CHCDIV001: Exploring Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the Workplace

This assignment, completed for the CHCDIV001 unit, explores the concepts of culture, diversity, and cultural awareness. It includes definitions of key terms, analysis of personal experiences using the Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, and reflections on cultural awareness degrees based on a provided website. The assignment also addresses how to promote cultural sensitivity in educational settings, including instructional strategies and responses to scenarios involving cultural misunderstandings. Furthermore, it examines social events in a multicultural city and the impact of culture and diversity on workplace dynamics, and how to promote social cohesiveness. The student provides detailed answers to all questions, demonstrating an understanding of the course material and its practical applications.

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Question 1a:
Explain in two or three sentences what the term “culture” means to you.
Answer:
Culture is that rule which is accepted as tradition and included in the
behavioural patterns of the groups in the society at large. It enlightens
the personality traits of the individuals. It has a very dynamic impact and
tremendous influence upon all the managerial and decision making
schemes in every field. It is the way of behaving with each other and is
that joint that connects the world at large. . Thus it is the way we lead
our lives with a proper identity in the society and because it is been
learned it may vary and change over the period of time (Storey 2018).
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Question 1b: ☐ ☐
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Explain in two or three sentences what the term “diversity” means to
you.
Answer:
Diversity is the state of mind or the range of people having different
backgrounds of culture, caste, religion, interest, knowledge, lifestyles,
sex, generations etc. It can be considered as a party which has surprising
elements like the people of different cultures meet and learn and get
mixed with each other in such a way that the difference in their interests
gets disappeared. So it can be considered as that means which accepts
the people with their differences and rely on their individuality, their
likes and dislikes. Welcoming to the environment is just a step towards
the diversity, but into comes to the reality when one comes above all the
differences and try and get over it as a whole or part (Hunt et al, 2015).
Question 1c:
Use the Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and discuss how culture/stereotyped ☐ ☐
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/bias/diversity impacts on ONE area of your life (e.g. political, social,
economic etc)
• What happened?
Answer: While working as a disability support worker I took a client an
event there occurred a clash in a weeding event because both the parities
were of different culture having distinct religion etc.
• What were you thinking and feeling?
Answer: There were slight difficulties in coping up with both the parties
as they had different languages, varied culture, separate religion. There
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was a mixed feeling of confidence and nervousness.
• What was good and bad about the experience?
Answer: The event was completed successfully but there were many
problems which were been faced at the same time. It brought a lot of
new experiences along with the hurdles of life.
• What else can you make of the situation?
Answer: This situation could have been different if the people would
had been of flexible nature and left off there rigidity and could have
happily accepted the cultures of each other without creating any mess.
• What else could you have done?
Answer: I could have created an efficient team who can have a better
understanding among themselves which could have been sufficient to
tackle all the arising problems.
• If it rose again, what would you do?
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Answer: I would tackle all the problems with courage and would come
up with a better solution even if it arises back after a lapse of time.
(Potter 2015).
Question 2:
Go to the website, “
http://www.culturosity.com/articles/whatisculturalawareness.htm ” to access the
article: “What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? How do I build it?”
Awareness about the culture is that base of communicating which includes forgetting
about the individuality and getting familiar with the culture, norms, values and
beliefs of the society. It becomes that point which connects the people of different
cultures while interacting with each other. Every person has a different ways for
understanding and thinking in a particular situation, the things which are correct for
a particular culture may be deemed wrong for the other, so here the need of cultural
awareness arises (Haryanto 2019).
Ways of building it-All individuals have its own culture which is very different from
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that of the others, there comes the need of awareness about the cultures of self and
other at the same time. But there is no such book or any other particular recipe of
instructions to be followed in this case other than some attitudes that works as a
bridge between the two. Learning the cultures of others, treating all the person equal
irrespective of their belongings, should try to experience the things on the own
forgetting about what is been heard about them in the past or news etc.
Read the section “Degrees of cultural awareness”
The section describes four degrees of cultural awareness:
Degree 1-my way is the only way; Degree 2-I know their way, but my way is better;
Degree 3-My way and their way; Degree 4-our way
Question 2a:
Determine which degree you are (from 1 to 4) and give an example to
illustrate that.
Answer:
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I am degree number: 3 “My way and their way"
It states that the people are aware of their ways of doing things and also
with that of the others and then choose that which one is better in
accordance with the situation and also be aware of the benefits and
problems that may arise from the differences in the cultures.
Example to explain the number I gave myself:
Being the leader of the team, I face many problems while taking a
decision on any topic as all the teammates have a viewpoint which differ
from each other and I need to take up the best decision which could be
taken only with the mutual understanding i.e. by voting or any other.
Question 2b:
Answer ONE of the two below:
i) If you are not at degree 3 or 4 (My way and their way or Our
Way) in the above example, describe ways what you can do in
that example to reach degree 3 or 4.
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Answer:
OR
ii) If you are at degree 3 or 4 in the above example, describe what
has happened or what you/others have done to be in degree 3 or
4.
Answer:
For being in degree 3 or 4 every individual have to firstly get above
his/her self-centralism i.e. only my way of perceiving or doing things are
correct and the rest ones are ignored, and secondly there is an idea of the
others assumptions but still considering the own way as the superior one.
One must have the knowledge of the different cultures and the ability to
choose the best one among them along with their ability to get the people
of different cultures under an umbrella and unite them as a single body. I
had also tried to resolve the arising conflicts in the above example and
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reach or choose a correct way for my team so to earn much of profit.
Question 3:
List five things that children can learn from modelling about being
culturally sensitive or culturally aware.
Answer:
1. To provide the children with the teachers who are culturally
competent and can provide the children with critical and
reflective learning facilities.
2. To teach the children and make them culturally competent so
that they can respect their elders and others.
3. It not only teaches the child the importance of the
achievements in the education but also help them to keep up
with their heritages and cultural identity.
4. Help the child to understand that there cannot be a single
cultural group in a community there exist a number of cultures
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who has their own communicating skills and cultures.
5. Its aim is not provide just the traditional knowledge and
practices with respect their environments but also to teach them
their importance.
Question 4:
Go to the website,
http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/culturally-sensitive-
educator to access the article “30 Ways to Become a Culturally
Sensitive Educator”.
Read up on the section “Instructional Strategies”
Choose 3 strategies and describe how you will use it in class. (Does not
have to be in your current class).
1. Use of a number of methods for creating different learning
groups- teaching the child the importance of teamwork, for
example making them to sit together in a team and work on an
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assignment can help in bringing out the best result out of them.
2. Creation of a classroom type of climate which can encourage
the questions and raise up critique regarding the content of the
course-for example asking a child to move in a queue and keep
silence in the library etc.
3. Such content must be adopted that can be fitted to the lifestyle
of the students- different methods of teaching other than that of
teaching from books must be used so to gain the best learning
outcomes. Like digital classrooms, teaching through use of
pictures, or through playing through clay etc.
Question 5:
One day, Tom, 9 years old came to you and said, “Does Mrs Hannah
have hair? What is that funny thing she wears on her head?” What
should you do? (Mrs Hannah is one of the new staff in the school)
The child is made to understand that he must respect his seniors and
must not make fun of them as well as every individual have a different
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identity and culture which is not to be disrespected. But all these things
are to be done with calmness and patience.
Question 6:
Use the Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and discuss how culture/stereotyped
/bias/diversity impacts on your work. Give ONE example and answer
the questions below for that example.
• What happened?
Answer: According to the strength of the people, they were divided into
different division for working on an assessment in the office, but when
the work was brought to put together, it took long time for rewriting it as
it was written in many different styles.
• What were you thinking and feeling?
Answer: I had thought that this division of work will be really worthy
but the rewriting work had really irritated and frustrated me.
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• What was good and bad about the experience?
Answer: The division of work was really a good idea as it has reduced
the work load on a single person but the rewriting work was an annoying
one. Due to difference and variation in the handwritings, It was
frustrating and also had irritated me.
• What else can you make of the situation?
Answer: Before starting the work with the division, it seemed really
very easy but the outcome was not that satisfactory, so from the next
time I will have a proper managing plan, think over all the perspectives
of the work to be done and then only will start working on it.
• What else could you have done?
Answer: I will use the team role of Belbin for making the divisions in
the future and would ask the teammates to work on a part first so that the
other can be done in connection with it.
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• If it rose again, what would you do?
Answer: If it rose again then this time also I would try to tackle it with
full confidence and overcome come it with flying colors.
Question 7a:
Darwin is a very multi-cultural city.
What are some of the events that are happening in the community that
help to promote social cohesiveness?
Answer: Royal Dwain Show, Garma Festival, Darwin Lions Beer Can
Regatta, Health and Wellness festivals etc.
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Question 7b:
What are your views on these social events?
Answer: These social events creates awareness of culture amongst the
people and also help them to understand the varied diversities around
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them (Husebø et al, 2015).
Question 8:
Select two culturally diverse groups and list the things that you know
about their cultures and the different aspects of verbal and non-verbal
communication.
Answer: <complete the table below>
Cultural differences Communication differences
Group
1:
Indian
Cultur
e.
They follow Hinduism, Islam,
Sikhism, Buddhism and
Jainism. Have joint families.
Women are considered less
than men, but this situation is
changing now a days.
Arranged marriages are
preferred. Traditional clothing
Hindi is the preferred and
official language of India
Talkative in nature, tries to
express feelings mostly by eyes
and have a very lenient type of
gestures.
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depends on region and
religion.
Group
2:
Austra
lia
Cultur
e
They follow Christianity and
Judaism. Have nuclear
families. Both men and women
are considered equal. Love
marriages are preferred.
Anything could be wore
according to the wishes.
Basically English is used to
communicate. People here do not
talk more as their main focus is
on their work. They have an
outstanding gestures of body and
are mostly straight forward
(Root 2018).
Question 9a:
Mia and Tom are colleagues in school. They will chat happily with each
other.
Recently Tom has just broken up with his partner. Mia started to bring
small gifts for Tom, asked about his sexual activity and probed on his
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private questions.
Initially, Tom thought that Mia was being supportive. During one
conversation, Mia told Tom that he looked sexy in his shorts and gave
him a naughty look. He even received a note from Mia with her
telephone number.
Tom began to feel uncomfortable. He liked to keep his personal and
work life separate.
Describe the problem with Mia’s actions.
Answer: Her actions were against morality as they were making others
uncomfortable and hampering the privacy of the others.
Question 9b:
Which act is Mia violating?
Answer: Mia is breaching the workplace laws by entering into the
personal space of others and by reflecting incorrect gestures.
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Question 9c:
What should Tom do?
Answer: He must talk to Mia about his uncomfortableness and also
about his likes that he is against mixing his personal and private life
different and start maintaining distance from her.
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Question 10a:
Choose one act from the list of legislations.
Answer: Sex Discrimination Act 1984
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Question 10b:
Provide a hypothetical or actual example to illustrate the act. (in a school
setting)
Answer: If a nonsexual hostile comment is made by a male teacher
towards a female student in a class like girls are poor in math or criticize
the female students only. This is also a form of sex discrimination.
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Question 11a: ☐ ☐
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Each person in the workplace should contribute to the development of
work and professional relationships that support workplace diversity.
Discuss some strategies that could be used to encourage respect for
diversity and inclusiveness.
Two strategies used by senior roles (e.g. senior teachers, principals,
school council etc.
Answer:
1. …all the decisions so made by the authority must be shared with
the entire team so that they can be aware of all the happenings
around.
2. …all the members must be considered equal and must be given a
chance to be involved while taking decisions.
Question 11b:
Two strategies used by other school staff (e.g. teachers, teacher
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assistants)
Answer:
1. …teachers must follow all the workplace ethics and teach its
student the importance of critical thinking and problem solving.
2. …help the child to become a leader and collaborate with all in a
proper manner and this could be attained only by aiding them to
work together, play along each other and share things etc.
Question 11c:
Two strategies used by students
Answer:
1. …Participate in all the programmes and cultural events been
conducted in the school.
2. …students are not required to know the caste and religion of the
other child to mix with them. Discrimination must be highly
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avoided.
Question 12a:
Minh has just recently moved from Vietnam. She came to the school to
find out more information for her son, Duc. She doesn’t speak English
very well.
What can you as a Teacher Aide do to help Minh to get all the
information she needs?
Answer:
The required information needed by Minh must be communicated in
such a way that can be clear and understandable. It has to be in a
systematic way or it can also be in written form which can provide an aid
to her.
☐ ☐
Question 12b:
What would you do to be culturally aware/sensitive in such a situation?
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Answer: to be critically aware in a situation one must be ready to adapt
the goodness found in other cultures. For example Minh has just recently
moved from Vietnam and when she came to the school to find out more
information about her son, Duc. Though she doesn’t speak English very
well but the staff of the school tried to understand her and tried hard to
help her out.
Question 13:
What are some of the strategies that might be used to overcome verbal
communication difficulties in workplace?
List at least 5 ways.
Answer:
1. ….Work harder on the learning and speaking skills
2. ….Focus on the issue and not on the person
3. ….Improving the level of perceptions
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4. ….Be flexible towards others
5. ….Be empathetic while listening to others and ask relevant
questions when doubts arises.
References:
Göker, S. D., & Bozkuş, K. (2017). Reflective leadership: Learning to manage and lead human
organizations. Contemporary Leadership Challenges, 27-45.
Haryanto, E., Arisianto, A., Fahmi, N., & Mati, R. T. (2019, May). Realizaizing the Awarness of
Kebhinekaan through Art Education Based on Multicultural. In 2nd International Conference on Arts
and Culture (ICONARC 2018). Atlantis Press.
Hunt, V., Layton, D., & Prince, S. (2015). Diversity matters. McKinsey & Company, 1, 15-29.
Husebø, S. E., O'Regan, S., & Nestel, D. (2015). Reflective practice and its role in
simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), 368-375.
Potter, C. (2015). Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and
Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), 336-342.
Root, D. (2018). Cannibal culture: Art, appropriation, and the commodification of difference.
Routledge.
Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction. Routledge.
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