Education That is Multicultural
Module 3
Cultural Sensitivity
&
Communication
Casey Keyser
Today’s Objective
• To recognize bias and stereotyping
• To learn how to speak up against bias
and stereotyping without blame or guilt
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Today’s Ground Rules
•
•
•
•
•
Keep an open mind
Participate in the activities
Listen and respect other points of view
Honor starting and stopping times
Silence all electronic devices
What is Bias?
It is…
Bias is…
A predisposition to see things or
people in a certain way. You can be
biased toward some people and
predisposed to see them in a positive
light.
Likewise, you can be predisposed to see
others in a negative light, based on their
appearance, group, etc.
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Stereotyping and You
Write a response to each of these questions:
• Think of a time when you heard a racial/ethnic
slur/joke or a prejudicial comment. How did
you react? If you could replay the incident,
would you respond differently? If so, how?
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Stereotyping and You
Your Experience?
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
• Assume Good Intent / Explain Impact
• Rephrase
• Repeat and question/ Ask a question
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
• Interrupt and redirect
• Make it Individual or Broaden to Universal
Human Behaviors
• Say “Ouch!”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Assume Good Intent / Explain Impact
When you assume the best, there is no need to blame or insult
the person who just said something biased or demeaning.
There are effective ways to speak up.
For example, “I’m sure you meant that to be funny. That
stereotype is no joke. Unfortunately, some people actually
believe that.”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Rephrase
With this subtle technique, you do not directly point out the language
that was demeaning. Rather, you restate it in a more inclusive way
when the opportunity arises. This is helpful when you do not want to
interrupt the flow of conversation, yet you want to leave more inclusive
language in people’s minds.
For example, someone comments, “Both Christians and Non-Christians
attended the ceremony.”
Rephrase: “People of many faiths attended the ceremony.”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Repeat and question/ Ask a question
Repeat: Sometimes people don’t realize what they’ve said.
Repeating a question gives them a chance to rethink their
comment.
For example, “It sounds like you are saying… Is that what you
really mean?”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Repeat and question/ Ask a question
Ask a question: This is an easy, low risk, highly effective tool that
everyone can use. You can change the outcome of a situation
through the use of a non-blaming question.
For example, “What do you mean?” “What are you saying?”
“What is it that leads you to say that?”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Interrupt and redirect
This technique changes the direction of the conversation abruptly,
without necessarily soliciting further discussion.
Imagine someone makes a slur or begins a joke that you suspect will be
derogatory.
Your response might be,
“Let’s not go there.” or “Let’s not assume that all…”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Reveal the Contradiction
This technique may reveal that while a certain behavior or characteristic
may be true of an individual, it is not true of everyone in a group.
Stereotypical statement: “Supervisors don’t care about us.”
Seek Contradictions: “Don’t you know any supervisors who do care?”
Stereotypical statement: “Immigrants don’t even try to speak English.”
Seek Contradictions: “Actually, I’ve met dozens who have learned
English or are trying to learn it. It’s not an easy task.”
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Techniques for Taking Action
Without Blame or Guilt
Just Say “Ouch!”
“Ouch!” Says…
Your words had a negative impact on me.
“Ouch” is a word that says a lot with little effort.
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
Communicating Respect and Inclusion
While we may never be completely
free of all bias, we can work toward
communicating in bias-free ways
that are most likely to respect and
include the listener.
From: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World
by Leslie C. Aguilar
”… We all grow up in different environments, with
different influences and experiences that shape our
opinions and views of life.
…In spite of our differing views and opinions, it's
important to realize that what constitutes a "good" human
being cannot necessarily be judged by the external
things one sees about them.”
John Alston, “To Relate Well to Others, Practice Understanding” Feb 8, 2006
“Communication provides the legs for
bias, carrying it from person to person,
from generation to generation.
Eventually, however, communication will
be the way to end discrimination.”
John N. Bailey, Past President,
International Association of Business Communicators Without Bias
“To effectively communicate, we
must realize that we are all
different in the way we perceive
the world and use this
understanding as a guide to our
communication with others.”
Anthony Robins
For Group Discussion. . .
What are the implications in an
educational setting?
Thank you
for your
participation,
openness, and
honesty.
Afrikaans (Africa) - Dankie
Arabic - Sukran
Burma(Myanmar) - Jae Zu Din Pa De (Thank you)
Cantonese - M'goy (sp? -- thank you for the service)
Cantonese - Do jey (sp? -- thank you for the gift)
Cherokee (Eastern) - Skee (Thank you)
Chinese (Mandarin) - Xie_Xie (shieh shieh)
Danish - tak (tahg)
German - Danke (dahn'-kuh)
Greek - Efharisto (ef-har-ris-tou')
Greek - Efkaristo poly
Hawaiian - Mahalo
Hebrew - Toda (toh-dah')
Hindi - Shukriyaa , Dhanyavaad
Italian - Grazie (grahts'-yeh)
Japanese - Arigato (ah-ree-gah'-toh)
Japanese - Domo arrigato
Korean - Kamsa hamaida (kam'-sah hum-nee-dah' )
Polish - Dziekuje (dsyehn-koo-yeh)
Spanish - Gracias (grah'-syas)
Swahili - Ahsante (ah-sahn'-teh)
Vietnamese - Kam ouen
Xhosa (Africa) - Nkosi
Yiddish - A dank - Yasher Koach (KOY-ACH)
Yoruba - Modupe
Zulu - Ngiyabonga
Final Thought
• All human beings are programmed by
cultural “software” that determines our
behavior and attitudes.
• Once we recognize what our
programming teaches us, we have the
capacity to control our choices.
Awareness + Knowledge = Choices