On Intercultural Competence and Practice…

Written by Anouchka Sterling, Religion and Belief Equity Lead

Working in an organisation such as UCL means stepping into a melting pot of cultures, sub-cultures, values and communication styles. Many of us will encounter situations in our day-to-day that are impacted by intercultural communication differences, either peer-to-peer or staff to student. In a world of “You do you!” it may be tempting to think “Why bother with the differences, we’re all unique!”….. and yet it is precisely those differences that affect the way we interact with, and how we show up as educators, colleagues, students and peers.

We strive to be a place where our staff and students can be the best version of themselves, to express themselves without fear of judgement or reprisal. To do that we need an organization that promotes intercultural competence and protects psychosocial safety and this climate is manifest and maintained in the behavior and world view of all the community.

Yet, to some degree, our communication experiences will involve having witnessed or experienced, and if we’re honest, subjecting others to, unconscious bias, micro-aggressions, gender bias, or other bases for cultural miscommunication. We will have been in situations in which engagement with a student or staff member from a different cultural background was difficult, or where a serious cultural misunderstanding may have led to the breakdown of a relationship with a colleague or a student. These situations are not uncommon and personal differences of culture and communication often form the basis of unnecessary grievances and conflicts.  Recognizing when communication has been confused and/or hindered by cultural or sub-cultural difference is crucial to our understanding of and responses to the situations that we may encounter.

This is where the practice of Intercultural Competence comes into play and allows us to first assess our world view and then consider the other person’s, seeking to know and understand their perspective  and adapt our responses accordingly. In this way, we build an environment where each can say “I see you, I hear you and I want to understand you”.

I had the opportunity and privilege recently of organising and co-leading a few workshops on this very practice with Dr Stephen James (UCR) for a group of amazing UCL community members. Here’s what he has to say:

“Living and working in one of the most multicultural cities in the world can sometimes lead to the false assumption that we have few issues with cultural differences. On the other hand, we regularly hear of cross cultural insensitivities. To paraphrase Milton Bennet: “Proximity to cultural difference does not guarantee intercultural sensitivity.”

In other words, simply being exposed to cultural difference is not enough to develop appropriate responses to cultural and sub-cultural difference.

The purpose of our workshop is to provide a space in which we can work together with both academic and practical resources to develop both intercultural competence and psychosocial safety. Intercultural competence involves responding to cultural difference with respect, curiosity and with a learner’s attitude, while psychosocial safety is ensuring that academics, students and staff can expect to be who they are in an environment without fear of stereotyping, ridicule, rejection or reprisal.”

The conversations were enlightening, the discussion was engaging and the pledges that came out of the workshops were wholeheartedly encouraging. The work continues and we hope that the richness of our differences can be harnessed to bring beauty and benefit to the organisation as a whole, if we’re willing to truly see, hear and understand each other.