Your Social-Cultural Identity
So, now that you understand culture a little better, let’s get back to your social/cultural identity and how it may have shaped your international learning experience and the development of your intercultural skills.
The Identity Wheel
Review Figure 1.2 below and click on each hot spot to learn more about each category that makes up a person’s social-cultural identity.
Figure 1.2: The Social-Cultural Identity Wheel
Think about various aspects of your identity. While abroad you may have encountered stereotypes, questions, or curiosities surrounding your identities. If you are from Canada, what does it mean to be a Canadian? What do people in your host country think Canadians are like? If you are Indigenous, you may not identify as Canadian, how did your First Nations, Metis or Inuit identity change focus while outside Canada? Perhaps you are an international student studying in Canada, and you went to another country on exchange. Your citizenship, ethnicity, race or country of origin are only a few aspects of identity you’ll want to reflect on with respect to your time abroad and return to Canada or your home country.
Learning Activity: Social-Cultural Identity Wheel
Now, it is your turn to think about social-cultural identity by downloading and completing the Social-Cultural Identity Wheel Worksheet [DOCX].
You can begin this activity by identifying and ranking 4-6 elements that make up your core identity in your day-to-day life at home. The combination of identity elements you chose and the way you express your identity is unique to you. Identities are complex and fluid. Your identity can change:
- Over time (e.g., age, occupation, education)
- Depending on who you are with (e.g., talking with friends compared to serving customers at work)
- With your role (e.g., changing from a student to a teaching assistant)
- Your life stage and social location (e.g., graduating, becoming a parent, getting a consistent job)
- As social values change (e.g., LGBTQ2IA+ folks may have felt their relationships were more validated after equal marriage became law)
As you think about living in another country, certain aspects of your identity may have become more salient than others. Go back to the identity wheel and choose 4-6 elements that you think changed during your time abroad.
Now, think about how your identity elements may have influenced how you viewed the people and the culture of your host country. Your own culture (norms, values and beliefs) has given you messages about what is ‘normal’ and how to judge people (who is polite, smart, and trustworthy) accomplish things (order in a restaurant, get a haircut, make friends). Your identity as a student, religious or areligious person, English speaker or Person of Colour—whatever identity factors define you—will be the lens through which you see others.
By understanding who you are and how your identity may have influenced your view of others during your international learning experience, you’ve laid the groundwork for understanding and developing your intercultural competency.
