“Diversity can never be fully addressed to the satisfaction of all involved” (Brookfield, 2015). If anyone can relate to this statement, I can certainly do. My team at work resembles the United Nations. Employees come from all corners of the world. For most of them, Canada is their first time exposure to the Western world. Respect has different meanings and interpretations to each and every one of them. Having spent my formative years in Singapore, a country known for embracing multi-culturalism, I thought I had the art of dealing with cultural diversity and racism down pat. Oh boy was I wrong.
In the words of Brookfield, “teaching as white water rafting” (Brookfield, p. 5). Over the last eight years of my career, there were times when I was over the moon so much so that I went around the office giving high-fives to the staff. New employees who came on board seemed to master their learning content fairly quickly and were effective in working with the rest of the team.
Just when we were all singing “kumbaya”, a small act of exclusion unintentionally from one party resulted in a complete melt-down between co-workers. When situations like this happened, I often tried to use narratives, sharing my own personal experiences and perspectives. By using such techniques, I was hoping that the team could see that I wasn’t any different than them, going through the same struggles and issues even up to this date. On a daily basis, I try to show respect to everyone I work with regardless of their positions, race, or religion. Even when there were times we had different opinions, we tried to work through our differences respectfully and find some common grounds.
Given that we have such a culturally diverse workforce, I try to use a variety of methods and approaches when responding to their questions or issues. I am hoping by walking the talk, the team will eventually model after my behaviour. Most of the times, it worked, but occasionally, I would fall flat on my face. When this happened, I added it to my “experience list” and try not to get deflated. Instead of running away from the issue, I would facilitate a meeting with the affected parties by using the circular response technique. This was to ensure that everyone’s voices were completely heard. Unless the views and emotions of those affected parties were addressed immediately, their performances at work would be affected. Again, there were times when my efforts paid off, but there were times I felt like I had to go back to the drawing board and start that dialogue through another approach.
Over the years, I have learned that “perfection is an illusion” (Brookfield, p.267). Since my objective is to help my co-workers learn how to work in a culturally diverse team environment, I have learned to be opened to variations and experimentations (and even failures), and not let my personal emotions get in the way of the overarching goal.
Reference
Brookfield, S. (2015). The Skilful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.