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QUESTION
Title: Cultural intelligence and capability
Paper Details
Important notes
Length: 1500 – 1700 words
Value: 80%
An already completed sample of this assignment can be found below
Please keep to the reference below very important, they are accessible online
Brislin, R., Worthley, R, & Macnab, B (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors that serve people’s goals. Group & Organization Management,
Bruhn, J. (2005).Culture-brain interactions. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science, 40(4), 243-254. doi:10.1007/BF02915218
Flanja, D. (2009). Culture Shock in Intercultural Communication. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai. Studia Europaea, 54(4), 107-124.
Holley, L., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe Space: Student Perspectives on Classroom Environment. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64. doi:10.5175/JSWE.2005.200300343
Kambutu J., & Nganga L. (2008). In These Uncertain Times: Educators Build Cultural Awareness through Planned International Experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 24(4), 939-951.
Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is cultural awareness, anyway? How do I build it? Retrievedfrom http://www.culturosity.com/pdfs/What%20is%20Cultural%20Awareness.pdf
Young C., Haffejee B., & Corsun D. (2017). The relationship between ethnocentrism and cultural intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58, 31-41.Video chosen is the same as the sample report below
Spiers, B. (Director). (1979, Feb 19). Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints, Season 2 Episode 1 (BBC Television program) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_cDmwlbVkg\
In assessment 2, you made connections between cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence. Assessment 3 asks you to articulate your understanding of cultural capabilities building on these concepts in a formal written report form.
Choose a video scenario to observe and analyse from the six options provided below these instructions.
Using an excerpt from a media clip of people interacting within a ‘space’, write a report that:
Summarises and describes observations of the interactions related to aspects of cultural capabilities in the video clip.
Analyses (with formal references) the safe and unsafe aspects of the scenario including the physical location and interactions between actors.
And, based on the scenario shown in your chosen clip,
Provide recommendations for creating or sustaining this scenario as a culturally safe space.
Formatting the ReportReport Layout: You will need to include sections and subsections in the report (see further on in these instructions). Report sections and sub-sections should include numbered headings. Where there are sub-sections these should also be numbered and titled. (All sections, except the Title of Report, Table of Contents and References, should have numbered headings.) Word counts are only a guide, but indicate relative importance of the sections, which will be reflected in the marking weighting for each section (see the marking criteria sheet for more information).
Formal Language: Academic and formal reports use only third person, which means that first person (personal) language (e.g. I, my, we, etc.) is not used. Use of slang or contractions (i.e. using won’t instead of will not; using don’t instead of do not) should be avoided, and so on. (Please see further information on formal, academic writing in the Tools section further on in these instructions.)
Font size and type: Use font size 12. You may use font type Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman.
Margins: Use Default margin, 2.54cm.
Line Spacing: 1.5 line spacing.
Header: Place the following information in the assignment header: The Unit and the number and title of the Assignment item.
Footer: Place the following information in the assignment footer: Student name, student number and page number.
Report Sections and Sub-sections(Note: Do not include the word count and the section instructions below in your report. This is only provided as information to help you in preparing the report.)
Title of Report: This should be on a separate page and is not numbered. Include the title, your name and student number, and the date. The title should include the name of the video and describe what the report will do.
Table of Contents: This should be on a separate page and is not numbered. A table of contents provides a list of the Sections and Sub-sections that you have used in your report, and the page on which they start. (The Section titles should be aligned on the left-hand side of the page, with the sub-sections indented. The page numbers where each section and sub-section begins should be aligned on the right-hand side of the page.)
Introduction (approx. 200 words): Briefly explain background, aim and scope of this report. Include the following sub-sections in the introduction. 1.1 Background An orientation to the topic of cultural capability and safe spaces.
1.2 Aim Tell the reader what the report aims to do – i.e. It will provide a summary, description and analysis of an example of a safe or unsafe space, and will recommend improvements to improve the safety of the space where appropriate.
1.3 Scope Explain what the report will focus on, including what video, what particular scenes you will be discussing, and if the example depicts a safe or unsafe space.
Summary and Observations (Approx. 350- 400 words): This section will include two sub-sections.
2.1 Summary of the Video Clip: Include the name of the TV Show or movie, the season and episode if it is a TV show or year released for a movie.
Your summary needs to briefly include the following details:
the name of the TV show or movie
a reference to the multi-media clip that you will choose to illustrate safe (or unsafe) spaces
the season and episode if it is a TV show or year released for movie
the setting (social, academic or workplace)
a general overview of what the scene is about
any relevant background information to understand the scene
identification of the key characters
2.2 Observations: Identify the behaviours and scenarios in the video that are evidence of the cultural safety issues displayed in the video. These observations should confirm your statement in the introduction about whether the space is safe or unsafe. Some of the things to look for and describe are: physical factors (size and layout of space, position of people in the space), communication factors (body language, voice, words), signs of inclusion or exclusion, and displays of or lack of cultural intelligence. It is a good idea to include a Table to set out your observations.
Words used in a table are not counted in the word count.
If you use a table, remember that it will need to be introduced, and a number and title provided, as per below. (Note replace highlighted instructions with your own words):Analysis: (700-800 words):
In this section you should demonstrate your understanding of the key concepts covered in the unit.
Using relevant literature, together with your observations in section 2 of key elements within the video clip, analyse whether each scene is a safe or an unsafe space and explain why.
You will need to support your claims about whether each scene is a safe or unsafe space with readings and definitions of the concepts that comprise cultural safety: cultural intelligence, cultural capabilities and cultural safety. For example, you might write something like:
In the early part of the film, Jane displayed a high level of cultural intelligence by adjusting her behaviour with direct eye contact and using a calm tone of voice as soon as she became aware that her patient had never been in a hospital before. This had an instant effect on the patient who visibly relaxed and began to talk. This is an excellent example of what Brislin, Worthley and McNab (2006, p. 40) define as cultural intelligence or the ability to adjust to another culture. Jane showed she was reading the other person’s uncomfortable body language and adjusted her approach appropriately to make the patient feel safe in that new place.
This example shows how the student has:
First identified an example of cultural intelligencefrom the video clip
Second provided a definition of cultural intelligence from one of her readings
Third explained how the behaviour in this example relates to the definition
Hint: To improve clarity, your analysis may include numbered sub-headings to highlight and structure key issues or reasons that you have identified in your video as important to whether the space represented there is safe or not safe (e.g. 3.1 Empathy, 3.2 Intercultural Communication, 3.3 Awareness of Body Language, 3.4 Culture Shock, and so on).
Please note: You will need to include at least six references altogether, including one for the video, and at least two of these should be material from independently researched sources other than those included in the unit materials. Reference to relevant unit readings must also be included.
Recommendations (150 – 200 words): Based on your analysis section, make recommendations for how situations in the video may be changed using cultural capabilities to make this a safer space. The recommendations that you make should tie in very closely to your discussion in the analysis section. If the scenario is already safe, identify what aspects of the scenario have been important in making it safe.
Summary and Conclusion (approx. 100 words): Summarise the main ideas. What did your chosen video show about safe spaces, and what actions needed to be taken to make it a safe space, if anything?
Hint: No new material or references should be included here.
References: This should be on a separate page and is not numbered. Include all of the readings that you have mentioned throughout your report. You need to have at least six references.
Hints:
Only readings that appear in your report should be placed in the Reference list. All readings that appear in your report should be placed in the reference list. (If you refer to readings for information, mention these readings in your Summary and Observation, Analysis and/or Recommendations section and then include them in your reference list.)
Include the video in the reference list. See the APA Style Guide for how to reference multi-media items.
Remember that the reference list should be in alphabetical order, and for APA Style, uses a hanging indent.
The References, Title page, Table of content page, and words in your observation table, are not counted in your final word count.Sample of report
‘Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints’
Season 2 Episode 1An analysis of safe and unsafe space
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ——————————————————————– 1
1.1 Background —————————————————————- 1
1.2 Aim ————————————————————————– 1
1.3 Scope ———————————————————————— 1
2. Summary and Observation ————————————————— 2
2.1 Summary of video clip —————————————————- 2
2.2 Observation —————————————————————– 2
3. Analysis ————————————————————————–3
4. Recommendation ————————————————————-
5. Conclusion ———————————————————————-Introduction
1.1 Background
Cultural capability is the ability to make effective cultural judgment through constant reflection, negotiation, observation and appropriate response by adjusting according to cultural interplay (Holley & Steiner, 2005). It involves the ability to effectively communicate and act appropriately with culturally different others, while avoiding ethnocentrism, pre-judgement or stereotyped assumptions.
According to Kumbutu and Lydia (2008), ethnocentrism or the act of judging other people through the narrow lens of our own culture or based on our own cultural values and norms fuels cultural misunderstanding and tension and results in frustration, anger and confusion.
A safe space is a psychological or emotional state in which one feels secure and bold enough to take risks, express themselves by sharing knowledge and ideas and also explore behaviours and attitudes (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Both cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence are key ingredients to having a safe space.
For there to be a safe space, the parties must possess the skills to acknowledge diversity in values, beliefs and opinions that are different from theirs. According to Holley and Steiner (2005), possessing racial or ethnic bias would definitely not create a safe space.
1.2 Aim
This report gives a vivid description and summary of a YouTube video which has to do with communication barriers and makes a critical analysis of same by pointing out the safe and unsafe spaces in the video and finally making recommendation on ways of improving the safety of the unsafe space.
1.3 Scope
The report will focus on the first three minutes, sixteen seconds of the ‘Faulty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints 2’ video. It shall identify and discuss the safe and unsafe spaces in the video clip. Elements of cultural self-awareness, cultural intelligence, empathy and cultural judgement which determine a safe and unsafe space shall be pointed out and analysed. Finally, recommendations shall be made on how to maintain the safe spaces and improve the unsafe spaces.
2. Summary and Observation
2.1 Summary of the video clip
The video is titled ‘Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints’, Season 2 Episode 1. It is a BBC Television program released on February 19, 1979. It has a social setting which is based in the reception area of a hotel known as ‘Fawlty Towers’.
It is a busy day in the hotel and Polly has lots of customers to attend to. Just as she was about attending to Mr. Thorsten the customer next in line, Mrs. Richards, an old and belligerent customer who apparently has hearing problems barges in and demands to be attended to immediately not acknowledging the people who were actually there before her. She first asks for change as she has got a taxi driver waiting for her. Polly got the consent of Mr. Thorsten to attend to her but afterwards she demands that Polly attends to her since she had already started dealing with her to the utter disbelief of Mr. Thorsten who, from his facial expression, was shocked at the nerve and attitude of Mrs. Richards and stared at her in disbelief.
Mrs. Richard rhetorically asks if there was not another person to attend to her but Polly mischievously seized the opportunity to ask Manuel who was a hotel attendant to attend to Mrs Richards knowing he hardly understands English and we witness an exchange characterised by language barrier and cultural difference. Polly finally steps in to attend to the old lady after she was done with Mr. Thorsten.
The key characters in the scene were Polly the witty and mischievous receptionist, Mrs. Richards the inpatient and aggressive customer, Manuel the Spanish hotel attendant who fairly understands English and Mr. Thorsten the customer.
2.2 Observations
Observations from the video
Timing Scene description Sign of empathy/cultural intelligence/cultural awareness/judgement Safe/Unsafe space
0.44 The customer asked Polly if she accepts cheques and she replied ‘With a banker’s card, yes’. The customer understood exactly what she meant. Good display of cultural self-awareness and intelligence on the part of both parties. This shows a safe space in communication as both parties understood each other perfectly well and they went ahead to complete the transaction safely.
0.54 seconds Polly was asked if she mind doing the room as Brenda was out until Monday to which she replied ‘oh no, I could do with the money’. Good display of cultural self-awareness and intelligence on the part of both parties. This shows a safe space in communication as the manager understood exactly what Polly meant. If she was going to get paid, she wouldn’t sure mind doing Brenda’s job until Monday.
1.02 minutes The customer before Mr. Thorsten had just been serviced and picked his bag to leave. His bag almost hit Mrs. Richards who was making her way to the receptionist table. This shows an unsafe space as the physical space between customers is very limited and the presence of more persons or luggage in the room would have made it very uncomfortable.
1.03 minutes Polly was saying hello to Mr. Thorsten but Mrs. Richards rudely interjected asking for change even though it was not yet her turn to be serviced. Lack of cultural empathy on the part of Mrs. Richards. This is an unsafe space.
1.25 minutes After Polly assisted Mrs. Richards with change, she came back and asked that Polly completes servicing before attending to Mr. Thorsten. Mrs. Richards is guilty of hasty judgement. This is an unsafe space. If she had not jumped into conclusion that giving her change meant she would be attended to fully before Mr. Thorsten then there wouldn’t have been the argument that followed leading to her being referred to Manuel the hotel attendant.
1.47 minutes:
Mrs. Richards was asking to be attended to and Polly tried to explain to her that she is still attending to Mr. Thorsten to which Mrs. Richards replied ‘what?’ but when Polly tried to repeat herself she said ‘don’t shout at me, I’m not deaf’. Lack of cultural intelligence Unsafe space due to language barrier. Polly thought Mrs. Richards meant “What?” for a question but Mrs. Richards used that as an exclamation expressing disbelief.
1.50 minutes Mrs. Richard was raising her voice insisting on being attended to but Polly kept her cool and tried to explain to Mrs. Richards that Mr. Thorsten was there before her. Good display of cultural empathy on the part of Polly Safe space. Polly acted professional in keeping her voice down at this stage despite the provocation from Mrs. Richards.
1.54 minutes Mrs. Richards was insisting on being served first but when Polly informed her that Mr. Thorsten was there before her, she replied ‘but you were serving me’ with an expression of frustration, anger and resignation on her face. Cultural unintelligence on the part of Mrs. Richards. Unsafe space. Mrs. Richards interpreted Polly giving her change to mean that she would be attended to before Mr. Thorsten who was actually there before her.
2.00 minutes Mrs. Richard angered and flustered rhetorically asked if there wasn’t anyone else to attend to her as this was the most appalling service she ever experienced. Polly understood that literally, replied ‘Good idea’ and mischievously asked Manuel to attend to Mrs. Richards. Polly didn’t display good cultural capability here.
Unsafe space. Polly was now being unprofessional in asking Manuel who was an attendant in the hotel and who she knew couldn’t understand English so well to attend to Mrs. Richards.
Polly giving a literal interpretation to Mrs. Richards’ words also signified unsafe space as she knew Mrs. Richards was just expressing herself and not asking for another person to attend to her.
2.13 minutes Manuel was smiling, nodding and rubbing his palms in what seemed like an agreement to what Mrs. Richards was saying although he did not understand anything she said. A closer and deeper look would reveal he looks lost as well. Lack of cultural intelligence and awareness on the part of both parties. Unsafe space due to confusing body language and gesture. Mrs. Richards apparently interpreted the nod and smile to mean agreement and understanding and so expressed culture shock when Manuel responded with ‘k’.
Manuel, on his part, failed to indicate that he didn’t understand what Mrs. Richards was saying but led her on with his body language and gestures.
2.18 minutes There was a bit of communication gap between Mrs. Richards and Manuel. After explaining exactly what type of room she had reserved, Manuel responds ‘K’ and Mrs. Richard looking confused replied “K, What?” Both parties now went back and forth on trying to make out what the other person was saying but ended up confusing each other the more. Mrs. Richards finally gave up and returned back to the Polly. Lack of cultural self awareness and intelligence on the part of both parties Unsafe Space due to the communication gap. Ethnocentrism, quick judgement, lack of cultural intelligence and capability has led to a cultural misunderstanding and the tension is brewing. Mrs. Richard appeared really angry, frustrated and disillusioned at this point.
2.31 minutes Mrs. Richard paused in the middle of the exchange to ask Manuel ‘What are you trying to say’ and when Manuel replied ‘Cee kay.. what’, she attempted again to rephrase ‘Cee Kay what?’ Before asking who is ‘Cee Kay what?’ Good display of cultural self awareness. Safe space. Mrs. Richards is now making an attempt at depersonalisation in an effort to make out what Manuel was saying. This was what Mrs. Richards ought to have done at the beginning of the exchange.
2.47 minutes When it was obvious to Mrs. Richards that she cannot understand Manuel, she now dismissed him with a wave of the hand saying ‘what are you talking about, you silly little man’. Good display of cultural empathy and intelligence. Safe space. Mrs. Richards now realise she cannot understand Manuel and she, though frustrated, goes away in search of help elsewhere. That put an end to the exchange.
2.56 minutes Mrs. Richards is now at the receptionist desk now trying to complain to Polly and we witness the communication misunderstanding continue. According to Mrs. Richards, Manuel told her the manager is Mr. Watt aged 40’ to which Manuel tried to correct him saying ‘no no no Faw…lty’. Lack of cultural awareness and intelligence. Unsafe space due to language barriers.
3.02 Minutes
Looking completely surprised at Manuel, Mrs. Richards thought that Manuel meant the manager is faulty and she asks ‘What’s wrong with him?’ Polly tried to explain that Manuel is from Barcelona hence the language barrier but Mrs. Richards thinking Polly was talking about the manager replied ‘What, the manager is from Barcelona?’
Lack of cultural awareness and intelligence. Unsafe space due to the misunderstanding in terms used.3.05 minutes In reply to Mrs. Richards’ question if the manager is from Barcelona, Manuel answered that no, he is from Swanage Good display of cultural intelligence by Manuel Safe space. Manuel was able to understand who and what Polly was talking about and responded accordingly even though Mrs. Richards could not understand.
3.10 minutes Polly taking down the key to Mrs. Richards’ room said ‘you in 22’ Mrs. Richards did not understand this and said ‘what?’ Polly had to clarify herself that ‘you’re in room 22’. Good display of cultural awareness on the part of both Mrs. Richards and Polly Safe space. Mrs. Richards knowing she did not understand what Polly said asked ‘what?’ which made Polly clarify what she meant earlier and both understood each other at this point.
The table shows observations from the video, analysing scenes for cultural self-awareness, cultural intelligence and empathy in an effort to determine the safe and unsafe spaces therein.
3. Analysis:
In the early part of the video clip, Polly and Mr. Thorsten displayed cultural empathy when Mrs. Richards came up to the desk and requested for change. Polly sensing the desperation and urgency in Mrs. Richards’ tone her tone adjusted and asked Mr. Thorsten who was before Mrs. Richards if she could assist her. Culture shapes not just our outward appearances but also our internal differences such as our goals, personal feelings and sense of justice (Bruhn, 2005).
However, Polly became a bit furious when Mrs. Richards wanted her to go beyond just giving her change and attend to her before Mr. Thorsten despite Mr. Thorsten being at the desk before her. This infuriated her and she became firm and showed no more emotions until towards the end of the clip. According to Bruhn (2005), emotions are internal image of social norms caused by a current situation or an event which one remembers. They are unconscious and may pull us close to people or away from them. Polly’s quickly became firm and changed from her earlier disposition as a result of Mrs. Richards’ rude and arrogant insistence on being serviced first. Mrs. Richard got put off by Polly new posture and rhetorically asked if there wasn’t anyone else to attend to her as this is the most appalling service. This typically shows how emotions can either pull us closer to people or away from them.
Mrs. Richards also failed to delay or suspend judgement but jumped into an erroneous conclusion that Polly assisting her with change meant she would be serviced before Thorsten. This made the particular an unsafe space and led to the exchange that followed including Polly getting fed up and referring her to Manuel the hotel attendant. One of the elements of cultural capability is delayed judgement (Holley & Steiner, 2005).
Mrs. Richards’ lack of cultural awareness was displayed in the early stage of her communication with Manuel. She failed to withdraw from herself and accept or become aware of the existence of other cultural values or perceptions different from hers (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005). She kept going on without picking on cues or stopping to clarify if Manuel understood her or not and maybe try a better means of communication such as hand gesture. She assumed he must understand English because he is in an English country and she kept going on.
In the exchange between Mrs. Richard and Manuel, we saw a brazen display of lack of cultural intelligence which resulted in both parties going back and forth with sounds of what’, ‘kay’, ‘see’ filling the air. Brislin et al. (2006) defined cultural intelligence as the ability to quickly adjust when one is faced with or interacts in a culture different from the one in which he was socialized. It involves the skill to handle and deal with confusion when communicating with people from a different background or culture. Both Mrs. Richards and Manuel failed to show cultural intelligence. According to Brislin et al., (2006), depersonalisation is the very first step towards cultural intelligence. Mrs. Richards failed to do this but instead interpreted every word Manuel said from the narrow lens of her own cultural values hence the confusion and miscommunication.
This lack of cultural awareness and intelligence seen above led to Mrs. Richards experiencing a rude culture shock with frustration registered on her voice and face when she went back to Polly after the torturous exchange with Manuel. She had to ask Polly ‘what is going on here?’ Just as Flanja, (2009) posits, upon facing Manuel’s new and unfamiliar culture, Mrs. Richards suffered both psychological and physical discomfort and loss of control that she had to dismiss Manuel with a wave of the hand saying ‘what are you talking about, you silly little man?’
According to Kumbutu & Lydia (2008), ethnocentrism fuels cultural misunderstanding and human tensions causing frustration, confusion, anger and disillusionment for some people. True to the statement, Mrs. Richards being ethnocentric and using her own culture as the norm in judging Manuel resulted in the cultural misunderstanding and tension witnessed. Mrs Richards was angry, frustrated, confused, sad and disillusioned. This was shown by the tone of her voice, facial expression and language. When she felt like she had had enough, she dismissed him with a wave of the hand saying ‘what are you talking about, you silly little man’ and moved over to Polly.
The relationship between cultural intelligence and ethnocentrism was also seen. At the initial stage when Manuel was smiling, nodding and rubbing his palms in what seemed to Mrs. Richards as agreement and understanding, ethnocentrism or bias ruled but when Mrs. Richards became more culturally self aware and intelligent enough to ask Manuel what he was saying, we see an actual attempt to understanding or making out his words. It was when this did not work that she went back to Polly. According to Young et al., (2017) ethnocentrism is a precursor to cultural intelligence however work on cultural intelligence will reduce ethnocentrism.
Finally, the reception area of the hotel being a public place is a bit too small in physical size thereby making it an unsafe space. The presence of more luggage or people in the room would have really made every one uncomfortable.
4. Recommendations
Mrs. Richard would have been open minded and objective in her interaction with Manuel if she was more culturally intelligent or possessed more cultural self-awareness. That would have bridged the communication gap and made the scene a safe space and also avoid culture shock.
Keen observation would have helped Mrs. Richard make an effective judgement on two separate occasions. She would have realised that Polly was a person of due process and would never jump the queue to attend to her especially after the exchange before the change was given to her. Secondly, proper observation would have informed her that Manuel did not actually understand what she was saying. His utter silence, gesture and body language as she spoke to him would have revealed that something was amiss. This would have created a safe space and the exchange we saw avoided.
Polly ought to be more patient and professional in her job and not mischievously refer Mrs. Richards to Manuel despite knowing his impediments in English language. Also, creating more physical space in the reception area would definitely improve the safety of the space.
5. Summary and Conclusion
Safe space does not necessarily mean free from physical harm. Barriers to communication, venue, gestures and body language can validly create an unsafe space by causing emotional and psychological trauma. Some of the key factors in creating safe space include building or developing cultural self awareness, cultural intelligence, cultural empathy and the avoidance of stereotype, ethnocentrism and hasty judgement.
References
Brislin, R., Worthley, R, & Macnab, B (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors that serve people’s goals. Group & Organization Management,
Bruhn, J. (2005).Culture-brain interactions. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science, 40(4), 243-254. doi:10.1007/BF02915218
Flanja, D. (2009). Culture Shock in Intercultural Communication. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai. Studia Europaea, 54(4), 107-124.
Holley, L., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe Space: Student Perspectives on Classroom Environment. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64. doi:10.5175/JSWE.2005.200300343
Kambutu J., & Nganga L. (2008). In These Uncertain Times: Educators Build Cultural Awareness through Planned International Experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 24(4), 939-951.
Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is cultural awareness, anyway? How do I build it? Retrievedfrom http://www.culturosity.com/pdfs/What%20is%20Cultural%20Awareness.pdf
Young C., Haffejee B., & Corsun D. (2017). The relationship between ethnocentrism and cultural intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58, 31-41. Retrieved from
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Subject | Report Writing | Pages | 18 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Table of Contents
2.2 Observations: Scene description and identification of safe and unsafe spaces. 4
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Cultural capability is defined as the behaviors, skills, knowledge and systems that are needed to support, plan, deliver and improve services in a culturally respectful and sensible manner. For cultural capability to be realized, people must have adequate cultural awareness. According to Quappe and Cantatore (2005), cultural awareness forms the foundation of intercultural communication. It incorporates the ability of individuals to stand back from themselves and become aware of each person’s cultural beliefs, value and perceptions. Safe space refers to an environment intended to be free of criticism, bias, and criticism or physical barriers to free communication. Alternatively, this is an environment where individuals are given the chance to openly express their individual points of view even if it differs from those set by a given culture (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Normally, safe space is created with the existence of cultural intelligence among the population. Interacting individuals must have the skills of quick adjustment with no stress when communicating with people from cultures they consider foreign.
1.2 Aim
This report gives a comprehensive description and explicit summary of a video addressing communication barriers in the modern society. It is then extensively analyzes the same video by identifying the safe and unsafe spaces within the clip. Lastly, it outline recommendations of how to maintain the existing safe space and ways of improving the unsafe spaces identified.
1.3 Scope
The report will be based on the ‘Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints 2’ video, with a duration of three minutes and sixteen seconds. It will outline the existing theoretical concepts to identify the safe and unsafe spaces in the clip and further provide a theoretical basis for outlining of the recommendations.
2. Summary and Observations
2.1 Summary
The video, ‘Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints’, Season 2 Episode 1, is a BBC Television program that was released on February 19, 1979. The setting of the video was based on a busy reception of a local hotel known as Fawlty Towers. The video begins with the depiction of an extremely busy day in the hotel. The receptionist, Polly, had just received two customers one of them being Mr. Thorsten. As she was attending to Mr. Thorsten, she gets rudely interrupted by Mrs. Richards, an old customer who seemed to have a hearing problem. She demanded to be served and completely ignored the presence of another customer who was first in line. Polly had to request Mr. Thorsten to allow her attend to Mrs. Richards.
Mrs. Richards then demanded to be continuously served forcing Polly to ask Manuel, a hotel attendant, to serve her yet he hardly understood English. The language barrier between Mrs. Richards and Manuel worsened the communication process. Polly finally stepped in after serving MR. Thorsten and attended to Mrs. Richards. The key characters in the clip include Mrs. Richards, Mr. Thorsten, Manuel, and Polly.
2.2 Observations: Scene description and identification of safe and unsafe spaces
At 0.44 seconds of the video clip, an old hotel customer asks Polly if she accepts cheques. Polly replies ‘with a banker’s card, yes.’ The customer is then smoothly served and leaves the hotel. This shows an existence of a safe space and cultural awareness between the two parties.
At 0.54 seconds the hotel manager asks Polly if she could step in for her as she was out until Monday. Polly agrees and admits that she could use the extra money. This kind of conversation shows that the two had cultural awareness and intelligence. They understood each other thus creating a safe communication space in the hotel.
At 1.03 minutes Polly says hello to Mr. Thorsten but gets rudely interrupted by Mrs. Richards who urgently needed a change. Polly is forced to stop serving Mr. Thorsten in order to assist Mrs. Richards with the change. The lack of recognition of order and organization in communication as depicted by Mrs. Richards created an unsafe space at that moment.
At 1.25 minutes of the clip, Mrs. Richards quickly comes back after being assisted with the change and demands that Polly completes serving her. The disregard of the existing protocol that was shown by Mrs. Richards massively indicated that she lacked cultural awareness and adequate cultural intelligence.
Between 2.00 and 3.05 minutes, Manuel attended to Mrs. Richards and the two had a complete misunderstanding of each other due to language barrier between them. This created an unsafe space for both of them. Lastly, at 3.10 minutes, Polly hands the hotel key to Manuel to finally escort Mrs. Richards to her room.
3. Analysis
At the early stages of the video, there is a display of cultural empathy by Mr. Thorsten and Polly when they both had to sacrifice their time to ensure Mrs. Richards gets her change. Through this empathy, the characters showed viewers how understanding one another and treating people with respect is critical in ensuring a positive communication outcome (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005).
Nevertheless, Mrs. Richards showed no gratitude and insensitively started to demand full attention of Polly while blindly ignoring the fact that there was a customer before her. This throws Polly off the empathy path and she retaliates by mischievously telling Manuel to serve Mrs. Richards yet she knew he hardly spoke English. This is a clear show of emotional shift in display by Polly. Emotions that arise within a person in response to a particular event determines the closeness or separation between people (Bruhn, 2005). Rudeness displayed by Mrs. Richards put Polly off and the trend is seen throughout the remaining parts of the clip. The shift of Polly’s emotions away from Mrs. Richards needs created a consistently unsafe space for Mrs. Richard throughout the entire episode.
Other than the arrogance displayed by Mrs. Richards, it is clearly shown that she lacks cultural awareness and most probably, cultural capability and intelligence. This is because she failed to acknowledge that Manuel was not proficient in English and went ahead to say means things about him. Any culturally sensitive and aware person would have noticed the existence of language barrier that Manuel suffered from. Mrs. Richards did not pay attention to any cues and body language when communicating with both Polly and Manuel. This made her fail to note when she actually offended Polly. Mrs. Richard should have taken her time and paid attention to the communication cues displayed by his colleagues and value the existence of other cultures (Quappe & Cantatore, (2005).
There are a number of elements that make up cultural capabilities. The main element that has grossly been ignored in the clip is delayed judgment (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Mrs. Richard for instance, fails to take her time and asses the state of affairs at the reception. She demands immediate attention from Polly. After being helped, she assumes that she is the one to be served before Mr. Thorsten who was first in line. Mrs. Richard clearly, was impatient and disregarded the use of delayed judgment to help assess the state of every given situation. If she had practiced delayed judgment, Mrs. Richards would have realized that giving her change did not mean that she was the one to be served first.
According to Brislin, Worthley, and Macnab (2006), cultural intelligence in relation to confusion acceptance requires the existence of motivation for eventual understanding. This acceptance was not depicted by Mrs. Richards. Confusion acceptance, for instance, in language barrier, must be accompanied by desire to understand a given culture. The exchanges between Mrs. Richards and Manuel indicated that she did not have the patience to keenly listen and understand Manuel. Both Manuel and Mrs. Richards showed lack of cultural intelligence as seen from the way they openly misunderstood each other. The two were not able to quickly adjust in culturally different conditions that they were facing.
Mrs. Richard exercised ethnocentrism when communicating with Manuel by assuming he was making a joke of her. With reference to Kumbutu and Lydia (2008), ethnocentrism refers to the act of judging others within narrow lens of what culture a person is familiar with. Such judgments are done based on the individual’s own norms and values and as such fuel misunderstanding between people from different cultural backgrounds (Young et al., 2017). Exercising ethnocentrism made Mrs. Richards to be frustrated, angry and confused since she created a situation where she could not get help from Manuel. Her anger drove her to dismiss Manuel by uttering insulting words like ‘what are you talking about, you silly little man.’ Such words show how ethnocentric Mrs. Richards was. They also show that she suffered psychological discomfort when talking to Manuel who was from a totally different culture (Flanja, 2009). Cultural capacity and intelligence were practiced by Mr. Thorsten, Polly and Manuel in various parts of the clip. Manuel for instance, tried his best to convey the needed message to Mrs. Richards even though he hardly understood English. He tried to use cues and gestures such as nodding, rubbing his palms and smiling. These showed his attempts to be of service to Mrs. Richard, though they did not understand each other.
4. Recommendations
First, Mrs. Richards should have exercised cultural awareness which is considered central when people interact with cultures that are foreign to them (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005). She should have given Manuel enough time to make himself understood. This act could have limited the chances of misunderstanding between Manuel and Mrs. Richards. Additionally, it could have eliminated the unsafe space created during their conversation. Secondly, Polly, as a professional should have understood insensitivity of Mrs. Richards and assisted her sooner instead of creating more chaos by sending her to Manuel.
Lastly, Mrs. Richard should have applied delayed judgments before rushing into conclusions using preliminary information. This could have helped her realize that Manuel was not proficient in English thus needed an ample to make himself understood. In addition, the approach could have helped Mrs. Richards to respect the existing protocol such as ‘first come first serve’ policy and allow Mr. Thorsten to be served first.
5. Summary and Conclusion
Cultural capability refers to behaviors, skills, knowledge and systems that are needed to support, plan, deliver and improve services in a culturally respectful and sensible manner. Safe space on the other hand refers to an environment intended to be free of criticism, bias, and criticism or physical barriers to free communication. Critical factors that are considered in creation of a safe space include cultural intelligence, cultural self-awareness, cultural empathy and avoidance of hasty judgment.(2017) study employed, there are very little room for generalizing the study’s findings.
References
Brislin, R., Worthley, R, & Macnab, B (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors that serve people’s goals. Group & Organization Management, Bruhn, J. (2005).Culture-brain interactions. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science, 40(4), 243-254. Doi:10.1007/BF02915218 Flanja, D. (2009). Culture Shock in Intercultural Communication. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai. Studia Europaea, 54(4), 107-124. Holley, L., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe Space: Student Perspectives on Classroom Environment. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64. doi:10.5175/JSWE.2005.200300343 Kambutu J., & Nganga L. (2008). In These Uncertain Times: Educators Build Cultural Awareness through Planned International Experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 24(4), 939-951. Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is cultural awareness, anyway? How do I build it? Retrieved from http://www.culturosity.com/pdfs/What%20is%20Cultural%20Awareness.pdf Spiers, B. (Director). (1979, Feb 19). Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints, Season 2 Episode 1 (BBC Television program) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_cDmwlbVkg Young C., Haffejee B., & Corsun D. (2017). The relationship between ethnocentrism and cultural intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58, 31-41.
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