Glossary of Terms
It is our hope that developing a comprehensive understanding of these terms will result in renewed engagement and discovery around difference.
Glossary of Terms
Culture
The starting point for all intercultural efforts is an understanding of what is meant by culture, a concept with many definitions.
Culture reflects a “set of agreed upon expectations” or a normative system in a social community. How we experience the world and act in it is shaped by what we learn and internalize from the groups to which we belong. These shared expectations structure how individuals in the community act toward one another and how they likely may act toward people who do not share the same patterns of interpretation and behavior.
There are two ways of thinking about culture:
Objective vs. Subjective Culture
Objective Culture: The artifacts and institutions created by a group of people, reflected in such areas as art, architecture, literature, dance, holidays and collective history.
Subjective Culture: Patterns of interpretations (values, beliefs, perceptions) and behavior learned from one’s group that guides individual and group activity.
The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) measures the degree of subjective culture competence.
In the image of the iceberg (to the right), the items above the surface are mostly related to objective culture. The items below the surface in the darker blue are considered subjective culture.
Diversity
Diversity should be understood to mean the mix of differences that may make a difference in an interaction.
Diversity is the mix of differences – “The Who” we welcome to our churches, schools and communities.
Inclusion
Inclusion involves creating intentional opportunities and space for people who are culturally different from our cultural norms to engage and feel valued. This is the work of welcoming difference and supporting the building of authentic relationships.
Intercultural Competence
The link between diversity and inclusion – what bridges these two concepts – is intercultural competence.
Intercultural competence is about making a diverse environment an inclusive one.
Bias refers to having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc. are better than others.
Polarization refers to judgmental behavior that is overly critical toward other cultural practices.
Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions that are not based on reason or actual experience.
Intercultural Competence is “The How” in the work and life of togetherness. It means learning to see difference without polarizing and denying.
When there is a mix (diversity) of differences in how people interact and experience the world around them (culture), it requires the capacity to recognize, navigate and bridge the complexities of individuals and groups (intercultural competency), if the goal is to ensure people feel valued and engaged (inclusion).
Code-switching: the modifying of one’s speech, behavior, appearance, etc. to adapt to different sociocultural norms.
