Cross-cultural Collaboration

Enhancing Collaborative Practices

Building connections through cross-cultural collaboration can enhance members' relationships with different members of the team by presenting both similarities and differences they have in common.  Fostering a common goal builds a shared understanding while acknowledging that communication with members will be challenged so that the best solution can be found within the team.  According to Salazar and Salas (2013), a commitment to open communication and sustainable change, as well as acknowledging differences in biases and communication styles, can lead to misunderstandings or conflicts. Essentially, cross-cultural collaboration has the potential to accelerate intellectual and social growth.

Meeting the Diverse Needs of Learners through Cross-Cultural Collaboration

Collaboration across cultures provides diverse learners with the chance to express their thoughts verbally before documenting them in writing (O’Connor and McDonald, 2015, cited in Kumi-Yeboah, 2018).  Providing opportunities for students to get to know who you are as their teacher and to learn about what similarities and differences we have could enhance building relationships (Howard, Ilyashenko, & Jacobs, 2023; Kumi-Yeboah, 2018).  Another strength of cross-cultural collaboration is its ability to bring awareness to stereotyping and bias and shift the focus by acknowledging similarities and differences.  Using this common ground to enhance the diverse needs of the group fosters a more inclusive group mentality and breaks down stereotypes. A challenge may present itself by ensuring that open and transparent relationships have, first of all, been established. A continuous exchange of ideas can meet the needs of diverse learners.

Pedagogy

An inclusive, localised curriculum creates a foundation for diversity by encompassing perspectives, cultures, and histories related to the student’s context. Localised curriculum ensures students have access to comprehensive educational experiences.  Culturally responsive pedagogy enhances the learning process by aligning teaching methods with diverse student cultural backgrounds. Acknowledging and integrating this diversity within collaborative teams builds strong social relationships, a potent predictor of learning. “Hommes et al. (2012) highlighted social relationships with peers as a powerful predictor for learning” (cited in Mittelmeier, Rienties, Tempelaar, & Whitelock, 2018).  The design of collaborative learning spaces should be in consultation with the school community. These spaces are intentionally crafted to facilitate interaction, communication, and shared learning experiences. By breaking down physical and metaphorical barriers, collaborative learning spaces encourage students to work together, share perspectives, and appreciate the diversity that arises from cross-cultural collaboration, according to Sylvester, García, Ashencaen, Man & Parker ( 2020) and Putnam et al., (2011).

Culturally Responsive Solutions 

As a prerequisite, inclusive curriculum, culturally responsive pedagogy, community engagement, and collaborative learning spaces create an educational ecosystem where cross-cultural collaboration can thrive. It can prepare tamariki to navigate a globally interconnected world but also to value respect, empathise, and be open-minded, which enhances intercultural interactions (Luo & Jamieson-Drake, 2013).  This is reflected in our Coastal vision, “Ma te whānau, te tamaiti e pua—through collaboration,  our learners will thrive” (Coastal Taranaki School, 2018), which is enacted through the localised curriculum, CTS values, learner profiles, and the ‘tangas’: Kotahitanga, Taranakitanga and Maanakitanga.

Through the Manaiakalani Network, cross-cultural collaboration is utilised to enhance teacher knowledge through robust, authentic professional development, along with offering kaiako opportunities to use the Design Thinking Model and collaboration to solve authentic educational problems.  Actively engaging with the local community enriches learning experiences and fosters strong connections among kura, tamariki, whānau, and the wider community.

References

Howard, B., Ilyashenko, N., & Jacobs, L. (2023). Cross-cultural collaboration through virtual teaming in higher education. Perspectives in Education, 41(1), 74-87.

Kumi-Yeboah, A. (2018). Designing a cross-cultural collaborative online learning framework for online instructors. Online Learning, 22(4), 181-201.

Luo, J., & Jamieson-Drake, D. (2013). Examining the educational benefits of interacting with international students. Journal of International Students, 3(2), 85-101.

Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Tempelaar, D., & Whitelock, D. (2018). Overcoming cross-cultural group work tensions: Mixed student perspectives on the role of social relationships. Higher Education, 75, 149-166.

Putnam, J. W., Putnam, D. E., Jerome, B., & Jerome, R. (2011). Cross-cultural collaboration for locally developed indigenous curriculum. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 13(2).

Salazar, M., & Salas, E. (2013). Reflections of cross-cultural collaboration science. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(6), 910-917.

Sylvester, O., García Segura, A., Ashencaen Crabtree, S., Man, Z., & Parker, J. (2020). Applying an Indigenous methodology to a North–South, cross-cultural collaboration: successes and remaining challenges. AlterNative: an international journal of indigenous peoples, 16(1), 45-54.

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