Reference no: EM133751203 , Length: word count:1500

Teaching, Learning and Working in Culturally Diverse Environments

Assignment: Start your essay by discussing why you chose this event or issue and its significance to the topic of cultural diversity in learning or working. Describe briefly (no more than 200 words) the issue itself, reflect on its impact on you or others and the affective aspects you consider to be significant.

2. Analyse the issues or events with depth with reference to concepts from Literature. The main criterion for this essay is depth of reflection of the cultural experience and so you are expected to Analysis the issues this should be the focus as you develop your assignment.

3. Refer to the literature where appropriate and provide a list of all the references you cited in the text. A minimum of three references required, and one of the references must be either the Triandis or Berry article, using the APA referencing format (same as used in the Learning Guide). If you use both the Triandis and Berryarticle, you must use TWO additipnal references.Aim: The aim of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to reflect arid critique a cultural experience in your own country, and to link your experiential knowledge to concepts and theories related to culture and cultural diversity from this unit. This experience could be a positive one (e.g. a rewarding intercultural learning experience), a negative one (experience of prejudice), or an awkward one (a culturally based misunderstanding).

Description
Think of ONE issue or event related to cultural diversity which you have personally experienced in your own country, you were involved or were an independent observer, e.g. an experience relating to stereotyping, ingroupldutgroup behaviour, culture shock, differences in expected behaviour, culturally.based misunderstanding, prejudice, intercultural learning experience, enrichment in personal worldview) and which took place in the community, an educational or workplace context.

Topic 1: Culture, identity and culture diversity
There is no doubt that human experiences are linked to the social context in which people live. Understanding the relationships between people and society, more specifically how people are transformed by society and reciprocally how they transform society, is important for effective functioning in everyday life.

In this first topic, we'll be exploring the following key concepts:

The nature, function and significance of culture
Culture as a social construction
Identities as socially constructed
Oversimplification of cultural differences and underestimation of within-group differences

Problem of equating culture to nation
Problems with essentialist, static and reified views of culture
Work through your readings and complete the tasks in time to commence the next topic.

Topic 2: About culture, acculturation and intercultural

In this topic you are invited to continue reflecting on the notion of culture, and the implications of endorsing either a 'large culture' conceptualisation (the default notion, referring to ethnic, national or international entities) or alternatively a 'small culture' conceptualisation.
In this second topic, we'll be exploring the following key concepts:
Large culture and small culture
Acculturation, acculturation strategies
Social identity theory as useful non-essentialist approach to understand ingroup and outgroup situations
Negotiating the boundaries of 'small culture/worlds'
Intercultural experiences as evolving, complex interrelations in activity systems
Intercultural interactions as co-shaped by personal dispositions and multiple contextual elements