Description
Social Responsibility includes:
intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively
in regional, national, and global communities, including the workplace. These skills are rated
highest as desirable skills among hiring managers.
Intercultural Competence includes:
- Knowledge of your own culture and how it has shaped your world view.
- Knowledge of significant characteristics of other cultures.
- Awareness of differences and similarities in cultures.
- Ability to adjust your actions to successfully interact with someone of another culture.
How do we continuously improve our intercultural competence? First, by understanding that
intercultural competence is complex, and it requires growing and maturing in three areas: mind
set, heart set, and skill set.
Mindset is the domain where as we learn and engage with others, we recognize similarities and
differences. A growth mind set requires self-awareness and cultural awareness.
Heart set is the domain where we learn to acknowledge, appreciate, and accept cultural
differences. There are six dimensions to your heart set: - Self esteem
- Self-monitoring
- Empathy
- Open mindedness
- Reserved judgment
- Social relaxation
- Listening
Skill set involves our intercultural agility; the ability to adjust your actions to successfully
interact with someone of another culture. Specific skills include message skills, appropriate selfdisclosure, behavioral flexibility, and interaction management.
Review the power point on eCampus, and watch the following videos:
Defining Intercultural Competence
youtube.com/watch?v=SJqBhLgSNQY
The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
Engagement is the Answer! Cross-Cultural Lessons in Life and Psychology
Laura Johnson | TEDxUM: youtube.com/watch?v=l0x4GPNz4Ho
If I Could Change the World: youtube.com/watch?v=wuRURJ9E3iQ
PARTNERS IN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Knowledge of civic responsibility includes: - Recognizing your civic responsibility to a specific community: locally, nationally, globally.
- Identifying actions you will take as a citizen to address the pertinent issues within your
community.
Engagement in a community includes: - Describing effective participation in civic engagement activities.
- Understanding the purpose and benefits of your engagement in the community.
Intercultural Competence
PART I - Explore different cultures represented at Mountain View College (e.g. visit the MVC
International Center). - Define your culture. Include display rules (e.g., culturally accepted ways of
communicating with others in your culture). - Discuss and record the things that you love about your culture. How has your culture
shaped your identity and how you feel about your place in the world? - Discuss the misperceptions about your culture – what bothers you the most?
- Discuss the contributions your culture has made to the community, state, country, and
the world. Write about a specific psychologist from your culture. Describe his/her area
of research and contributions to psychology (requires research).
PART II - Engage with a person from a culture that is different from yours, and about which you
know very little. This person is your “culture” partner. - Before you sit down to talk to your partner, honestly reflect on and record perceptions
that you have about this culture. - Allow your partner to discuss his/her culture in detail. Record what your partner says,
including display rules. - Listen to and record what your partner loves about his/her culture.
- Listen to and record the misperceptions about your partner’s culture – what bothers
your partner the most? Did you believe any of these misperceptions? - Listen to and record the contributions that your partner’s culture has made to the
community, state, country, or the world, including a psychologist. Record the person or
group your partner tells you about.
PART III - After reflection on the experience, summarize your encounter in essay form.
- Include a discussion that compares and contrasts the two cultures (yours and your
partner’s). - As you learned about your partner’s culture, discuss any emotions/feelings you may
have experienced. Did your perspective change? How? What psychological factors (e.g.,
PARTNERS IN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
PART III, continued
stereotyping, perceptions, schemas, prejudice, “us vs them,” ignorance, motivation,
personality) may have influenced your encounter, or could influence an encounter
between people from your two cultures? - How did you adjust your actions to successfully interact with your partner?
Civic Engagement
PART IV: Partner Collaboration
(If your partner is someone in class, each partner will turn in an individual project) - With your “culture” partner, choose an issue that affects both of your cultures at a
local, national, or global level. Define the issue and community (some examples:
food insecurity, access to health care, access to education, immigration, LGBTQ,
gender equity, racial equity, white privilege, climate change, housing availability,
poverty, stress, mental illness, discrimination).
When analyzed with a lens of civic responsibility (see definition above), discuss what
responsibility exists to address this issue. - Discuss the important and relevant issues that need to be addressed within the issue
and “community” that you have chosen to focus on? - Discuss how one can effectively participate in civic engagement activities to address
this issue? What already exists? What can be developed? - Discuss how your personal involvement could benefit you and addressing this issue?
- Bonus: Actively engage in an event or activity that is related to the issue you chose.
Discuss the experience.
Definitions of words in the instructions:
Explore – research, engage
Reflect – think deeply and honestly. Can also mean reflecting back to your partner what you
heard him/her say.
Discuss – engage in a conversation with your partner. Also, when writing about the experience,
be clear, accurate, precise, relevant, significant, in-depth, logical, and fair.
Record – Write down (see Discuss)
Research – Read, study, and provide evidence-based information (not your opinion). Include
references and citations.
Listen – pay attention to what your partner is saying. Suspend judgment, be empathetic and
open-minded.
ASSIGNMENT TIPS, GRADING and PROJECT DETAILS
This project is valued at 150 points and there will be three drafts of this paper. Final draft will
be due on November 15, 2019, 11:59 PM uploaded on eCampus. You will lose your points for
this paper if final version is not loaded on Ecampus.
Do not rush through the assignment. Take time to get to know your partner. Think carefully
about an issue that is important to you.
PARTNERS IN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
ASSIGNMENT TIPS, GRADING and PROJECT DETAILS, continued
Your discussion/writing should be clear, concise, and in-depth. Your answers should
demonstrate knowledge and understanding of your group’s culture and your partner’s culture,
and how psychological principles apply to the encounter between you and your culture partner.
Research aspects: read reputable articles; visit credible websites; talk to people who are
engaged in addressing the issue you chose. Visit, get involved.
As you develop your report, reflect on social or cultural barriers to interactions with members
of the other culture. According to psychological principles, why is that?
Length: Minimum 3 pages (maximum 5 pages); typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins, 12-
point font. Papers that are not typed will not be accepted. Grammar, style, and spelling
account for 10 points of your grade. If the paper you turn in is illegible, you may forfeit all
points for this assignment.
Style: To get started, answer the questions individually. If you get permission, you can record
your conversation with your partner. Then, incorporate the answers into an essay. Paragraphs
should transition logically. All answers must be in complete sentences using proper grammar
and spelling. If you have concerns about your writing skills, please schedule a visit with the MVC
Writing Center located in W114. This is an excellent, free resource.
Citations: You should have at least two (2) references to specific psychological theories to
support your answers. The theories/concepts should be clearly related to your answers. Cite
theory, author(s), main points, and how it supports your answer.
• In Psychology, we use the APA format for citations (a tutorial link is provided on
eCampus).
• Do not include first names, book titles, or journal article titles in your written answers.
o For example, if you cite information from your text, do not write: “According to
Sandra Ciccarelli and J. Noland White in Psychology: An Exploration…”
o Do write: According to Ciccarelli and White (2016), psychology is a fascinating
discipline.
• Direct quotes should be used sparingly (no more than two for the entire project) and
only when the original author’s statement is the most effective way to state a concept
or finding. You should always try to put other sources’ work in your own words.
• If you use a direct quote, it should be no longer than one sentence.
• Use proper citation for the quote:
o “In any society, there will always be ingroups and outgroups, or us versus them”
(Ciccarelli & White, 2016, p. 384).
o According to Ciccarelli and White, “in any society, there will always be ingroups
and outgroups, or us versus them” (2016, p. 384).
o Periods go at the end of the sentence, but inside the closing punctuation,
including quotation marks, if the quotation mark ends the sentence. Periods
always go after the parenthesis. ( ).
PARTNERS IN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
o A complete list of references should be at the end of your assignment (not
included as part of the 3-page minimum).
ASSIGNMENT TIPS, GRADING and PROJECT DETAILS, continued
Due Date: Final draft paper must be uploaded on eCampus by November 15, under the
Intercultural Competence Project Tab. Once it is approved, you will need to put your final paper
on Ecampus so the District can access it.
Sample Solution