Through international teams of students and teachers we faced in the past problems of misunderstandings in communication that were not lingual based. Students did not understand each other, either according to the different national cultures of the participating universities, either according to the different national cultures of students (mobile students and students that are studying in Europe, far away from home – Asia, Africa), or because of the different professional cultures (engineers, designers, marketing people).
This led us to the cross-cultural preparation of students, teachers and other stakeholders. The preparation is organized as a short learning course, based on a PowerPoint presentation. The course is obligatory for students while teachers’ and other stakeholders’ participation and sharing of their knowledge and experiences is very welcome. In the PowerPoint presentation basic definition of cultures, misunderstanding situations, cultural stereotypes and cultural models (G. Hofstede model, R.D. Lewis model) are presented. The presentation, which includes also many real-life examples, is followed by a conversation and discussion, which allows participants to clarify any questions and misunderstandings, and also to present their own experiences and examples from daily life.
The preparatory lecture has several scenarios that are associated with different implementations (Europe, Africa, different professionally oriented groups and fields, stakeholders), but all with the aim of introducing participants to the importance of intercultural communication, achieving their awareness of cultural diversity and an active approach to it. One of the goals is also to show the breadth of the importance of international cooperation, teaching and learning by encouraging students and teachers to study internationally.
In the future, we can expect upgrading and supplementing cultural preparation, but we will always follow the rule: “Just because you are right, does not mean I am wrong. You just have not seen life from my side”.
