned sex.
How is sex/gender evident in your life?
Health
Health is culturally defined according to a particular groups view of what physical,
mental, and emotional states constitute a healthy person. The expert opinion of the
medical profession usually guides a societys view of health. Although a medical model
has dominated cultural definitions of health in Western societies, most disabilities (mental
retardation, deafness, blindness, etc.) are not judged in terms of this models norms. Thus
it is possible to be a healthy blind person or a healthy person with mental retardation. Nor
would a person with cerebral palsy be considered sick.
In the United States and most of the industrialized world, the prevailing health system
is almost totally biomedical. However, alternative systems such as acupuncture, holistic
medicine, and faith healing are available, and the acceptance of alternative systems
varies widely both within and between social groups.
How is health evident in your life?
Work book | 47
Ability/Disability
As with definitions of health, ability and disability are culturally defined according to
societys view about what it means to be physically, emotionally, and mentally able. The
categories of ability and disability refer to a wide variety of mental and physical
characteristics: intelligence, emotional stability, impairment of sensory and neural
systems, and impairment of movement. The social significance of these characteristics
may vary by setting as well. For example, the terms learning disability or learning
disabled are terms primarily used with reference to schooling and are rarely used outside
of school. Indeed, it may be that the current emphasis on learning disability in American
schools is primarily a reflection of a technologically complex societys concern about
literacy.
How is ability/disability evident in your life?
Social Class
Social class is culturally defined on the basis of those criteria on which a person or social
group may be ranked in relation to others in a stratified (or layered) society. There is
considerable debate about the criteria that determine social class. Some identify class
membership primarily in terms of wealth and its origin (inherited or newly earned). Other
commonly used criteria include the amount of ones education, power, and influence.
How is social class evident in your life?
Ethnicity/Nationality
Ethnicity is culturally defined according to the knowledge, beliefs, and behavior patterns
shared by a group of people with the same history and the same language. Ethnicity
carries a strong sense of peoplehood, that is, of loyalty to a community of memory
(Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swindler, and Tipton, 1985). It is also related to the ecological
niche in which an ethnic group has found itself and to adaptations people make to those
environmental conditions.
Work book | 48
The category of nationality is culturally defined on the basis of shared citizenship that
may or may not include a shared ethnicity. In the contemporary world, the population of
most nations includes citizens (and resident noncitizens) who vary in ethnicity. While we
are accustomed to this idea in the United States, we are sometimes unaware that it is also
the case in other nations. Thus, we tend to identify all people from Japan as Japanese, all
people from France as French, and so forth. Similarly, when American citizens of varying
ethnic identities go abroad, they tend to be identified as Americans. Being ChineseAmerican, for instance, may mean little outside the borders of the United States.
Work book | 49
How are the concepts of ethnicity and nationality evident in your life?
Religion/Spirituality
Religion and spirituality are culturally defined on the basis of a shared set of ideas about
the relationship of the earth and the people on it to a deity or deities and a shared set of
rules for living moral values that will enhance that relationship. A set of behaviors
identified with worship is also commonly shared. Religious identity may include
membership in a worldwide-organized religion (e.g., Islam, Christianity, Judaism,
Buddhism, Taoism), or in smaller (but also worldwide) sects belonging to each of the
larger religions (e.g., Catholic or Protestant Christianity, or Conservative, Reformed, or
Hasidic Judaism). Religious identity may also include a large variety of spiritualistic
religions, sometimes called pagan or Goddess religions. These are often but not always
associated with indigenous peoples in the Americas and other parts of the world.
How are religion and/or spirituality evident in your life?
Geographic Location
Geographic location is culturally defined by the characteristics (topographical features,
natural resources) of the ecological environment in which one lives. This may include the
characteristics of ones neighborhood or community (rural, suburban, urban), and/or the
natural and climatic features of ones region (mountainous, desert, plains, coastal, hot,
cold, wet, dry). It has been argued that in the United States, ones regional identity
functions in the same way as ones national heritage. Thus southerners, westerners, and
midwesterners are identified and often identify themselves as members of ethniclike
groups, with the same kinds of loyalties, sense of community, and language traits.
How is geographic or regional identity evident in your life?
Work book | 50
Age
Age is culturally defined according to the length of time one has lived and the state of
physical and mental development one has attained. Chronological age is measured in
different ways by different social groups or societies. Some calculate it in calendar years,
others by natural cycles such as phases of the moon, and still others by the marking of
major natural or social events. Most humans view such development as a matter of
stages, but the nature and particular characteristics of each stage may differ widely.
In most western societies, for example, age cohort groups are usually identified as
infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Normal development markers
include the acquisition of motor and language skills (infancy and childhood), the ability to
understand and use abstract concepts (childhood and adolescence), and the ability to
assume responsibility for oneself and others (adolescence and adulthood). In other
societies, these cohort groups may differ. For example, in many nonwestern societies, the
cohort group we define as adolescents may not exist at all, and the classifications of
childhood and old age may be longer or shorter. Also, different societies place different
value on age, some placing more emphasis on youth while others venerate the aged.
How is age evident in your life?
Sexuality
Sexuality is culturally defined on the basis of particular patterns of sexual selfidentification, behavior, and interpersonal relationships (Herek, 1986). There is growing
evidence that ones sexual orientation is, in part, a function of ones innate biological
characteristics (LeVay and Hunter, 1994). Culturally speaking, sexuality is tied to a
number of factors: sexual behavior, gender identity (both internal and external), affiliation,
and role behavior. Like health, sexuality has a variety of orientations. Because sexuality is
frequently linked to ones deepest, most meaningful experiences (both religious and
interpersonal), people who deviate from socially approved norms are often socially
ostracized and sometimes physically abused or even killed. This is currently the case with
homosexuality in the United States, where the prevailing view of sexuality is bimodal; only
male and female are identified as possibilities. In other societies, additional possibilities
are available. The Lakota Sioux, for example, approve four sexual orientations: biological
males who possess largely masculine traits, biological males who possess largely feminine
traits, biological females who possess largely feminine traits, and biological females who
possess largely masculine traits. The role of the female-identified male in Lakota society is
called berdache, and is accorded high honor as possessing multiple traits and
characteristics. Berdache tend to be teachers and artists, and if a berdache takes an
interest in ones child or children, it is considered to be an advantage.
How is sexuality evident in your life?
Work book | 51
Language
The cultural definition of language is a shared system of vocal sounds and/or nonverbal
behaviors by which members of a group communicate with one another (Gollnick and
Chinn, 1990). Language may be the most significant source of cultural learning because it
is through language that most other cultural knowledge is acquired. Considerable research
on the relation of brain function to language gives evidence that human beings are hard
wired for language development at a particular stage in brain development (Chomsky,
1966). That is, children who are in the company of other people appear to be
programmed to learn whatever spoken language or sign system is used around them.
Children even invent their own language systems, complete with syntactical structures, if
no other language is available. It may also be that this program decreases in power (or
disappears altogether) at a certain point, helping to explain why it is more difficult for
older children and adults to acquire a new language. Language is meaningful in terms of
both its verbal properties (what we name things, people, ideas), and in terms of its
nonverbal properties (its norms regarding interpersonal distance, meaningful gestures,
and so forth).
How is language evident in your life?
Social Status
Social status is culturally defined on the basis of the prestige, social esteem, and/or honor
accorded an individual or group by other social groups or by society (Berger and Berger,
1972). Social status cuts across the other categories, since every social group or society
appears to construct hierarchies of honor, prestige, and value with which to sort out its
members, often on the basis of such attributes as race, age, gender, ability, religion, and
so forth. In some cases, social status varies with social class; in many other cases,
however, social class does not explain ones status in a social group or society. Thus,
persons may occupy a high place in the class system in terms of income and power but
not be accorded prestige or honor. The children of a newly wealthy family who can well
afford to be sent to Harvard, for example, may have little prestige among the sons and
daughters of inherited wealth. Similarly, there may be people accorded high status in the
society who occupy relatively low-class positions. In U.S. society, many entertainers and
sports figures fit this description.
How is social status evident in your life?
Work book | 52
While there is some overlap among these twelve attributes of culture, the important point
to remember is that a particular society or social group culturally defines each of them.
The cultural identity of all individuals (i.e., their knowledge, attitudes, values, and skills) is
formed through ones experience with these twelve attributes.
Now, look closely at the twelve attributes of culture listed below. Allow these to
represent some of the hundreds of cultural influences that impact each individual,
including yourself. Take the time to examine your own background in terms of each of
these. While before you merely identified how each of these attributes was evident in your
life, here you should examine how your views on the world, your behavior, and your
values have been influenced by each of these.
For instance, for geographic location, a student might say she or he is from the state
of Washington, which is relatively conservative but quite environmentally responsible. The
person might value the wilderness and nature in general, and enjoy being outdoors.
Race:
Sex/gender:
Health:
Ability/disability:
Work book | 53
Social Class:
Ethnicity/nationality:
Religion/spirituality:
Geographic location:
Age:
Sexuality:
Work book | 54
Language:
Work book | 55
Social status:
Which of the attributes holds the most significance for you?
Which of the attributes holds the least significance for you?
How is involvement in the groups that are important to you expressed in your
day-to-day life?
Give examples of experiences you have had that have increased or decreased
your sense of belonging to a certain group.
Work book | 56
Which groups place you at an advantage in American society? How?
Which groups place you at a disadvantage in American society? How?
Share your responses with others in small groups. Were there some aspects
that were more difficult to discuss than others? What do you notice about the
different responses provided by peers who you consider to be in a similar group
as you? What does this suggest about within-group differences?
Work book | 57
p a r t
w o
Getting to Know the

Culture of Others:
Intercultural Interaction
Work book | 58
Activity
11
Adjustment to Change
Purpose
To identify the emotional responses that can occur during a major transition
experience, and relate them to international and/or intercultural adjustment.
Instructions
What major transitions have you had in your life? Identify one that extended over a
rather lengthy period of time. Perhaps you moved to another state, another section
of town, or a new neighborhood within your town or city. Perhaps you recall
beginning a new school, going to summer camp, or moving into a dormitory as a
freshman in college. Draw a graph in the space on the next page that traces your
emotional responses during that experience from the time when you first began
the experience until the time when you felt completely at home.
My Transition Experience
h
i
g
h
E
M
O
T
I
O
N
S
l
o
Work book | 59
w
time
Cross-cultural trainers consider adjustment to be an on-going process that is experienced
in five general phases: pre-departure or pre-contact, arrival or initial meetings, culture
shock, culture learning where relationships are built, and pre-departure and re-entry. What
phases of your experience reflect ones that are similar to the adjustment process?
To what do you attribute major changes in your graph? What helped you overcome any
difficulties you may have encountered?
What would you suggest to others as they encounter similar major adjustments in their
lives?
How might you use your experience to prepare for a significant cross-cultural encounter?
Work book | 60
How might the adjustment process be evident for students in schools? For teachers?
For parents?
For students:
For teachers:
For parents:
Work book | 61
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
1 2
A Culture-General Framework for Understanding

Intercultural Interactions
Purpose
To identify concepts that cut across diversity and have an impact on
intercultural interactions in the school, classroom, and community.
Instructions
Read the following content and respond to the reflective questions that follow.
It is rather difficult to think about preparing people to interact with others of any
specific culture given the diversity of most schools and communities in the United
States. Fortunately, researchers in the fields of cross-cultural psychology and
intercultural training have identified concepts and experiences people are certain
to confront regardless of their own background, the cultures with which they are
interacting, and their particular role in the new cultural setting. One useful model,
presented by Cushner and Brislin (1996), is referred to as the 18-Theme CultureGeneral Framework. Because this model is deliberately general, its usefulness lies
in its adaptability to any intercultural encounter. This model allows us to capture
the experience of cultural differences from a variety of perspectives (emotional,
informational, and developmental), and to offer frameworks within which specific
problem situations can be addressed.
Work book | 62
Stage One: Understanding Emotional Responses in

Intercultural Interaction
In any intercultural encounter, peoples emotions are quickly aroused when they
meet with unpredictable behavior on the part of others or when their own behavior
does not bring about anticipated responses. It is important to note that the nature
and strength of these emotional reactions quite often surprise the people involved.
This is often the case with students from some backgrounds who may not have
anticipated the differences between their own culture and that of the school. It is
also the case for teachers who find themselves in a school or classroom context
that is significantly different from their prior experience. Recognizing,
understanding, and accommodating the strong emotional responses people are
certain to have when involved in intercultural interactions is critical to successfully
negotiating them. Below is a list of the emotional responses people most often
confront when interacting with an unfamiliar culture. A brief discussion of these
responses follows.
Work book | 63
Anxiety
Ambiguity
Disconfirmed Expectations
Belonging/Rejection
Confronting Personal Prejudice
Anxiety: As individuals encounter unexpected or unfamiliar behavior of others, they are
likely to become anxious about whether or not their own behavior is appropriate. Children
in new schools, families in new communities, and teachers in new schools will all
experience some degree of anxiety as they attempt to modify their own behavior to fit the
new circumstances. Feelings of anxiety may result in a strong desire to avoid a situation
altogether, and individuals sometimes go to great lengths to do so, all the while
rationalizing their avoidance behavior on other grounds.
Can you think of times when anxiety was evident in your life and how it might have
interfered with your ability to function most effectively?
Ambiguity: When interacting with those who are culturally different, the messages
received from the other person are often unclear, yet decisions must be made and
appropriate behavior somehow produced. Most people, when faced with an ambiguous
situation, try to resolve it by applying culturally familiar criteria. People who are effective
at working across cultures are known to have a high tolerance for ambiguity. That is, in
situations where they do not have full understanding of what is going on, they are skilled
at asking appropriate questions and modifying their behavior accordingly.
Can you recall times when things have been ambiguous, unclear, or uncomfortable
for you, yet you still had to function? What did you do that helped you to do what needed
to be done?
Work book | 64
Disconfirmed Expectations: Individuals may become upset or uncomfortable, not

because of the specific circumstances they encounter but because the situation differs
from what they expect. Despite our recognition that differences are all around us, we
have a tendency to expect others to think and behave in ways similar to ourselves.
Most people interact with others expecting that others will think and behave according
to preconceived, often inaccurate notions. They then act on those inaccurate
judgments, and find that their actions do not produce the intended result.
Work book | 65
Can you recall a time when you experienced disconfirmed expectations and
thought the situation would be one way when in fact it was quite different? How did you
reconcile this difference?
Belonging/Rejection: People have a need to fill a social niche, to feel that they belong
and are at home in the social milieu in which they find themselves. When people are
immersed in an intercultural interaction this sense of belonging may be difficult to achieve
because they may not know the rules of behavior in the new situation. Rather, they
often feel rejected as an outsider. When this sense of rejection is strong enough they
may become alienated from the situation altogether. Students, for example, who may feel
alienated from the classroom or school are more likely to become discipline problems and
have difficulty paying attention to classroom work.
Can you recall a time when you felt as if you did not belong? How did this make you
feel? How did you respond? What might you suggest to another who has similar feelings?
Confronting Personal Prejudice: Finally, when involved in cross-cultural interactions,

one may be forced to acknowledge that previously held beliefs about a certain group of
people or certain kinds of behaviors may be inaccurate or without foundation. Such a
revelation may result in embarrassment or shame. It may also require a basic change in
ones attitude and behavior toward others. And, since change is difficult even in the best
of circumstances, people often continue to harbor their prejudices even when faced with
contradictory evidence.
Can you think of a prejudice you might harbor about certain people? Can you think
of times when you found that your information about certain people was not accurate or
true?
Work book | 66
Stage Two: Understanding the Cultural Basis

of Unfamiliar Behavior
In addition to accommodating their feelings, both parties in an intercultural encounter
need to understand the cultural influences that direct one anothers knowledge base as a
means of understanding one anothers behavior. Individuals typically try to understand
another persons behavior according to their own cultural patterns. Put another way, since
most people do not have extensive experiences with people who think and act differently
from themselves, they tend to interpret anothers behavior in terms of their own cultural
frame of reference. In brief, we see what we expect to see, and with incomplete
information or inaccurate knowledge, we may make inappropriate judgments about a
given situation.
A relatively common example may illustrate this point. Some children from certain
cultural groups (e.g., some, but certainly not all, Latino and African American children) are
taught to demonstrate respect for elders or persons in authority by avoiding eye contact.
Hence a child being reprimanded by a parent or teacher may avoid gazing in that persons
eyes. On the other hand, most European American children (who end up being the
majority of the teachers in schools) are taught to look a person of authority directly in the
eye. Imagine the outcome of an interaction involving an African American or Latino child
being reprimanded by a European American teacher. The child, as she or he has been
taught, may look away from the gaze of the teacher to demonstrate respect. The teacher,
expecting eye contact as a sign of respect, interprets the childs behavior as suggesting
that He or she is not listening to me, or This child does not respect me. This incorrect
judgment may jeopardize future interactions between this particular teacher, student, and
family.
The individual skilled in intercultural encounters learns to seek alternative
explanations of unexpected behavior rather than simply interpreting such behavior
according to his or her own cultural framework. The question, Why is this behavior
occurring? precedes the question, What is the matter with this child?
There are many components of cultural knowledge, each of which reaches the
individual through a network of socializing agents. Regardless of the complexity of this
socialization process, the resulting knowledge base functions to give us satisfactory
explanations of the world, and tells us how best to interact with other people. Within this
knowledge base, however, the following kinds of knowledge are likely to differ across
cultures.
Communication and Language Use
Values
Rituals and Superstition
Situational Behavior
Roles
Social Status
Time and Space
The Group versus the Individual
Work book | 67
Communication and Language Use. Communication differences are probably the most
obvious problem to be overcome when crossing cultural boundaries. This is the case
whether the languages involved are completely different (e.g., Japanese, Kiswahili,
English, American Sign Language), are similar in root but not in evolution (e.g., French,
Italian, Spanish), or are variations or dialects of the same language (e.g., French and
French-Canadian, English and Ebonics). In any case, many people find it difficult to learn a
second (or third) language. In addition, nonverbal communication customs such as
facial expressions, gestures, and so forth, differ across cultures so that what a particular
gesture means to one person may have a very different meaning to someone from
another culture.
Can you think of instances where you have encountered communication
differences, both verbal as well as nonverbal?
Values: The development of internalized values is one of the chief socialization goals in
all societies. Values provide social cohesion among group members and are often codified
into laws or rules for living, such as the Ten Commandments for Christians and Jews or the
Hippocratic Oath for doctors. The range of possible values with respect to any particular
issue is usually wide, deeply held, and often difficult to change. For example, in the
dominant culture of the United States, belief in progress is highly valued and almost
religious in character. A teacher subscribing to that value may have a very difficult time
interacting with the parents of a young woman who seems not to value her academic
potential. The young womans parents may believe that she should assume the traditional
role of wife and mother after high school rather than seek a college education. The
teacher, on the other hand, may believe that the young woman should look to the
future, change with the times, and make progress for herself. These are not small
differences.
Can you recall instances where value differences came between you and someone
else? How did you reconcile these differences?
Work book | 68
Ritual and Superstitions: All social groups develop rituals that help members meet the
demands of everyday life. Such rituals vary in significance from rubbing a rabbits foot
before a stressful event to the intricate format of an organized religious service. The
difficulty, however, is that the rituals of one culture may be viewed as superstitions by
members of other cultures. Increasingly, children from a wide variety of religious and
cultural backgrounds bring to school behaviors that are often misunderstood and labeled
superstitious by others in the school or community.
Can you think of instances where one persons rituals may be interpreted by others
to be superstitious? Can you provide an example that might be evident in the school
context?
Work book | 69
Situational Behavior: Knowing how to behave appropriately in a variety of settings

and situations is important to all people. The rules for behavior in a particular
context are internalized at an early age and can be easily perceived to be broken by
one who has internalized a different set of rules for the same setting or situation.
Examples of this can be found in the workplace, in social settings, in schools, when
making decisions and solving problems, and deciding whom one should turn to in time
of need.
Can you think of instances where the rules and behavior you thought were
appropriate to follow were not expected in a certain context? How did you react? What did
you do to resolve the difference?
Role: Knowledge of appropriate role behavior, like that of situational behavior, may vary
from situation to situation and from group to group. How one behaves as a mother or
father, for example, may be different from how one behaves as a teacher. Likewise,
gender- and age-related behavior between groups may also differ in a significant manner.
Can you think of examples of how certain role-based behavior might differ across
cultures?
Social Status: All social groups make distinctions based on markers of high and low
status. Social class and social status are both the results of stratification systems,
whose role assignments may vary considerably from group to group. The role of aunt in
the African American community, for example, may hold much higher status than it does
in middle-class, European American society, with the aunt of an African American child
bearing a considerable responsibility for the well-being of that child. Middle-class
European American teachers, when confronted by a very pro-active aunt and unaware of
this status and relationship, may believe that the childs mother is somehow shirking her
duties.
Can you think of instances where you might have misinterpreted a given persons
status? What kinds of problems might this have caused?
Work book | 70
Time and Space: Differences in conceptions of time and space may also vary among
social groups. In addition to differences in the divisions of time (e.g., a week, a crop
harvest), groups vary in the degree to which time is valued. It is common for European
Americans, for example, to value punctuality since that is seen as an expression of
respect. However, measures of time and their value may be much more elastic in lessindustrialized societies where work is less synchronized. Similarly, the ease and comfort of
ones position in space vis-a-vis other people may vary. How close one stands to another
when speaking, and the degree to which one should stand face-to-face with another, are
both subject to cultural variation.
Can you recall instances where your concept of time differed in a significant way from
another person? Can you think of instances when anothers use of space seemed to
interfere with yours?
Relationship to the Group versus the Individual: All people sometimes act according
to their individual interests and sometimes according to their group allegiances. The
relative emphasis on group versus individual orientation varies from group to group and
may significantly affect the choices one makes. People from more collective societies, for
instance, may defer decisionmaking to other elders or relatives. People from more
individualistic societies, on the other hand, may be socialized to make most decisions
pretty much on their own.
Can you think of instances when people were responding more to the collective or
group when you would have done otherwise? Or when people stood more on their own
when you would have expected them to look to others for guidance and support?
Work book | 71
Stage Three: Making Adjustments and Reshaping

Cultural Identity
Finally, as a result of prolonged intercultural interactions, an individual may experience
profound personal change. That is, an individuals way of perceiving the world, processing
those perceptions, and viewing themselves as well as others may alter. Typically, for
example, individuals who have had significant intercultural experiences become more
complex thinkers. This is, of course, one of the central goals of multicultural education
since it enables people to handle more culturally complex stimuli, to be accurate in their
interpretations of others behavior, and thus to deal more effectively with the differences
they encounter. As individuals continue to have intercultural experiences, they become
less culture-bound and more understanding of how others perceive the world. Such
individuals can now see from another point of view; they are more complex thinkers and
can handle a greater variety of diverse information. They are also less likely to make
inaccurate judgments or attributions because they have the ability to inquire into behavior
and beliefs they do not comprehend, thereby improving their understanding. Think back to
the gaze-avoidance behavior in the interaction between the European American teacher
and the Latino or African American child referred to earlier. The interculturally
knowledgeable teacher would understand the meaning behind the childs gaze-avoidance
and thus more accurately judge the child to be listening and demonstrating respect.
While a person may have limited knowledge of the content of other cultures, we do
know that all people process information in similar ways. Important ways of processing
information are listed below, each of which can be investigated by the participants in
intercultural exchanges.
Categorization
Differentiation
Attribution
IngroupsOutgroups
Learning Style
Categorization: Since people cannot attend to all the information presented to them,
they create categories for organizing and responding to similar bits of information.
Cultural stereotypes, for example, are categories usually associated with particular groups
of people. People involved in intercultural interactions often categorize one another
quickly according to whatever category systems they have learned.
Can you think of situations where miscategorization was evident, that is, when one
person or group of people categorized certain information in one manner while another
individual or group categorized it differently?
Work book | 72
Differentiation: Information related to highly meaningful categories becomes more

highly refined or differentiated. As a result, new categories may be formed. Such
refinement or differentiation is usually shared only among people who have had many
experiences in common (e.g., doctors) and thus may be unknown even to those whose
general background is similar. A good example of this process is the way in which people
in Asia might differentiate the food rice. Because it is an extremely important part of
their diet, and thus way of life, it can be referred to in many different ways, by many
different terms, and can have many different uses. For most European Americans, rice is
not as important and, thus, fewer references are made to it. Or consider students in a
particular high school who differentiate their peers into groups such as brains, nerds,
and jocks. While a similar type of differentiation may occur in most high schools, the
particular categories and their meaning may differ considerably from school to school.
Can you think of other elements in your culture that are highly differentiated but
may not be so highly differentiated by others? Or, can you think of examples of an
element from another culture that is highly differentiated but is not so important in your
own group?
Attribution: People not only perceive others according to familiar categories, they also
make judgments about others based on the behavior they observe. People judge others,
for example, as competent or incompetent, educated or naive, well-intentioned or illintentioned. Psychologists call these judgments attributions, and tell us that within
about seven seconds of meeting someone new, initial judgments are made. These initial
sizing-up judgments, once made, are usually quite resistant to change. Human
judgments, however, are fallible, and certain errors occur repeatedly in human thought.
One of these, called the fundamental attribution error, describes the tendency people
have to judge others on different sets of criteria than they apply to themselves. Thus, if a
person fails at a given task, he or she is more likely to look to the situation for an
explanation: it was too hot, someone else was unfair to the person, the task was
unreasonable. If a person observes someone else fail at a task, he or she is more likely to
explain the failure in terms of the other persons traits: she is lazy, he is uneducated, she
is uncaring. This tendency is even more prevalent in cross-cultural situations because
there is so much behavior that is unfamiliar. Given the speed with which people make
judgments and the probable lack of intercultural understanding, attribution errors abound
in intercultural situations.
Can you provide examples when you may have judged a situation differently from
someone else? Or, can you think of a time when someone made an inaccurate attribution
about you that differed from how you would have judged yourself?
Work book | 73
In-groups and Out-groups: People the world over divide others into groups with which
they are comfortable and can discuss their concerns (in-groups) and those who are kept
at a distance (out-groups), oftentimes based on their own system of categorization and
differentiation. Those entering new cultural situations must recognize that they will often
be considered members of the out-group and will not share certain in-group behavior and
communication, at least at the outset. As a result, people may be kept from participating
in certain in-group activities, such as may happen when workmates get together on Friday
after a week of work.
Can you think of a situation where you thought you would be included in the in-group
but were not, or when you got together with your in-group and others were left out? Can
you think of times when others might be excluded for no other reason than they were not
considered a part of a particular in-group?
Learning style: Sometimes called cognitive style, learning style refers to ones preferred
method of learning and is very much under cultures influence. How (and what) one
perceives, the categories into which one places sensory stimuli, and whether learning is
preferred through observation, listening, or action are all, in part, culturally based.
Learning styles are partly the result of strengths and weaknesses in sensory perception
(ones hearing may be more acute than ones vision, for example). However, it is also the
case that cultural patterning may teach a child to attend to certain kinds of stimuli rather
than others, as when children from collectivist societies learn better in cooperative groups.
Can you think of culturally based examples of where ones learning style might be
in conflict with the teaching style of the teacher?
Work book | 74
Activity
13
Critical Incident Review

Purpose
To apply the 18-theme culture-general framework to critical incidents in an
educational context.
Instructions
Imagine what might happen in any intercultural interchange. People have certain
expectations of the outcomes of their own behavior as well as the motivations of
others. Add to this the fact that people have a tendency to make judgments or
attributions about others based on the behavior they observe. Such expectations
come primarily from their own socialization, predisposing them to view the world
from one particular perspective. When peoples expectations are not met, they
must reconcile the difference between the reality and their expectations
(disconfirmed expectations). Such is the basis of the strong emotional reaction
in cultural conflict. Many outcomes are possible, including:
People may feel extremely emotional and get upset, oftentimes without knowing what is
at play as culture is often a secret. As such, they may have a tendency to avoid further
cross-cultural encounters because they are perceived as unpleasant;
and/or
People may make faulty attributions, or assign inaccurate interpretations to the
meaning and intentions of someones behavior, accusing her or him of lacking sufficient
knowledge, cheating, being pushy in other words, interpreting events from their own
ethnocentric perspective and thus judging others by inappropriate standards;
and/or
People may begin to inquire about how others interpret or find meaning in their world. As
people begin to learn how others understand and operate from their own perspective or
subjective culture, true culture learning begins to take place. This suggests that people
have a need to broaden their knowledge base about others and about their own
socialization as well as that of others.
Work book | 75
The culture-general framework provides one such foundation of knowledge concerning

issues at play in intercultural interaction. Building such a knowledge base enables
individuals to understand and overcome the oftentimes unexpected but strong emotions
they are certain to encounter in themselves; to be more precise and accurate in their
interpretations of others behavior; and thus, to interact more effectively with those
different from themselves.
Following are a number of critical incidents designed to help you develop a foundation
in the culture-general framework. Read each incident, respond to the questions that
immediately follow, and select the alternative that best explains the situation. Feedback
on your responses is provided at the end of this activity.
An alternative strategy for working with critical incidents is to do the following in small
groups:
1. Read and discuss one incident. Be certain everyone understands the situation.
2. Rank order the alternative explanations. Which can you agree are probably the most
insightful explanations?
3. Then read the rationales that provide feedback on your choices.
4. Identify which of the 18 culture-general themes you think help explain the situation.
5. Relate the theme(s) to your own experience and/or to an educational setting. How
have you observed this theme in action? How do you think it might be present in
various classroom settings?
A Model Minority
Wellington Chang was a sixth-grade student in a San Francisco neighborhood elementary

school. Recently arrived from Hong Kong, he spoke very functional, though accented,
English.
His sixth-grade class was multiethnic with students of African American, Latino, and
various Asian backgrounds, as well as a few European Americans. His teacher, Mr.
Fenwick, was a competent teacher with more than 25 years experience in the classroom.
Of German heritage, Mr. Fenwick had watched as the districts population was transformed
into an incredibly heterogeneous mixture of ethnic and linguistic groups. He prided himself
on his ability to adapt to the ever-changing and complex environment.
Though Wellington seemed quiet enough at first, he increasingly exhibited what Mr.
Fenwick described as disruptive behavior, including talking, laughing, and teasing other
students. This perplexed Mr. Fenwick since his experience with Chinese young people was
that they were among the most hard-working and diligent students. Far from being
disruptive, Mr. Fenwick found most Chinese students to be relatively passive individuals
whom he had to encourage to be more participatory. Thus Wellingtons behavior seemed
to him particularly disturbing and he punished him more severely than other non-Chinese
students, even though his behavior was no worse than theirs. The principal noticed this
discrepancy and brought it to Mr. Fenwicks attention.
If you were the principal, how would you address this with Mr. Fenwick? From the 18theme culture-general framework, what issues might be operating unconsciously to
explain Mr. Fenwicks behavior?
Work book | 76
Now, given the following alternatives, which provides the most insight into the
situation?
1. Mr. Fenwick believes that no matter where they come from, all Chinese will behave in
the same manner.
2. Mr. Fenwick is operating from very limited experience with ethnic minorities in the
United States and does not realize that Wellingtons behavior is well within the normal
range for U.S. sixth-graders, regardless of their background.
3. Mr. Fenwicks expectations about the Chinese being a model minority cause him to
judge Wellington too harshly.
4. For some reason, Mr. Fenwick has taken a personal dislike to Wellington.
Typical American Practice

Class, Id like you to welcome Keiko, an exchange student from Japan, who will be
attending Central High School for the second semester, said Mr. Cooper at the beginning
of his American Government class. Keiko had experienced similar introductions in all of her
classes during her first day of school in the United States. The friendliness of the faculty
and students impressed her and made her feel right at home.
As time went on, however, Keiko felt that the teachers and students were ignoring
her more and more. Very few students talked to her, and only a couple offered a brief
greeting in the hallway or cafeteria. Some students, and even families, after talking with
her for a while, left saying things like, Well have to get together some time, or Ill call
you soon. This rarely seemed to happen, however. And although Keiko received mostly As
in class, her teachers hardly ever called on her in class. She began to wonder if she had
somehow offended the people at her new school, and she gradually became withdrawn
and isolated.
What do you think has happened here to cause this unfortunate situation? From the 18-theme
culture-general framework, what issues might be operating to explain the situation?
Work book | 77
Given the following alternatives, which would you select as most appropriate?
1. The students resent Keikos high grades and are showing their jealousy of her.
2. Americans have a tendency to offer foreigners a special welcome and then quickly
treat them like everyone else.
3. Keiko demands too much attention and has unrealistic expectations that everyone will
treat her in a special way.
4. The faculty members are obviously insincere in their initial welcomes. They are
probably acting on a directive from the principal.
The Students Are Anxious, but Why?

It was test week throughout the city, and teachers and parents were anxious about how
things would go this time around. In previous years the districts scores were among the
lowest in the state, and the school had been placed on Academic Emergency.
Today Mary McConnell was exhausted! Normally she could cope with the challenges of
being homeroom teacher for ninth graders, but today had been extremely difficult. All
morning her students had taken standardized tests and they had been impossible. They
had taken a long time to settle down in their seats; everyone had to sharpen their two
required pencils, and halfway through the process, the pencil sharpener had mysteriously
broken.
One boy just would not stop talking and cracking jokes from the back of the room. He
was often encouraged by remarks and giggles from the girls around him. Two girls had
flatly refused to take the tests, and Ms. McConnell had sent them to the principals office.
Three students had marked their answer sheets in patterns without even reading the
questions. Ms. McConnell had tried to enlist the students genuine participation, but they
had refused. Two of them then put their heads down on their desks and would not respond
to her at all.
Work book | 78
Mary McConnell knew she was facing a high level of resistance in the room; however, she
could not understand what was going on. Can you? What would you recommend she do?
From the 18-theme culture-general framework, what issues might be operating to explain
the circumstances?
Of the four alternatives below, select the response that, to you, best explains the situation.
1. The students were very anxious because they didnt like the strict time limits of
standardized tests.
2. These students had scored low on standardized tests in previous years and, because
they expected to do so again, felt quite anxious.
3. When the pencil sharpener broke and the students couldnt sharpen their pencils,
they became anxious about marking their answer sheets correctly.
4. The students did not like their daily classroom routine interrupted by such a long
activity.
Work book | 79
The Art Awards Ceremony

Tony, an African American high school student, had an interest in art that he pursued on
his own by visiting museums, reading books, sketching, and painting. Much of his work
reflected his African American heritage. Tony enrolled at midterm in the predominantly
white JFK High School. He took an art class and was encouraged by his teacher to develop
his talent. Tony entered several paintings in the school art show, received praise and
attention for his work, and went on to enter the all-city show, where he also did well. The
longtime principal of his school, a middle-aged European American, Mr. Tarbell, was
present at the awards ceremony and was delighted that one of his students received rave
reviews and an award. Congratulating Tony he said, Good work, Tony. We are proud to
have such a talented black student representing our school. You have an uncanny ability
to paint.
Mr. Tarbell was surprised when Tony simply walked away from him with no comment.
What do you think is going on in this incident? From the 18-theme culture-general
framework, what issues might help to explain Tonys behavior?
Of the following explanations, how might this behavior best be interpreted?

1. Tony was overwhelmed by all the attention and uncomfortable around someone in Mr.
Tarbells position.
2. Tony was offended by what Mr. Tarbell said.
3. Tonys friends likely motioned for him to come join them. Caught up in the excitement,
he simply went on over to them.
4. Tony, embarrassed and not used to the praise he was receiving, especially from the
school administration, left feeling uncomfortable.
The Missed Meeting

Mrs. Conant, an 11th grade social studies teacher, was concerned that a newly arrived
Lebanese student, Rema, was having difficulty in dealing with the material in her U.S.
History textbook. After Rema failed two consecutive tests, Mrs. Conant called Remas
parents and arranged a conference for 9:45 a.m. on Thursday during her free period.
Work book | 80
Before school on Thursday, Mrs. Conant prepared a list of her questions, concerns,
and recommendations regarding Rema and was looking forward to meeting the parents.
After teaching her first class, she made certain that the central office secretary would
direct the couple to her room, and then she returned there at 9:30 to await their arrival.
As 9:45 and then 10:00 passed and no one showed, Mrs. Conant became increasingly
puzzled and irritated.
When the clock read 10:10, Mrs. Conant assumed the parents had forgotten about the
appointment or had experienced car trouble. Therefore, she decided to spend the
remainder of her free period in the faculty lounge. On her way out the door, however, she
met the parents, who introduced themselves and said how happy they were to have the
opportunity to discuss their daughters progress. They made no mention of their lateness
and offered no apology or explanation.
Mrs. Conant, trying to hide her anger, told them that she had only a few minutes left
and tersely explained her perceptions of Remas difficulties. When the parents began to
give some feedback, the bell rang for the next class. Mrs. Conant cut them off, explaining
that she had another class to teach. The parents, looking confused and insulted, left an
angry Mrs. Conant returning to teach her class.
What would you say is the best explanation of the underlying problem of this unfortunate
incident?
Now, of the following alternative explanations, which do you think best explains the
cultural difference that may be operating?
1. Mrs. Conant was overly concerned about Remas minor academic problems. A
conference was really unnecessary, and the parents felt resentful about being
summoned to school and didnt really want to come in the first place.
2. Theparentswereobviouslyatfaultforbeingsolate.Theirlackofconsiderationforateachersvaluable
timeindicatestheyarejustnotveryconcernedabouttheirdaughterorthefeelingsofothers.
3. The parents and Mrs. Conant differ in their outlook on time and punctuality. Being 20
to 25 minutes late was no big deal to the parents, but it was very important to the
teacher.
4. Mrs. Conant resents having to give up her free period to have parent-teacher
conferences.
Work book | 81
Careful Preparation of Lectures

Robert, an experienced agricultural engineering professor from New England, felt
extremely fortunate to have been invited to spend four weeks in Texas training four groups
of young, English-speaking immigrant Mexican American farm workers. Each week he was
to teach a different group in the use and maintenance of some new farm machinery that
they were excited about using.
Robert spent hours in the instructional lab constructing diagrams explaining the use of
the machines as well as maintenance of their parts. He was especially pleased with the
diagrams he made that explained possible problems and actions one should take when a
problem occurred. This media, combined with his extensive lecture notes, company
operating manuals, videos, books, and computer software would assure the success of the
program.
Much to his surprise, Robert found this teaching experience to be an extreme struggle
both for himself and for his students. The first day seemed to go well, but the remaining
four seemed long and drawn out. The students often complained about a lack of
understanding. They were restless, talkative, and seemingly uninterested in what Robert
had to offer. This really confused Robert as he had assumed that the students would be
eager to learn the use of these machines that would ultimately improve crop yield.
What do you think is the source of the problem here?
Of the following, which best explains the situation?

1. Roberts students were much younger than those he had initially been trained to
teach.
2. Robert ignored the fact that most of his students speak Spanish (most commonly,
Tex-Mex) as well as English. He should have incorporated this into his presentation.
3. Migrant Mexican-American farm workers are not accustomed to learning from books
and papers. They often prefer to be taught with the real object.
4. The students resented Robert pushing his new technology on them and did not want
this new machinery interfering with the methods to which they were accustomed.
Work book | 82
The Chemistry Lab

Miguel, a 16-year-old Mexican student in Denver, has been in the United States for one
year and can speak and understand English well enough to function in school. He has
done well in his studies, carrying a 2.5 grade point average with his highest grades in
literature and history courses. He struggled through the first semester of chemistry,
however, with Ds and Fs on most tests, which were based on class lectures. His lab
reports salvaged his grade because they were always of the highest qualitya fact that his
teacher, Mr. Thompson, attributed mainly to the influence and help of Miguels lab partner,
Dave, the best student in the class.
When everyone was assigned a new lab partner for the second semester, Miguel was
paired with Tim, who was failing the course. Miguels lab reports, however, continued to
be excellent, and Tims also improved significantly. Mr. Thompson was puzzled by Miguels
performance.
How might Miguels performance in chemistry class be explained?
Now, of the following, which best explains the situation?

1. Miguel does not listen attentively to the class lectures and does not, therefore, take
adequate notes for the tests.
2. Miguel freezes up when taking tests.
3. Miguel learns better when he can discover things for himself and discuss his ideas
with others. Thus, the lab environment is ideal for him.
4. Miguel lacks the analytic mind necessary to be successful in the study of science.
5. The lab sessions are less demanding than the material presented in class lectures.
Work book | 83
Feedback on Critical Incidents

Rationales for: The Model Minority
1. You chose number 1. Hong Kong, where Wellington comes from, is a highly urbanized
environment. The majority of Chinese from the Peoples Republic come from a very
different, often rural, setting. In addition, socioeconomic and class differences
between Chinese from Hong Kong and Mainland China may also be at play. Mr.
Fenwick has mistakenly put all Chinese into a single category, failing to make the finer
distinctions necessary to more fully understand this group. This is the best response.
2. Youchosenumber2.WeknowthatMr.Fenwickhashadextensiveinteractionwithethnicminoritiesinthe
schoolsetting.Thereisamoreappropriateresponse.Pleasechooseagain.
3. You chose number 3. Prior experience and expectations can often predispose one to
expect certain behavior. In this case the text states that Mr. Fenwick did have certain prior
experiences with Chinese that were quite different from those he is having with
Wellington. It may very well be that Mr. Fenwick has unrealistic expectations of Wellington
given his prior experience. This answer is partially correct.
4. You chose number 4. There is no indication in the story that Mr. Fenwick has taken a
personal dislike to Wellington. Please select an explanation that reflects possible
intercultural interaction.
Rationales for: Typical American Practice

1. While jealousy and resentment over grades are always possibilities, there is no
evidence this is happening here. Please choose again.
2. Cultures differ in the amount of attention given to sojourners. Visitors to the United
States frequently comment that Americans are polite during initial interaction but
then seem indifferent at meeting the visitor a second or third time. For instance,
foreign students may be introduced and made to feel welcome, but those same
students seem to be forgotten a few days later. Keiko seems to be receiving this
typical American treatment. It would help if Americans and all hosts tried to put
themselves in the place of the newly arrived person and then try to make him or her
feel really at home, especially by including the person in social activities. In some
respects, Keiko has been accepted and treated as she would be if she were another
American. Keiko will have to work slowly to develop a more intimate, small ingroup
where she is one of the gang. This provides the best explanation.
3. This explanation has no basis in the narrative above. So far as we know, the faculty
members were apparently sincere in their welcome and acted on their own initiative.
Their behavior is the real problem, but their motives probably were not. Please choose
again.
4. Most sojourners have some type of unrealistic expectation, and Keiko is probably no
different. But she does not appear overly demanding of her hosts. Her puzzlement
and withdrawal seem well founded and understandable. Look elsewhere for the real
problem here.
Work book | 84
Rationales for: The Students Are Anxious, but Why?

1. You chose number 1. There is a grain of truth to this. For some students who work
slowly, strict time limits can be unnerving. In addition, people from some cultures do
not have the same orientation to time as others may. However, there is more going on
in this case. Please choose again.
2. You chose number 2. This is the best response for these circumstances. By the time
these students reached high school they may have had many negative experiences
with standardized tests, which tend to reflect white, middle-class culture and
suburban school settings. Their expectations of failure may be quite high. While most
probably could not verbalize the reasons for their reactions, they probably felt that
they wouldnt do well and therefore may have tried to avoid the situation and/or
relieve their tensions. This anxious behavior is what Ms. McConnell was seeing. If Ms.
McConnell had been sensitive to the issue at hand, she would have directly addressed
the students anxiety about test taking. The fact that she did not, and that the
students did not identify the cause of their uneasiness, was the direct cause of the
students undirected misbehavior. Teachers need to be sensitive to the anxieties of
students who have regularly had the experience of receiving low grades and test
scores.
3. You chose number 3. While this may be of concern to a few students, it does not
realistically explain the generalized resistance Mary McConnell felt. Please choose
again.
4. You chose number 4. On the contrary, students usually enjoy interruptions to the daily
routine. They may not have enjoyed this particular type of interruption, however.
There is a better alternative. Please select again.
Rationales for: The Art Awards Ceremony

1. You chose number 1. Although Tony may have been overwhelmed by the attention
and aware of Mr. Tarbells position, there is really no indication that he was
uncomfortable. Please choose again.
2. You chose number 2. Although Mr. Tarbell thought he was complimenting Tony, his use
of languagespecifically the phrase uncanny ability to paintimplies a stereotyping
of blacks as not artistic. To a white student, he might have said, You are a very
talented young artist,but Tonys ability to paint seems unnatural to him. Because of
Mr. Tarbells position Tony may have chosen to walk away rather than challenge him.
You have selected the correct answer.
3. You chose number 3. His friends may have motioned to him although there is no
indication of this is the story. Choose another response.
4. You chose number 4. Although there may be something uncomfortable about the
situation, nothing in the story really shows that Tony was embarrassed or
uncomfortable. Choose another response.
Work book | 85
Rationales for: The Missed Meeting

1. Mrs. Conants concern seems sincere and well founded, and the parents seem to
appreciate it since they were immediately agreeable to the conference. The problem
lies elsewhere. Please choose again.
2. Although the parents were obviously late for the appointment, there is no evidence to
support the notion that they were intentionally insensitive or that they lacked concern
for their daughters progress. While time may be the main problem here, this
attribution of motives and feelings is not justified by the evidence.
3. The differing views of time held by Mrs. Conant and the parents are the roots of the
problem and the best explanations of the hurt feelings on both sides. The working unit
of time for European Americans tends to be a five-minute block. Mrs. Conant,
therefore, would probably consider that a person who is two or three minutes late for
a meeting need not apologize. After five minutes, however, a short apology would be
expected. Being 15 minutes late, representing three unit blocks of time, would require
a lengthy, sincere apology, or perhaps a phone call in advance.
Not all cultures, however, place the same emphasis on time and punctuality as do
Western cultures. Historical perspectives are important to Arab people. The working
unit of time for many Arabs (as well as for Latinos and Native Americans, among other
people) is a much longer block than it is for Westerners. Mrs. Conant and the parents
are, therefore, victims of conflicting views of time and punctuality. This is the best
response.
4. All the evidence suggests that Mrs. Conant is most agreeable to have conferences
during her free period. Indeed, she initiates this meeting. Please choose again.
Rationales for: Careful Preparation of Lectures

1. You chose alternative 1. Although there is an increasing body of knowledge and
literature emerging that focuses on the adult learner and that should be utilized when
planning instruction for adults, the students in this incident were not that much older
than the students Robert was accustomed to teaching. These young farm workers
would not require these kinds of modifications. Please select another response.
2. You chose alternative 2. Although these workers probably all speak Spanish, they also
understand and regularly speak Standard English. This is not a critical factor here.
Please select another alternative.
3. You chose alternative 3. It has been found that many Mexican American farm workers
(as well as many other people from cultures without a long experience with a written
language) typically teach each other and, therefore, learn in context rather than out of
context. While Roberts professional training and experiences have stressed
out-of-context learning of material (through books, films, lectures, and so forth),
which would be applied at a later time, many people learn more and become more
involved and motivated when taught in an in-context situation. An out-of-classroom,
hands-on approach would probably facilitate their learning process. This is the best
response.
Work book | 86
4. You chose alternative 4. There is no indication that the workers resented Robert or the
fact that he was introducing new machinery. In fact, the incident mentions that the
workers were looking forward to using these machines. Please choose again.
Rationales for: The Chemistry Lab

1. There is no evidence that Miguel does not pay attention or that he fails to take
adequate notes. Please choose again.
2. Since Miguel has a 2.5 grade point avergae, he must be doing well in tests in some of
his courses. Freezing up on tests is, therefore, probably not the reason for his
performance in chemistry class.
3. Since Miguel does consistently well in lab work, he probably feels more comfortable
and confident in such a hands-on, shared-responsibility learning situation. The
emphasis of lab work on activity, exploration, and group learning matches the
learning style of Miguels cultural background. This is the best answer.
4. Miguels performance in lab work shows that he does have the analytic ability
necessary to understand scientific concepts. This is not an adequate explanation for
his performance. Please choose again.
5. No evidence indicates that the lab sessions are less demanding. Please choose
another response.
Work book | 87
A c t i v i t y
1 4
Observing Cultural Diff erences

Purpose
To apply the 18-theme culture-general framework to casual observations
made during interactions with others.
Instructions
Make extended observations of yourself as well as others over the course of about
a week. The focus of your observations should be on potential misunderstanding or
miscommunication between people of different cultural backgrounds (remember
that we define culture rather broadly). Record your observations as precisely as
possible, identifying any and all of the culture-general themes that you believe
apply. Finally, propose alternative explanations or attributions for the behavior you
have observed from two (or more) perspectives. Use the following as a guide, but
do not necessarily limit yourself to the space provided. You should make at least
five different relevant observations. Make additional copies of this form if needed.
Example
Interaction as I
Cultural-General
Possible
Observed It
Theme(s)
Attributions
Example: Two girls, Family roles

one Mexican, the other
Mexicans).
Canadian European,
discuss plans of what
they will do Friday
night. Mexican girl
insists upon asking her
parents permission
before making
commitment to
Collectivist orientation
Individualism vs
(tendency
collectivism May require approval
from others before taking
action, whereas Canadian
(individualistic tendency)
is more comfortable
making her own plans.
Canadian friend.
Work book | 88
for
Activity
15
Learning About Others

Purpose
To learn about cultural differences by interviewing someone from a different
culture or ethnic group while applying concepts from the culture-general
framework.
Instructions
Find someone from a culture different from your own to interview (preferably
someone outside your immediate and known peer group). Try to choose someone
you think will have different attitudes, opinions, and experiences from yourself.
Choose some questions from the list that follows, or develop some of your own.
Before you interview the person, answer the questions for yourself. For each of the
questions, follow up with Why? in order to explore underlying values. Take notes
on the responses. Discuss the questions and the why with the other person until
you have found at least five major areas where there are clear differences between
your answer and the other persons. Also be sure to identify five major areas where
you are in agreement with one another. Prepare a short paper or presentation that
summarizes your findings.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
Whom should you obey? Why?

Who makes decisions (at home, in school, in the community)? Why?
How should you behave with others (elders, children, neighbors)? Why?
Whom should you respect? How do you show respect? Why?
How should you act in public so you bring credit or honor to your family? Why?
What does it mean to be successful in life? Why?
Whom should you trust? Why?
What are the signs of success? Why?
What provides security in life? Why?
Who should your friends be? Who decides? Why?
Where, and with whom, should you live? Why?
Whom should you marry? At about what age? Who decides? Why?
What is expected of children when they are young? Why?
What should you depend on others for? Why?
When should you be self-sufficient, if ever? Why?
What should you expose to others, and what should be kept private? Why?
How should you plan for your future? Why?
What should be remembered from your heritage? Why?
What was better when you were younger or during your parents youth? Why?
Work book | 89
t. What do you wish for your children that you could not have? Why?
What did you learn about the other person that is significantly different from
you? How might this knowledge affect the interviewee as a learner? You as a
teacher?
What did you learn about the other person that is similar to you? Were you
surprised by this? How might this knowledge affect you as a teacher?
Work book | 90
A c t i v i t y
1 6
Community Scan: Analyzing Available Resources

That Support Multicultural Education
Purpose
To develop a deeper understanding of a local community in terms of

available resources that support as well as hinder the goals and objectives of
multicultural education.
Instructions
Plan to survey a community over a period of a few days by studying a small section
or neighborhood at a time. You may do this activity individually, but it is better if it
can be accomplished in small groups. If done in small groups, each group should
take responsibility for a different neighborhood, but be certain to select
neighborhoods that all serve a common school. Later, share your findings with
others so all may gain a more complete understanding of the area, what influences
children are exposed to, and what resources might be available to educators.
1. Before you begin your observation, make a list of the things you expect to find
that support multicultural education as well as those that pose threats or
obstacles.
2. Begin by walking around the area you are to analyze. What resources do you find that
may support efforts to increase understanding of diversity and multicultural
education? For instance, what ethnic groups are present? What languages are spoken?
What global links are evident? What places of worship exist? What ethnic restaurants
and ethnic food stores can be found? What community services exist to assist the
poor, the elderly, or the disabled?
Work book | 91
3. Interview storeowners and shopkeepers in the neighborhood. What are their

impressions of the cultural diversity in the community? How is diversity an asset or an
obstacle to them? What is their impression of the role schools play in addressing
issues of diversity?
4. What community resources or industries can you identify that may offer possible
school-community linkages or other ways to relate the curriculum to the community
and the environment?
5. What unique cultural experiences and resources do you think children will bring with
them to school as a result of growing up in this community? How might you build
upon these in the classroom and school?
6. What unique aspects of this community do you think might hinder a schools ability to
effectively address multicultural or diversity education? How might you overcome
these?
Work book | 92
7. What aspects of community life do you still have questions about? How might you go
about finding the answers to these?
8. Describe any surprises, unexpected outcomes, or concerns about your community

scan.
Work book | 93
A c t i v i t y
1 7
Stereotypes and Their Impact on

Interaction and Learning
Purpose
To recognize stereotypes of various groups and how they affect interaction
and learning.
Instructions
Stereotypes refer to a belief about the personal attributes of individuals based on
the inaccurate generalizations used to describe all members of a group, thus
ignoring individual differences. Try to identify at least three stereotypes of each
group identified on the following pages, state the source of these stereotypes, and
explain how they affect interaction and learning.
How it affects
Example of the
interaction
Group
stereotype
Its source
and learning
lesbians and
gay men
such people are

interested in me
as a sexual object.
friends
fear of interaction
How it affects
Example of the
Group
stereotype
Latinos/
Latino men
Hispanics
are all macho
second-class citizen
interaction
Its source
and learning
movies/TV
fear that female child

(or my student) will be treated as a
How it affects
Example of the
Group
stereotype
interaction
Its source
Work book | 94
and learning
Asian
Asian women
are submissive
movies/TV
may not be offered

positions of power
and authority
Continue in this manner, identifying a group, generating a list of stereotypes,

and analyzing their impact on interaction and learning. You might include such
groups as African Americans, European Americans, Catholics, teenagers, the
elderly, and so forth.
How it affects
Example of the
Group
stereotype
interaction
Its source
and learning
Refl ection
Working in small groups, compare patterns of similarity and difference of stereotypes
believed to be held about each group. Because there tends to be much emotion
surrounding stereotypes, it is not necessary to indicate whether or not you agree with the
stereotypejust that you identify it as one you believe to be common about the group.
How did you feel while completing this activity?
How did actual group members of any of the racial, cultural, or ethnic groups mentioned
respond to the results as well as the subsequent discussion?
Work book | 95
What have been the major sources of the stereotypes?
In what ways have stereotypes affected intercultural interaction?
In what ways might stereotypes affect learning?
What might teachers do to help reduce the likelihood that students will use stereotypes?
Work book | 96
A c t i v i t y
1 8
Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack

Purpose
To explore institutional biases, the oftentimes unexamined privileges held by
members of certain groups, typically able-bodied, heterosexual, European
Americans, that enables them to move with relative ease throughout society.
Instructions
In her paper, White Privilege and Male Privilege, Peggy McIntosh (1988) uses
racism as a way to demonstrate the nature and depth of institutional bias people
typically take for granted in society. Explore the benefits certain groups have in
society by responding to the following questions.
1. Begin by thinking about some of the benefits you think European Americans
may have in American society and take for granted that non-whites may not
have. Before reviewing McIntoshs list, try to identify at least five privileges
you think would be included on the list:
2. Now, compare your results with some of the following from McIntoshs original
list. McIntosh identified such privileges of whites as:
When they go into stores, they wont automatically be viewed as potential
shoplifters.
When they go to college, they wont automatically be thought of in terms
of affirmative action admits (or affirmative action hires if this is a
workplace).
When they apply for a bank loan, they wont automatically be viewed as a
bad credit risk.
When they attend school or begin a new job, they will find role models of similar
background.
When they apply for a job, the people in power will be of their race.
When they speak up in a group, they will not be assumed to be speaking on
behalf of an entire community, but of themselves.
Work book | 97
When they study history in school, they will learn about their own heritage.
When they walk down a street at night they will not be perceived as a threat.
Work book | 98
Now that you have read some of McIntoshs original list, can you think of any other
privileges that may exist for whites in society?
3. The same exercise can be completed to examine institutional biases against many
groups in society, such as the elderly, gays and lesbians, the disabled, or the poor. It
may be easier to generate a list if you are a member of a particular group; however,
this is not always the case. In some instances, people may attribute difficulties or
barriers to their own shortcomings or lack of ability, and they may be invisible even to
themselves.
Now, identify another group in society and generate at least five examples of
invisible barriers that may confront its members.
Group: _________________________
4. Many people who enjoy privileges fail to recognize them. While they may understand
that slavery and a lack of voting rights for African Americans and women are forms of
institutional discrimination, they may falsely assume that since these wrongs have
been corrected society as a whole is fair and equal. A beginning step at dismantling
institutional discrimination is to do your own consciousness-raising. If you are
discriminated against, it is important to gain as much clarity on the situation as
possible. If you are a beneficiary of the system, you should begin to examine ways in
which you can change things.
Work book | 99
Whataresomethingsthatyoucando,bothpersonallyandprofessionally,toaddresssuchissues?
(adapted from Summerfield, 1997)
Work book | 100
A c t i v i t y
1 9
Interviewing Non-Native English Speakers

about Their Experiences in This Country
Purpose
To raise awareness and sensitivity, and to learn about the problems faced by
new speakers of English.
Instructions
Interview a person who first came to the United States speaking limited or no
English. This person might be an international student on campus, or a student
and/or parent who came to the United States speaking minimal English (feel free to
adjust the questions accordingly to accommodate the person you are interviewing).
1. Describe some of the initial difficulties or problems you encountered when you
first arrived in this country. To what would you attribute the problems?
2. What significant cultural differences did you encounter in the early stages of
your adjustment to this country? How did you overcome these?
Work book | 101
3. What primary language did you speak before coming to the United States? Describe
your competency as a speaker of your home language. Describe your competency as
a speaker of English today.
4. What communication problems did you experience when you first came to this
country? How did you handle these?
5. What kinds of communication difficulties, if any, do you or your children currently

face?
6. What might people (or schools and/or teachers if interviewing a child or parent) in the
United States do that would help to reduce adjustment and communication difficulties
for new immigrants?
Work book | 102
7. What messages do you have for other non-English speakers that might make their
adjustment and communication easier?
In conclusion: What can you conclude about communication, culture shock, and
adjustment that would be useful for teachers?
Work book | 103
A c t i v i t y
2 0
What Does It Feel Like to Be Excluded?

Purpose
To develop empathy by imagining what it might be like to be excluded or
discriminated against, and to propose possible responses.
Instructions
Developing an understanding of the experience of others in a pluralistic society is
critical if teachers and students are to develop a fuller knowledge of culture and its
various forms. One way to develop such a skill is to listen to the voices of
individuals who have felt excluded from the mainstream for one reason or another
perhaps due to overt racism; subtle, institutional racism; general ignorance;
subtle pressure; or genuine dislike. Read the following quotes and try to identify
one or two feelings associated with them. Then consider what you as a teacher
might say and do in response (adapted from an exercise developed by Beth
Swadener).
Low-income mother: My son understands that we have no money the last week
of each month, and yet he was pressured by his teacher to have a new workbook
by the next class. When we could not afford it that week he was made to sit out of
class. The teacher said, Everyone else remembered to get their book, why didnt
you?
As the mother, I feel
As a teacher, I might
Jewish parent: Last year our daughter asked me, Could we have a Christmas tree and
just not use it?
As the parent, I feel
Work book | 104
Chinese parent: My daughter asked me, Can I have blonde hair? Its better to be
blonde.
Native American parent: The schools continue to miseducate my son. The images he
has of native people are limited, and there is virtually no relevant Native American history
taught in his school.
Islamic parent: My childs school has many Christian-based activities and has never
even recognized that some of the students are not Christian.
Work book | 105
Work book | 106
Single parent mother: I feel that all my sons behavior at school is blamed on the fact
that Im a single parent, and that many judgments about our family are made based on no
other evidence than our single-parent family status.
As the mother, I feel
Vietnamese parent: (translated from Vietnamese) My children speak and read better
English than I do. It is so hard when lots of letters and information come home from school
in English. I also feel that my children are losing respect for their parents and elders in this
country.
Work book | 107
Extend this activity by collecting some of your own quotes from statements by children,
parents, and other community members who represent diverse groups and who have felt
excluded. Record three examples below.
Work book | 108
A c t i v i t y
2 1
Gender Role Socialization

Purpose
To identify some of the ways males and females are differentially socialized
in mainstream American society.
Instructions
The following are generalizations concerning gender role socialization in American

society. Provide an example of each, either from your own experience or from what
you have witnessed in society in general. Then respond to the reflective questions.
A Woman Is Taught
Example
My Example
A Man Is Taught
To do what she is asked
_____________
To control _____________
To be pleasing to a man
_____________
To score, to achieve
To hurt no ones feelings
_____________
to take charge
To pursue goals,
_____________
To look good
_____________
To discuss womens
bodies
_____________
To be taken care of
_____________
To have a dream
_____________
To compete for male

attention
_____________
To work as a team
_____________
To care for others

before herself
_____________
To take risks and

challenges
_____________
To follow rules
_____________
To make rules and

decisions
_____________
To let others make

choices
_____________
To put women on
a pedestal
_____________
To be friendly, helpful
_____________
To expect service
from women
_____________
Work book | 109
My
_____________
Which of these are advantages in American society?
Which of these are disadvantages in American society?
How are some of these perpetuated in schools?
Work book | 110
A c t i v i t y
2 2
Observing Gender Diff erences

Purpose
To develop a deeper understanding of the influence gender plays in
development, socialization, and education.
Instructions
Readthefollowingstory,whichyoumayhavealreadyheard.Thendothefollowingactivitiesand
respondtothereflectivequestionsthatfollow.
A father and his son were in a terrible automobile accident. They were injured so
severely that they were taken to different hospitals. The son required immediate
surgery, so a surgeon was called in. The surgeon walked into the operating room,
took one look at the patient, and said, I cant operate on this boy. This boy is my
son! How can this be?
It should be obvious to you that the surgeon was the boys mother. For the
most part, when we think of surgeons or doctors in general, most of us do not
expect them to be women. Although much has been written and done in recent
years to change the way people think about gender and the various roles people
adopt, peoples thinking along these lines tend to be rather static. Far too many
people still think of men as managers, administrators, and leaders and women as
subordinates, holding other stereotypic roles (e.g., secretaries, nurses, and
oftentimes teachers).
The following activities will help you to gain a deeper picture of the influence gender
plays in development, socialization, and education.
A. Arrange to do observations of childrens play behavior at a nearby school, both of
preschool and elementary children. Summarize your observations by responding to
the following questions.
When observing preschool boys and girls, what gender differences are you able to
observe? Think of the way children act, their choices of play activities as well as
playmates, and their responses to various stimuli.
Work book | 111
Work book | 112
Do a similar comparison of elementary-aged children (you may wish to restrict this to

specific age groups, such as seven- and eight-year-olds, nine- and ten-year-olds, etc.).
What do you notice?
What happens when you ask boys and girls to play with a toy or game typically assigned
to the other sex?
B. Using a weeks worth of your campus or local newspaper, circle every headline in
which females or males are mentioned. Compare the number of mentions of each.
Compare the number of roles associated with males and females (e.g., husband, wife,
banker, politician, daughter, son, athlete, etc.). In what sections of the paper are
males and females referred to most often? Is there a difference between the campus
newspaper, the local paper, a national paper? What generalizations are you able to
make given your observations?
C. Examine the textbooks used in teacher education and arts and sciences. Look for
evidence of gender bias discussed or presented in various chapters. One interesting
activity is to count and compare the number of males and females listed in the index.
Do the same for various textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools. What
generalizations are you able to make given your observations?
Work book | 113
D. Make a comparison of the chores you were expected to do at home as you were
growing up. If you have brothers or sisters, were their chores similar or different? If
you were an only child, or had only siblings of the same sex, talk to someone else who
had siblings of the opposite sex. How were your chores similar or different? What does
this suggest?
E. Do a comparison study among your classmates in terms of the number and kinds of
math and science courses each took in high school. Is there any difference between
the males and the females? Can people describe the reasons for taking or not taking
math and science courses? Compare reasons of males versus those of females. What
generalizations are you able to make given your observations?
Work book | 114
A c t i v i t y
2 3
The Plight of Women on a Global Scale

Purpose
To become better informed about the experience of women on a global scale

and to project oneself into the experience of the other.
Instructions
Read and respond to the following.
The majority of the information we have about people in the world (including most
of the social and behavioral science research) has been based on the experience of
males, or is presented in gender-neutral language (although it still may be based
on the experience of males. See Carol Gilligans [1983] book, In A Different Voice,
to understand how the experience of females is oftentimes quite different than that
of males and from that reported in much of the research literature). Following is
some information about women in the world that you might consider (adapted
from Drum, Hughes and Otero, 1994):
a. While women make up more than half of the worlds population, they do twothirds of the worlds work, both paid and unpaid, and receive only one-tenth of
the worlds wages.
b. Rural women account for more than half of the food produced in the
developing world, and for as much as 80 percent of the food production in
Africa.
c. The hourly wages of working women in the manufacturing industry are on
average three-fourths those earned by men.
d. In the United States, on the average, women earn 70 percent of each dollar
earned by men.
e. In 1950, there were 27 million more boys than girls enrolled in schools
worldwide. Currently there are 80 million more boys than girls enrolled in
schools.
f. Nutritional anemia afflicts half of all women of childbearing age in developing
countries, compared with less than 7 percent of women of childbearing age in
developed countries.
g. In the developing world, two-thirds of the women over the age of 25 (and about onehalf of the men) have never been to school.
Work book | 115
h. Ten of the eleven oldest democracies in the world did not grant women the right to
vote until the twentieth century. The first to establish electoral equality was New
Zealand in 1893. The last to establish electoral equality was Switzerland in 1971.
i. Women represent 50 percent of the voting population in the world but hold only 10
percent of the seats in national legislatures.
What do you think about and feel when you read these statistics?
If you could choose to be any gender, which would you choose to be and why?
Which gender would you choose if you lived in the Third World and why?
When do either women or men encounter injustice as a result of their gender?
If you could choose a gender for your child, which would you choose and why?
Work book | 116
Work book | 117
Now imagine you are of the opposite gender. How might your answers to these questions
be different?
Work book | 118
A c t i v i t y
2 4
Sexual Orientation: A Matter of Experience?
Purpose
To examine potential classroom situations that reflect others as well as your
own responses to issues surrounding sexual orientation.
Instructions
The term sexual orientation refers to the preference one exhibits in terms of sexual
partners. There is increasing evidence that ones sexual orientation is genetically
based; that is, it may be hard-wired into the individual, and therefore resistant, if
not impossible, to change. Other beliefs attribute early experience to later sexual
preference. Regardless of the explanation you are most comfortable with, in your
role as an educator you will encounter situations that will require your action and
intervention on behalf of a child, either in making accurate attributions concerning
a childs behavior at a given moment, or on behalf of a child who is experiencing
strained relationships with her or his peers.
How would you explain the following scenarios to the concerned individual?
a. Four-year-old Jeremy heads right to the doll corner as soon as he arrives at the
day care center each morning. His father is concerned that this behavior is not
appropriate for a little boy. How would you respond to the father?
Work book | 119
b. Seventeen-year-old Patricia (who prefers to be called Pat) wears her hair cut very
short and tends to dress like the boys. You walk by a group of her female classmates
and hear them refer to her as a lesbian. How would you respond to this group of girls?
c. Five-year-old Suzanne plays with blocks and trucks during most of her free time in
kindergarten. Her mother asks you if this is normal behavior? How would you
respond to the mother?
d. In addition to his theater performances, thirteen-year-old Robert takes ballet classes

three days a week after school. Other boys often ridicule him in class. He comes to
you and asks you to intervene. What would you suggest to Robert?
Work book | 120
What would you say to the other boys in Roberts class?
e. Fifteen-year-old Shauna, who has few friends, lifts weights and seeks out all the
opportunities she can to play typical boys sports. She has also been having
conflicting and confusing sexual feelings. She comes to you after school one day,
initially to seek your advice about what to do about friends, but soon begins to talk
about her confusion and fear of talking to her parents. What advice would you give
her?
f. Sixteen-year-old Josephs stated goal in life is to become a nurse. You overhear a

group of boys teasing him and laughing about his gay behavior. You find Joseph
sulking in a corner of the room and approach him. What do you say to him?
Work book | 121
Reflect upon your responses to the above scenarios. Do you notice any patterns in the way
you answered the questions? Did you respond differently to the scenarios involving girls
than you did for the scenarios involving boys? Did you respond differently to parents than
you did to the child? If so, to what do you attribute this?
Work book | 122
A c t i v i t y
2 5
The Student with Special Needs

Purpose
To assist future teachers with gaining greater understanding and insight into
the probable expectations and responsibilities toward children with special
needs.
Instructions
Full inclusion of all children in all classrooms is likely to be a major emphasis in the
years to come, thus making it essential that all teachers are well versed in ways to
accommodate the needs of children with special needs. The following exercises will
assist you in developing a greater understanding of your role and responsibilities.
A. Arrange to do an observation of a classroom that has children who have
special needs. What do you notice about the manner in which the teacher
interacts with the children who have special needs compared with those
without special needs? What needs do the children seem to have that are
unique to this group? Common to other children? What modifications in
instructional approach are evident?
Work book | 123
B. Interview a parent of a child who receives special educational services. In what ways
has the child been helped? What improvements are still needed in the education the
child receives? What recommendations does the parent have for you, as a future
teacher, regarding what you might provide for children who have special needs?
C. Interview a teacher, focusing on how she or he has been affected by educational

policy directed at children with special needs. What modifications has the teacher
made in teaching? What special preparation has she or he received to help make the
necessary changes? What does the teacher still feel is needed?
D. Ask to observe a conference where an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) is developed

for a student with special needs. Analyze the perspectives and needs of each of the
parties at the meeting. What concerns did parents address? Teachers? Administrators?
Psychologists? Students? What concerns did you have that were not addressed?
Work book | 124
A c t i v i t y
2 6
Understanding Religious Diversity

Purpose
To assist you with gaining greater understanding and reducing stereotypes of
the major religions that may be encountered in schools and communities.
Instructions
Derive a series of interview questions using the guidelines below. Then conduct
interviews with individuals who represent religions other than your own.
A. In small groups, generate potential interview questions you could use to help
gain greater understanding and reduce misperceptions about religions other
than your own.
B. Discuss these questions with the class and determine which among them will
help to uncover stereotypes, attitudes, perceptions and misperceptions of a
particular group.
C. Agree as a class upon 5 to 7 questions that will generate the most useful
information.
D. Using the same questions, individually or in pairs, interview at least two
individuals from religious groups other than your own. You should seek to find
representatives from at least the five major world religions (Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism), as well as any other groups of
interest and available in your region.
E. Individually, summarize key points of your interviews.
F. As a class, discuss the following:
a. Did the questions you asked provide you with the information you had hoped for?
b. Discuss at least one response that you found surprising or interesting. What did
you find especially intriguing about this response?
c. Was there anything the interviewee said that led you to reconsider any of your
views?
Work book | 125
d. Did you learn anything significant from the interviewee about the religion?
e. Were any stereotypes you might have held about this religion challenged?
Work book | 126
f. Now that the interviews are complete, are there any questions you wish you had
asked?
g. What did you learn in this exercise that will impact your teaching?
Work book | 127
A c t i v i t y
2 7
Institutional Discrimination:
Social Class in Focus
Purpose
To distinguish between individual and institutional practices that may
discriminate against certain social classes.
Instructions
Institutional discrimination refers to policies and practices of institutions that allow
certain discriminatory practices to persist. Below you will be presented with a
number of situations. You will be asked to determine if these policies or practices
systematically privilege members of certain groups while discriminating against
members of other groups. Complete the three questions that follow for each of the
following that you determine to be an example of institutional discrimination.
1. Children of teachers employed in this private school receive free tuition.
Is this an example of discrimination?
_____ Yes
_____ No
a. Against which groups, if any, might this policy discriminate?
b. What is the purpose of the policy?
c. If the purpose is valid, how else might it be achieved?
2. A local religious school offers reduced tuition for members of its faith.
Work book | 128
_____ Yes
_____ No
3. Because a recent school levy failed, a new school policy states that children who wish
to participate in sports or musical performing groups must pay for their own uniforms.
_____ Yes
_____ No
4. A teacher awards ten points out of 100 to boys who wear a jacket and tie and girls
who wear a full-length dress during an oral presentation as part of the final grade in a
business speech class.
_____ Yes
Work book | 129
_____ No
Work book | 130
A c t i v i t y
2 8
Writing Your Own Critical Incidents

Purpose
To develop skill in writing critical incidents that can be used to instruct
others about issues related to diversity in the school context.
Instructions
The critical incident is a short narrative describing a situation where two or more
individuals from different cultural groups interact in order to achieve some goal.
Differences due to cultural background, orientation, perspective, communication
style, learning style, and so forth may result in some conflict or problem emerging
with the situation generally going unresolved. The reader is asked to select, from a
number of alternatives, the one that best explains the problem. The general
approach to preparing critical incidents is as follows:
1. Identify relevant themes or issues for your purposes. You may select from the
18-theme cultural-general framework, or identify specific issues of relevance
to your needs. Remember, you wish to use the incident to teach others about a
cultural issue or theme underlying the incident, not merely to relate the story.
2. Generate episodes by identifying incidents through personal experience,
interviews with others, reading the research and/or ethnographic literature, or
observation and analysis. You may wish to use your observations from Activity
14 to form the basis of your incidents.
3. Construct episodes or stories, being certain to include only relevant
information; verifying content; refining generalizations, abstractions, and
specifics; and speaking to your intended audience. The resulting incident
should be clear, concise, straightforward, interesting, and believable, while
maintaining the original conflict situation.
4. Elicit attributions by identifying different interpretations (attributions) of the incident
through interviews, ethnographic data, and open-ended questions completed by
experienced and inexperienced individuals.
5. Select attributions to use.
6. Complete the critical incident with feedback and explanations, remembering that it is
in the explanation that relevant cultural knowledge can be transmitted.
Work book | 131
Now prepare three or four critical incidents that illuminate one or more of the 18 culturegeneral themes. Have the rough drafts of your incidents reviewed by others who can
provide critical feedback to make sure they are clear, plausible, and easily understood.
p a r t
r e e
Modifying
Curriculum and
Instruction to
Address the Goals
of Diversity
Work book | 132
Activity
29
Futures Window
Purpose
To project the needs of individuals and society in the years ahead, and to
examine what this means for educators.
Instructions
In this activity you are to become a futurist and project into the futureboth your
own as well as that of the world. The work area below is divided into quadrants,
the top half representing The Self and the bottom half representing The World.
The left side of each half represents 5 years while the right half represents 20
years into the future. You are to make at least five entries in each quadrant;
things you expect to have accomplished or to be dealing with in 5 years and in 20
years, and things you expect the world to be confronting, both in 5 as well as 20
years. Do not record what you wish will happen, but what you predict will occur
based on what you see happening today. Do this activity alone at first. If you are
doing this in a group setting, after a short while, share your responses with others
and compile a group list.
Self5 years
Self20 years
World5 years
World20 years
Work book | 133
Questions to Ponder
Look closely at what is on your list, or, if you have done this activity in a group, look
closely at the compilation. What messages seem to jump out at you as you look closely at
the response patterns? Do not be surprised if quick responses do not emerge. Take some
time to analyze the similarities as well as the differences in the columns. What
generalizations seem to emerge?
What questions do you have as a result of the generalizations you observed?
As people analyze their responses it is not uncommon to say something like, It seems as
if things will be quite nice and easy for individuals but there will still be problems in the
world. This is a critical observation. If you have not already made this observation
yourself, please consider it for a moment. Does such a statement hold true for your
responses to the above task?
Lets assume that you can safely make the same observation and statement given the
responses on your list. What is the responsibility one has to others? Why do you think it is
that, in general, people project their own future to be fine even when the rest of the world
continues to face problems and challenges?
Work book | 134
Discuss your responses to the above with others in a group. Do not be surprised if there is
much disagreement over peoples responses.
Next, look closely at your projections for the world. What generalizations seem to
stand out as you analyze this information?
Which of the following statements can you agree with given the projections you have
made for the world? Check one.
_____ The issues that the world will face seem quite pessimistic and insurmountable.
_____ The issues that the world will face seem complex but generally will be resolved.
It is often said that each individual can and must do her or his own part to help improve
the bigger picture. All of the problems the world will face, whether they are in fact solved
or not, will require the coordinated efforts of many different people from many different
career and cultural backgrounds, who are able to work together. The problems of the
world are such that they will be solved by the coordinated efforts of many different people
and nations, or they will not be solved at all.
Work book | 135
What is the role of education in helping people develop the ability to solve the
problems that you believe the world will face?
What are some things you can do through your teaching that will help your students
develop the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to collaborate with others whose
ways of interacting and values may be quite different from their own?
Work book | 136
Activity
30
Ethnic Literacy Test: A Cultural Perspective

Diff erentiating Stereotypes from
Generalizations
Purpose
To examine your knowledge of culture-specific information about certain
ethnic groups within the United States and how this might impact teaching
and learning.
Instructions
This exercise has two parts. In Part One, place a checkmark along the continuum
that corresponds to the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following
statements. Qualify your response in the space below. In Part Two, you will be given
additional information and asked to consider the educational implications of this
culture-specific knowledge.
Communication Diff erences

1. A newly arrived Mexican American child may have difficulty in reading words
that begin with two consonants.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
2. Non-standard English, such as Ebonics, is a language system that has rules.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Work book | 137
Rationale:
3. Many Appalachians form some possessive pronouns by adding n.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
4. Ebonics, sometimes known as Black English, is a synonym for Black slang.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
5.
Vietnamese children may experience problems in spelling words that end
with a double consonant.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Work book | 138
6. Vietnamese children would have little difficulty reading polysyllabic words.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
7. All Native Americans speak basically the same language.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
8. Touching by a teacher and a Mexican American student results in lowered academic

achievement.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
9. Touching the head of a Thai student signals respect.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Work book | 139
Rationale:
10. African Americans may interrupt a speaker with encouraging remarks.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Value Orientations
1. Native Americans concept of time is the same as mainstream European Americans
concept of time.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
2. Mexican American religious beliefs include the concept of fatalism.

strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Work book | 140
3. Appalachians have strong kinship bonds.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
4. African Americans have a strong work orientation.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
5. Native Americans usually prefer public rather than private recognition.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
6. Mexican American students generally desire to work alone rather than with a group.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Work book | 141
Rationale:
7. Appalachians adapt easily to urban life.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
8. African Americans tend to be deeply religious.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
9. For some African Americans, to avoid eye contact with authority figures is a sign of disrespect.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Work book | 142
10. Among Native Americans, the concept of private ownership is strong.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Family Structures and Lifestyles

1. The African American family is matriarchal.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
2. The majority of Appalachian families are nuclear.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Work book | 143
3. The Appalachian family tends to be patriarchal, and boys are favored.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
4. Most Mexican American families represent the extended family pattern.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
5. Family roles are very specific and rigid in African American families.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Work book | 144
6. The Native American concept of family is similar to that of mainstream European Americans.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
7. Mexican American families are patriarchal.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
Rationale:
8. For most Native Americans and Asians, youths are honored and revered.
strongly
tend to
agree
agree
unsure
tend to
strongly
disagree
disagree
Rationale:
Stereotypes and Generalizations

Because people cannot respond to each and every piece of information to which they are
exposed they form categories as an attempt to simplify the world around them.
Stereotypes refer to categories about people. Categories in general, and stereotypes in
particular, are shortcuts in peoples thinking. As with most stereotypes applied to
individuals, much of the content is inaccurate. We must thus be careful not to form
stereotypes about people.
Work book | 145
Generalizations, on the other hand, can be useful in peoples thinking and

interacting with others. Generalizations refer to trends over large numbers of individuals
(Brislin, 2000). For example, if 100 cases were studied in collectivist and individualistic
societies, more collectivists would behave in a manner that emphasized their groups
goals, and more individualists would behave in a manner that emphasized their own
personal goals. The concept of trends over large numbers of people is important to keep
in mind whenever culture and cultural differences are discussed. We can use
generalizations that are supported by the research literature in our discussions about
culture, but should avoid the use of stereotypes.
The following are generalizations that can be made from the content of the Ethnic
Literacy Test. The responses you will read are generalizations that can be supported in the
research literature. One must keep in mind, however, that there will always be cases that
do not conform to the generalization and will make discussions more fruitful and
engaging. Extend the response to these generalizations by suggesting some implications
for education that are related to the specific information presented.
Communication Diff erences

1. Newly arrived Mexican American children may have difficulty reading words that
begin with two consonants. When compared with Standard English, the Spanish
language has relatively few consonant clusters.
Possible educational implications:
2. Non-standard English dialects, like Ebonics, are language systems that operate by
rules. While the rules may be different, both standard and non-standard forms of a
language operate by rules.
3. Many Appalachians form the possessive pronoun by adding n, such as hisn or hern.
Work book | 146
Work book | 147
4. Ebonics, or Black English, is not a synonym for Black slang. Ebonics is a dialect of
Standard English which, like any language or dialect, has its own slang.
5.
Since the double consonant is not common in the Vietnamese language,
Vietnamese children may experience problems spelling words that end with a double
consonant.
6. As the Vietnamese language is largely monosyllabic, Vietnamese children may

experience difficulty learning to read polysyllabic words.
7. Native Americans do not all speak the same languagethere are more than 400
different languages spoken by the people of the many distinct Nations.
Work book | 148
8. Touching by a teacher and a Mexican American student may result in increased

academic achievement as it signals affection and a strong relationship to the child.
9. Touching the head of a Thai student (and others from some Asian countries) should
not be done. The head is considered the most sacred part of the body and may signal
the release of the spirit if touched.
10. African Americans may interrupt a speaker with encouraging remarks. Such is the
basis for what is commonly referred to as call and response, and should not be
misjudged as rudeness.
Value Orientations
1. The concept of time for many Native Americans may be quite different from that of
European Americans.
Work book | 149
2. Mexican American religious beliefs include the concept of fatalism, or the belief that
God controls much and if something is meant to be, God will make it happen. The
individual may, thus, perceive him or herself to have relatively little control over a
given situation. In Arabic, the phrase NShalah (if God wills it) captures this belief.
3. Appalachians tend to have strong kinship bonds.

4. Based on statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, African Americans tend to
have a strong work orientation.
5. Native Americans tend to prefer private rather than public recognition.

Work book | 150
6. Mexican American students generally prefer to work in groups rather than as

individuals.
7. Appalachians have a relatively difficult time adapting to urban life.

8. African Americans tend to be deeply religious.

9. For some African Americans (as well as some other groups), to avoid eye contact is a
sign of respect.
10. Among Native Americans, the concept of private ownership is not common.
Work book | 151
Family Structures and Lifestyles

1. The African American family tends to be equalitarian. That is, mothers and fathers
tend to share responsibilities and roles fairly equally.
2. The majority of Appalachian families follow an extended family pattern.

3. The Appalachian family tends to be patriarchal with boys being favored.

4. Most Mexican American families represent the extended family pattern.

5. Family roles can be rather flexible in African American families.

Work book | 152
6. The Native American concept of family follows the extended pattern.

7. Mexican American families tend to be patriarchal. That is, the fathers decision is
usually the final say.
8. For most Native Americans and Asians, the elderly tend to be honored and revered.
Work book | 153
A c t i v i t y
3 1
Determining Bias in Textbooks

Purpose
To develop skill in identifying stereotypes and bias in textbooks.
Instructions
Select a school textbook or other childrens book that was printed many years ago.
Using the guidelines below, evaluate the book for stereotypes of women, men,
various ethnic groups, the elderly, and so forth. Repeat this exercise with a newer
textbook and compare your findings.
Title of book: ______________________________ Year of publication: __________
Give a brief description of the book:
1. Analyze the illustrations for stereotypes. What are people doing that may
create or perpetuate a stereotype?
2. Analyze the storyline. What is the role of women or people of color in the
story? How are problems presented and resolved?
3. Look closely at the lifestyles depicted in the book. How are different groups shown?
Work book | 154
4. What people seem to have power in the book or story? Who is subservient? How are
family relationships and composition represented?
5. From the readers point of view, are there issues or norms that might limit or
restrict ones aspirations or self-esteem?
6. What cultural, social, and economic biases of the author might be evident?
7. Look for certain loaded words that might bias the reader. Are there words with
derogatory connotations or overtones?
Now repeat the exercise with a more recent book designed to achieve a similar goal. What
differences are evident? To what would you attribute these differences? What cautions or
concerns remain from your point of view?
Work book | 155
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
3 2
Learning Styles
Purpose
To analyze learning style differences among students and explore how they
impact the classroom.
Instructions
Read the content below and respond to the questions that follow.
Learning styles are generally considered to be the cognitive processes and
instructional settings a student finds most useful and effective while learning.
Examples of such cognitive processes on a global scale include coding and
decoding, organizing, perceiving, remembering, and reasoning (Hughes and More,
1993). The five most commonly recognized dimensions of learning that are found
in the classroom (IBE, 1994) are:
a. GlobalAnalytical. Students who are more global learn best when the
overall concepts are presented first, or presented in a meaningful context.
Students who are more analytical tend to learn better when information is
presented in small pieces and then gradually build up to an overall picture.
b. VerbalImaginal. Verbal learners tend to learn better from highly verbal
explanations or from dictionary-like definitions. These students rely more on words
and labels, use verbal regulation of behavior more effectively, and code concepts
verbally. The more imaginal learners learn better from images, symbols, and
diagrams.
c. ConcreteAbstract. Some students learn better when the concept is
presented first in its abstract form, perhaps as a rule or principle. Others learn
best when the concept is presented in its real form and as it will actually be
used. This dimension is sometimes referred to as in-context versus out-ofcontext teaching and learning.
d. ReflectiveTrial/Error/Feedback. The reflective learner thinks through the new
learning before actually using it. In the Trial/Error/Feedback style, the learner responds
more quickly (trial), knowing the answer may not be correct (error), expecting to learn
from the teachers feedback to the response. One learns to ride a bicycle, for
instance, using this method.
Work book | 156
e. Modality. This reflects the fact that some students learn more effectively through
seeing, others through hearing, others through touching, and so on.
Each of the above-mentioned learning style preferences can be individual or cultural
manifestations. The important thing is that teachers are aware of the differences and that
they become skillful at modifying their classrooms to accommodate the various needs or
preferences of their students. Consider the next activity.
Listed below are a few differences in peoples ways of thinking and interacting.
Thinking Patterns: The thinking patterns favored by a culture determine, to a great
extent, the way people in that culture learn and teach. Consider some of these contrasting
differences.
Analytic Pattern
Global Pattern
Operates with facts and data
Operates with ideas
Concerned with immediate results Concerned more with process

Highly analytical
Holistic or relational
Works well individually
Works well with others
For students, what might be some of the consequences of the differences listed above?
Whataresomeoftheconsequencesforeducatorsgiventhattheymighthaveaclassroomfullofstudentswhose
learningstylepreferencesmayincludealloftheabove?
What modifications in instruction might facilitate learning for students in each category?
Your response should consider such aspects as pacing, experiential versus didactic
presentations, as well as assessment and motivational strategies.
GlobalAnalytical
Work book | 157
VerbalImaginal
ConcreteAbstract
ReflectiveTrial/Error/Feedback
Modality
Work book | 158
A c t i v i t y
a n d
R e a d i n g
3 3
The Goals of an Education

That Refl ects Diversity
Purpose
To understand the broad goals of diversity and examine them in terms of
existing curricula.
Instructions
Read and discuss the following Goals of an Education That Reflects Diversity.
Over the years, numerous theoreticians and practitioners have proposed various
definitions and goals for multicultural education. As expected, these statements
have evolved as the field itself has broadened and redefined itself. The following
list attempts to integrate many of the various goals of multicultural education. The
approach and some of the subsequent activities are modifications of a model
developed by Davidman and Davidman (1994).
Goal 1: Improve understanding of the concept of pluralism in American society.
Pluralism in this context must consider such sources of cultural identity as
nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual
orientation, health, and ability/disability (the attributes of culture identified earlier).
One must look particularly at how each of these has impacted the individual as
well as the group.
Goal 2: Expand the knowledge base of culture and the many different groups
found in the United States (or any country) as well as abroad. At a content level,
this considers curriculum inclusion of previously marginalized groups (e.g., women,
people of color) as well as expansion to address multiple perspectives (e.g., racism
in practice). At a process level, this considers pedagogical and communication
processes.
Goal 3: Improve intergroup as well as intragroup interactions. This demands
attention to such issues as cross-cultural understanding and interaction, attribution
as well as assessment across groups, and conflict management. Teachers thus
must broaden their instructional repertoire so that it reflects an understanding of
the various groups they will teach. Students must learn to communicate effectively
across groups as well as develop the skills of collaboration that are needed for
group problem-solving whether within or between groups.
Work book | 159
Goal 4: Empower action-oriented, reflective decisionmakers who are able and willing to
be socially and politically active in the school, community, nation, and world. This goal is
not only concerned with developing the knowledge and skill of practicing teachers but is
also concerned with transferring this knowledge and skill to the pupils in their charge.
Thus, individuals become proactive teachers and reflective practitioners who can
ultimately prepare reflective citizen-actors, both of whom are able and willing to work for
change in an interdependent world.
Discussion Questions
What do you interpret each of these goals to mean? Either in writing or in small groups,
discuss the meaning of each of these goals.
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Work book | 160
How do you think each of these goals might be addressed in a variety of content areas
(i.e., math, science, social studies, etc.)? Be as creative as you can as you consider how
these goals might be put into action.
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Work book | 161
Activity
and
Reading
34
Modifying Existing Instructional Material to

Refl ect the Goals of Diversity
Purpose
To apply the four Goals of Diversity to a range of educational material,
including existing lesson or unit plans.
Instructions
The goals stated in the previous activity can be easily put into practice in most content
areas. One can, for instance, review a particular lesson or unit plan, paying particular
attention to how each of the goals can be addressed. Each of the goals can be turned
into a question that teachers are able to address in a given lesson or unit. Use the
following as a guide. Then you will be provided with a few examples of how lessons
that utilize this approach might be developed. Finally, you will be asked to modify a
lesson of your own.
1. How can the content and strategies of this particular lesson or unit improve
student understanding of the concept of pluralism in American society while
improving educational equity?
2. How can the content and strategies of this particular lesson or unit expand the
knowledge base of culture and the many different groups found in the United
States as well as abroad? Is the content accurate, inclusive, and free of bias?
Does it give the whole picture? Does it strive to reduce or correct racist
impressions?
intergroup and intragroup interactions? Are assessment strategies broad and
inclusive? How is collaboration built into the activity? How can group harmony
be improved?
4. How can the content and strategies of this particular lesson or unit empower
action-oriented, reflective decisionmakers who are able and willing to be socially
and politically active in the school, community, nation, and world?
Following are three examples of lesson or unit plans that have been modified
to consider the above goals.
Work book | 162
Lesson One
The Sense of Taste: Addressing the Goals of Diversity
(developed by
C. Jeffrey Dykhuizen)
The following is an example of how a typical science lesson on the sense of taste can be
modified to address the goals of diversity.
Favorite Flavors and the Individual

Following the completion of a rather typical lesson that asks students to map the tongue
and identify where the taste buds for sweet, salty, bitter, and sour are located, engage
students in a discussion of their favorite foods. To facilitate processing of the lesson, ask
students where on their tongue they would be most likely to taste the flavor of their
favorite food (i.e., ice cream would most likely be tasted on the tip of the tongue).
Find out by a show of hands how many have a favorite food that is sweet; sour; bitter;
salty. What taste do most students prefer? Have students hypothesize why they think this
might be.
Ask students if they have ever eaten a very delicious, bitter food. A stupendous sour
food. A scrumptious salty food. Where? When? What?
Are students favorite foods completely and exclusively one of the four major flavors,
or a combination of flavors? What is their strongest preference? Their favorite
combination? Are there other flavors that students identify other than the four given in the
lesson? Is spicy a flavor?
Multicultural Taste Extension
Discuss the foods of different countries and cultures. Do certain cultures seem to
emphasize different flavors in their cooking? Have students discuss why they think certain
groups of people prefer certain flavors.
Extend the lesson by asking how many of the students like pickles. How do pickles
taste? Are they sweet or sour? Can they be both? What are the various combinations of
tastes that go into the flavor of a pickle? Where would you taste this on your tongue?
Goal 1: Explain the nature and evolution of pickles as a means to preserve foods. Nearly
all cultures make pickles of some form or another. Discuss the various types of pickles
students can find in their local food store. Can foods other than cucumbers be pickled?
Other vegetables? Grains? Meats? What pickled foods did various immigrant groups bring
with them to the Americas? What pickled foods were common to the indigenous groups in
the Americas?
Goal 2: Compare the tastes of varieties of pickles. It may be best to initially compare the
tastes of various pickles purchased at the local store (i.e., sweet cucumber pickles, dill
pickles, mixed hot pickles, etc.).
Work book | 163
Next, bring out pickles from different cultures. Japanese pickled plum or radish,
Korean kimchi, and German sauerkraut should provide good contrast. Explore reasons why
a particular type of pickle is common to a particular culture. Discuss the geography of the
country/culture in which that pickle is found. Which types of pickles do students prefer?
Dislike? Why? Which type of pickle was most like ones they had eaten?
Goal 3: In small groups, have students analyze a variety of pickles. Which pickles are
mostly sweet? Sour? Have students bring in samples of pickled foods found in their home
and community. Have students explain why their own family prefers certain pickled foods.
Have students discuss why they think humans have a sense of taste. What survival
purposes must this have served? Do all humans have the same sense of taste? Why do
they think certain cultures prefer certain tastes?
Goal 4: Have students analyze the impact on health of pickles. Do all people consider
them a healthy food? For instance, some consider pickled foods to be too high in sodium
content. What considerations must be made when eating pickled foods? What changes
have been evident in various societies with regard to foods that are high in sodium?
Are there certain pickled foods that you would like to see served in your school cafeteria?
Available in area stores? How might you go about making your wishes known?
Lesson Two
Human Diversity and the Human Figure
(developed by Jacqueline M. Szemplak)
The following is a lesson extension of a sculptural art project studying the human figure
from a diverse perspective. The lesson can be used with middle and secondary level
students.
The following extension has been modified from an art lesson dealing with the human
figure. Instead of studying the human figure solely from a Western perspective, students
will see examples of sculptures from other areas of the world. As an introduction to the
lesson, students will write down their personal thoughts and beliefs on what they consider
to be beautiful in a sculpture. What attributes would it have? What type of dress might it
have, if any? What would its proportions be? What would be the overall mood of the
piece? Would it look like anyone they know, or any famous piece of artwork? Students
might generate their own list.
Work book | 164
As a multicultural extension, students would view examples of figural sculptures from

different time periods and different cultures around the world. Some examples might
include Mayan, Egyptian, West African, Japanese, ancient India, and any of the many
multicultural modern American sculptures. Then, in small groups and using the list they
made earlier, students will discuss which of these sculptures best fits their description of
beauty. Will they need to change or modify their original ideas? What do they believe was
the intent of each artist? What are the various reactions of viewers of each piece? What
elements reflective of the culture are evident in the piece? What materials were used to
create the piece? Then, as an entire class, students should construct their universal list of
characteristics they believe should be evident in a piece of sculpture. Eventually, they will
use their own criteria as a guideline to make and evaluate their own sculptures.
Goal 1: Students will analyze how their own culture views the human figure and discuss
why and how they were ingrained with a Western view of art. They can discuss how art
serves as a form of identity for a culture, subculture, or ethnic group. Forms of art
examined may be political, gender-related, religious, or another form that reflects a
particular time period or social context. Students should discuss the social and political
impacts that Western art forms have had on them.
Goal 2: The teacher should guide the students to define the human figure and beauty
from a multicultural perspective. This can be accomplished by viewing a variety of
sculptures from around the world. Students should come to realize that beauty is culturally
defined and that it varies from culture to culture. While not all of the sculptures viewed
will be considered beautiful by the criteria of Western art, students should understand that
each are considered beautiful and may hold deep cultural meanings in the cultures in
which they were created.
Goal 3: Students will improve intergroup relations by working cooperatively in groups.
They will discuss their own views of figural sculptures as well as the views of others in
their class. They will collectively refine the ideas of sculptural beauty from a multicultural
perspective. They will then work in small groups to create a sculpture that reflects the
criteria they have decided upon.
Goal 4: When the small groups have completed their sculpture, they will share them with
the entire class. What considerations should be made while viewing each sculpture? Would
all people define this as good artwork? Why? Is it museum quality, or might it be
considered folk art? Why? What is its best quality? What changes would you want to see if
you were a museum curator? How would you make your wishes known? How might you
encourage others to view figural sculpture from other ethnic or cultural groups?
Lesson Three
Diversity in the Animal Kingdom

(developed by
Kim Elliott)
Work book | 165
The following multicultural lesson extension suitable for the early years illustrates how a
science lesson might be used to introduce the concept of diversity. While this lesson
specifically targets bears as the animal of focus, it can easily be modified for other animal
species. The following extension has been prepared with kindergarten children in mind.
Most kindergarten teachers in my district do a brief unit on bears, without addressing the
real aspect of the animals. Teachers tend to use bear stories and stuffed animals to
approach the unit, and integrate a variety of arts-and-craft-type activities to engage
children. This may be fine to introduce the lesson and perhaps to personalize it, but time
on this aspect could and should be kept to a minimum. Children might be asked if they
have a favorite bear as a lead-in to the lesson, but they should then concentrate on the
more real aspects of the animal, as well as on the diversity of bears and how it might
relate to humans. Here is one way in which this might be accomplished.
Goal 1: Read a story about bears and ask children where they might be able to see a
bear. Ask if all bears at the zoo look the same. Why dont they all look alike? Ask children
if they think all bears come from the same place? Discuss with children that even though
there may be many different kinds of bears, they are each unique and special in their own
way. Show pictures of different types of bear, and have children point out the obvious
similarities and differences (e.g., size, shape, color, etc.).
Goal 2: Use books and various photos to show children that bears do not all come from
the same place. It is here that a teacher might begin to introduce a globe or map while
discussing different environments in which bears are found. Have children attempt to
match pictures of different bears to a variety of environments and suggest why they think
a certain bear might be found in a particular region. You may use a variety of bears and
locations, such as the panda from China, the polar bear from the arctic, and grizzly bears
from mountainous regions. Note that the koala from Australia is not a bear. This might be
introduced early in the unit, and children can explore why people tend to classify it as
such. This might be used as an example of stereotyping at a later time.
Goal 3: Have the children work in groups to draw the environments from which several
bears have originated. Have them share their pictures as a group with the rest of the
class. Discuss with the children the different types of foods that each bear eats. Explain
that the reason the bears eat these different types of foods is that they are naturally
occurring in the environments in which they live (e.g., panda-bamboo, polar bear-fish,
grizzly-fish). Bring in samples of bamboo and fish for the children to examine. Which of
these foods would they eat? Why? Why not? Have them consider if people in these parts
of the world eat similar foods. Why? Why not? Discuss that just as bears eating habits
differ from region to region, so, too, do the eating habits of people who live in different
regions.
Work book | 166
Goal 4: Bring together all the different ideas children have been discussing. Discuss with
children that just as there are different types of bears in the world, there are also different
types of people. Also discuss that like the bears, people from different parts of the world
live in different environments, eat different foods, and enjoy different types of activities.
Using the bears as parallels to humans, go back to the original idea of the unit to explore
that we are all humans, and are all unique and special, even if we come from different
parts of the world.
As an extension, let the children plan an imaginary trip to one of the regions to see
their favorite bear in its natural environment. During the trip, you might study such things
as the regions geography, climate, native peoples, and foods.
Work book | 167
A c t i v i t y
3 5
Now Its Your Turn: Modify a Lesson

to Address the Goals of Diversity
Purpose
To apply the Goals of Diversity to a lesson you develop.
Instructions
Select an already prepared lesson plan for the subject area you plan to teach. Or
develop your own lesson or unit plan. Review this lesson with the four goals in
mind, and respond to the questions as stated below.
student understanding of the concept of pluralism in American society while
improving educational equity?
2. How can the content and strategies of this particular lesson or unit expand the
knowledge base of culture and the many different groups found in the United
States as well as abroad? Is the content accurate, inclusive, and free of bias?
Does it give the whole picture? Does it strive to reduce or correct racist
impressions?
Work book | 168
intergroup and intragroup interactions? Are assessment strategies broad and
inclusive? How is collaboration built into the activity? How can group harmony be
improved?
4. How can the content and strategies of this particular lesson or unit empower actionoriented, reflective decisionmakers who are able and willing to be socially and
politically active in the school, community, nation, and world?
Work book | 169
A c t i v i t y
3 6
Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (ICCS)

Purpose
To complete
a self-assessment instrument with regard to your intercultural experiences.
Instructions
The following questionnaire asks you to rate your agreement or disagreement with
a series of statements. Please respond honestly as there are no correct answers.
You will find another copy of this in the last section of the workbook that you can
complete toward the end of the course. You can compare your responses from the
beginning to the end of the book.
Please circle the number that best corresponds to your level of agreement with
each statement below:
1 = Strongly Disagree 7 = Strongly Agree
1. I speak only one language
1234567
2. The way other people express themselves

is very interesting to me
1234567
3. I enjoy being with people from other cultures123456...7
4. Foreign influence in our country threatens
our national identity
123456...7
5. Others feelings rarely influence decisions I make1234567

6. I cannot eat with chopsticks
1234567
7. I avoid people who are different from me
1234567
8. It is better that people from other cultures

avoid one another
1234567
9. Culturally mixed marriages are wrong
10.I think people are basically alike
1234567
1234567
11.I have never lived outside my own culture for

any great length of time
1234567
12.I have foreigners to my home on a regular basis1234567
13.It makes me nervous to talk to people who are
different from me
1234567
14.I enjoy studying about people from other cultures1234567
Work book | 170
15.People from other cultures do things differently

because they do not know any other way
1234567
16.There is usually more than one good way to
get things done
1234567
17.I listen to music from another culture on a
regular basis
1234567
18.I decorate my home or room with artifacts from
other countries
1234567
19.I feel uncomfortable when in a crowd of people1234567
20.The very existence of humanity depends upon
our knowledge about other people
1234567
21.Residential neighborhoods should be culturally
separated
1234567
22.I have many friends
1234567
23.I dislike eating foods from other cultures
1234567
24.I think about living within another culture in the future1234567

25.Moving into another culture would be easy 1234567
26.I like to discuss issues with people from other cultures1234567
27.There should be tighter controls on the number of
immigrants allowed into my country
1234567
28.The more I know about people, the more I dislike them1234567
29.I read more national news than international news
in the daily newspaper
1234567
30.Crowds of foreigners frighten me
1234567
31.When something newsworthy happens I seek

out someone from that part of the world to
discuss the issue with
1234567
32.I eat ethnic foods at least twice a week
1234567
Work book | 171
Scoring the ICCS

The ICCS can be scored by subscales. Simply insert the numbered circled on the test form
in the spaces provided under each subscale heading. Reverse the values for the items
marked with an asterisk (*) . For instance, reverse scoring results in:
7=1, 6=2, 5=3, 4=4, 3=5, 2=6, 1=7
Then add the values in each column for the subscale score. A total ICCS score is obtained
by adding the various subscale scores together. Individuals can be ranked relative to
others in a particular group. You can also identify relative strengths and weaknesses that
may lead to more focused orientation and planning.
ICCS Scoring Guide
Subject ID_______________
C Scale
item score
1*____ 2
B Scale
I Scale
item score
item
score
____ 3
____
6*
____
7*
____
8*
____
11*
____
13*
____
14
____
12
____
19*
____
20
____
17
____
25*
____
26
____
18
____
30
____
31
____
23*
____
24
____
29*
____
32
____
A Scale
item
E Scale
score item
4*
____
5*
9*
____
10
15*
____
16
21*
____
22
27*
____
28*
Totals
C Scale = ____
B Scale = ____
I Scale = ____
A Scale = ____
E Scale = ____
Work book | 172
Total ICCS Score = ____
* Reverse-score all items marked with an asterisk because these are negatively worded items.
Interpreting the Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

The ICCS is a 32-item instrument that provides dimensional scores for individuals on each
of five subscales. Individuals can be ranked relative to others from high to low levels of
sensitivity on issues and experiences related to cross-cultural or intercultural interaction
(the higher the score, the more sensitive an individual is presumed to be). While the ICCS
should not be used in a predictive manner, results can be used to raise peoples
awareness of some of the issues to consider prior to intercultural interaction.
The five subscales and the range of scores include:
Subscale
Range of Scores
Cultural Integration (C Scale): assesses the degree

to which an individual integrates elements from
cultures other than their own into their
daily activities.
1070
Behavioral Scale (B Scale): assesses the degree to which
an individual has adopted behavior that is new or
has a degree of comfort when interacting with others.642
Intellectual Interaction (I Scale): assesses the degree
to which an individual seeks out knowledge of
other cultural orientations.
642
Attitude Toward Others (A Scale): assesses

the degree of openness toward others.
535
Empathy Scale (E Scale): assesses the degree to which

an individual identifies with the feelings of others.
535
Total Score Range
32224
Now compare your results on each subscale with those when you first completed the
inventory at the beginning of the book (see Activity 2).
Work book | 173
What surprised you most when comparing your scores?
In what areas have you shown the most growth? The least? To what would you attribute
these changes (or lack of changes)?
What questions or issues did this instrument fail to address that you believe would better
demonstrate how you have grown or changed?
Work book | 174
The Technical Details of the ICCS (or the fi ne print)

Content validity looks to the extent to which a test encompasses a reasonable sample of
the responses or behaviors that characterize the variable of interest. Thirty-two
statements that effectively differentiated individuals varying in amount of intercultural
experience, and which when factor analyzed using varimax rotation loaded highly on one
dimension and maintained eignevalues greater than 1.0, were retained in this version of
the ICCS.
Construct validity refers to the degree to which the instrument succeeds in measuring
what it purports to measure. The ICCS has effectively differentiated individuals having
extensive intercultural experience (two or more years living and/or working overseas) from
those having little or no intercultural experience (undergraduate university students living
in northeastern Ohio). Those having limited intercultural experience have ranked between
these two groups. The ICCS has demonstrated the ability to differentiate individuals
having received cross-cultural training from control group members (Broaddus, 1986;
Cushner, 1989).
Reliability refers to the extent that the instrument obtains consistent and stable
results. Reliability estimates for the ICCS appear to be quite stable:
C Scale = .9415; B Scale = .7009; I Scale = .8869; A Scale = .7860; E Scale = .5239.
Work book | 175
Glossary
Ambiguous: Unclear. In the cross-cultural context this refers to the lack of clarity that
typifies many interactions that still requires an individual to respond.
Anxiety: An emotional state of general and undefined nervousness that often exists in an
intercultural encounter due to the unfamiliarity of anothers behavior.
Attribution: The judgments people make about others based on the behavior they
observe.
Belonging: The need people have to feel as if they have a role and purpose in a given
setting or context.
Categorization: The process of dividing stimuli into classes or groups according to a
particular system. In the cultural context, this refers to the manner by which a culture
teaches its members to view the world around them.
Collective group: Refers to members of a group that tend to identify with one another
who will often be deferred to when making decisions.
Communication Differences: Generally refers to group-level differences in both verbal
as well as non-verbal modes.
Differentiation: Refers to the process of distinguishing the finer points between
elements of a given category, as a wine connoisseur is able to do. In the cross-cultural
context, this refers to distinctions made between aspects of a category that are important
to a given group of people.
Disability: Refers to the inability to do something that is desirable.
Disconfirmed expectations: Refers to the tendency individuals may have that causes
them to become upset or uncomfortable, not because of the specific circumstances they
encounter, but because the situation differs from what they expect.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity refers to the knowledge, beliefs and behavior patterns shared by a
group of people with the same history and the same language.
Ethnocentrism: The tendency people have to evaluate others from their own cultural
reference.
Faulty attributions: Inaccurate judgments made about others. In the cross-cultural
context this refers to judgments made by an observer using criteria that are not used by
the particular actor in a given situation.
Fundamental attribution error: The tendency people have to judge others using
different criteria than they would use to judge themselves.
Work book | 176
Gender: Socially defined category in which the biological specialization of male and
female are transformed by associating specific personality, role, and status traits to each
sex.
Generalization: Refers to the tendency of a majority of people in a cultural group to hold
certain values and beliefs, and to engage in certain patterns of behavior. Thus, this
information can be supported by research and can be applied to a large percentage of a
population or group.
Group allegiances: Tendency to identify and make major decisions according to those preferred
by a group to which one identifies, which can be ethnic, religious, national, etc.
Health: Health is culturally defined according to a particular groups view of what

physical, mental, and emotional states constitute a healthy person. The expert opinion
of the medical profession usually guides a view of health in the industrialized world,
although alternative systems such as acupuncture, holistic medicine, and faith healing are
available; the acceptance of which varies widely both within and between social groups.
Individual interests: Tendency to identify and make major decisions according to ones
own individual preferences as opposed to those of the group.
Ingroups: Refers to those individuals one feels psychologically closest to and who often
share rather intimate knowledge and interpersonal relationships.
Language: A collection of meaningful sounds used to communicate messages to others.
Learning style: A consistent pattern of behavior and performance by which an individual
approaches educational experiences; learning style is derived from cultural socialization
and individual personality, as well as from the broader influence of human development.
Model minority: Refers to those groups who excel in school and who appear to have
overcome discrimination.
Nationality: Identification and the state of belonging to a particular nation-state.
Nonverbal communication: Means of communication that are unspoken and may or
may not accompany verbal communication. Refers to such things as gestures, facial
expressions, use of space, etc.
Objective culture: The visible, tangible aspects of a group of people, including such
things as the artifacts produced, the clothing worn and food that is eaten.
Outgroups: Refers to those persons generally kept at a psychological distance from
oneself.
Prejudice: Non-reflective judgments about others that are harsh, discriminatory, or
involve rejection.
Privilege: A special advantage or right granted or enjoyed by certain individuals or
groups.
Work book | 177
Race: Biologically speaking, it refers to the clustering of inherited physical characteristics

that favor adaptation to a particular ecological area. Race is culturally defined in the sense
that different societies emphasize different sets of physical characteristics when referring
to the concept of race. Thus, race is an important social characteristic, not because of its
biology, but because of its cultural meaning in any given social group or society.
Religion: Religion is defined on the basis of a shared set of ideas about the relationship of
the earth and the people on it to a deity or deities and a shared set of rules for living
moral values that will enhance that relationship.
Rituals: A series of acts performed in a prescribed manner, usually in conjunction with a
religious or spiritual ceremony.
Role-based behavior: Patterns of behavior expected to be carried out in a manner
deemed appropriate for a given position one may hold.
Sexuality: Particular patterns of sexual self-identification, behavior, and interpersonal
relationships that identify one as either male or female.
Situational behavior: Behavior of an individual or a group that is characteristic in a
particular setting or context.
Social status: Refers to the degree to which an individual has power, influence, or
leadership in his or her social group.
Socialization: The process whereby individuals learn what is appropriate to be a
functioning member of a particular group, such as family, work, or social group.
Spirituality: Spirituality generally refers to a set of ideas about the relationship of an
individual to the earth and to deities. Whereas religion is generally group-oriented and
formal in its organzation, spirituality can refer to a more personal experience.
Stereotypes: Beliefs about the personal attributes of a group based on the inaccurate
generalizations used to describe all members of the group, thus ignoring individual
differences.
Subjective culture: Refers to the invisible, intangible aspects of a group, including such
things as attitudes, values, norms of behavior; the things typically kept in peoples minds.
Superstitions: Belief or practices resulting from ignorance or false conception of
causality.
Values: Internalized beliefs that provide social cohesion among group members that are
often codified into laws or rules for living, such as the Ten Commandments for Christians
and Jews or the Hippocratic Oath for doctors.
References
Akron Beacon Journal (2000). Ah, but the mystery. p. A12.
Work book | 178
Bellah, R.; Madsen, R.; Sullivan, W.; Swindler, A.; and Tipton, S. Habits of the Heart:
Individualism and Commitment in American Life. (New York: Harper and Row, 1985).
Berger, P. L. and Berger, B. Sociology: A Biographical Approach. (New York: Basic Books,
1972).
Brislin, R. Understanding Cultures Influence on Behavior, 2nd ed. (Fort Worth, TX:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 2000).
Chomsky, N. Cartesian Linguistics. (New York: Harper and Row, 1966).
Cushner, K. and Brislin, R. Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed. (Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 1996).
Cushner, K.; McClelland, A.and Safford, P. Human Diversity in Education: An Integrative
Approach, 5th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006).
Davidman L. and Davidman P. T. Teaching with a Multicultural Perspective: A Practical
Guide. (New York: Longman, 1994).
Drum, J.; Hughes, S.; and Otero, G. Global Winners: 74 Learning Activities for Inside and
Outside the Classroom. (Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1994).
Gilligan, C. In a Different Voice. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983).
Gollnick, D. and Chinn, P. C. Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society, 3rd ed. (New
York: Macmillan, 1990).
Herek, G. M. On Heterosexual Masculinity: Some Psychical Consequences of the Social
Construction of Gender and Sexuality. American Behavioral Scientist, 1986, 29(5), p.
5.
Hughes, P. and More, A. J. Learning Styles/Patterns and Aboriginal Students. Presentation
to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Education. (Wollongong, Australia,
December 1993).
International Bureau of Education. Educational Innovation and Information. (Geneva,
Switzerland, September 1994).
LeVay, S. and Hunter, D.H. Evidence for a Biological Influence in Male Homosexuality.
Scientific American, 1994, 270, pp. 44-49.
McIntosh, P. White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See
Correspondences though Work in Womens Studies. Working Paper No. 189.
(Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, 1988).
Pedersen, P. A Handbook for Developing Multicultural Awareness, 3rd ed. (Alexandria, VA:
American Association for Counseling and Development, 2000).
Ponterotto, J. and Pedersen, P. Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors and Educators.
(Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications, 1993).
Summerfield, E. Survival Kit for Multicultural Living. (Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press,
1997).
Vonnegut,K.Afterword,inF.Klagsburn(Ed.)FreetoBe...YouandMe.(NewYork:McGrawHill,1974).
Work book | 179

Human Diversity in Action Workbook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Human Diversity in Action Workbook

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Human Diversity in Action Workbook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Human Diversity in Action