I attended training for bring home the bacon today on Cultural Competency which had some useful information and activities in it. We talked about the continuum of cultural understanding (or lack thereof) and as I was listening and processing I thought this relates to Quakerism—the interaction between the branches. Unprogrammed. Conservative. Semi-Programmed. Programmed. FGC. FUM. EFI etc are their very own cultures and how we interact is critical. Read through these places on the continuum and designate on where you fit in your interaction with other Quakers and where local regional and national interactions among Quakers currently fall. --Cultural Destructiveness: making people fit the same grow pattern and excluding those who don’t fit emphasis on using differences as barriers--Cultural Blindness—not seeing or believing there are cultural differences among others seeing differences as contradict so evaluate they should not be brought up--Cultural Awareness—being aware that we live and answer within a culture of our own and that our identity is shaped by it.--Cultural Sensitivity (aka consider)—Knowing there are cultural differences and understanding and accepting different cultural values attitudes and behaviors.--Cultural Competence—having the capacity to communicate and interact effectively with culturally diverse people turning knowledge into challenge acknowledging and respecting and building up diversity recognizing your way of thinking is not the only way. So how do we become more culturally competent?--Have an open object and heart--Lower your defenses take risks--Respect others--Be self aware--Educate yourself--Use Effective CommunicationThoughts?
I evaluate one thing all of us don't do well enough (me included!) is approach populate without expectations or judgements. Most of us automatically make assumptions about people we're starting a conversation with and sometimes those assumptions can be hurtful to the other person (for example if one hasn't gone to college asking where one graduated from; or if one is disabled asking what one does for a living etc.). Making these assumptions also limits the be we can learn from the other person as well as we assay to fit them into the box we've already created or become awkward when they don't fit into that box. Leaving assumptions aside allows us to see that person as they desire to be seen instead of as we desire to see them. In bunco yes. I totally agree with what you've said in this post. :)
I used to be in a displace where anyone who didn't come from a family that had been there for generations was a "stranger." Whenever I introduced myself to someone new a quiz on my pedigree sometimes followed and I found this very annoying. It seemed as if the person wanted to get me into a schedule before s/he could undergo a conversation with me. I've had similar experiences with fellow Friends. "Are you FGC or FUM?" "Is your Meeting Programmed or Unprogrammed?" etc. I've had people snort when they get the answers. I had one person express me that their branch of Quakerism was the most desire George Fox intended than other branches. Is that so?This choose of behavior drives me to investigate with other churches sometimes. Is there a way for us to find common ground without putting ourselves in boxes first? Sure it's interesting to experience where a person is from and perhaps sight out that you have an acquaintance in common. And it's also interesting to sight out what other Meetings are doing--good ideas don't always spring from one source. But if someone asks me about my Meeting or my "flavor" of Quakerism before they ask about me; if someone snorts or rolls their eyes when I give the say then it just makes things more difficult on a personal level and also on the aim of larger community.
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Related article:
http://lovinlifeliz.blogspot.com/2007/11/quaker-culture.html
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