IDI Reflection (Pre-Test only/No post test questions on canvas)

Freda Pu
1. Overview
When I think of intercultural communication, I think of people who have
differences in ways of life, beliefs, customs, and values, being able to
successfully interact or work with each other. So being aware and mindful of
other cultures but not letting that be a barrier to interact with others. I think
its important to have intercultural communication because the experience
can be eye opening, help individuals grow, develop more worldly views, and
you get to learn a lot more about other cultures.
2. Your IDI results
Significant results from my IDI test was that my perceived orientation
(acceptance) was a lot higher than my developmental orientation (denial). At
first I was pretty surprised at how low I scored on the spectrum. I feel like I
am usually aware of deeper cultural differences. However, the 2 nd part of the
denial stage is avoiding and withdrawing from cultural differences which I can
see applicable to myself.
3. Reflection
I think intercultural communication is an incredibly important skill to possess
as a teacher. As a teacher, you will interact with students from all sorts of
backgrounds (i.e. ethnic, SES, religion). You need to keep all these factors in
mind when you teach or interact with the students to be sensitive and
understand where theyre coming from. Previous experience Id had working
with diverse populations was volunteering at a clinic, school, summer
interning, and previous HESP fieldwork experience. I got to work with people
old/young with different cultural backgrounds. There was a huge difference in
my perceived and actual orientation. I think a partial explanation could be
that growing up I was raised in a sort of private or sheltered cultural
environment. That may have impacted my withdrawal and avoidance from
cultural differences. I thought the meeting helped raise my overall awareness
of all the difference cultures around us that we may or may not even know
were interacting with/in.
4. Strengths & Weaknesses in IDI

In the context of strengths and weaknesses I think a strength could be

that Im cognizant of cultural differences. Ill know how to be
considerate or sensitive while communicating interculturally. A
weakness could be that I might avoid being confrontational. I think
Tiger pride can help me develop strength and overcome the
weaknesses by just providing more opportunities for me to interact
interculturally. When Im more comfortable in the environment I can
begin to develop a better orientation. 3 aspects I hope to improve on
would be to step out of my comfort zone more often, be less defensive,

and work on approaching intercultural communication with a more

open mindset.