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Cultural Awareness: Welcome to Cultural Awareness

What is culture?

CULTURE is a system of behaviour that helps us act in an accepted or familiar way. 

Riccardi, P 2014, online video, Cross cultural communication, 21 October, TEDx Talks viewed 17 March 2021,  https://youtu.be/YMyofREc5Jk

Multicultural Australia

Australia is a multicultural nation

Two globes, the top globe representing a quarter, the bottom globe representing a half.


Over a quarter of Australian residents were born overseas

 

Almost half of all Australians have at least one parent born overseas.

 

Earth from https://pixabay.com CC0 Creative Commons

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Cultural awareness

Barbara Reekman, the Pathways Guidance Coordinator for AMEP (Melbourne) discusses some of the considerations in communicating with people from different cultures. She also discusses cultural awareness within orgnanisations and institutions. 

What determines culture?

Culture is "not confined by national borders, nor are they homogenous within them".

RACE:
Based on a person's genetic or biological traits and is not determined by cultural or behavioural factors.

ETHNICITY:
Based less on genetic factors and more on shared cultural traditions and history. Ethnic groups are often formed around common nationality, geographic location, linguistic or religious traits or shared genealogy. However, the major determining factor is whether a person associates or believes themselves to have a connection with a particular group. Ethnic groups also change with time. 

International Education Services 2018, The Cultural Atlas, viewed 17 March  2021, https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/