STRIVING FOR ENGAGED AND EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND THE HIGH EDUCATIONAL ENVIROMENT

Submitted by: Liliana C. Duran

Intercultural Communication 2150 Dr. Martin Clark May 7, 2014

STRIVING FOR ENGAGED AND EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND THE HIGH EDUCATIONAL ENVIROMENT

Communication is a complex concept, its definition can vary across context and cultures, but for the purpose of this paper, we will understand communication, as the management of messages with the objective of creating a meaning. In, literally, any context of our everyday lives, we see ourselves forced to communicate; is an essential part of our survival, it comes as something naturally learned because we see it every day from everybody (MacMillan English Dictionary, McMillan Education, 2002) Communication is something that we cannot escape from, the simple action of saying hi to a friend or acquaintance, or even those tasks that may not be consciously performed, like a baby crying because he may be hungry or just uncomfortable; in everything we do, we are surrounded by communication (Larry Samovar, Richard Porter, Edwin McDaniel, Intercultural Communication: A Reader, by Larry Samovar, Richard Porter, Edwin McDaniel, Carolyn Roy, 2010, Pg. 7) With such understanding, we can say we are already engaged on communicating with other, that we are engaged with communication itself; what we say, what we see, what we do and how we do it, our body language and behavior, everything we do communicates an idea, the problem is: are others properly receiving and understanding the message Im trying to send and its correct meaning? To answer this question we must add one more

concept to the definition of communication: effective, which means successful in producing a desired or intended result. Out of the many and very different ways we use to communicate to others, we probably need to select a particular and formal one if we need to address our boss, a more informal and relaxed one when we talk to our friends, and we do the same when it comes to communicate to those who are part of our College/University culture. Part of being able to effectively communicate within our educational environment, is engaging not only in communication, but with the College/University general culture; as we continue on this paper, we will examine and discuss the engagement differences that exist in these two similar, but still different, high educational environments, as well as the obstacles we may need to overcome to achieve an effective communication. Students of any educational institution most of the time think that their only obligation is to attend their classes and make efforts to pass them, they ignore that the simple fact of assisting to that institution makes them part of its culture and what makes the institution what it is. This is more evident in Colleges. Students of any age take the decision to attend a College before going to the University because many reasons: 1) Financial reasons: colleges tend to be cheaper than Universities; 2) Location: because Colleges are closer than the University they want to attend; 3) Not defined career goals: after graduating from high school, some may need time to find themselves and define what his career path will be; 4) Dont meet the initial required standards: for many, Colleges gives the opportunity to born again, academically speaking, and reach the entrance standards the University they want to attend requires.

For whatever of those, or other reasons, may be that they decide to attend college first, students know this is not the place where they will complete their high education but its a good place to start it, a transition and preparatory stage to later, achieve their educational goals. Most of the students attending College dont feel the need of getting socially involved, as an example, the Salt Lake Community College has many clubs and groups in which students can participate, most of us are not even aware of the majority of those clubs and even when we are, we claim we have no time between work, classes, family and other things that can take our time; it can also be that we are not interested to be part of any of those. Last elections were a clear example of this, as commented by several class students a few weeks ago, some were not even aware about them, others knew but did not vote, and those that did vote knew very little or nothing about the candidates and were not interested in knowing the results. As we can see, there is little interest in getting involved when it comes to college activities, there is also no interest on knowing its culture, the majority of people attending college dont go for anything else but classes, they claim there is no other reason to stay either after or before classes. Contrary to Colleges, students are more committed and engaged when it comes to Universities. Because they consider Universities as the finals phase of their education, students like to be more aware of what is going on in them; another of the reasons

University students are more engaged than College students is the fact that some of them live in the campus. Again, for convenience in location, some students decide to move to the Universities, they spend the entire semester with their roommates, class friends and some of them use or seek the university activities as a distraction from the class stress, also, for many, there are no other options. Being involved with the educational institution can also affect the social relations developed, or not, in it. At the University, students interact with their class mates not only during the class periods, but also in extracurricular activities, especially those who live in the campus, they get to know more each other and make long-lasting friendships. A clear example of this is sports. Many University students are very involved and participate in several sporting events; either as an athlete or a spectator. A lot of students attend the games and any related activity to it, while in College, there is some affluence of students but not as many as we see in the Universities. On the other hand, College students make few, if not any, strong friendship; the few hours spent on class are not enough to get to know people well enough to develop a relationship with them. Another reason of why engagement is higher in Universities then it is in Colleges, is that students that have been transferred from a College to a University, are more focused on their major and seek help from senior students to help them understand and get through the classes; there is more academic interest and therefore, a strongest sense of altruism between students, all reaching out for a common academic goal.

These are only a few examples and reasons on why University students are more involved and culturally engaged than College students. As mentioned before, we have to be conscious and develop awareness of the idea that our educational institution is a reflection of its culture, and that each one of us becomes part of that culture; what we do and what we dont becomes an essential part of this institution and what it represents to the rest of the people. Therefore, striving for an effective communication requires more than coming to a College football event; an effective communication is the process of mutual understanding of all the individuals involved. The way we want to be seen, or the image we want our educational institution reflects depends completely on us, heres when we add the concept of cooperation, which is the behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit, as an important key on achieving an effective communication. (Introducing Psychology, by Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert and Daniel M. Wegner, 2013, Pg. 379). Cooperation along with communication will allow us to achieve personal and common goals, we will get the chance to understand others and where their ideas are coming from, reinforcing not only communication but at the same time collaboration; even when there may be differences between individuals, those wont be an excuse nor an obstacle to reach the desire outcomes but only issues to work through, to learn from; all this because everything will happen in a sincere and respectful environment for everybody (Communicating Effectively for Dummies, by Marty Brounstein, 2001).

References

Intercultural Communication: A Reader, by Larry Samovar, Richard Porter, Edwin McDaniel, Carolyn Roy, 2010, Pg. 7.

Communicating Effectively for Dummies, by Marty Brounstein, 2001. Introducing Psychology, by Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert and Daniel M. Wegner, 2013, Pg. 379.

MacMillan English Dictionary, McMillan Education, 2002. Two Year Colleges, by Petersons, 2010.