- cross-cultural awareness - local cultural awareness - critical reflection and thinking - personal skills for coping with being change agent

1. CULTURAL LITERACY SKILLS
IN CONTEXT AND
TECHNOLOGY
DR. YEE BEE CHOO
INSTITUTE OF TEACHER EDUCATION TUN HUSSEIN ONN CAMPUS
(IPGKTHO)
TOPIC 2b: Applying cultural literacy skills
in context and technology

2. a.
• Multiculturalism
b.
• Applying Cultural Literacy Skills in Context
Technology
c.
• Multimodality and Literacy
Course Contents

3. Course Contents
b. Applying Cultural Literacy Skills in Context and Technology
Cross-cultural
awareness
Local cultural
awareness
Critical reflection
and thinking
Personal skills for
coping with
being change
agent
Polistina, K. (2009). Cultural literacy: Understanding and respect for the cultural aspects of sustainability. In Stibbes, A. (Ed.). The
handbook of sustainability literacy: Skills for a changing world. Oxford: Green Books

4. Cultural Literacy
Cultural literacy is the ability to:
 understand and participate fluently in a given culture.
 be open to communicate effectively across other cultures.
 learn about it and share one’s own culture.
An individual is a complex mix of many
cultural influences, e.g. race and ethnicity,
gender, class, physical and mental abilities,
sexual orientation, religious and spiritual
beliefs, age and so on.

5. Definitions
 Multicultural refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic
groups. People live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not
necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. For example, in a
multicultural neighbourhood people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and
restaurants without really interacting with their neighbours from other countries.
 Cross-cultural deals with the comparison of different cultures. In cross-cultural
communication, differences are understood and acknowledged, and can bring about
individual change, but not collective transformations. In cross-cultural societies, one
culture is often considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or
contrasted to the dominant culture.
https://springinstitute.org/whats-difference-multicultural-intercultural-cross-cultural-
communication/

6. Definitions
 Intercultural describes communities in which there is a deep understanding
and respect for all cultures. Intercultural communication focuses on the mutual
exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep
relationships. In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because
everyone learns from one another and grows together.
 Local culture is commonly used to characterize the experience of everyday
life in specific, identifiable localities. It reflects ordinary people’s feelings of
appropriateness, comfort, and correctness—attributes that define personal
preferences and changing tastes.
https://springinstitute.org/whats-difference-multicultural-intercultural-cross-cultural-
communication/

7. Applying cultural literacy skills in context and
technology
Cross-cultural awareness Local cultural awareness
Critical reflection and
thinking
Personal skills for coping
with being change agent
4 Key Cultural Literacy Skills
Polistina, K. (2009). Cultural literacy: Understanding and respect for the cultural
aspects of sustainability. In Stibbes, A. (Ed.). The handbook of sustainability literacy:
Skills for a changing world. Oxford: Green Books

8. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
Cross-cultural awareness
• It is the ability to examine other
cultures critically and gain ideas about
sustainability from them.
• It involves the ability of standing back
from ourselves and becoming aware of
our cultural values, beliefs, and
perceptions.

9. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
Weird Culture
• While in western traditions saliva is a strictly
private and personal matter, in African Maasai
culture and tradition it is considered extremely
good luck to be shared.
• When shaking the hand of an elder, it is
important to spit in one's palm, and to ward off
evil spirits, one must spit onto a new-born baby's
head or a bride during the Maasai weddings.
https://www.bidhaar.com/2020/08/03/the-
spitting-of-the-maasai/
Maasai woman spitting on the head of a baby.

10. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
 Stereotypes arise when what is examined and
perceived in a different culture is made into a
generality that is then used to define anyone
who belongs to the same culture.
 Cultural awareness counters stereotypes by
understanding that while the elements of a
culture binds individuals together, they are
still individuals with unique circumstances and
personalities.

11. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
Stereotypes…

12. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness

13. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness

14. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
Stereotypes in textbooks…

15.  We can create cross-cultural awareness through three major ethnic
groups, namely Malays, Chinese and Indians or other groups
including the minority aborigines.
1. Cross-cultural Awareness

16. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness

17. Question:
 What was your first
impression when you first
came to the campus of
IPGKTHO?
 Do you feel culture shock?
Why or why not?
1. Cross-cultural Awareness

18. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
4 levels of cultural awareness
1. My way is the only way - At the first level, people are aware of their way of
doing things, and their way is the only way. At this stage, they ignore the
impact of cultural differences. (Parochial stage)
2. I know their way, but my way is better - At the second level, people are
aware of other ways of doing things, but still consider their way as the best
one. In this stage, cultural differences are perceived as source of problems
and people tend to ignore them or reduce their significance. (Ethnocentric
stage)

19. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
4 levels of cultural awareness
3. My Way and Their Way - At this level people are aware of their own way of doing
things and others’ ways of doing things, and they chose the best way according to
the situation. At this stage people realize that cultural differences can lead both to
problems and benefits and are willing to use cultural diversity to create new solutions
and alternatives. (Synergistic stage)
4. Our Way - This fourth and final stage brings people from different cultural
background together for the creation of a culture of shared meanings. People
dialogue repeatedly with others, create new meanings, new rules to meet the needs
of a particular situation. (Participatory Third culture stage)

20. 1. Cross-cultural Awareness
4 levels of cultural awareness
Parochial
Stage
Ethnocentric
Stage
Synergistic
Stage
Participatory
Third Culture

21. 2. Local culture awareness
• The ability to accept and respect
knowledge within local cultures and
communities is also necessary for
developing cultural literacy.
• There may be knowledge and skills for
living sustainably that are already
embedded in the traditions of local
cultures and passed on
intergenerationally through non- formal
education.

22. 2. Local culture awareness
• Formal education tends to place little value
on such practical knowledge and skills.
• In collaborative projects between school and
community, the primary formal educator
takes a step back, enabling local people
(community) to become the educators.

23. 2. Local culture awareness
• This learning experience creates a more
social, informal and relaxed atmosphere than
classroom education, and learners develop
their understanding of, sensitivity towards,
and respect for the sustainability knowledge
and skills that can be found in local cultures.

24. 2. Local culture awareness

25. 3. Critical reflection and thinking
• Critical reflective thinking is a dialogue between learners and educators on
aspects of cultural or social discourse.
• It considers the experiences of the group as a whole and provides a way of
accounting for ourselves.
• It demonstrates an awareness that
actions and events are located in, and
explicable by, reference to multiple
perspectives as well as influenced by
multiple historical and socio-political
contexts.

26. 3. Critical reflection and thinking
Discussion:
1. Do you know what does this symbol
of rainbow signify?
2. Do you support it? Why or why not?
3. Put yourself in another culture/
religion, will you accept it now? Why
or why not?
4. What do you think will happen to
the future students?

27. 4. Personal skills for coping with being a
change agent
• Learners' self-confidence and self-esteem can be built through involvement in
supportive networks of people working towards common goals, both within
local communities and globally in the wider sustainability and global
citizenship movement.
• Being part of a group with shared
values can provide learners with
valuable social support for their
work as cultural change agents
and a healthy release for the
stresses that they will experience.

28. Tutorial 2 (iii)
Group Discussion
How do teacher develop cross-cultural awareness among
the students?
1. Share your answers with your friends in Google
Classroom.
2. Reply to at least one of your friends’ answers.

29. Tutorial 2 (iv)
Individual
1. Choose one topic based on cultural literacy and create
your infographic poster for it.
2. Submit it in Google Classroom.
3. Explain your reason for choosing it in the next class.