Frequently Asked Questions

Can you give me a list of cross cultural do's and don'ts?

"Complex interactions can’t be managed using a 'phrasebook'. There's no 'lonely planet' guide to cross cultural work. To try and simplify it could do more harm than good.

That is because cross cultural training is not just the do's and don'ts for a specific culture. Papua New Guinea for example, is the most linguistically diverse country on the planet with over 850 language groups prior to European contact. Eeach language group has variations of expression and all cultures change constantly in response to their environment. To learn about cultures we need to live them.

Wanting a clear solution is part of our cultural boundedness – Western individualism values absolute truths and clear rational explanations for phenomena. Part of the cross cultural journey is recognizing that in non-Western cultures such as PNG, these truths are shifting and relative. Reality is always subject to our own experience and interpretation. However this does not mean we cannot find key values to guide us.

The current best thinking and practice about effective intercultural work is:

  • We are all culturally bounded.
  • All cultures are rule governed - they tell us how to do things, make sense of the world through rules.
  • Most of these rules that drive our behaviour (our values) are unconscious or unexplained.
  • When things don't make sense we tend to see the other person's way f doing things as 'deficient' because it is different. But of course its not - it just is governed by different rules.
  • By surfacing our underlying assumptions, values, expectations, beliefs and stereotypes, we can be more aware of how we interpret others actions and how we see our own.

What makes a person a good cross cultural worker?

  • Cultural sensitivity ie self-awareness as well as questioning the assumptions we and others make so as to get at what is really going on in the context.
  • It includes flexibility - in our responses to unexpected or unexplained experiences.
  • It includes adaptability - being able to change what we do to suit the context.
  • It includes the level and type of motivation we hold - motivation to change, learn, try new things and not give up, to do things for or with others as a mutual exchange.
  • It includes the confidence and self-esteem to hold true to our own core values while recognising others as equally valid. Although one might adapt one’s behaviour one does not lose oneself.
  • It entails taking responsibility for our own actions.
  • It means being able to work both independently and individualistically and also operate in highly collectivist contexts where behaviours are constrained by powerful social norms.
  • It involves having some tools and frameworks that you have thought through and tested and found are effective for you - ie being a reflective practitioner who has had intercultural experiences and learned from them.
  • In most developing societies with history of colonialism and marginalisation, a good start is having knowledge and understanding of the history and politics of the struggle for self determination that has led the society to its current situation.
  • We believe that fundamental to good cross cultural practice is recognition of the right to self-determination, and an approach that is non-judgmental and promotes equity and participation.

Do you offer a summary 2 hour or half day workshop?

CCC's training is transformative learning – it is not content driven but process and relationship driven. Through engaging with each other and the materials, participants have the chance to extend their frame of reference.

The optimum amount of time to do this effectively – whatever the context – is 2 days.

We also provide a handbook with over 50 pages of readings and resources including a whole lot of 'tips' but they are placed in the context of our model for understanding cultural difference and qualified by a range of factors.

The handbook is there to support face to face or other modes of learning – not as a stand along document. Our website is currently being updated and will in future include an online forum and learning opportunities for people to further explore these issues.