Unit 1 - CULTURAL IDENTITY

Definitions
Define the following terms: 
- Assumptions
- Values
- Attitudes
- Social Norms
​- Behaviors
What factors contribute to the formation of these characters? 

Social Norms and Behaviours

Every one of us is an individual, with our own cultural backgrounds and our own personalized life experiences. Yet we need to fin common understandings in order to create and sustain properly functioning order and stability, and basically to share the planet. 

In the workplace, in our careers, this sense of order revolves around an acceptance of professional purpose and a shared agreement of the aims and objectives of our organization. 

An activity in Chapter 1 (Personal Development) required you to demonstrate the proper way of answering a phone. Now, answering a phone is pretty well obsolete these days, but it is an example of the fact that, no matter what the medium is, interaction should be approached with a certain decorum.

Civility & the IB Learner Profile

     





"Civility, politeness, it's like a cement in a society; binds it                   
together. And when we lose it, then I think we all we
feel lesser and slightly dirty because of it." - Jeremy Irons

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“Whether in business or in life, you can be civil and get ahead.  Whatever your age or circumstance, you can master civility. So what are you doing today to connect with others? What kind of legacy are you leaving? Are you lifting people up or holding them down?
In each moment we get to choose who we want to be.
Who do you want to be?”
 
 - Christine Porath, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace 

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The concept of civility can be found in several of the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. With a partner, discuss which attributes of the IB learner profile are related to the notion of civility. Then find another pair and share your thinking. 

Be prepared to challenge and dispute each other's ideas, but remember to be civil. 

Civility in the Workplace

CLICK HERE for a transcript of Christine Porath's Ted Talk

WHAT do you want to be? Click here.

68 BITS OF ADVICE

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Read the following article, taken from a website for the restoration and remediation industry and then do the activity below. 

Civility in the workplace - 

Keeping in mind your previous discussion, choose two of the learner profile attributes that you feel are demonstrated in the article you have just read. Write an "I statement"  to make the connection between the article and each of your attributes. For instance, "I believe that civility at school is a way of being principled, making sure that each student's voice can be heard." As a class, take turns to read aloud each statement at a time. 

Some information for each of the categories is available at the bottom of the video's webpage. Sources are important; they give evidence, provide clarity, and lend direction. You might also see sources described as references. 

If people were 100 people...

Discuss the following questions about the information presented in the video and on the website in groups. 
​
 - Which statistic would you like to learn more about?

- Which statistic do you consider most surprising? Why? 

- Which statistic do you think will affect generations to come the most? 

Referring to the first activity of the personal development chapter, how does this affect the way you talk to someone on the phone, create an activity, or present to a group? Add your findings into your blog. 

Cultural diversity in the IB mission statement

Have another look at the IB mission statement below and look at the groups of underlined words. Draw connections between the "If the world were 100 people. . ." information and the underlined phrases in the mission statement. You will then display their work and share with the class why and how they made the connections that they did. Each member must take a turn speaking. 

Infographics

Carry out an online image search, using the search term: "If the world were 100 people."

Look at the various ways of presenting the information and choose a method or presentation that interests you most greatly, perhaps one that you identify with the most of perhaps one that is related to your career studies.

Now, go to your journal, blog or whatever format you have chosen for your reflective work, and answer the following questions: 

- In what ways does your personality (think of Rotter's locus of control) connect with the chart? 

- Would members of your household be able to predict what you chose? 

- Would you have chosen this same one five years ago? 

- How is what you chose connected to your work, career studies, interests, or perhaps your parents' work? 

- Are you more comfortable working independently or collaboratively? 

Hopefully, watching the video, "If the world were 100 people"and thinking about the information presented on the website has helped you to realize that there are many ways in which we are all different, and that your own cultural identity is formed by just one of thousands of possible combinations of circumstances that exist around the world. In the remainder of this section, we will look at some of the most apparent forms of cultural diversity that we might encounter, both on a global scale and closer to home, and think about how they shape our behaviours and attitudes. 

RESUME BUILDING

-Statement of Purpose/Aims and Goals
​-Work Experience
- Volunteer Work
-Positions/Leadership Positions Clubs at School or Not at School
-Classes Your Proud of Taking
-Skills
-Adult Contact that are not your parents
​-Awards/Certifications
-Language(s) you speak

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UNIT 2 - LANGUAGE & CUSTOMS

Studying languages can offer us an insight into history and cultural differences, as well as the way in which our brain processes information. This knowledge can in turn help us understand what it means to be human. More specifically, maintaining languages and learning languages lead us to a deeper understanding and appreciation of people. In this world, which grows more and more ripe with diversity, appreciating the power of language to unite, to connect and to heal is tremendously valuable. 

Click on the picture below, read the following article and then complete the activities that follow: 

To view the video, click on the "resource" tab above or click here. 

Language, Identity, Culture, and Diversity

Language and Diversity

With a partner, think about the following questions: 

- How can cultural diversity create communication barriers? 

- How do different languages and customs coexist within one society? 

- How can a diversity of languages be beneficial? 

15 International Business Customs That Could Make or Break a Deal

​As a class, get into pairs and pin a map of the world to the wall of your classroom. One member of each partnership should approach the map and point to it without looking. The country that you have pointed to will form the basis for the following two tasks: 

1) What language or languages are spoken there? How does language influence the culture of the country? 

2) Try to find some business customs that are particular to your chosen country. Whey might these traditions have developed in this country? 

Add your answers to your blog. 

Cultural Diversity at Hillcrest High School

Complete the following activities in groups of three or four. 

- List as many ways as you can in which your small group is diverse. 

- Think about the specific ways in which your whole class is diverse. Feel free to move around the room and speak to members of other groups. Each group should be prepared to share an example with the rest of the class. 

- Reflect upon how these activities have changed the way you think of diversity. Each group should arrive at a consensus and share it with the class in the format: "We learned..."

Now as a whole class, discuss the following questions: 

- How would you create a "diversity profile" of your school population? 

- In what ways is your family's cultural identity similar to that of the neighborhood in which you live? And in what ways is it diverse? How is your cultural identity (or your family's) reflective of your school's demographics? And how are you diverse?

Add you answers to your blog. 

WHAT'S YOUR VIEW?

There are many different ways of looking at the world. It can be exciting, interesting, sad, scary, bewildering, and so on. 

How do you look at the world? Spend some time looking at newspapers or news websites. Discuss your different perspectives on the stories and issues. What factors do you think affect your perspectives? Do you think you have any biases? 

Add your reflections to your blog. 

This is Google's infrastructure.

 

UNIT 3 - INTERCULTURAL ENGAGEMENT

Cultural Interactions

Spend some time thinking about the ways in which you have engaged or interacted with other cultures in the last month. Some areas for considerations include language, food, and entertainment. Share you ideas with the person sitting next to you. Are there any examples that they thought of and you didn't? 

How do you think the way we experience different cultures has changed over time?

Speak and record your conversation with your teachers, parents or grandparents about how things have changed since they were your age. What has surprised them the most? Afterwards, record yourself and answer these questions. In what ways does your school promote intercultural engagement? Can you think of other initiatives that could be created to promote and enhance a more intercultural mindset in your school? 

Afterwards post the audio and/or video on your blog. 
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Globalization

As a result of accelerating developments in transportation and communication over the last century, and particularly in the last few decades, the world is becoming an increasingly interconnected place. This process is called globalization. It means that people who live in different countries, or even in different continents on opposite sides of the world, are able to communicate and work with each other, and to share ideas and experiences. One of the most significant effects this process has had is to promote international trade and the emergence of multinational corporations. 

The Great Globalization Debate! 

As a class, divide yourself into two even debating teams. One team will be arguing that globalization is a positive force, the other will be arguing against it. Each team should do the following in preparation for the debate - 

+ Research the term "globalization," looking at both sides of the argument.

+ Prepare an opening statement, outlining the key points of your case. You will need to include evidence to back up your claims and you may want to use visual aids. 

+ Anticipate what the other team will focus on and devise strategies to argue against their point of view. 

+ Think about questions that the other team might ask you and prepare an answers to help defend your case. 

Your teacher will moderate the debate and will decide which team has won at the end. 

Once the debate is over, discuss as a class whether or not you feel that globalization is a force for good. 

Add your what you have learned in your blog. 

 









CLICK ON THE CIRCLES TO THE

​LEFT TO

​READ ABOUT GLOBALIZATION

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Intercultural Engagement in the Workplace

Familiarize yourself with and conduct a bit of research about the terms above.

1 - Choose one that resonates with you, one that you can associate with your personal skills, interests, attitudes or dispositions. 

2 - Write a definition of your term that makes total sense for you. 

3 - Go to www.passiton.com and spend some time exploring it. 

4 - Choose an aspect of the website that can be connected to the term you have chosen and use it to create a company slogan, motto or creed that would be consistent with your career studies or the type of work you are attracted to. 

5 - Introduce the class to your slogan and career area in some creative, informative way. For example, a podcast, collage, map, design, song or poem. Add this to your blog. 

It might help to think of what you are being asked to do here as developing something of an argument: a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong. This is a useful skill to develop - the reflective project will require you to be able to state and discuss a pretty clear argument. 

Extension Reflection Project

Was there a website, phrase, discussion, or an argument that was introduced in this chapter that you would like to learn more about? 

If so, you have the roots of a project that will involve further investigation, inquiry, argument, evidence and some summaries, conclusions or finding. 

1) Conduct a detailed interview with another member of your class. 

Some questions that might be helpful: 

a - tell me about your family. 

b - what is your favourite holiday and how did you spend it? 

c - what is something you feel strongly about that you would not budge, no matter what? 

d - if you could attend any concert, what one would it be and why? 

e - what is something that you are proud of? 

f - what do think that companies like www.ancestry.com and 23andMe.com are so popular? 

g - how do you feel about religion? 

h - if you could change one thing in this school, what would it be? 

i - what is a custom that you have been following that you may not continue when you are older? 

j - should euthanasia be legal? 

k - if you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be? 

Take notes of your partner's answers. Then, using any medium, create a representation of the commonalities and differences between you and your partner. It could be written, drawn, painted, recorded, designed or presented in any other way you consider suitable. 

You must refer to two areas from Column I, two from Column II, and two from Column III form the grid below.  
Please upload your work under the Reflection Project Tab. 

Don't hesitate to ask questions about how to approach this task.
Having discussions, getting advice and ideas, doing research and arriving at your answers are the essence of learning. Just make sure the final product is in your own voice (academic honesty). 
And have fun! 

You should also know that the thinking you do on this "exam" - the gathering of information, considering data, arriving at theses or arguments, trying to share some conclusions or recommendations, and, of course, trying to stick to time-lines and stay focused - are all the critical steps of project management and will be hugely important skills for your future studies and careers (and, once, again, the reflective project).

GROUP WORK TIME! - Each person in the group needs to make a 5 slide presentation about your career and one of the international engagement in the workplace (up above). Use the tools on "How to give Better Presentations" below as criteria. Write down your dialog. You will then give your presentation to each other. Upload your presentation and your dialog to your REFLECTION PROJECT TAB. 

-Cultural Exchange
-Language Development
-Global Citizen
-Inclusion
-International Mindedness
-Equality
-Global Dimension
-International Education