Strategies For Living Together-in-Difference | Reflective Journal

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: PART C
Reflective Journal: Part C
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: PART C
Topics: Strategies for living together-in-difference
Introduction
Reflection is an effective tool for learning. It enables individuals to get better insight
into their learning and apply them to real life situations. Reflecting on the learnings of the
module has helped me understand the topics that we were assigned to. In module 5 we learnt
about living in a global community and the importance of intercultural communication,
empathy and sympathy in cross-cultural context (Bennett, 2013). In this journal entry, I
reflect about the learning, its implication for practical use, its importance in my personal and
professional development and my future development agenda to enhance my skills further.
Discussion
Learning through the modules
Through the modules I have learnt about intercultural communication and the
challenges faced in such situations. I learnt that there are several kinds of conflict that might
arise in intercultural exchange. There are everyday culture based conflicts, conflicts in groups
and in organization. According to Ting-Toomey and Oetzel (2001), all of these situations can
be managed effectively by developing certain skills. I also learnt that the most important
aspect of intercultural competence is to approach the situation with empathy and sympathy.
Gaining culture-sensitive knowledge and an ethnocentric approach is helpful in such
situations. This is the key for living in a society that has multiple culture in it.
My initial reactions to the learning resources and activities
When I started reading about the different conflicts and challenges of intercultural
exchange and the ways to handle those situations, my initial reaction was apprehension about

2REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: PART C
the aspects of intercultural interaction (Patel, Sooknanan & Li, 2011). I felt too overwhelmed
as there were many aspects that one needs to consider in cross-cultural situations. There are
many skills that needs to be developed. The activities like watching related videos and
assessments for self-analysis was quite interesting as I had the chance to learn about myself
through these activities.
Most interesting or surprising thing from the modules and reason
The most interesting aspect was relating the idea of intercultural behavior with the
Golden Rule. The Golden Rule directs individuals to treat others as they would like to be
treated. This is based on a simple assumption that every body of equal. In most cases, the
conflicts that arise in intercultural context is that people do not recognize themselves as equal
to others and often dehumanize people belonging to other cultures. This becomes evident if
we look at the history of the aboriginal people and the sufferings that they had. This course
enabled us with the ability to go beyond this rule and apply empathy in such situations.
Fit of new learning with existing knowledge and experiences
The new learning experience helped me enhance and enrich my existing knowledge. I
as a person believe in human equality and dignity but I did not have the proper basis of
understanding about how to responds in critical situations when cultural conflict is involved. I
did not know how to behave empathetically and skills like mindful reflexivity, differences of
high context and low context cultures, mindful reflexivity which are necessary to consider in
intercultural interaction and conflict management.
Change of ideas as a result of learning
Due to the learning of this module and the modules before this, much of my ideas
have changed. Earlier I thought that if people considered everybody equal, conflicts would
not rise and peaceful co-existence was possible. Through the learning I realized that this is