Twenty undergraduate and postgraduate staff attended an on-campus cross-cultural training day recently.

Angela Heist, a specialist in cultural awareness training, conducted the workshop.

A person’s culture was seen as being affected by environmental influences as well as identity, beliefs and skills.

To be culturally intelligent, a person should be able to understand and recognise another person’s culture-based beliefs and actions.

Through greater cultural understanding, there could be less misinterpretation, offence and conflict in the workplace and consequently better communication.

It was considered important not to mistakenly attribute a person’s feelings based on perceived verbal cues or body language.

An important role-play exercise was performed.

Staff members put themselves in the other person’s position in a situation of conflict and also allowed themselves to be an objective observer.

This exercise could give staff a better understanding of a student’s perspective in such a situation.

Rapport was discussed as an important way to break down cultural barriers. This occurs when there is a relationship of trust between 2 people. When 2 people are in rapport, they have a similar voice, tone and body language when interacting with each other.

The final issue that Ms Heise discussed was culture shock.

Culture shock can occur when a person is adjusting to a change in their life.

In the case of international students, they may experience culture shock before or during their move to a new country.

As people adapt to change, instead of acting logically they may act more emotionally and even produce a ‘fight or flight’ response.

This culture shock experience is something to be aware of in encounters with students, especially new students.

- Contributed by Sydney Graduate Campus Learning Support Unit tutor Brigit Botts.