One of the first points is the decision for cultural general trainings and teachings, where the focus is given on developing and improving sensitivity for intercultural aspects and situations.
For example, the lecture belonging to the courses observed in our case study mainly contains culture general aspects. It emphasizes on the different classifications of culture, demonstrates single cultural critical incidents and addresses the diversity between cultures.
On the opposite, tutorials observed in our study have a culturally specific base. In these working groups the goal is to emphasize aspects of a special culture, which were taught during the lecture and often put into context and comparison with the German culture.
The next distinction that needs to be done when designing a training or course is the issue of an intercultural or cross cultural approach.
Another tendency in cultural work, esp. Here, the focus of is laid on the similarities between the nations. The aspects addressed are not the separating but the unifying cultural habits and specialties. This approach is a very practical way to enable two national groups to work together, because the differences are minimized and the common values are emphasized.
The relevance of teaching cross-cultural competencies at universities as well as the appropriate methods and their success are broadly discussed in the literature. However, the critical perspectives of intercultural training as well as the resistance of students are mostly ignored, although both points belong to the day-to-day life of the trainers and teachers. Resistance in educational settings: an unknown variable? Educational settings, or to put it concretely, universities, and resistance are two topics which are seldom discussed together.
Thus, we decided to consult organizational studies on workplace resistance in order to more deeply understand resistance processes in educational settings, such as university courses.
In the meantime, the literature on workplace resistance covers a myriad of approaches, theoretical positions and concepts. The functionalistic approach considers workplace resistance mainly as an abnormal behavior threatening effective functioning of organization and thus requiring methods and approaches to hinder it.
The main examples of this kind of research can be found by articles addressing resistance to organizational change. In contrast to this, the second main approach, the critical, discusses power relations at work as a fundamental basis for workers resistance in organizations.
There, power can be thought as a trigger of resistance, and vice versa, resistance is conceptualized as a trigger for power manifestations Mumby According to this approach, resistance is an endemic part of the workplace and inextricably linked with it.
Instead of searching for methods hindering resistance, like the functionalistic colleagues, researchers committed to the critical approach rather than to focus on describing the forms and mechanisms of workplace resistance. The kind of resistance considered in critical research fluctuates over time.
In their research overview, Prasad and Prasad differentiate between the conventional and the modern view regarding workplace resistance. The conventional research tradition addresses only organized, collective opposition of employees which directly intend to damage or to disrupt the functioning of organization.
Such examples of resistance, like organized strikes and output restrictions have predominantly been studied here. This kind of unorganized resistance is mainly addressed by the modern perspective. The research focus shifts here from organized to unorganized, spontaneous and often less visible oppositional practices in organizations. The authors differentiate between four forms of routine resistance. It is 1 open confrontation which is in most cases not planned, spontaneous and often triggered by some workplace incident or a change in workplace routine, 2 subtle subversions of power relations, e.
Having discussed the forms of resistance, we would like at least to touch upon a complex issue of the aspects triggering resistance, especially routine resistance. Hodson endorses this position stressing that routine resistance bears the symbolical value and can symbolically enhance workers self- identities as autonomous individuals fully capable of opposing managerial actions when necessary.
According to Morgan , routine resistance is also an endless process of moves and countermoves of workers and managers and is part of a constant process of implicit bargaining around the rules and expectations governing the workplace.
There are some authors trying to integrate different theoretical and empirical positions in order to develop a general acceptable overview of the resistance triggers. These are: 1 perceived injustice, 2 threatened autonomy of participants and 3 threatened identity. According to Hodson different forms of organizational control direct personal control, technical control, bureaucratic control and concertize control provide different triggers for resistant behavior of workers, respectively 1 deflecting abuse, 2 regulating the amount and intensity of work, 3 defending autonomy and 4 expanding workers control through workers participation.
Even if routine resistance in contemporary organizations has been addressed in numerous studies up to now, mechanisms of resistance in educational settings are still underexplored.
It is still not known if the theoretical concepts borrowed from organizational studies can be adequately applied to educational contexts as well. In contrast to the usual working relations, educational contexts, especially the relations between the teaching personnel and students seemingly are not power-oriented because of the lacking hierarchical order. Nevertheless, educational contexts are permeated with power relations as well in that students have often to obey to course requirements without many participation possibilities by developing those requirements or contents of courses.
Thus, in educational contexts there is a tendency to powerful position of teachers, lecturers and organizers of the courses and an obeying position of the students. Thus, the question of routine resistance showed by students in educational contexts is more than warranted.
After having discussed numerous theoretical approaches, we have to say that our own position conforms to the critical modern approach considering routine resistance from power-perspective. Despite of the numerous conceptual models, the study of routine resistance, as Prasad and Prasad indicate, is difficult because of its frequently covert and hidden, informal nature.
Thus, the authors consider ethnographic field studies as the most obvious research method examining routine resistance. We followed this suggestion in our study and undertook a case study in an educational setting. Research questions Having shown that the research on teaching cross-cultural competencies in mainly occupied with effective teaching methods and ignoring possible resistance by students on the one side and a ubiquitous resistance behavior in economic organizations on the other side, we might conclude that both research traditions have been barely combined up to now.
In this paper, we focus on the resistance of students learning cross-cultural competencies drawing on research tradition of resistance at work. In our paper, we will discuss two questions: 1 What kind of resistance could be observed among students learning cross cultural competencies? Among other issues, we will ask if the national culture in this case the German culture has an impact on the perceived ir- relevance of cross-cultural competencies in educational contexts.
Empirical study: context and methods We undertook our empirical study in the summer term at a German university. We focused on one course considering cross cultural competencies. Two researchers and six master students repeatedly observed the students in seminar classes, interviewed tutors and students, and analyzed documents, such as feedback sheets or email correspondence.
Thus, our undertaking can be considered as a case study. Context of investigation The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the mentioned university offers classes on Intercultural Communication since summer This module addresses basics of social research and social competencies.
With five courses completed, students can achieve 15 credits points with an average of working hours required in this module. The explicit goal of the course was to apply so far acquired social competencies and to learn cross-cultural competencies. In summer term , bachelor students attended the course.
Generally, the course was attended by the students in the fourth semester of the studies. The course consists of a two- weekly lecture and a weekly tutorial unit. During the whole term each tutorial focuses on only one selected country, such as Mexico, Romania, the Netherlands, etc. In the term of investigation there were 14 regular weekly tutorials and one blocked tutorial over three days, each attended by 8 to 20 students.
It should be noted that tutors were in most cases students as well, however, more advanced in their study than participants of tutorials. One of the relevant criteria for engaging these tutors was considerable direct experience in the taught culture, i.
Some of the students were natives, as well. Additionally, the time schedule of tutorials was often precarious. Tutorials took either place in the early morning i. For the preparation of the tutorial exercise and the exam a script with relevant text was compiled.
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