Nathan Rhea

10/1/16
Tiger Pride
James Wyant
IDI Reflection Pre
1. Overview
Intercultural communication to me means my ability to work and cooperate with a
variety of cultures in a way that not only accepts other cultures but adapts my
teaching and personal actions to work with other cultures in a way that is
comfortable for them. Working with other cultures, we are often faced with
several conflicts due to natural differences in the way we approach different
situations. Being proficient in intercultural communication means more than just
accepting these differences and finding a solution that works for everyone, but
learning about the other cultures you work with and finding solutions that work for
their culture. I believe it takes time to develop the knowledge and skills to do this,
but as long as you are proactive in learning about other cultures it isnt
impossible, especially if youre willing to ask questions.
2. IDI Results
My IDI results showed that there is a gap between my perceived orientation and
my developmental orientation. My perceived orientation score was 122.57,
putting me in the middle of the acceptance level on the continuum. My
developmental orientation received a score of 96.34, placing me in the middle of
the minimization level of the continuum. This difference means that I believe
myself to be very accepting and curious about other cultures, but if Im faced with

a cross-cultural conflict I look to find a solution that makes everyone happy and
look to find commonalities between people rather than look for the differences.
One other interesting statistic from my IDI was that on a scale of 0-5 for cultural
disengagement, I received a score of 1.8, which means I feel very little
connection to my own culture if any at all. Shannon discussed how this could be
a reason for why my developmental orientation is in minimization. Due to my lack
of self-orientation with a culture I dont look to find differences in myself from
other people but instead look to find similarities. This is also a reason why I find
myself to be very accepting of other culture because I dont personally identify
with one myself, so Im curious about others.
3. Reflection
A. I believe intercultural communication is a vital skill when teaching students of
any age. There are so many different aspects of culture and we as educators
have to learn to educate and reach students from a variety of cultures. Since
students come from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, there are bound to
be conflicts not only between students but between student and teacher
because of it. We as educators cannot rely on our own culture and
experiences alone when solving these conflicts. We need to understand the
students cultures and work to find solutions that work for them rather than
impose our own values and backgrounds on them only.
B. Ive had the opportunity to work with many different cultures. Growing up in a
largely Hispanic community, the majority of my classmates in high school
were Spanish speakers and came from traditional Mexican families. My high
school girlfriend was Mexican and I had to adjust to many different customs
and rules of Hispanic culture. Some specific examples are that we could only

spend time outside of school together if her cousin was with us, when at
family gatherings I had to greet each member in Spanish and make sure to
not make physical contact with my girlfriend at the event, and when having a
dinner at her familys house we always cleaned the dishes together before
doing anything else. Ive also been to multiple Quinceaneras. In addition to
being a classmate to different cultures, Ive also taught and coached different
cultures as well. Specifically in Stockton, I coach for an expensive club team
that primarily attracts upper class Stockton youth. Ive also run sport camps
for underprivileged youth from south Stockton. Ive had the opportunity to
work with both spectrums of social class and Ive marked the differences in
what they need and expect from teaching and pedagogy. Finally, being an
athlete at Pacific Ive had the opportunity to have many different foreign
teammates who often struggle with English and learning the different cultural
cues in America.
C. There was a gap between my perceived and actual orientation. I perceived
myself to be more accepting than I actually am. I tend to find the similarities
between people rather than work on finding solutions that highlight the
differences between us. Part of this is because of my high level of cultural
disengagement. I dont identify with one culture much to begin with so I try
and find similarities between people when finding solutions.
D. When I first got the results I was slightly surprised by my developmental
orientation, but I believe we all think we are more accepting than we actually
are. Once the results were explained it made perfect sense. I was surprised
at how accurate the IDI was in describing how I felt about my own culture as

well. I felt the results were very helpful in my own personal growth going
forward.
E. Meeting with Shannon was very helpful in understanding the IDI and
intercultural communication going forward. It taught me that while we all think
we are accepting and progressive, there is always room to grow. We
shouldnt just find common ground and try to make everyone happy based off
what would make yourself happy. We should celebrate differences and try to
find solutions that fit everyones cultural needs. Each student will need to be
reached in a different way, and the IDI proves that point.
4. Strengths and Weaknesses
A. I believe the strength of my IDI is that I am curious about other cultures and I
have room to grow. Im willing to listen to what other cultures have to offer and
I do want to make solutions that help people. Not having a strong cultural
connection myself actually helps me be able to listen to others and their
cultural needs. I think my weaknesses are that I do try and find similarities
between people rather distinguish differences between us and celebrate
them. I havent taken the time to truly understand research other cultures and
their customs.
B. I believe Tiger Pride will help improve my intercultural communication.
Cleveland Elementary is a very diverse school with many students from
various cultures and backgrounds. As always with children there is bound to
be conflict, and I will have to solve these conflicts depending on the students
and their cultural background.
C. I would like to improve my knowledge of other cultures, work towards finding
solutions that are based solely on the dominant culture of the group, and also
try to become more culturally engaged with my own culture.