Students’ Perceptions of Impact of the IC Council Program at Thompson Rivers University Maayke de Vries Internship TRU World 20 April 2016 – 30 June 2016 Supervisor UU: Dr. Kirk Supervisor TRU World: Ms. Dumouchel & Dr. Garson Summary The present study investigated students’ perceived impact of the IC Council Program offered at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. The programme aims to involve students in intercultural learning by giving them training and workshops and supporting them in creating intercultural events to engage the whole campus. Apart from that, the study also investigated possible refinements that could be made to the programme from the students’ points of view. To research this, ten members, either previous or current, were interviewed regarding these two aspects. The results showed that the perceived impact included a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour, increased awareness, personal growth, the ability to engage in multiple perspectives, and reflective abilities. Interestingly, there were also unintended outcomes: language learning, professional application, and academic application. As for the refinements, students mentioned that they would like to see change in the structure of the Council as there was unclearness and ambiguity. Students also commented on the lack of diversity within and outside the Council and proposed a more formal application process to ensure diversity and commitment, another problem that was mentioned. Lastly, the members indicated that they would like to have more intercultural training and to organise more smaller events instead of just one major event on IDays. 1 Acknowledgements There are a number of people who I would like to thank. Firstly, I would like to thank all IC Council members who agreed to participate in the interviews. I could not have completed this study without their help. Moreover, I would like to thank Kyra Garson for her support and feedback and the amazing opportunity to present the results of this study at the BCCIE Conference in Victoria. In this light, special thanks has to be given to Craig Engleson who provided me with background information on the IC Council and arranged for me to be able to go to the conference. Lastly, I would like to thank Lian Dumouchel who arranged that I could come to Canada and Allison Kirk for the useful feedback she gave me while writing this paper. 2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Diversity in Higher Education in Canada ...................................................................... 7 2.2 Situation at Thompson Rivers University ....................................................................... 7 2.3 TRU: IC Council Program .............................................................................................. 8 2.4 Involvement on Campus & Student Engagement ........................................................ 10 2.5 Issues in Internationalising Higher Education ............................................................ 12 2.6 Intercultural Competence Models ................................................................................. 14 2.7 Intercultural Education ................................................................................................. 17 2.8 Students’ Perceptions on the Impact of Internationalisation Initiatives..................... 18 2.9 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 19 3. Method ................................................................................................................................. 20 3.1 Participants .................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Interviewing Method ...................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Transcription Method .................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Interview Analysis .......................................................................................................... 24 4. Results .................................................................................................................................. 26 4.1 Students’ Perceived Impact of IC Council Program .................................................... 26 4.1.1 Shift in Behaviour, Skills, or Knowledge ................................................................ 26 4.1.2 Increased Awareness ................................................................................................ 28 4.1.3 Personal Growth ....................................................................................................... 31 4.1.4 Ability to Engage in Multiple Perspectives ............................................................. 33 4.1.5 Reflective Abilities .................................................................................................. 34 4.1.6 Language Learning .................................................................................................. 36 4.1.7 Professional Application .......................................................................................... 36 4.1.8 Academic Application ............................................................................................. 37 4.2 Students’ Perspectives on Refinements to IC Council Program ................................. 38 4.2.1 Structure ................................................................................................................... 38 4.2.2 Diversity ................................................................................................................... 40 4.2.3 Commitment & Application Process ....................................................................... 41 4.2.4 Training & Events .................................................................................................... 42 5. Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 44 5.1 Students’ Perceived Impact ........................................................................................... 44 3 5.2 Refinements to IC Council Program ............................................................................ 47 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 50 7. Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 52 8. Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 54 9. Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 58 9.1 Consent Form ................................................................................................................ 58 9.2 Interview Scheme ........................................................................................................... 59 9.3 Transcription Interviews ............................................................................................... 61 9.3.1 Transcription Interview S#1 .................................................................................... 61 9.3.2 Transcription Interview S#2 .................................................................................... 68 9.3.3 Transcription Interview S#3 .................................................................................... 75 9.3.4 Transcription Interview S#4 .................................................................................... 84 9.3.5 Transcription Interview S#5 .................................................................................... 91 9.3.6 Transcription Interview S#6 .................................................................................. 102 9.3.7 Transcription Interview S#7 .................................................................................. 112 9.3.8 Transcription Interview S#8 .................................................................................. 118 9.3.9 Transcription Interview S#9 .................................................................................. 129 9.3.10 Transcription Interview S#10............................................................................... 136 4 1. Introduction Multiculturalism is an invitation to learn (Bateson as cited in Odgers, 2015) Interculturalism is accepting the invitation (K. Garson, personal communication, May 31, 2016) The quote above reflects a central issue in intercultural learning: the difference between multiculturalism and interculturalism. A society can be multicultural but does not have to be intercultural. Multiculturalism refers to a society where people of different cultures are present but are not necessarily in contact with one another. The first part of the quote illustrates that multiculturalism provides a pathway to intercultural learning; it is an invitation to start the process of learning from each other. This is, however, often not an automatic process. Interculturalism is the next step; it is the step of accepting each other’s differences and thus accepting the invitation to learn from each other instead of judging each other based on cultural differences. This quote, the first part based on Bateson’s ideas and the other part added by Dr. Kyra Garson, reflects the situation at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) well. The campus is extremely multicultural, but for it to become intercultural more effort is needed. The IC Council was founded to bridge this gap between having a multicultural campus and becoming an intercultural campus; involving the whole campus in intercultural learning is one of its main goals. The IC Council is a voluntary programme for TRU students to engage in intercultural learning. It has been run over the last four years and although some great progress has been made, there were also some struggles along the way. The present study, consequently, investigated the students’ perceived impact of the programme and students’ perceptions regarding refinements 5 that could be made to programme. To research this, ten members, either previous or current ones, were interviewed. It turned out that the programme had impacted its members in different ways. There were intended and unintended outcomes ranging from a shift in behaviour, knowledge, or skills to language learning and academic application. The results also showed that although the outcomes of the programme are met, refinements to the programme could be made to make it more efficient, which may even result in better outcomes. The refinements concerned the structure, diversity, commitment & application, and training & events. The following chapter consists of a theoretical framework discussing earlier research; relevant terms and definitions are also discussed and explained. In Chapter 3, the method is outlined; more information is given about the participants, research method, transcription method, and analysis method. The results of the interviews are discussed in Chapter 4. After that, the results of the present study are linked to earlier research in the Discussion, followed by the Conclusion. In the last chapter, recommendations for improvement are presented. 6 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1 Diversity in Higher Education in Canada Internationalisation has become increasingly important in higher education over the last few years. The process of globalisation has resulted in “interconnections between nations and peoples of the world” (Leask, 2009, p. 205), and it has also “transformed higher education throughout the world, ‘propelling’ local institutions, their staff, students and their graduates irreversibly into the world-wide environment” (Marginson as cited in Leask, 2009, p. 205). In Canada specifically, the demographics of higher education classrooms have changed. Not only international students have contributed to this change; rising numbers of Indigenous students and foreign-born Canadian students were influential as well (Statistics Canada, 2009). Due to this large diversity, intercultural competence, consisting of knowledge of others, knowledge of self, skills to interpret and relate, skills to discover and/or interact, valuing others’ values, beliefs, and behaviours, and relativizing one’s self (Byram, 1997), is important for students to possess; it prepares them for their future in a globalised world as many employers value intercultural skills, critical thinking, and communication skills (Hart Research Associates, 2013). Intercultural competence thus consists of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that may lead to awareness and abilities to work across difference. 2.2 Situation at Thompson Rivers University At Thompson Rivers University, there are many initiatives concerning intercultural learning for students, staff members, and faculty members offered by TRU World and the Centre for Student Engagement and Learning Innovation. Since Thompson Rivers University has more than 1,750 international students per semester represented by 85 nations worldwide (Study at TRU, n.d. para 1), acquiring intercultural competencies is pivotal. This is clearly reflected in one of the university’s strategic priorities, which focusses on increasing intercultural understanding: 7 TRU will prioritize programs and practices that support diversity, inclusion and intercultural understanding between our Aboriginal, local, regional and global communities in the context of: • The indigenization of our university through the inclusion of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal teaching, learning, knowledge, research and creative practice • The internationalization of our university through the inclusion of globally-engaged teaching, learning, knowledge, research and creative practice • The recognition of the diversity and uniqueness of Canadian society including a local and BC perspective. • The creation of a culture of inclusion in all aspects of university work and life (Thompson Rivers University, 2014) At TRU different programmes that promote intercultural learning are offered; one of the initiatives to engage students in intercultural learning is the IC Council Program. 2.3 TRU: IC Council Program The IC Council Program, also called Intercultural Council Program, offered at TRU is a “student driven initiative that aims to increase cultural awareness on campus” (Intercultural Council Program, n.d., para 1). The goal of this programme is to engage students in intercultural activities to build intercultural competence. Its members are offered different professional development opportunities and are encouraged to include students of different cultures in the events they organise (Intercultural Council Program, n.d., para 1). During the first semester, 8 students are offered workshops and training. They receive training in developing intercultural competencies, complete the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and learn more about anti-racism response, identity, intercultural communication, and leadership. The aim is to give them a basis in intercultural learning and to prepare them for intercultural situations (C. Engleson, personal communication, April 22, 2016). In the second semester, the students are asked to organise an event in which they are expected to apply the intercultural knowledge they have acquired and to involve the whole campus so that the intercultural learning experience reaches further than just the participants of the programme. The main aims of the IC Council Program are:  Gain an understanding of your own cultural strengths and sensitivities  Learn how to be a proficient cross-cultural communicator  Work to gain more cultural awareness  Learn how to become engaged with other cultures (not just at the surface level)  Be a champion for the beauty and benefits culture brings us all (Intercultural Council Program, n.d., para 2) Moreover, intercultural awareness is the main learning outcome of the programme and is divided into:  Noticing culture  Intercultural learning  Intercultural Communication (Intercultural Council Program, n.d., para 4) However, some difficulties regarding recruitment, the goals, and the students’ initiatives have emerged. Firstly, the recruitment of students has turned out to be relatively difficult. Numbers 9 of students attending the programme vary each year (C. Engleson, personal communication, 22 April, 2016). This past year, a vouching system was introduced in which present students of the programme were asked to bring another student along. This, however, resulted in a loss of diversity since many students brought along one of their close friends, often of the same nationality (C. Engleson, personal communication, 22 April, 2016). Moreover, one of the goals of the programme is to involve the whole campus. After four years, however, it turns out that this is difficult to achieve and that personal growth is more apparent. During last years’ events, few Canadian students turned up and conversations did not reach beyond the surface level (C. Engleson, personal communication, 22 April, 2016). Lastly, after the students received intercultural training, they were expected to take initiative and apply their knowledge, but it was sometimes difficult to motivate the students in this respect. A reason for this might be that they are not confident enough (C. Engleson, personal communication, 22 April, 2016). By investigating the students’ perspectives, input on these issues might become apparent. 2.4 Involvement on Campus & Student Engagement There are different ways to promote intercultural learning on campus, and one of them is cocurricular involvement. Previous research on co-curricular involvement on campus has had different results. Some have argued that “co[-]curricular involvement is […] considered unnecessary or secondary to academic involvement” (Huang & Chan, 2004, p. 392). Other studies, however, found that students who participated in co-curricular activities “scored higher on education involvement and academic autonomy” (Huang & Chan, 2004, p. 392). Cocurricular activities may also promote students’ intellectual development; “it requires the ability to reflect on experiences, learn from others, and to learn continuously to adjust to change” (Huang & Chan, 2004, p. 403). Students should thus be encouraged to be involved in academic and co-curricular activities “to maximize their cognitive and affective growth” (Huang & Chan 10 2004, p. 403). The IC Council Program is an example of a co-curricular programme that encourages students to learn from each other and to become more engaged in the campus diversity. Kuh found that participation in co-curricular activities also contributes to student engagement, which is defined as “the time and effort students invest in educational activities that are empirically linked to desired college outcomes” (as cited in Junco et al, 2010, p. 2). An important factor that influences student engagement are peers interactions, for example, group projects, tutoring, discussing racial or ethnic issues, socialising with someone from a different racial or ethnic group, and spending time in student clubs or organisations (Astin as cited in Kuh, Bridges & Hayek, 2006, pp. 42-43). Furthermore, experiences with diversity through peer interactions also contribute to student engagement. Such experiences may include attending an institution that encourages contact among students of different backgrounds, talking with others who have different beliefs and values, and incorporating diverse perspectives into classes (Kuh, Bridges & Hayek, 2006, pp. 43-44). It is important to consider that some students show more engagement than others; full-time students and students who live on campus tend to be more engaged. The former take more classes and spend more time studying than part-time students, while the latter have easier access to faculty members and peers. Moreover, full-time students also have more experience with diversity (Kuh, Bridges & Hayek, 2006, pp. 38-39). It also turns out that international students often engage more in effective educational practice than American students. Among other things, they engage more in diversity-related activities (Kuh, Bridges & Hayek, 2006, p. 46). An important aspect of intercultural training programmes such as the IC Council is collaborative learning, and this latter concept may be used to promote diversity experiences for students. Previous research has shown that collaborate learning “has taught students to be more 11 accepting and tolerant of others” (Cabrera et al., 2002, p. 31). Consequently, it is important to find ways to incorporate this into the classroom. In collaborative learning, students learn to counter stereotypes, work together, develop listening skills, learn to compromise and negotiate, and are exposed to people of different cultures (Cabrera et al., 2002, p. 31). Hu & Kuh (2003) found that experiences with interactional diversity are important for every type of student. It is, however, important to note that upper-class students tend to have less contact with peers of a different race than first-year students. A possible explanation for this may be that often new students are introduced to concepts such as diversity and multiculturalism, while upper-class students are not exposed to this (Hu & Kuh, 2003, p. 331). 2.5 Issues in Internationalising Higher Education With regards to acquiring intercultural competences, so far international educators have mainly focussed on activities such as mobility, study abroad, and international classrooms. This latter concept concerns interaction between students and teachers through which different cultural perspectives and ideas are shared and explored in the classroom (Leask, 2012). In this way, the classical international classroom in which international and domestic students come together is being transformed into an International Classroom in which cultural diversity is used actively. The contact hypothesis, also known as the Intergroup Contact theory, suggests that people of different cultures coming into contact with one another will lead to mutual understanding and tolerance (Brochner as cited in Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009, p. 168). Contact without the proper conditions, however, can lead to entrenched stereotypes and biases (Alport, 1998). It thus turns out that just promoting intercultural activities and bringing students together does not cause them to develop intercultural competence automatically because, for example, “students can completely seclude themselves from sharing experiences with other students and 12 other sections of the population in the countries they visit” (de Wit, 2012, p. 7). In international exchange programmes, it has also been observed that international students group together with students who have the same nationality or with other international students but do not come into contact with domestic students (Otten, 2003, p. 14; de Wit, 2012, p. 6). Domestic students often do not engage with international students and tend to stay within their own familiar circle (Otten, 2003, p. 14). A few reasons for the minimal contact between international and domestic students have been proposed. Firstly, stereotypic beliefs may enhance negative attitudes towards people who are culturally different, especially when there has been little contact between the groups (Dovidio et al.; Stangor & Lange, as cited in Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002, p. 613). These negative attributes are then often ascribed to the group as a whole (Paige; Pedersen; Spencer Rodgers, as cited in Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002, p. 613). Another reason may be that domestic students regard international students as an inferior group; “intergroup anxiety […] is a highly prevalent emotion in intercultural contexts” (Stephan et al. as cited in Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002, p. 613). The last reason may be that differences in cultural norms threaten domestic students as theirs conflict with those of international students (Paige as cited in Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002, p. 614). It thus seems to be problematic to involve both international and domestic students. Consequently, intercultural encounters need to be supported on cognitive, affective, and behavioural levels; otherwise there is a chance that stereotypes and prejudices will be reinforced in an intercultural interaction (Otten, 2003, p. 15). This means that it is crucial to reflect on critical incidents that occur within but also outside classrooms. 13 It is believed that faculty members should play a significant role in the intercultural learning process of students as they have influence on teaching, the curriculum, and the campus culture (Dewey & Duff, 2009). Moreover, as promoting intercultural activities and bringing different kinds of students together is not sufficient, the idea of assessing the students’ progress in intercultural learning has become important. Assessment methods used to test students’ intercultural competences include interviews, papers, presentations, portfolios, observation of students, evaluations, and pre-tests & post-tests (Deardorff, 2006, p. 248). Again, however, there is the issue that it remains relatively difficult to determine whether students have acquired intercultural competence. Measuring intercultural competence is challenging because not only knowledge and skills, but also attitudes and awareness need to be evidenced. Apart from that, no single definition exists of intercultural competence (Fantini as cited in Deardorff, 2012, p. 66), which makes assessing it even more difficult. 2.6 Intercultural Competence Models Different models with regards to the acquisition of intercultural competences exist. Two of these models are described. 14 According to Deardorff’s (2006) Process Model of Intercultural Competence, developing intercultural competence is an ongoing process which reflection and involves self- assessment. This also means that it may not be possible to achieve full intercultural competence. The model is to be interpreted as follows: a person moves from the individual Figure 1: Process Model of Intercultural Competence level of attitudes (respect, openness, curiosity, and discovery) to the interaction level. To reach this latter level, it is necessary to acquire knowledge, comprehension, and skills. These include cultural self-awareness, deep cultural knowledge, and sociolinguistic awareness, and listening, observing, evaluating, analysing, and interpreting respectively. From there, one can either experience a shift in reference (internal outcome) or go to having the ability to effectively communicate in intercultural situations (external outcome) (Deardorff, 2006). This model also stresses that individuals must receive opportunities to engage in intercultural activities and that they must be assessed on it. Thinking critically is a central part of the ability to acquire and evaluate knowledge. Thinking critically could, as a result, be part of this assessment (Deardorff, 2006, p. 257). Attitudes, especially respect, openness and curiosity, form a third criterion on which intercultural competence could be assessed. Lastly, another 15 aspect that is important is the ability to see from others’ perspectives. In assessing this, it is important that this knowledge reach beyond the surface level. It should be noted that knowledge alone is insufficient; the aim is to become an individual who thinks interculturally (Deardorff, 2006, p. 257). Another aspect that is important for acquiring intercultural competence is having the ability to self-reflect. Brookfield has argued that someone who can self-reflect is able to identify, evaluate, and if necessary reconstitute assumptions (as cited in McAllister et al., 2006, p. 370), which is pivotal in intercultural learning. Bennett proposed his Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) as a way to help people understand their progress in becoming intercultural. His model consists of six stages: denial of difference, defence against difference, minimization of difference, acceptance of difference, adaptation to difference, and integration of difference (Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009, pp. 158-159). The first three stages of this model are ethnocentric, meaning that one’s own culture is central (Bennett & Bennett, 2004, p. 152). In the denial stage, one’s own culture is experienced as the only good culture; this stage is often characterised by stereotyping and superficial statements of tolerance. In this stage, people often do not regard culture as important. The defence stage involves thinking one’s own culture is the only good one; cultural difference is denigrated. In the minimisation stage, some cultural differences concerning customs are accepted. People are, however, still viewed as being the same (Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009, pp. 158-9). The other three stages are ethnorelative, “meaning that one’s own culture is experienced in the context of other cultures” (Bennett & Bennett, 2004, pp. 152-153). Cultural differences are recognised and accepted in the acceptance stage. Moreover, in the adaptation stage, one develops communication skills for intercultural communication and the ability to behaviourally code-shift depending on the cultural context. Lastly, bicultural or multicultural frames are developed in the integration stage (Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009, pp. 158-159). 16 The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was initially developed to measure the stages of the DMIS but was not able to measure integration. Consequently, an instrument was developed which uses the Intercultural Development Continuum to measure the first five stages of the DMIS. The Intercultural Development Continuum differentiates between denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation, going from a monocultural to an intercultural mindset. In this model, minimization is considered the transition stage between ethnocentric and ethnorelative world views (Hammer, 2012). 2.7 Intercultural Education Intercultural education is an aim of internationalisation of higher education and the IC Council Program is an example of this type of education. It aims to “enable students to tolerate diversity and to embrace alteration and differences without feeling a major threat to their own shared cultural identity” (Pearce as cited in Otten, 2003, p. 130). Although intercultural training has many different approaches, it generally “seeks to expand people’s knowledge about their own and other cultures, influence their attitudes concerning foreign cultures, and develop their skills to interact effectively with people of other cultural backgrounds” (Otten, 2003, p. 21). Consequently, some researchers have argued that a non-essentialistic interculturalist approach is favoured in intercultural training (Dervin, 2006) as this stresses that culture is dynamic and that people can be part of different cultural groups and are not confined to a national culture. In intercultural training, students should receive culture-general information to enable them to apply the acquired knowledge in different intercultural situations. Culture-general training allows for a comparison between different cultures, for example, by employing Hofstede’s (1980) and Hall’s (1976) models and is useful because they give a clear and simple overview of cultural differences between countries. It is important, however, to note that some of these models have been criticised (Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009, pp. 210-11). For example, Hofstede’s (1980) model has been criticised as it reduces culture to five dimensions, and it does 17 not represent culture as dynamic. Moreover, it also generalises the findings of one corporation to national cultures (Kirkman, Lowe & Gibson, 2006, p. 286). A pivotal aspect of culturegeneral approaches to intercultural learning is cultural awareness of one’s own and other cultures and having an open attitude towards other cultures without stereotyping and having prejudices. 2.8 Students’ Perceptions on the Impact of Internationalisation Initiatives Earlier research on perceptions of the impact of internationalisation initiatives has mostly focussed on the perceived impact of students going abroad. Williams (2005) researched this by means of a pre-test and post-test using the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory and the Intercultural Sensitivity Index. He found that “students who study abroad exhibit a greater change in intercultural communication skills after their semester abroad than students who stay on campus” (Williams, 2005, p. 356). Moreover, Ingraham & Peterson (2004) researched the impact of studying abroad on student learning. Among other things, they made use of a survey in which statements were presented to students, and they were asked to rate these statements by means of Likert-scales. The statements focussed on assessing language learning, academic performance, personal growth, intercultural awareness, and professional development (Ingraham & Peterson, 2004). Examples of statements of each category were:  “Studying abroad has contributed to my desire to begin learning a foreign language”  “Studying abroad has enhanced my critical thinking skills”  “Studying abroad has increased my ability to cope with unfamiliar situations”  “Study abroad has contributed to my understanding of other cultures”  “Studying abroad has helped me find professional direction” (Ingraham & Peterson, 2004, pp. 87-88). 18 Although these statements are based on the experience of studying abroad, they indicate what kind of competencies might be acquired by students who engage in internationalisation initiatives. Since internationalisation outcomes are often based on the same principles, it can be expected that the students participating in the IC Council Program acquire similar competencies as well. 2.9 Research Questions For the present study, the following two research questions have been formulated: 1. What perceived impact does the IC Council Program have on student participants? 2. What are the students’ perceptions regarding refinements that could be made to the programme? One the one hand, the study thus aims to explore the students’ perceptions of the impact of the IC Council Program. On the other hand, students’ perceptions regarding the programme may also contribute to refining the programme, which is the reason for creating the second research question. Both questions are relevant because teaching and assessing students on intercultural learning is an ongoing process. It has become impossible to imagine a world where having knowledge and awareness of your own and others’ culture is not important. Consequently, it is also valuable to discover students’ perspectives so that programmes offering this kind of learning can be fine-tuned. 19 3. Method 3.1 Participants The participants who were selected for the present study are ten students who participated in the IC Council Program or who are still participating. The students were approached via e-mail. In Figure 2, information on the students, such as age, sex, nationality, study programme, and year(s) of involvement in the programme can be found. Student Age Sex Nationality Student 1 (S#1) Student 2 (S#2) Student 3 (S#3) Student 4 (S#4) Student 5 (S#5) Student 6 (S#6) Student 7 (S#7) 26 23 23 40 24 22 28 Female Male Female Male Male Female Male Chinese Canadian Canadian Canadian Indian Colombian Indian Student 8 (S#8) Student 9 (S#9) 24 27 Male Male Kenyan Russian Student 10 (S#10) 22 Female Zimbabwean Study Programme Business History Sociology Education Marketing Economics International Tourism Development Economics International Business Economics & Politics Year(s) of Involvement 2012-2014 2013-2014 2014-2016 2015-2016 2014-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2015-2016 2012-2013 2015-2016 Figure 2: Information on Students Before the participants were interviewed, consent forms which included a complete outline of the study were sent to the students to confirm that they would voluntarily participate in the interviews. The full consent forms can be found in Appendix 9.1. The students were interviewed face-to-face when they were present in Kamloops; others were interviewed via Skype. In Figure 3 below, the medium used for the interviews can be found. Student S#1 S#2 S#3 S#4 Face-to-Face or Skype Skype Skype Face-to-Face Face-to-Face 20 Face-to-Face S#5 Skype S#6 Skype S#7 Face-to-Face S#8 Skype S#9 Face-to-Face S#10 Figure 3: Interview Medium 3.2 Interviewing Method To find an answer to the research questions, interviews were conducted with ten students who participated in the IC Council Program. This method was chosen as the researcher wanted to collect more in-depth information on the students’ perspectives in this respect. The interviews were semi-structured which meant that the researcher prepared a set of questions, but both the interviewer and the interviewees had the opportunity to expand on or diverge from certain issues (Dörnyei, 2007). This interviewing format is suitable when the researcher wants to investigate the participants’ point of view (Dörnyei, 2007). An interview scheme was created based on Baarda’s (2012) model. This scheme served as a guideline throughout the interviews. The interviews started with an introduction in which the researcher explained the reason for interviewing and informed the participants of what they could expect. The first questions asked were factual as these type of questions are normally easy to answer and make the participants feel at ease (Dörnyei, 2007). After these questions, more content-related questions were asked by means of a topic list. A topic list is structured in such a way that a general fixed question is followed by some topics that the researcher wants to touch upon during the interviews. In the end, the interviewees were thanked for their participation, and informed about what was going to happen with the recorded interviews. The full interview scheme can be found in Appendix 9.2. 21 To gain insight into the students’ perspectives on the impact of the IC Council Program, we asked them to provide answers to the following questions: Q1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? Q2: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? - Critical thinking - Language learning - Awareness (own & other cultures) - Interest in other cultures - Personal growth - Coping with unfamiliar situations - Academic performance Q3: Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside the programme? - Examples Q4: Do you think the workshops and training were relevant? - Why? - Which part was most relevant to you? Q5: What did you think of the event you organised? - Successful - Expectations met - Variety of students 22 - Inclusion of Canadian students Q6: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? Q7: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills you acquired will be helpful for your future? Q8: Are there refinements that can be made to the IC Council Program? The questions were created on the basis of Ingraham & Peterson’s (2004) categories on assessing intercultural competence and on the learning outcomes of the IC Council Program. These included language learning, academic performance, personal growth, intercultural awareness, and professional development as it seemed important to question the students on all these aspects. All interviews lasted approximately 20-30 minutes. The interviews were recorded, and relevant parts were transcribed. 3.3 Transcription Method The interviews were transcribed by a programme called Express Scribe Transcription as this enabled the researcher to transcribe efficiently. It was decided that fillers such as you know, I mean, and uh would not be transcribed when they were not relevant. Moreover, brackets with a time indication were used when an irrelevant comment was made by either the interviewer or the interviewee. Only the content questions were transcribed. When one of the speakers made a repair to a sentence a slash (/) was used. As some of the interviews were conducted via Skype, it was sometimes impossible to transcribe the correct word due to bad connection. In those 23 cases, either a question mark was placed between brackets [?] or a possible word was given between brackets. The transcribed interviews can be found in Appendix 9.3. 3.4 Interview Analysis To answer the first research question, the interviews were analysed on the basis of the themes created by Ingraham & Peterson’s (2004) and some additional themes were added based on IC Council’s learning outcomes. The themes were categorised into intended and unintended outcomes. The intended outcomes included a shift in skills, behaviour, or knowledge, increased awareness, personal growth, ability to engage in multiple perspectives, and the ability to (self)reflect. The unintended but nevertheless valuable outcomes were language learning, academic application, and professional application. Tables were created for some of these categories to present an accessible overview of the students’ viewpoints. The format of the table is represented below (Figure 4). Statement Yes S#1, S#2, S#3, S#4, S#5, S#8, S#9, S#10 Figure 4: Table Format Students No Yes & No/Unsure - S#6, S#7 As can be deduced from Figure 4, the table presents the theme in the form of a statement and shows which students agreed, disagreed, or were indecisive or unsure. Below the table, the explanation for the students’ answers are given. Quotes are used to exemplify the students’ standpoints. The CTRL + F function was used to search for the students’ answers efficiently. 24 For the second research question, the students’ responses were grouped into recurring themes that emerged: structure, diversity, commitment & application process, and training & events. The themes were found by using the CTRL + F function. 25 4. Results 4.1 Students’ Perceived Impact of IC Council Program The perceived impact of the IC Council Program is divided into intended and unintended outcomes of the programme. Sections 4.1.1 to 4.1.5 describe the perceived impact of intended outcomes, whereas Sections 4.1.6 to 4.1.8 describe the perceived impact of relevant unintended outcomes. 4.1.1 Shift in Behaviour, Skills, or Knowledge The IC Council Program has shifted my behaviour, skills, or knowledge Students Yes No Yes & No S#1, S#2, S#3, S#4, S#5, S#8, S#9, S#10 - S#6, S#7 Figure 5: Shift in Behaviour, Knowledge, or Skills When the members were asked whether they experienced a shift in behaviour, skills, or knowledge because of the IC Council Program, almost all of them responded they had. S#1, S#3, S#5, and S#9 all explained that they had become more open-minded and aware towards people of other cultures: So before I came to IC Council, my mindset was really narrow, it’s just say what I believe, and say when I say different cultures, when I talk to different cultures, I think at that time I was thinking, what I said is right, and what you said is wrong. I think I have more open-minded than before (S#1) 26 I think before IC Council, I thought I respected other cultures but when it came down to business, I was like “people should be like me” and then I think after Intercultural Council, I kind of realised “we can do things differently, it’s okay to do things differently”(S#3) I definitely feel like my attitude towards new and unfamiliar situations or circumstances is definitely changed, […] my approach towards people, trying to be more understanding of their ideas, and being a bit more subtle and welcoming (S#5) [B]eing in IC Council forced me to understand more of people’s behaviour according to what culture they come from and […] you’re already prepared of what action they’re going to take or if they do something, they say something or if they react somehow, then you don’t freak out anymore. You don’t use the same kind of […] criteria to evaluate people’s behaviour (S#9) Other members talked about shifts in skills and behaviour. S#2 became more aware by working with students of different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, S#4 indicated that by working together with many African members on the Council, this “helped to understand more perspectives” (S#4). S#8 experienced a shift in behaviour too, as becomes clear from the following quote: I would say that I am more sensitive of what I say to more people than I used to before when I came in […] and in understanding, willing to understand someone’s point of view regardless of how I have known information for myself (S#8) S#10 indicated that her knowledge increased but also her awareness of her own abilities. 27 Two members, however, answered with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to this question. S#6 explained that she had gained more knowledge and reflected on stereotypes, but at the same time she also felt that sometimes stereotypes were reinforced or confirmed. S#7 also confirmed that he was introduced to different cultural backgrounds, which increased his knowledge, but he also felt that this did not necessarily result in change. 4.1.2 Increased Awareness Increased awareness may consist of two aspects: awareness of other cultures and awareness of one’s own culture. All members showed that they had become more aware of other cultures, either by what they told during the interviews or demonstrated in specific examples of unfamiliar situations they provided: I think before I kind of thought “oh we’re all”, not “we are all the same” because we are obviously not, but I think before I kind of minimised cultural differences and now I know it’s a really important part of people’s lives and people’s experiences (S#3) Obviously with the Intercultural [Council] being really diverse with different groups of people, you tend to hear a lot of different opinions and beliefs, cultural backgrounds, understandings, and traditions, and through that we come together to make a place where we can have a project where everyone has a bit of understanding of how students will behave (S#7) However, S#6 mentioned that not the IC Council Program on its own had made her more aware of other cultures. As she had much experience living abroad, she indicated that she learnt to be aware of different cultures before joining the programme. The students’ perspectives of awareness of their own cultures were somewhat more divided. 28 The IC Council Program has made me more aware of my own culture Yes S#1, S#3, S#4, S#5, S#6, S#9, S#10 Figure 6: Awareness of Own culture Students No Not sure S#7, S#8 S#2 Although the majority of the students indicated they had become more aware, two students answered with ‘no’ and one of the students was not sure. The students that had become more aware of their own culture explained that they felt they knew more about themselves and their cultures: I know myself better than before (S#1) I mean sometimes I might be the one that has to you know adapt, instead of making everyone adapt for me, which I’m used to cause I’m Canadian (S#3) I’d like to understand other cultures, you reflect on your own to kind of make sense of it (S#4) Others noted that the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) had especially contributed to awareness of their own culture, which made them want to explore their own culture more: [The IDI] made me very aware of what I was doing and about my own culture […] (S#5) 29 [T]he IDI helped us highlight sort of difference in culture so I suppose I’ve learnt different things in it, not necessarily in IC Council only but in classes and all these other things but yeah I’d like to think it has made me a bit more yeah (S#10) There were also some students who found that they had negative feelings regarding their own culture: I think I got very low on my own personal culture […]. I found out that I might not give it [her own culture] the importance that it has. I like it, and I say where I’m from, I’m proud of it but maybe I do not detail it as much as I detail others (S#6) […] there was a shift in my understanding of being more kind of negative say on my own world, where I come from. […] I was finding more negative examples and being like “oh this is wrong or this is the way it should be” and “why is it like this here and it’s not like that back home”. So it’s kind of there’s a lot of negativity in my head [...] (S#9) Two members indicated they did not become more aware of their own culture. S#7 explained that during the time he was on the Council (first year), there was not much room for “showcasing your own culture” (S#7). Moreover, S#8 pointed out that he was more concerned with understanding other people, although he could see similarities between his own and other cultures: I was just taking in the information but not helping people understand where I was from (S#8) 30 Lastly, S#2 indicated that he was not sure whether IC Council or his study abroad experience contributed to an increased awareness of his own culture. He expressed, however, that both reinforced it. 4.1.3 Personal Growth The IC Council Program has contributed to my personal growth Students Yes No Not sure S#1, S#2, S#3, S#4, S#5, S#7, S#8, S#10 - S#6, S#9 Figure 7: Personal Growth Most students felt that the IC Council Program contributed to their personal growth, while two of them were not sure. The students interpreted the term personal growth in different ways. S#1 and S#7 indicated that working together with a diverse group of people and engaging with them made them grow on a personal level, equipping them with knowledge to use in other (unfamiliar) situations. Others valued the opportunity to meet people of different cultural backgrounds as this changed their way of thinking and acting; they regarded their ability to maintain friendships as personal growth: I think in just sort of general everyday mannerisms and thought, like just kind of building in cultural awareness to just how I think, how I act, things like that. […] it definitely has opened 31 doors, do sort of more broad international friendships and maintaining those. Just kind of a way of thinking that’s different (S#2) I think it definitely has because I think being able to form friendships with people from other cultures is a huge thing (S#3) Becoming more confident was another aspect of personal growth that some of the members talked about: [T]here was a group of one culture and language sat together, and I made it a purposeful decision to sit right in the middle of where they normally sit, so I could be in the middle of them, so I could start a conversation and kind of build connections (S#4) So I tend to be somebody who is really closed off to people that don’t know me, and people that don’t know me are typically people from different cultures right. So when I came into IC Council, I was sort of starting to open up my shell sort of but as time continued, it allowed me to truly be who I am like regardless of who’s around me so that was really great (S#10) I’ve become more outgoing, more of a people person. I’m able to now speak in front of crowds and be confident enough to tell them about my culture, not be ashamed of or embarrassed or even feel that I need to cover myself up (S#8) I feel a lot more confident walking into a room now (S#5) S#5 added that IC Council also contributed to his approachability. S#6 and S#9, however, were not completely sure the programme contributed to their personal growth. S#6 assumed it had 32 as the programme offers “new things that you can think about” (S#6) because of the diverse group and perspectives. She found that mostly the training and research were valuable in this respect. S#9 mentioned at first that he had not noticed that it contributed to his personal growth, but later he said that the programme had allowed him to become more “adaptable to life in Canada” (S#9). 4.1.4 Ability to Engage in Multiple Perspectives During the interviews the students were asked whether they thought they had become more of a critical thinker because of their participation in the IC Council. From their responses, it became evident that students interpreted this question in different ways; most students, however, mentioned that they acquired the ability to engage in multiple perspectives, for example: We talked about certain issues around the world and kind of apply an intercultural perspective to those issues, and for me it’s been really useful, kind of changing attitudes I guess. […] It’s hard for people sometimes to critically examine their own culture but then […] through the workshops, I was kind of applying what I learnt on Canadian culture (S#3) For S#3 critical thinking included both thinking critically about her own culture but also having the ability to approach issues from different perspectives. This was also the case for S#4: I would say that I had already been a critical thinker but the more perspectives you’re exposed to, the broader your perspectives are and the more critical you can be (S#4) 33 Moreover, S#1, S#2, S#5, S#8, and S#10 also agreed that the IC Council has opened their eyes to see different perspectives on different cultures. Other students, such as S#6 and S#7, mentioned that the training and activities enhanced their critical thinking in the sense that they had to think about a way to involve students of different cultures: [W]e had to come up with ideas, which could be challenging, to involve students from different backgrounds that would accept and would want to execute in or take participation in our events and activities (S#7) 4.1.5 Reflective Abilities In the interviews, the students were not specifically asked whether they thought they had acquired reflective abilities, but based on their ability to give examples of unfamiliar situations and applying intercultural learning skills outside of the programme, it was possible to draw some conclusions. Most students were able to give examples of specific intercultural situations. By giving examples, students reflected on their abilities and the learning process. A few examples are given below: The way people interpret different events and how they describe things, it has a lot of cultural background in how they see the world. So for example,[…] I was marking an analytical paper and then this one particular student was using a lot of kind of analogy things like that, like equating countries to families […], and it was very much kind of culturally contingence so you could tell that where they were coming from, that was more standard way of viewing the world 34 so then I was able to apply that and not really be surprised that that was how they were framing it, even though it was more supposed to be kind of an empirical analysis paper (S#2) I was selling this alcoholic drink from Belgium and I had a friend from Belgium, and he had told me so much about the country and at that moment, the customer came up to me and he was from Belgium as well but he didn’t tell me, but he wanted to see if I knew more about what I was selling, the product. So he asked me that and I was using information that I’d gotten from my friend as well too. And at the end of it, it was a really good conversation (S#8) Moreover, S#5 wanted to come into contact with some First Nations students but was a little hesitant at first; in the interview, he was able to reflect on this: I was kind of surprised to see how restrained I was about going and approaching them and talk. It was not like something like “no I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it”. I was just kind of sceptical about myself and that was like “Okay why I am being like that?” They are just people and why would I subclass someone from a certain background just based on their culture. I mean they go to TRU so that’s what it was about cause now I have a good friend, First Nations friend, I just like met them like that. We don’t talk about culture, that’s like the last thing we would/ if I have a question or something, I would bring it up or something. But the fact that we can talk about everything else but culture, that’s what moving forward is (S#5) Some students, however, were less well able to reflect on the progress they made. Their answers were generally shorter and reached less but still to a certain extent beyond the surface level. 35 4.1.6 Language Learning Although language learning was not one of the main goals of the IC Council Program, it turned out to be an unintended outcome. The IC Council Program has contributed to language learning Students Yes No Not sure S#1, S#2, S#3, S#9 S#4, S#5, S#6, S#7, S#8, S#10 - Figure 8: Language Learning Four students experienced that the IC Council Program enhanced their interest for learning new languages. Some of these students started learning new languages already, while others have not had a chance to start. S#1 mentioned she learnt a few words Korean, Russian, and Japanese. S#2 started learning German, Dutch, and Italian recently. S#3 took French classes and S#9 was interested in learning Spanish but did not have a chance yet. The other students, however, did not think the IC Council Program contributed to their interest in learning new languages. Some indicated that the reason for this was that it is not the focus of the programme. 4.1.7 Professional Application Students were asked during the interviews whether they thought the intercultural learning skills they acquired would be helpful for their future. Although this was not directly related to the IC Council outcomes, it is relevant to investigate in what way the students think they will use their skills for future purposes. All students thought that the skills they acquired would be helpful for their future. Most of them talked about the work they were doing right now, while others talked about their future career 36 goals. S#1 worked in day care and explained that with the acquired knowledge she is better able to relate to the parents who are from different cultures. S#2 also thought the skills he acquired had ongoing implications, especially on a personal level. S#3 mentioned that she wants to work with immigrants and refugees in the future; she thought that the intercultural skills would be helpful in that respect. As an ESL teacher, S#4 indicated his acquired skills allow him to “understand different learning styles [and] different perspectives” (S#4). S#5 pointed out that having intercultural competencies is relevant in an international business environment. S#6, S#7, S#8, S#9, and S#10 all indicated the intercultural skills will help them when communicating with their team mates or colleagues who are from different cultures. 4.1.8 Academic Application Three students pointed out that they had used their intercultural knowledge and skills in their classes at university. To illustrate, S#3 could relate better to and make sense of the issues around Indigenous culture that were discussed in her anthropology class: [I]t kind of made me feel so much more/ I was a lot more empathetic, maybe I wouldn’t have been when I took that class a couple of years ago (S#3) Moreover, S#5 mentioned that in his Marketing Bachelor’s programme, it is necessary to work together with other students of different nationalities. Being on the IC Council has helped him in this respect: I kind of understand the difference […] between p-time, m-time and just attitudes of people and people from different cultural backgrounds and just the way their culture is has made me understand like why some people do the things they do, why maybe some people are late more than others (S#5) 37 S#10 also explained that at the time of the Paris attacks in 2015, her knowledge of intercultural issues were helpful in her classes: I feel like it also helped me when I was in class and we’re talking about it, I felt like I was able to express interculturally my knowledge (S#10) 4.2 Students’ Perspectives on Refinements to IC Council Program 4.2.1 Structure Many of the students mentioned that refinements could be made regarding the structure of the programme. Different aspects of the structure, such as roles, leadership, expectations, and goals were unclear to students, which resulted in them not knowing what was expected of them. Firstly, people’s roles were unclear to the members. This included the roles of mentors but also involved leadership ambiguity: I think maybe in the future, it should be more organised maybe a bit better. For example, this year I was a mentor but kind of what is the role of a mentor, it wasn’t really clearly defined (S#3) I found the leadership was a bit ambiguous. And communication was a challenge […]. We had for example Craig Engleson who I saw as overseeing the program, and then we had the guest speakers, the presenters like Kyra and others, and then there were mentors who were in the Council previously and ISAs […] and from meeting to meeting you never knew who exactly was 38 going to be there and who is going to lead the meeting and sometimes it just wasn’t clear what the expectation was (S#4) S#6 argued that the IC Council should have a much clearer structure and suggested the following: They have three groups and we have team leaders among those groups, and we have somebody that markets for the IC Council, we have somebody that just do the budget for the IC Council, have like a correct division and the team leader doesn’t mean that he is the boss, it’s somebody that can actually fall in and facilitate like the meetings. Like when they meet, the three top ones can actually make a decision […], then things can progress faster (S#6) Moreover, S#10 also suggested that there should be a President of the club who can sort out indifferences and make decisions. S#8 shared that there are many different people involved (members, faculty members) in the IC Council, but not everyone shows up at every meeting. He found this problematic as it was necessary to update every new person, so he would like to have “one consistent person who is keeping […] track of it and making sure that each project was going according to plan” (S#8). Secondly, some IC Council members felt there was no continuity in the programme in that each year the programme starts from scratch. In that respect, some members also mentioned that the goals of the IC Council were unclear: I’d be nice to sort pass something down to the people who are doing it next year so they kind of know what we’ve done, how far we’ve come (S#3) 39 But I would’ve definitely have to say there has to be a certain structure in place, […] what exactly does the IC Council do […] That every year, they are just working on something new, […]and you know it’s a different body, different members and they are going to bring different things to the table for sure but as like a brand, Intercultural Council, I don’t feel like it’s growing, it’s just stagnant and we just need to figure out how we can cause/yes it’s all well and fine engaging the campus and trying to make them interculturally more aware and breaking those stereotypes or bubbles […] but it is great on a personal level, personally, individually, whoever is in the Council does realise a lot, observe a lot, understand great growth stuff for themselves and maybe that’s what the Council is, maybe that’s what it is like for its members to double up whatever, but whatever that thing is it has to be kind of concrete (S#5) As becomes clear from the quote above, S#5 experienced that the goals of the programme might be more aimed at the individual members rather than at the whole campus. Although one of the goals of the IC Council is to involve the whole campus in intercultural learning, it turned out that this might be difficult to realise. 4.2.2 Diversity The IC Council Members indicated that in some of the years the diversity of the group was not great enough. Although the majority of the members tended to agree that the core group should not consist of more than ten people as more members would be difficult to coordinate, some students pointed out that Canadian members were missing and that the diversity decreased because too many members were already close friends prior to entering the programme: 40 Diversity would be important, not only international students from different countries, […] but also having Canadians as well, not only one (S#6) I think I’d really want the Canadian students to be integral part of it right (S#7) I would say that it would be best if more people from the Council weren’t close friends. […] You need to be out of your comfort zone (S#8) Moreover, diversity also came up as an issue with regards to the events. Although a variety of students came up to the organised events, many students commented on not seeing many Canadian students nor First Nations students. 4.2.3 Commitment & Application Process Another issue that emerged from the interviews was that of commitment and the application process. A majority of the members noticed that other members were not committed to the programme in that they, for example, did not show up during meetings or training. S#7, for example, pointed out members needed to have more discipline: [D]iscipline in the sense, we had times when members wouldn’t show up for meetings right. So you miss a lot cause you are depending on somebody (S#7) Although contracts for commitment were signed at the beginning of the year, the members did not always commit to the contract either: 41 Even though we signed a contract and a commitment, it doesn’t seem that people actually take into account that it is a contract and that you have to follow it (S#6) S#6 even suggested in the interview that it would be a good idea to think about paying IC Council Members to ensure commitment as this is also done for Study Abroad Ambassadors. As for the application process of the programme, S#6 argued that interviews should be aimed at selecting committed people. S#8 shared this opinion and argued that interviewing allows IC Council staff to “pick and hand-select [members] instead of telling your friends to go and bring people who are interested” (S#8). 4.2.4 Training & Events As for the training, some students felt that more training focussed on intercultural learning should be given, which is illustrated by the following quotes: [I]t would be best to also do some more training. I feel like it’s best to make sure that we have constant re-evaluation, training, understanding of exactly how we’ve grown as people in the Council (S#8) Some of them [the workshops] were useful, some of them were repeated. Some of them, I don’t think they were needed. We also had summary, your resume development. That’s important but not for what we are going to represent within the school. Like maybe more leadership-oriented or maybe having a workshop for I don’t know five or six different cultures or something like that would have opened more our eyes than just general topics of resume or networking (S#6) 42 S#6 pointed out that many of the workshops and training were not very relevant to her as they were a repetition. It was, however, valuable to her to talk to Dr. Garson and to conduct her own research. Moreover, S#3 mentioned that she did not learn as much in the second year because the training and workshops were the same; she suggested the following: I think maybe they could have different workshops for second years or it could be more, more going deeper than what they learnt the first time or yeah (S#3) Furthermore, some members also mentioned that they would like to organise more than just one event. Many suggested having smaller events throughout the year: Also I think throughout the year, I think we could do more. I think we do about one event a year and it’s a big event […] but I think we could maybe do something in the winter semester (S#3) I feel like maybe we don’t have to concentrate on major events, like wait for one IDays to do one, but we can just have small workshops or activities that we do on a monthly basis or something just for to engage to campus (S#5) S#10 thought it would also be a good idea to make big events, such as conferences, open to newcomers as well: [I]f they could get maybe one newcomer to go and experience and have like two mentors, that would be great (S#10) 43 5. Discussion 5.1 Students’ Perceived Impact The results showed that the perceived impact of the programme on IC Council members consisted of intended and unintended outcomes. The intended outcomes were the shift in behaviour, skills, or knowledge, increased awareness, personal growth, the ability to engage in multiple perspectives, and the ability to reflect on oneself. These outcomes reflect the ones formulated for the programme. The unintended outcomes - language learning, professional application, and academic application - were outcomes that were not anticipated in the programme’s outcomes but are nevertheless relevant and desirable. This shows that the programme’s impact reaches further than what was intended. Most students experienced a shift in behaviour, skills, or knowledge, which forms the basis of intercultural competence. Students talked about becoming more open-minded and becoming more knowledgeable of different perspectives. This shows that the students have acquired the attitudes – respect, openness, and curiosity - described by Deardorff’s (2006) Process Model of Intercultural Competence. The training, workshops, and diverse environment contributed to these attitudes to a large extent. The students also described that they became more aware of other cultures, which aligns well with Deardorff’s (2006) model, while opinions on acquiring cultural self-awareness were somewhat more divided. The IDI was valuable to many students in this respect as it showed their cultural sensitivity and for many the developmental score was lower than they had anticipated. Although it is impossible to determine the progress and stage of the students, the programme is set up in such a way that encourages development toward ethnorelative stages (Bennett & Bennett, 2004, pp. 152-153). The interview data clearly show that students have moved to an intercultural mindset through their participation, but some students seem to have progressed more than others. Although it is difficult to pinpoint a reason 44 for this, it may be that personality and students’ previous experiences in intercultural situations played a role in this respect. These two aspects may influence their mindset and their receptiveness with regards to intercultural learning. Deardorff’s (2006) internal outcome consists of adaptability, flexibility, empathy, and ethnorelative view; most students mentioned one or more of these aspects in the interview. As all students showed increased awareness, it can be concluded that the shift from the individual stage to the interaction stage (Deardorff, 2006) has happened for these students, which means that the programme is successful in this sense. Moreover, students also reported on the external outcome, which includes “effective and appropriate communication and behaviour in an intercultural situation” (Deardorff, 2006, p. 256). The students had the opportunity to put their skills into practice by organising events to promote intercultural awareness and to engage with people of different countries. All students mentioned that they had successful intercultural communication with other students; some could give examples of situations at work or in class, while others mentioned the events they organised. These events were mostly considered successful, although the inclusion of Canadian students seemed to be problematic sometimes. It can thus be concluded that the IC Council Program follows the Process Model of Intercultural Competence. Although personal growth is not explicitly mentioned in Deardorff’s (2006) model, students felt they had grown on a personal level in that they became more confident, while others felt they could deal with unfamiliar situations better or found that the ability to maintain international friendships was part of their personal growth. Other important aspects of intercultural competence mentioned by Deardorff (2006, p. 257) are the ability to see from others’ perspectives and critical thinking. In the present study, these two aspects were combined 45 as students talked about engaging in multiple perspectives in relation to critical thinking. Especially working together in a diverse group and going through the training and activities contributed to this aspect. Lastly, Otten (2003, p. 15), Deardorff (2006), and McAllister (2006, p. 370) have argued that reflection is part of the process of acquiring intercultural competencies. Students showed by their ability of giving examples and explaining certain issues that they were able to reflect on their experience and progress. Some also demonstrated that they could counter the assumptions they previously had, which shows their reflective abilities (McAllister et al., 2006, p. 370). As for the unintended outcomes, some students showed an interest in learning new languages. The IC Council Program also contributed to students’ professional life as they either were applying their knowledge in their current jobs or thought they would in their future careers. Moreover, a few students also commented on their academic performance as they were able to apply the acquired knowledge in their classes. Although these latter outcomes are not included in any of the models described above, they are interesting as they reflect the ones used in Ingraham & Peterson’s (2004) study on studying abroad. Although the unintended outcomes did not have a major impact on all participants, it is worth mentioning them as they are valuable. The students’ perceived impact of the IC Council Program thus consists of different aspects ranging from skills, behaviours, and attitudes to reflective abilities, language learning, and professional application. Students seemed to appreciate the programme and think it was a valuable experience. The findings confirm this as students seemed to have gone through different stages of the intercultural competence models (Deardorff, 2006; Bennett & Bennett, 2004). 46 5.2 Refinements to IC Council Program To answer the second research question, the students were asked whether any refinements to the programme could be made. The structure, diversity, commitment & application, and training & events were the aspects that students thought could be refined. It is important to note that some of the students’ comments were only relevant in one particular year. Since the start of the programme, there have been various iterations based on feedback given by the students at the end of the year. This means that the students’ views are dependent on the year(s) of participation. The structural problems included unclear roles, leadership, expectations, and goals. Students felt that the roles for mentors were unclear and that it was ambiguous sometimes who would lead meetings or who would be present, which meant that expectations were unclear as well. Students suggested that it would be a good idea to have someone who is appointed to lead the IC Council or to make subdivisions so that decisions could be made more easily and that expectations are more clear. Other students commented on having no continuity in the programme, and for some the goals of the programme were unclear because the idea to involve the whole campus in intercultural learning is difficult to realise. Another problem was the diversity both inside and outside the IC Council. Students mentioned that the diversity within the IC Council was not great enough as in some years there were few Canadians and some of the members were close friends prior to joining, which resulted in less diversity as well because these members tended to invite friends from their own or similar cultures to join the Council. This latter argument was also made by Otten (2003) and de Wit (2012), who argued that international students tend to group together with peers who have the same nationality or with international students in general. People feel comfortable with people 47 who have the same culture or are in the same situation. This might explain why the members invited their friends to become members rather than trying to recruit someone from a different cultural background. It is important to note that this way of recruiting was only used this past year and will most likely not be repeated in the coming years. Another reason could be that it is more face threatening to approach an unknown person. Furthermore, the diversity at events was regarded as an issue as well. Although these events often attracted a variety of students, many members commented on seeing few Canadian and First Nations students. This latter finding is again in agreement with de Wit (2012) and Otten’s (2003) findings. They explained that domestic students often do not engage with international students and stay within their familiar circle. In this particular context, it seems likely that factors such as little contact and differences in cultural norms between domestic and international students, reasons proposed by Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern (2002), play a role. Moreover, Kuh (2006) found that international students may be more engaged in diversity-related activities than domestic students (p. 46), which was found in the present study in some years. Other issues that were discussed concerned commitment and the application process. Many members commented on the lack of commitment as sometimes members did not show up during meetings. Consequently, students thought it would be necessary to have more than a contract, and some students opted for a more formal application process with interviewing, which was done in previous years. Participation in the IC Council is voluntary, which could explain why the members and people involved in it were not hundred percent committed. The programme does, however, seem to encourage students to reflect on their experience, learn from others, and learn to adjust to change. Huang & Chan (2004) have reported that these latter three aspects are the desired outcomes of co-curricular programmes. The IC Council Program also encourages 48 students to engage in peer interactions and experiencing diversity which contribute to student engagement in general (Kuh, 2006, pp. 42-44). The last issue that emerged was that of training and events. Some students wanted more training or different training in the second year. Others mentioned that they would like to organise more than one event and perhaps even smaller events throughout the year. Hu & Kuh (2003) found that although experiences with interactional diversity are important for every student, upperclass students tend to have less exposure to diversity and multiculturalism because typically these concepts are introduced to new students in orientation weeks (p. 331). This might explain why IDays is often visited by a majority of international students. 49 6. Conclusion The present study investigated the students’ perceived impact of the IC Council Program and also whether refinements to the programme could be made from a student point of view. The method that was used to research this was interviewing. In total, ten members were interviewed. It turned out that the perceived impact could be divided into intended and unintended outcomes. The intended ones included students experiencing a shift in behaviour, skills, or knowledge, increased awareness, personal growth, the ability to engage in multiple perspectives, and having reflective abilities. These outcomes were intended as they were described in the learning outcomes of the programme. Although there were some differences in the elaborateness and reflectiveness of the students, all experienced a shift, had become increasingly aware of other cultures, and had the ability to engage in multiple perspectives. The programme follows the Process Model of Intercultural Competence and seems to initiate the intercultural learning process. The IDI also contributed to the learning experience as it gave members more insight into themselves. The unintended outcomes were not anticipated and consisted of language learning, professional application, and academic application. These outcomes were experienced by some students; however, not by all. Interestingly, the IC Council Program has a greater perceived impact than anticipated in this respect. As for the refinements, students commented on the unclear structure of the programme and issues with diversity both inside and outside the programme as domestic and international students were not always equally engaged. Moreover, commitment turned out to be a problem as well, but this may be explained by the voluntary nature of the programme. To solve this issue, students suggested having a more formal application process with interviews. Lastly, students argued that it might be necessary to have more intercultural training and organise more 50 smaller events to increase domestic students’ awareness and to increase the involvement of the whole campus. The implications of the present study are that the IC Council Program does well in emerging members in intercultural learning, working collaboratively in a diverse group and realising a shift in behaviour, skills, or knowledge and increased awareness. In this sense, the students’ perceived impact is great. There are, however, still some issues that need to be solved to make the programme more effective and successful. A few limitations of the present study need to be taken into account. Firstly, since some of the interviews were conducted via Skype, the sound quality of the recordings was not always adequate. This made it sometimes difficult or even impossible to transcribe the interviews correctly. Moreover, to research the perceived impact, it might have been better to have carried out a survey rather than interviews as that would have made the analysis more reliable and the results easier to interpret. For further research, it would be interesting to investigate in what way Canadian and First Nations students can be more involved in intercultural learning at TRU. For this, it might be a good idea to interview some of these students to gain insight into their motives. Another aspect that would be interesting to investigate is the way in which second-year members can become intercultural trainers for first-year members and maybe even outside the IC Council. 51 7. Recommendations Based on the students’ suggestions for improvements, my own observations, and conversations I had with Mr. Engleson and Dr. Garson, I would, firstly, recommend to make the following changes to the structure of the programme: 1. Create subdivisions with coordinators 2. Clearly define roles and expectations of first and second-year participants 3. Try to create more continuity by maintaining a website for student blogs 4. Reconsider the goals of the programme I think that it is necessary to make subdivisions and appoint coordinators who are responsible for a subdivision so that decisions can be made more easily, meetings are scheduled well in advance and are held efficiently. Apart from that, it is important that all participants know what is expected of them. For this, it is necessary to define the roles of every member more clearly. A clearer structure will likely also contribute to the commitment of the students. To create some continuity, it may be interesting to create and maintain a website where present and former members can post their experiences of participating in the IC Council in the form of a blog. This has two advantages. Firstly, it will give newcomers and students who are interested in the IC Council an idea of what to expect. Besides, the site will also function as something that can be passed on to coming years, and this will create continuity. The last thing to consider is the goal of the programme to involve the whole campus in intercultural learning. From the students’ reactions, it has become clear that this goal is difficult to realise because it is difficult to involve students who have never heard of intercultural learning. Perhaps the main goals of the programme should be more focussed on personal growth and intercultural learning. 52 To ensure diversity both within and outside of the programme and to ensure commitment, I would recommend the following: 1. Create a more formal application process 2. Try to organise smaller events perhaps for Canadian and First Nations students specifically By creating a more formal application process, diversity can be guaranteed because the ones carrying out the application process decide who will be accepted. This way, one can keep into account the diversity but also try to select the truly committed people. Another idea to select committed people may be to make participation in the Global Competency Credential an obligatory part of the IC Council. Moreover, to include more Canadian and First Nations students into the events, it might be a good idea to organise events that focus on those target groups. Most years, the event is organised on IDays but this is typically something for international students. Organising a small event that includes Canadian and First Nations students might be a good way of creating more awareness among them as well. In general, organising a few smaller events might have a positive effect on the campus since IC Council will become more known than it is now. Appointing someone to maintain the Facebook website might also be a good idea in this respect. Lastly, I would recommend looking into ways to collaborate more extensively with all the clubs present at TRU. 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A quarter century of “culture’s consequences”: A review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede’s cultural values framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(3), 285-320. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3875261 Kuh, G.D., Bridges, B.K. & Hayek, J.C. (2006). What matters to student success: A review of the literature. Commissioned report for the national symposium on postsecondary student success: Spearheading a dialog on student success. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/kuh_team_report.pdf Leask, B. (2009). Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 23 (2), 205221. DOI: 10.1177/1028315308329786 Leask, B. (2012). Taking a holistic approach to internationalisation: Connecting institutional policy with the everyday reality of student life. In Internationalisation revisited: New dimensions in the internationalisation of higher education. 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Appendix 9.1 Consent Form 900 McGill Road Kamloops, B.C V2C 0C8 250-828-5000 Domplein 29 3512 JE Utrecht The Netherlands 0031302533550 Consent Form I agree to participate in the study conducted by Maayke de Vries as a past or present participant in the IC Council Program. The study entitled Students’ Perceptions of Impact of the IC Council Program at TRU will explore the perceived impact the IC Council Program has on students who have participated or are still participating in the programme. The research is conducted as part of a Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. It is supervised by Dr. Kirk from Utrecht University and Dr. Garson from Thompson Rivers University. In particular, I understand that I will be contributing to a study that will investigate what effect acquiring intercultural competences and dealing with intercultural situations has on the participants. I understand that the results will be used to examine the outcomes of being on IC Council and refine the programme. I understand that my participation in this study is entirely voluntary and I may refuse to participate in or withdraw from the study at any time without any negative consequences. I consent to participate in this study by participating in an interview with the researcher. I understand that all personal identifiers will be removed and that my contributions will be anonymous. I understand that electronic data will be stored in a password protected file and destroyed after seven years in April 2021. I understand that my participation includes a 20-30 minute interview. The interviews will be recorded. My signature on this form indicates that I understand the information regarding this research project, including all procedures and the personal risks involved, and that I voluntarily agree to participate in this project. If I have any questions or concerns about the ethics of this study, I can contact Dr. Kyra Garson at xxx or xxx. Any other concerns or questions can be directed to Maayke de Vries at xxx. I agree to allow all data collected from me to be analysed as part of this project and to be reproduced in the dissemination of the findings of this research. The data will include interview responses. YES NO 58 Name (please print) Date Signature 9.2 Interview Scheme Name………………………………………………………….. Date…………………………………………………………… Duration………………………………………………………. Sex interviewee……………………………………………….. Introduction  Introduce myself  Thank for cooperation  Introduce topic of the interview: aim of research  What can the interviewee expect? -   Duration: approximately 30 minutes Explain what happens to the results - Anonymity guaranteed - Permission to record - Testing recorder Questions? Personal information  Name……………………………………………………….  Age………..………………………………………………..  Nationality…………………………………………………  Start year of participation in IC Council…………………..  Number of years involved…………………………………  What education…………………………………………….  Participation in Global Competency……………………… 59 Content Questions Q1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? Q2: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? - Critical thinking - Language learning - Awareness (own & other cultures) - Interest in other cultures - Personal growth - Coping with unfamiliar situations Q3: Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside the programme? - Examples Q4: Do you think the workshops and training were relevant? - Why? - Which part was most relevant to you? Q5: What did you think of the event you organised? - Successful - Expectations met - Variety of students - Inclusion of Canadian students Q6: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? 60 Q7: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills you acquired will be helpful for your future? Ending  End of the interview; would you like to add something?  Stop recorder  How have you experienced the interview?  Give my contact information  Thank again 9.3 Transcription Interviews I1: interviewer I2: interviewee 9.3.1 Transcription Interview S#1 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: First of all because I am very interested for that, and also we are in the IC Council and it’s better to ask/ to learn more about the intercultural mindset, and also want to involve more people to know/to have this mindset, to involve all the students on campus. Don’t be shy to talk to other culturous people. So that’s why, first of I have interest for that, and second we are the members of IC Council and Craig has a chance for us to go in this programme. That’s why we were willing to do that, and also the third reason is because I have/after I graduate my Business degree, and I have attend another course called teaching ESL. In that course, I also have to learn different cultures have different language, so it’s better to know their background, and then when they learn English, it’s better to explain to them. It’s useful for me to yeah. I1: Interesting. Could you explain the second reason one more time please? 61 I2: The second reason because we are in the International Council and Craig and Kyra asked to do that as well. I1: Okay, so you were asked to participate in the IC Council Program? I2: Yes. I1: [irrelevant comment – 06:42-06:50] Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: Yes because they have a test. It’s not a test, it’s just like a few questions, a survey. They test you how to/ how your international/ intercultural mindset is. So before I came to IC Council, my mindset was really narrow, it’s just say what I believe, and say when I say different cultures, when I talk to different cultures, I think at that time I was thinking, what I said is right, and what you said is wrong. So it’s a little bit stereotype but after, I know more about the cultural things, intercultural mindset and also make different friends who come from different countries. So my mind is more open so after the second survey, I think I have more open-minded than before. ‘ I1: Has it influenced the way you think about things? Are you more critical in a way? I2: It’s not more critical. Maybe I would be more acceptable. So when I see some behaviour or the way they are talking, I understand better. I1: So you can say that you’ve become more aware of other cultures perhaps? I2: Yes. I1: Have you also become more aware of your own culture? I2:Yes, because now I am a Chinese teacher so I have to know my culture more deeper than before so I think I know where I come from. I know myself better than before. 62 I1: Has it also led you to experience a kind of personal growth? I2: [irrelevant comment – 09:10-09:22] Yes of course. After I meet different/ in IC Council we have to handle this different events, different conference, I have been different conference, I have talked with different peoples. I think that’s more experience for me to growth my experience. I1: After completing the IC Council, are you more interested in learning other languages and learning more about other cultures? I2: Yes, of course. After that, I think I’ve learnt a few words of Japanese, a few words of Korean, and a few words of Russian. A few words. I1: [irrelevant comment – 10:12-10:22] Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside the programme? I2: Outside of the programme. I have told you, I have a certificate for the teaching ESL and they have the course called Intercultural. They have the course and that’s why. And also I work/ and now I am working in day care and their parents come from different countries, no I mean immigrants. They are all immigrants, and I think that when I talk to them, it’s very useful because I was in the IC Council, I understand their language, and their way of thinking, the way of their say English, the orders, their festivals, their lifestyles. I think I understand better than before. I1: Can you give a specific example of a situation in which you did this? So for example in the day care, or when teaching ESL? I2: Mmm [meaning yes]. [irrelevant comment – 11:35-11:53]. I think last month, one of my kid’s parents, she doesn’t know English very well so what is she saying, that my colleague can’t understand. But after I talked to her, I know she’s come from India and I a little bit know the language order of their India, try to understand what she is saying. So I was being a translator because of her English is not that good, she can see the faults in there probably. But my colleague cannot understand and my colleague also come from different countries so it’s also 63 immigrants. I think her intercultural mindset is not that good as me [laughing], just kidding. So I’ve just been translator and I think it’s really useful. I1: What did you think of the workshops and training that you were given? [irrelevant comment - 13:03-13:05] Do you think they were relevant? I2: Of course, yeah. Kyra’s workshop, if she had workshop, and I was in Kamloops, I will attend, no matter what because her workshop is really, really interesting, but at that time, I was still in the ESL class so my English was not that good. Some words I can’t understand. She just explained what that mean. Even the words I don’t understand the meaning, I know what she is talking about so it’s really/her workshop is really helpful. I think she should set up a bigger workshop to all of the TRU students. I1: Which parts of the training and workshops do you think were most relevant to you? I2: I still remember, I still remember one game. She explain us/She doesn’t say anything, she just put her fingers on the floor and let us see what you see about her. And first of all, everyone was confused what she is doing and why she is doing this and nobody know what to say, just to see Kyra. After that, some student realised oh she’s doing her fingers different. She is doing something different, she is doing maybe the fingers, her hands or something. So after she ask everyone to guess what she is doing one by one. Some students “oh I know what you are doing”, and she said “Shhh, don’t talk to others”, and other just guessed what she is doing and tried to ask that guy who is already know. And that guy doesn’t allow to tell everybody so after all we done, we take turns, and we be asked, and then she gave our hint. So if you know something, if you already know something, and you don’t want to share with others, others can’t know. So it’s same as cultural. You don’t know someone, you don’t know something, you don’t know this culture, and then someone give you a hint, and you know this culture, you’ll be interest for that. And you’ll be more interested for this game but others, if this guy who knows this culture don’t want to talk others, what are others feeling. So it’s really interesting this game really. I1: [irrelevant comment – 16:04-16:08] So were there any other things that you found very relevant apart from this game? 64 I2: I think after this game, I will think more about other cultures. Because Canada is an intercultural country right. Sometimes I will adapt to some of their not proper behaviour because that’s the way they are. I1: At the beginning of the Council you also completed the IDI test. What did you think of that? I2: [irrelevant comment - 16:52-16:58] I think it’s/ how to say that/ it’s not test, it’s just survey to see how acceptable you are. How acceptable of different cultures you are. I did that three times. I1: Did you see progress in your development? I2: Yeah. Just a little bit but not that much. Every time I improved a little bit. I1: What kind of improvement? ‘ I2: No I forgot. [irrelevant comment – 17:40-55] I1: As part of the IC Council, you also organised an event. Can you explain what the event was? I2: A lot I think. We had events every month, I think. So like workshops, movies, because in TRU, we have the International Days right. IC Council helps a lot for the International Days. We are not going to any clubs but we help clubs because they need us to manage all the different thinkings. Every month, we have events like music nights, really nice that event. Everybody involved and it’s like concert, it’s like night concert but it’s too loud, it disturbed the neighbours. After that, many complaints. I1: You also organised an event for the whole campus to join in? I2: Yes. I1: What was that like? 65 I2: Every semester at the beginning and at the end semester, we will have like welcome or goodbye, some events. IC Council will have a little booth and we will ask the student to pass by, can involve us, we have some games about intercultural, and also…this is for the booth thing. And also during the semester, we have monthly events and also we’ll invite all the students, and we will post our poster and do some advertisement or something. I1: Were these events successful? I2: Yes I think every of our events is really successful because we have a very good way to advertisement, we have very good way to involve people. They know/ students know us every time they see the yellow shirt. [irrelevant comment 20:31-20:34]. They say “Oh they are IC Council, they are doing something like intercultural things, they have their fun games, they involve every cultures people”. I1: So your expectations were met? I2: Yes. I1: At those events, did you see a variety of students coming? I2: A variety. Of course a variety, TRU is variety campus. I1: Also Canadian students? I2: Yes. We have Canadian members in our IC Council. I1: So in the year you participated there were Canadian students in the IC Council? I2: Yes. I1: So the Canadian students on campus also went to the events you organised? I2: Yes. 66 I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: [irrelevant comment - 21:51-22:01] The people. The members. Of course, the members. I1: Can you explain? I2: Because actually in that time, was my hard time because I just finished my ESL, I was learning ESL programme. So after I finished the ESL, I went to the academic course, and you know when you enter academic course, you have lots of stress right and I think they helped me to practice my English. This was really good, and released that stress, and we have many events right, and it released my stress too. After we have the events, we have fun with each other, and I also remember one of my birthday, and all the members gave me a birthday cake, and they made a card for me and a good wish to me, that’s so nice. Except for the members, I think the most, it has really given me an opportunity to let me to do something on campus. It’s volunteer but it works for/it’s useful for when I went out of school, going to the work. I think that this volunteer experience is very precious. I1: So on the one hand, it was the members that influenced you most because they made you feel at ease and you made nice friends but also the opportunity to do something for the campus. I2: Yes. I1: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired are helpful for your future? I2: Of course, I already mentioned to you that. I work in day care and their friends, you know Canada is a very diverse so the parents come from different countries in the universe so it help to me a lot I think. What they are saying, I relate, I have already meet in IC Council, the problems yeah. I know how to handle all the misunderstandings, different cultures things. I have a lot of knowledge about that. I1: So you can relate better to the parents in your day care for example? I2: Yes. 67 I1: Did you see the Global Competency Credential as a valuable outcome of the IC Council Program? I2: Of course, I think. It’s good to learn. I1: Would you like to add anything? I2: [irrelevant comment – 25:21-26:33]. We’re okay. 9.3.2 Transcription Interview S#2 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: Good question, there is a lot of layers to it. Mostly because I/ I guess I believe in what they are attempting to do, to create a more intercultural campus and foster that contact. Then there is also a lot of overlap with what I was doing at the study abroad office. So kind of between those two, it was a mash of my interests and then kind of buying into that vision for a better campus. That would be why I kind of started out. I1: What was your role in the study abroad programme? I2: I was one of the study abroad ambassadors. I am not sure if you are familiar with that, with your work at TRU World? I1: Not yet I think. I2: It’s essentially students helping students. So liaison to spread the word about study abroad and help students with their applications, so it’s for students who had returned from a study abroad programme, then could work with the/ cause I got a scholarship to work with the study abroad department just to promote the programme and help students apply. I1: Have you studied abroad yourself? 68 I2: Yes. I1: Where did you go? I2: I went to Besançon in Central Eastern France. I1: Nice. Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of IC Council Program? I2: I would say so yes. Definitely between sort of the activities we did. We had a very good mix of people while I was there, I don’t know what the composition is now, but it was quite diverse when I was there so just kind of coordinating and working with those students from all over the world. That was one aspect of it and all the intercultural training we received as well from Kyra as well as some other speakers like Lian. I1: Do you think that the IC Council Program has contributed to critical thinking? I2: I would say so yeah. I1: In what way? I2: Really just being more aware of other cultures. I think it affected everyone differently, depending on who they were, where they are from, how long they’d been there. But especially for my perspectives, having been born and raised in kind of in at least two parts of Canada, and then on the study abroad, it was definitely a learning experience for me. I1: So your awareness of other cultures has grown. Do you think also your awareness of your own culture? I2: I am not sure, that one I found it difficult to disentangle between the study abroad and the Intercultural Council because they were both kind of going on at the same time so while I was away that definitely built in to my awareness of my own culture, and then that kind of carried through my work with the Intercultural Council. So it was kind of an on-going process, but I would say it definitely reinforced the awareness. 69 I1: Has it contributed to your personal growth as well? I2: Oh absolutely. I1: In what way? I2: I think in just sort of general everyday mannerisms and thought, like just kind of building in cultural awareness, to just how I think, how I act, things like that. It didn’t really alter kind of a professional course or anything like that but it definitely has opened doors, do sort of more broad international friendships and maintaining those. Just kind of a way of thinking that’s different. I1: Are you better able to cope with unfamiliar situations as well? I2: I would say so yes. I1: Has it perhaps also contributed to you learning or wanting to learn other languages? I2: It has definitely reinforced that as well. That’s been an ongoing theme in my studies for the past few years but it definitely kind of reinforced those and made me want to do it more and see more places and meet more people so. I1: Have you learnt any other languages? I2: Kind of. I1: Or started to learn? I2: Started to learn is more appropriate. With my studies now, it’s quite intensive so I don’t have time for specific language training so it’s mostly just on my own time, but I’ve started into German, Dutch, and Italian. 70 I1: [irrelevant comment - 07:25-07:34] So have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside the IC Council Program? I2: Yes, so for one there was the Global Competency Credential. So I applied a lot of that to the projects I was working on for that. And then moving forward into my studies now, I applied that a lot when I was applying for kind of graduate school, because I applied for some in Europe as well. And then where I am not, it’s less frequently, but it comes in handy cause I work as a teaching assistant so often we have international students there so it’s a little easier just to convene them over there where they are coming from. I1: So do you know what specifically you would apply in this situation? I2: Mostly knowing that there are different ways of thinking about the world and different viewpoints that they are coming from. So for example, with my/I am still studying History so doing that with a TA job. The way people interpret different events and how they describe things, it has a lot of cultural background in how they see the world. So for example, just in one instance, out of a number of them, I was marking an analytical paper and then this one particular student was using a lot of kind of analogy things like that, like equating countries to families and things like that, and it was very much kind of culturally contingence so you could tell that where they were coming from, that was more standard way of viewing the world so then I was able to apply that and not really be surprised that that was how they were framing it, even though it was more supposed to be kind of an empirical analysis paper. I1: Do you think the workshops and training were relevant? I2: Oh absolutely. As far as lessons I took away from the IC Council, I would say I took a lot of kind of the ideas away from the training portion and then the activities we did as a Council, like the event planning things like that, that was more opportunity to put it into practice but without those ideas beforehand, it would be a little harder to engage to them. I1: Do you remember which part was most relevant to you? I2: I think the IDI, the Intercultural Development Index. I found that very useful for a number of reasons. One, it was just kind of seeing where I was at at the time but then also being able to 71 put that into a wider context. So for example, chatting with Kyra about it afterwards, some of the questions, it was like [skewering?] the results in certain areas but then it was because of certain qualified things like “well, I agree with this but not this” so it doesn’t necessarily mean I am less interculturally developed, it’s just specific aspects of it. So those kind of things being able to talk about them afterwards, and kind of figure out the various ideas there involved, I found that very useful. I1: Did you have to do the IDI multiple times? I2: Just one time. But then I had done it a second time with the study abroad so there is a bit of overlap there. Cause Kyra was working with both groups. I1: So the IDI was most relevant to you. What do you think of the event you organised? I2: I think they were hidden miss. I think as far as student events they were fairly well put together and well executed. We had a fairly good team working on that but as far as their goal, which was to kind of foster intercultural contact on campus, those I would say was a little harder to see value in them because sort of the Canadian students would go home on the weekends because they are at home and a little more of that kind of thing, whereas international students were really entrenched in campus and they would come out to the events a lot more. So I think we did well on the mixing and mingling the various international groups around campus but not necessarily overlapping with Canadian ones, which is I think a fairly common problem no matter where you go. I ran into that in France as well with the organisation there. It was kind of the same thing, a lot of the local students wouldn’t get involved but then all the various international ones would so it’s as far as with the aim, what we were trying to do was, kind of coordinate and get the Canadians involved more was less successful. But as far as kind of fostering that contact between the various international groups on campus, I think that worked a little better. I1: Can you explain why the Canadian students do not show up to the events and are less interested maybe? I2: I think it has to do a lot with just their contexts. So a lot of them are from Kamloops or nearby so they can go home and visit family on weekends or evenings. And then there is also 72 the nature of the studies, often when people are on study abroad, they are using their elective courses, things like that, they have a little more flexibility in their schedule, whereas the ones that are just at TRU full-time, it’s really a lot is other studies, and they have I think a lot more to do. So there is that kind of pressure aspect and how they perceive their studies, and then as well sort of existing networks. A lot of them have, a lot of the Canadians have networks of friends that area already in town so they’ll visit old friends rather than establishing those new groups. I1: Where you expectations met with regards to the events? I2: It depends on what level I think. Yeah like in some ways, they were very successful and in other ways not so much. As far as getting the Canadians out, it wouldn’t have met my expectations. I would have hoped for more participation. But as far as having the Intercultural Council, the planners come together and successfully create an event and carry it out, and have people turn out, then in kind of those terms, I would say they were successful so it was kind of a mixed result. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: I think the/just the more training aspects and working together as a Council. Event planning is a fairly standard thing I think for campus groups so that was useful experience but necessarily unique to the IC Council but as far as coordinating with the other members of the Council and kind of building that personal experience, I think that would stand out the most. I1: And with regards to the training? I2: I think sort of the activities that Kyra put together, to convey those ideas because a lot of group building activities… yeah lots of/there was one time, we were writing down ideas and having a kind of snowball fight with paper and then reading out the ideas like kind of thing. Not sure if you’ve seen that one in practice but just those kind of things that are, it’s fun but it’s also/there is lesson attached to them and standing out of her research and backgrounds so I quite enjoyed those, and it was fairly simplistic as far as training goes but it was very much/ there is lessons to be had if people wanted to learn them. So I think that approach worked really well, and I got a lot out of that. 73 I1: What do you think you got out of that? I2: Specifically, I think just learning about perspectives. It’s one thing to/ like a particular example. During one of those snowball fights with papers and things like that, so we had all these questions that were around and one question that came up was something like human rights practices, and so it’s like there are cultural practices but then what about universal values such as human rights and how do you reconcile the two. And Kyra made the point that you can recognise it but you don’t have to agree with it, and I think that was something that I took away like a pretty valuable lesson. That it is possible to accept and work and cooperate with other cultures and really profit from that experience but at the same time you don’t have to necessarily agree in order to get along. I1: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired by participating will be helpful for your future? I2: Yes I would say so. Even from a strictly personal perspective, I know that it caused a lot of introspection in kind of learning along those lines. So even just for personal growth, it was valuable and still is. So yes I would say ongoing implications. I1: Do you think the Global Competency Credential is a valuable outcome of the IC Council? I2: Yes I would say so. It’s definitely valuable for building a CV and going forward from a professional standpoint but then also just kind of consolidating and reflecting on all those experiences cause there is the training and all the activities that go with it but at the same time in order to complete the credential you have to create some reflective pieces, you have to document it all and put it all together, and I think that’s a very valuable exercise for kind of orienting it all in a bigger picture and kind of thinking about it, how it all fits together. I1: Would you like to add anything? I2: [irrelevant comment about researcher’s Master’s degree– 19:06-21:10] 74 9.3.3 Transcription Interview S#3 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: I did it because I studied abroad in Poland for two semesters in my third-year university so after I came back to TRU in 2014, and being away for two semesters, it was kind of a bit of a long time especially like on campus, I felt like I had changed a lot. I kind of wanted to be involved in campus in a different way. Before I wasn’t too involved, mainly because I knew I was going abroad so I was kind of like “Oh what’s the point, I am going next year”. I felt like lots of my friends had changed, and I had changed so much so I kind of felt like I was coming back as a new student to TRU. And also I felt like I just had this cultural experience, being abroad, and I kind of wanted time to reflect on it. So I thought I would be a good club for me to join, I was interested in it. And also a friend of mine who is a few years older than me, she did the programme a couple of years earlier. So I already knew from her that it was/that she really liked it, she enjoyed it. She went abroad as well so yeah I figured that I would try it out, and I really liked it. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: Yeah, I would say for sure, especially in the first semester when I first began because the workshops, they were really new to me and I took the IDI, and for me it was a really interesting insight because there I thought I was more interculturally competent than I was, which I think happens for a lot of people. We kind of overestimate ourselves. So for me it was really interesting, and having conversations with Kyra, it was just kind of nice to have different viewpoints on things, and I think it made me more open-minded. I think before IC Council, I thought I respected other cultures but when it came down to business, I was like “people should be like me” and then I think after Intercultural Council, I kind of realised “we can do things differently, it’s okay to do things differently”. I mean sometimes I might be the one that has to you know adapt, instead of making everyone adapt for me, which I’m used to cause I’m Canadian. I1: Do you think it has also contributed to critical thinking? 75 I2: Yeah I think so for sure because sometimes during Council meetings, we talked about certain issues around the world and kind of apply an intercultural perspective to those issues, and for me it’s been really useful, kind of changing attitudes I guess. I think before I kind of thought “oh we’re all”, not “we are all the same” because we are obviously not but I think before I kind of minimised cultural differences and now I know it’s a really important part of people’s lives and people’s experiences. So what was the question again? I1: If it has contributed to critical thinking? I2: Yeah I think so for sure because it has allowed me to kind of think about my own culture too. It’s hard for people sometimes to critically examine their own culture but then like Intercultural Council, through the workshops, I was kind of applying what I learnt on Canadian culture and yeah. I1: Has it also led you to start learning new languages? I2: Yeah I would say so. Let’s see, what languages… Last year, I took a couple of French courses because I was pretty advanced in my French language but I don’t have a master of it so I was kind of hoping to get more of a mastery, become more fluent and it went okay. I think immersion is the best way to learn a language but I think for me also cause of my career, like I’m really interested in international relations and what not, so it’s really important to have a second language when you want to get into that type of career but yeah for me it has definitely made me interested in also in how languages work. When I was in Poland, Polish is like the hardest language but after when I was in IC Council, sometimes I think about the Polish language and how it worked, and I am like “Oh that’s really interesting”. Yeah. I1: You already told me that you became more aware of other cultures, have you also become more aware of your own culture? I2: Yeah definitely I think so. Even with the university, when you think about how it works, you think this is very culturally specific, and it has also kind of made me more empathy for international students on campus. First off because I was an international student for a year so I kind of know what it’s like when I was at international orientation, it’s like “oh that was me last year” at an international orientation, like “oh what’s going on”. But I think like now I more 76 understand kind of what they go through or kind of I know sometimes it can be hard for Canadians to empathise with it cause they haven’t experienced it right. I1: Has it also contributed to your personal growth? I2: Yeah I think so because through IC Council I was able to meet a lot of students from other cultures and meet a lot of international students. I really think if I hadn’t joined IC Council, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity. What I found is that when I became good friends with one international student, I met all their friends and then you become friends with them, and you can meet all their friends. So I think it definitely has because I think being able to form friendships with people from other cultures is a huge thing. I1: Do you think that after participating you are now better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: I think so yeah. I think so. Part of that is also my past experience as well but I know for some of the/like on campus, some people don’t want to work with international students because you know they have stereotypes or what not. But I find for me now it’s not a problem, and yeah I think it has definitely given me a lot of skills as far as intercultural communication goes or just even understanding some/ like in other cultures, they do things differently like what is on time, it’s very different depending on the culture or how you communicate right. I think just being aware of them, it has made me more open instead of judging them like “oh this person is always late”, understanding more it’s their culture. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside the programme? I2: Yeah I would definitely say for classes for sure. Also part of that is the nature of sociology, anthropology classes, it’s very/they try to have a very global perspective but it has been really good to apply like what we’ve learnt through Intercultural Council to like my academics, especially anthropology classes. I’ve taken quite a few on like Indigenous people so that’s been really good I think to apply and even apply to what I’ve learnt in the classroom to the Intercultural Council kind of goes both ways. Also it has been good in my, I could say, in my professional life. Last summer, I worked for a non-profit and as part of my work, I liaisoned with a community organisation which is almost entirely run by immigrants from India. It was 77 really/ I think they use a lot of the skills I learnt in IC Council, working with this group of people, yeah. I1: Could you give a specific example either from your classes or from working where you think you have applied your intercultural learning? I2: Of course, just give me a minute to think about it. [thinking – 10:30-10:36] I think with the group, one of the biggest things was the meetings because they would often have the meetings in the Sikh temple and for me at first I was like “okay I don’t know how to act, I don’t know what to do” but I think when I was just learning about the different types of communication, and also for me a big part of it was just to listen at first and just give it all a chance, see how it goes and then just listen to what they’re doing and just observe and be willing to participate as well. Yeah it was very interesting. Also in classes, let’s see one sec. [thinking - 11:19-11:23]. In lots of the classes, we’ve talked/ lots of my anthropology classes are like on Indigenous issues around the world and a lot of it is under/ kind of it all clicked for me because when I realised how important land is to Indigenous cultures, that’s when what I was learning in class made a lot of sense. When we learnt about the colonisation of Indigenous people in Canada, it can be hard for people to understand from an Indigenous perspective how powerful it was and how devastating it was, and then one day our professor explained how important land is to Indigenous people and how it’s really connected to their whole beliefs system and it just kind of clicked for me at that moment. I was like “oh my god, that would have been devastating right”. And it kind of made me feel so much more/ I was a lot more empathetic, maybe I wouldn’t have been when I took that class a couple of years ago. I1: Do you think the workshops and training were relevant? I2: I think they were relevant. Even just to everyday life, it was nice to have those skills. I remember once for me that I really took a lot away from was the anti-racism response training. I think that was really valuable for outside of the Council of course because everyone had their experiences with racism and as a Canadian, I think we kind of need to stand up for it when it’s happening in our country right. We can’t just leave it to other people to deal with it. Which other one, I really like… I’m going through them all. One of them was done by my professor and it was on identity and I’ve heard her talk about it a lot but I really enjoy it every time she talks about it. And also not just other people’s identity but our own identity and it was learning 78 about how our identity could impact we perceive others and how we perceive the world, and for me that was really/ it was kind of like that kind of reflexiveness like how your background can change how you perceive things. I’ve heard her give that workshop a lot but every single time I discover something more about myself, I really like the one she does. I1: [irrelevant comment – 13:50-13:57] So the anti-racism and the identity parts of IC Council Program were most relevant to you? I2: Yeah. I1: What do you think about the events you organised? I2: I think we’ve made some really good improvements over the years. The event we did in my first year, we did a really big one for International Days and it was called ‘Taste of Culture’ and it was food-based so we wanted to/ basically what we did is we had, you probably have heard of it, we had five booths from different countries and they were giving out sample sizes of like a local dish in their culture for people, it was for free, so free food. Lots of students come. We also found cause we wanted to emphasise the importance of the food to the culture, we didn’t want to be just like “free food” but unfortunately that is how it turned out. People were there more for the food than to like actually learn from the event, but I think we really took that feedback this year, to help the event we did this year, which was called ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’ and what we had at that event, we had student volunteers and they did a booth on their own culture and they could bring whatever they wanted. So they could bring like clothing, have a game or anything that they want, and they could just teach people about their culture, you just had people going around. I think this year we found more people were engaged and talking to other people, and learning. We did have food there but it wasn’t the focus of the event. I think also people came because they really wanted to learn, not just because they were like “oh there is an event giving out free food”. I think they really kind of/ it was more what we wanted to do right cause we wanted people to learn. I1: Did you notice that, because you said that two years ago it was more like free food and this year it was more about the learning. How did you see the difference? 79 I2: In people talking to other people that they didn’t know. I noticed that the ‘Taste of Culture’, the free food event that people stuck with their groups of friends. They kind of got their food and then either they left or they kind of hung out with their friends in a group. And of course then they are not really talking to other people and they are not really/ there’s not really much of a takeaway, whereas at the other event, people were going around, talking to people who they hadn’t met before and they were/ some, for example, the Chinese booth, they had not origami, but they had a kind of paper art so they were showing people how to do it and giving it to people. Yeah it was really interesting and I think just the people moving around, talking, and lots of these people hadn’t met before so it was really nice to see. I1: So you think those events were successful? I2: Yeah I think the food event was successful in that it was probably our best attended event cause for reasons, and I think it was able to get IC Council’s name on campus so it was successful in that way. As far as like the learning objectives, okay maybe not as successful whereas the other event learning objectives I think it was pretty successful. We did have less attendance but also we had lower attendance but the people who were there, I think they got a lot out of it. So it’s kind of like more, it depends on what you wanted to get out of the event. I think they both had their own successes. I1: So your expectations were met? I2: Yeah. I1: Was there a variety of people? I2: Yeah, we had a pretty good variety because one of the things we did, we recruited volunteers who wanted to run their own booth. So one of our Council members, he runs a club called the International Club, which is different from IC Council but anyway he knows a lot of people through that club so he recruited people. We tried to have a representation of around the world right, we didn’t want just like you know two cultures represented. We had I think about ten at least. Also we found some people when they showed up at the event, they kind of did an impromptu table, which we weren’t expecting but I mean always welcome. 80 I1: Did Canadian students also show up or were there mostly international students? I2: I would say mostly international students. I would say yeah more international students than Canadian students but Canadian staff members came which is/ maybe it was also the time of day, like it was kind of near the end of like the working day. Some people also brought their kids which was also nice. I1: Do you know why not so many Canadian students show up at these events? I2: It could be.. I know lots of Canadian students aren’t very engaged with International Days in general which I am not really but okay. It’s true. I feel like for International Days itself, lots of Canadians are not really engaged with it. They might go to one thing or they might see it on campus but as far as going out of their way to go to an event, I think a lot of them either don’t know about it or they decide that they’re not interested. I also think just based on word-tomouth because some people were running booths and they tell their friends to come, and also their friends are international students, and then they get people to come. I1: After the training, did you feel confident organising the events? I2: Yeah. Last year, I was I guess you could say like the project manager for the event. I think that gave me a lot of skills for this year. I kind of took a step back from it this year, because I was like you know “I had the lead last year, I’ll give someone else a turn”. A couple of the other members were really into it, and they were the ones that developed the concept so I was like “okay, you guys do it”. But I used a lot of my experience to kind of help them, especially with the room set-up cause we have to negotiate with Aramark [catering company at campus] who does all the room set-up on campus. So I kind of used that, I kind of helped them with my kind of experience, I was like “you know, this is who you want to contact for this, this is what you need to do if you want to get this done”. Yeah, it was really good. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: I think definitely the workshops. Those really influenced me and they also made me kind of more confident in my ability to kind of speak up about cultural issues. I think also socially, I gained a lot from the programme because I would say pretty much everyone on the Council, I 81 would call them a good friend of mine. So for me it was a good way to make new friends but also friends that were different from myself which has been really impactful. Professional skillswise it’s been with like event planning, that’s been really good. It’s been really nice cause I’m involved in some other things on campus so it’s kind of nice too and learn different skills from IC Council, then I learnt different skills from another club, and then you try to blend them together in whatever you do in the future. As well as presenting. We presented at a conference last year and for me it was very scary because I don’t really like public speaking too much and also I was speaking about cultural, the kind of like interculturalism at TRU, so for me I was really nervous because everyone on the room is an expert on it, I’m like “oh god”. So yeah I think for me, it’s been like developing a lot of confidence in the programme and also meeting other people and it’s really helped me. I1: [irrelevant comment – 22:38-22:47] Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired are or will be helpful for your future? I2: I think so yeah. I1: In what way? I2: I’m hoping to do more travelling. And also living abroad in the future so I think it will help me with that. I am going to Rwanda in the summer so hopefully kind of what I’ve learnt throughout my years of Intercultural Council will be helpful when I am there. I know sometimes when you go to new places, it’s really overwhelming and it’s like “Oh my god”. I also think kind of for the work I’m interested in the future. I’m really interested in working with refugees and immigrants, I kind of want to get into a career in that path. So you do need lots of intercultural skills when you are working with people from different cultures. I volunteered for a couple groups in town that help refugees so we resettled a few families from Syria, and one of the first things we learnt was they are going to come with expectations from what the sponsorship is going to be like, and you’re going to have expectations from it and they are not always the same right. So sometimes there will be awkward situations when they’re expecting something that you didn’t know or what not. And a lot of the training we had for working with new refugees coming to Kamloops, a lot of it was just cultural understanding. We had I guess kind of like a community event on Syrian culture and what to expect from refugees who come here. 82 I1: Do you think that the Global Competency Credential is a valuable outcome of the IC Council Program? I2: Yeah I think so. For me, I’m on the Global Competency first of all because I think it looks good on your degree “with Global Competency”, and I think it might help you stand out a bit because not every university offers it so if you’re applying for grad school or for a job, they might go “oh what’s Global Competency right”. For me also it was really nice because it kind of gave me the opportunity to articulate what I learnt and kind of I guess just kind of formally show what I’ve done in my degree that wasn’t really shown on my transcript but I felt was a really valuable learning experience. I1: Could you give me an example of when you were better able to cope with an unfamiliar situation? [irrelevant comment - 25:47-26:26:40] I2: I guess I know for me, I’ll talk about my family a bit because lots of family comes from Alberta, and they are farmers and they grew up in small towns. They are not really used to dealing with people from different cultures, and lots of them have moved recently from small towns to Calgary, which is becoming very diverse, and a lot of them aren’t really sure how to deal with it. I can tell they’re uncomfortable and especially my grandpa right cause he’s old, he is set in his ways and sometimes when I visit my family, they have all these comments about immigrants, Aboriginal people, about you know all these things and for me it’s a very uncomfortable situation because I used to just there and be like “Oh my god, don’t say anything right”, it’s your family right, but then with IC Council, I kind of learnt with the anti-racism response training, it was really useful to me because I learnt how to address things like that but not me inflammatory or anything like that. Sometimes by cousins said something and instead of/ before I wouldn’t know how to even start, so I would just not say anything. My cousins are younger, about my age, and now I’ve kind of learnt to be like “oh why do you think that”. Instead of just be like “oh you’re a racist” because no one responds well to that. Just be like “Oh well why do you think that” and then dealing with it that way because then/ I feel like that’s an easier way to address the issue or when sometimes they say something really stereotypical, I’ll be like “Oh I have friends from there, and I haven’t found that in my experience”. It can be hard to say something but I kind of got more confidence from IC Council. 83 I1: Would you like to add anything? I2: No I think it’s really good. I think it’s a really good programme. I mean in the future, I’ve been doing it for two years, and in the future I think maybe/ there is some kind of structural things with IC Council. I think maybe in the future, it should be more organised maybe a bit better. For example, this year I was a mentor but kind of what is the role of a mentor, it wasn’t really clearly defined. Also I think throughout the year, I think we could do more. I think we do about one event a year and it’s a big event and it takes a lot of planning, it always goes really well, but I think we could maybe do something in the winter semester as we’re learning or kind of as we’re taking our workshops. I1: Any other structural things? I2: I guess just how it’s organised. For example, even if we took meetings or something like that, I’d be nice to sort pass something down to the people who are doing it next year so they kind of know what we’ve done, how far we’ve come. A lot of people are graduating this year so it’s gonna be interesting next year to see where the programme goes. I think another thing is I think I learnt more in my first year than I did in my second year cause the workshops are the same each year. So in my second year, I was sitting through them, and I’ve already heard them before right so I am kind of there to facilitate discussion but as far as what I take away the second year, not a lot compared to my first year. So I think it’s a new programme right so as things progress, I think maybe they could have different workshops for second years or it could be more. More going deeper than what they learnt the first time or yeah. 9.3.4 Transcription Interview S#4 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: I just love multiculturalism. I’ve travelled a lot, over forty countries. I just like to learn about other cultures, other languages, and I am teaching ESL, English as a Second Language so that really helps to know/understand different backgrounds, different learning styles, different perspectives so I can empathise with students. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviours because of the IC Council? 84 I2: For sure yeah. I1: In what way? I2: Just being exposed to different cultures. I’ve travelled across Africa before but I didn’t get to know many people on a deeper personal level because I was travelling a lot, so I wasn’t in the same place for a long time. There were people from many different African countries in the Intercultural Council so I got to know people on a personal level that way. So that helped to understand more perspectives from an African side. And then of course the training with the different workshops we did. Some of it I had done previously but some of it was new so. I1: Do you think that the programme has contributed to you being a more critical thinker? I2: Yes I’d say so. I would say that I had already been a critical thinker but the more perspectives you’re exposed to, the broader your perspectives are and the more critical you can be. I1: In terms of language learning, has the programme contributed to that as well? I2: Not a whole lot. It’s something that I would love to do more of. We didn’t do much on the language side of things. I1: No, it’s not really focussing on that. I2: Yeah. I1: Have you also become more aware of your own culture? I2: Yeah I would say so. Again, I’d like to understand other cultures, you reflect on your own to kind of make sense of it. I1: Has it also contributed to your personal growth? I2: Yeah. 85 I1: Can you give an example of that? I2: Already a lot of the things that I was already doing, wanting to connect with different cultures more and more but this kind of accelerated with the different workshops and things. For example, in one of my classes, there was a group of one culture and language that sat together, and I made it a purposeful decision to sit right in the middle of where they normally sit. So I could be in the middle of them, so I could start a conversation and kind of build connections that normally is a separate group, so different strategies and ideas. I1: [irrelevant comment – 05:30-05:38] Do you think you are now better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: I think so yeah. Again, some of the theory and some of the workshops that we did helps to understand different cultural frameworks and different perspectives, so easier to figure out the unfamiliar. I1: In your ESL classes, do you have an example of an unfamiliar situation? I2: [thinking – 06:20-26:24] I can’t think of any examples at the moment. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning outside of the programme? I2: Yeah, actually just before I heard about the Intercultural Council, I started the International Club. That one, many years ago, I was a student at Simon Fraser University near Vancouver and I was part of the International Club there. So that gave me the inspiration here too as that situation where cultures seem to group together, and with many of the clubs, they’ll be a Chinese club or an Indian club and they tend to stay within in their own groups, which is great because it’s familiar and they can socialise, but I wanted to bring cultures together a little bit more, more interaction and so that was the reason behind it, and so we’re starting it, I was working with the Intercultural Campus and with the International Club, and I see potential for them to work together in the future and maybe to go more into the language side of things as well. I1: Have you also applied your intercultural learning in your classes? 86 I2: Yeah for sure and with group work for example. And just understanding different perspectives. Actually in the Master of Education Programme, there’s many international students and the instructors are great with listening to their perspectives and trying to have everybody share their different perspectives and context from their countries. So it’s not just a Canadian perspective. We get to see all the different perspectives and again with what I’ve learnt with the Intercultural Council, it just/ I can appreciate more and more how it goes. I1: Were the workshops and training relevant to you? I2: Yeah for sure. I1: Why? I2: Why. Relevant to interculturalisation so some of it I had done before in an intercultural communication class when I did my TESOL, Teaching English as a Second Language certification, and things like Hofstede and the IDI, I had done in there and then again in the workshops so those were really useful for kind of understanding progression of cultural perspectives and understanding. I1: Because you did the IDI twice then? Did you see progress? I2: Yeah and it was only less than a year in between and you could already see a progression so. I1: A specific kind of progression? I2: I can’t remember the breakdown. I1: Which part was most relevant to you? I2: The overall training, and I think it was the working with the group of diverse people with a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity. So we started out, for me as an older student a little bit feeling uncomfortable with my place in the group and a lot of them knew each other before and I didn’t, 87 so coming into an unfamiliar situation and just working with that group and developing relationships, and then turning into a really productive subgroup was good. I1: Did your uncomfortableness disappear? I2: Yeah now I feel really comfortable and really part of the group, where I felt like an outsider at the beginning and now I feel like a really good part of it. I1: You also organised an event, what did you think of that? I2: It was great yeah and that was part of it, is that there was a bit of ambiguity on who is going to lead it, and I have some leadership experience but I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, and eventually we found out our positions and myself and another member worked together quite closely on developing the event and everyone kind of came together as a team so I found the process really good. I1: Do you think it was successful? I2: I think so yeah, we had quite a few people turn up, and it wasn’t just superficial. People were genuinely interested in talking to people from different countries and going a little bit deeper than surface cultural differences. I1: Okay, can you give an example? I2: Yeah well we had a system where a participant had a passport and they had to go, anyone they talk to they would get a sticker of that country’s flag and when they did so, they had a oneon-one conversation with the people there and so they were able to ask questions from each other, and so for example somebody asked me a question about Terry Fox, who is a Canadian hero, and they didn’t know anything really about Terry Fox but they had heard the name before so I told them a bit about the story so that was people asking me, and then I had the same as well talking to people from Uganda and Nigeria and asking kind of questions that might be little bit awkward in normal conversation but in this context it was a little bit of more little liberty to ask some less comfortable questions. 88 I1: Great, sounds good. So your expectations were met? I2: For sure. I1: Did you see a variety of students coming to the event? I2: Yeah people from all over, there were Canadian students but also people from lots of different countries. I think there was 40 or 50 countries altogether. I1: So also quite a lot of Canadian students? I2: Yeah, which was really good to see because that tends to be a challenge. There’s events that are either international or Canadian, and sometimes there’s a separation there. I1: One of the goals of the IC Council is to involve the whole campus, right? I2: Yeah I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: Which aspects of the programme influenced me most [thinking – 14:00-14:09]. Just the opportunity to do something practical with the knowledge that we learnt and so yeah working with a group and having the resources and the motivation to promote interculturalisation. I1: After the workshops and training, did you feel confident enough to set up an event? I2: Yeah I think so. I think there is always room for growth, for more learning, but it was definitely a good start. I felt quite confident. I1: Okay great. Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired are helpful for your future? I2: For sure. 89 I1: In what way? I2: In what way… well as I continue to teach ESL for example, I will be able to understand students contexts and as a student working in groups and in class like understand different learning styles, different perspectives. I1: So are you going to continue doing the IC council next year as more of a guide I guess? I2: Yeah. I1: And the international club? I2: Yeah and so my hope is that the club can be an extension of the Council. So the Council is a smaller group of people who want to develop these skills, whereas the club is more of a social gathering of international students, so the club could be a tool for the Council to hold events and work on the skills they develop. I1: Were there any shortcomings to the programme? I2: I found the leadership was a bit ambiguous. And communication was a challenge. I didn’t always know what was going to happen at each meeting, and who was leading the meeting, what the goals and objectives were. I1: How many meetings are there? I2: At the beginning I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know and maybe because I was a newcomer everybody else already knew this information, but then it was weekly, every Monday evening. Expectations weren’t all that clear at the beginning to me. They became apparent, I stuck through with the commitment despite having limited time. I often took my son along to the meetings because I just had no other options but they were welcoming and he was good. I1: What about leadership ambiguity? 90 I2: We had for example Craig Engleson who I saw as overseeing the program and then we had the guest speakers the presenters like Kyra and others, and then there were mentors who were in the Council previously and ISAs, International student advisors, and from meeting to meeting you never knew who exactly was going to be there and who is going to lead the meeting and sometimes it just wasn’t clear what the expectation was. I think there’s room for improvement there, and then communication. Just being clear of these expectations, when the meetings are going to be held and when special events or other meetings happen. Sometimes they came up last-minute, and I couldn’t really plan for it. I1: Would you like to add anything? I2: I can’t really think of anything else to add right now. 9.3.5 Transcription Interview S#5 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: Initially I just wanted to/ it was my second semester here in TRU and initially it was just to/ I found it interesting the Intercultural Council, just it kind of popped out for me and then I just wanted to go check it out. Once I went there, after like I wasn’t sure what the group was about or how I would be benefiting or anything like that. I believe initially it was just to gain some experience being new in TRU and things like this, like you know joining clubs and things like that, just to get along with people but that was the initial experience but then after you just/the initial couple of meetings, once talking to Kyra, and she giving her insight on and putting perspectives on, things like that you know, it was going around in our heads but no one really has come forward and brought it up. Now playing paper like that, that really got me interested. I was really hooked, I would have to say immediately as soon as you’re in the Council. It was for weird reasons I realise that but. [irrelevant comment – 2:50-2:58] I1: Have you experienced the shift in knowledge skills or behaviour because of the IC Council program? I2: I would have to say yes, I definitely noticed some differences in how I notice things and how I perceive things. I find myself slower to jump to conclusions than how I initially would have a preconceived notion in my head and just go from there. Interacting more with people 91 from different cultures has also given me an idea that not everyone’s wrong, they are kind of right by their own sense and that’s what works for them best, and it’s definitely had something I/that I felt that I didn’t realise till I realised that okay that was missing in me that kind of thing. I definitely feel like my attitude towards new and unfamiliar situations or circumstances is definitely changed. If I’m not/ my approach towards people, trying to be more understanding of their ideas, and being a bit more subtle and welcoming. I remember talking to Aboriginal communities and members during just the gathering place here. Have you been there? I1: No not yet I would like to go. I2: You should actually. It’s a great place, there’s a guy called Vernie. You should just go and meet him, it’s a great place. These guys just come hang out and everyone is just having a good time. I went in there after talking to Kyra and Craig about “how do I do this”. Like I have no understanding of First Nations culture. How do I just go in and then be like okay tell me everything. I1: So how did you? I2: I asked Craig to introduce me to Vernie and one day just after school he just walked me over and introduced me to Vernie when I was there. I met a couple of other classmates and I just started [talking?] to them. And after that I was just, last month in March, it was kind of Aboriginal nations week. So there was like a bunch of different events and activities going on. After I initially met them, I got to know about all these things and that’s when I participated or like you know just went and observed, went to a powwow which is really interesting. Good just trying to you know kind of learn whatever you’ve learnt already and trying to re-implement that altogether. I1: Do you think you have become more critical thinker because of the IC Council program? I2: More of a critical thinker.. [thinking – 06:00-06:06]. I’m not sure if I have become more of a critical thinker, more so I do kind of /I wouldn’t say critically looking for an answer but I do kind of let things go the way they are but that’s just me in general. So well that essentially/ I guess it is thought-provoking but I wouldn’t say I would be stuck in something or like you know going about it over and over again. 92 I1: Has it contributed to you learning other languages? I2: IC Council, I would have to say no. I1: Have you become more aware of your own culture? I2: Yes I have. Yes I definitely have. That was one of my first things I learnt on the IC Council. When I did the IDI, it kind of showed me my attitude and things like that towards my own and then, I always knew that but then you know there is this test proving that okay yes these are facts. But after that, it made me very aware of what I was doing and about my own culture and things like. Because I’m a traveller, I mean I love traveling so with that essentially I mean somewhere down there I feel like you know you’re so involved in learning about other cultures and like understanding from other people, like you kind of sometimes lose out on your own culture and things like that and that’s what it did make me realise. This made me be more involved in see the Indians of [cultinate?] community, talk to people a lot more different than the kind of attitude and the way I was before that. Yeah it has definitely made me a lot more. I1: Has it also contributed to your personal growth? I2: Yes I would definitely have to say it has contributed to my personal growth, just to my approachability towards people has definitely changed also being in marketing in a Business background, it’s definitely told me skills how to approach different people in a more professional manner as compared to how it would have been in an informal sense. So it’s kind of taught me how to network a bit better if I may. All based on all these skills and traits that I would’ve actually picked up from the Council for sure. I feel a lot more confident walking into a room now. I1: You mentioned that you’re now better able to cope with unfamiliar situations. Can you give me an example of that? I2: [thinking – 09:17-19:34] [not able to formulate an answer to this] I1: Have you applied you into cultural learning to situations outside of the programme? 93 I2: Yes I will have based on the people I have interacted with and people I’ve met have also. I went to a conference in Washington DC. It was a leadership conference. I was a representative of Intercultural Council member. So what we were trying to extract and trying to understand from each other is how different leadership parties work and if there is a situation because the Intercultural Council I realised, it is very unique to TRU and it’s very centred around TRU World in the sense that they’re the front runners and not other universities taken initiative like that. So talking to people from other universities, in the US based universities, gained me an understanding of how different their situation/all of them have cultural requirements and necessities but they don’t have a medium or any means about going it. They all are aware of like the need of it and then the importance of it, but then it was just kind of like exchanging ideas like telling them about the Council and they will tell us about some activities at their universities and things like that did do and trying to get the student compass a bit going. I definitely have applied it outside. I1: Also in your classes for example? Is it relevant there? I2: It is in being/ I feel like that it’s just everyone who goes to same programme probably says it but I feel like being a Business student in TRU, it is very interesting to see how diverse the classroom is. You can certainly see on certain programs especially the Business ones, certain classrooms are completely diverse, there’s no majority or like there are people from all over. Especially in TRU, who is welcoming to so many international students, it has definitely helped. Being in Marketing, it requires a lot of group work and a lot of group meetings, and working together, this is I believe faced by every single Business student or something, there are a lot of group consensus and frustrations that go into them but being on the Council, I kind of understand like the difference is between p-time m-time and just attitudes of people and people from different cultural backgrounds and just the way their culture is has made me understand like why some people do the things they do, why maybe some people are late more than others. I am one of those people who is always late but it has made me understand that okay there are people who are going to be on time and I’m going to make that effort not to be late all time and that’s how I feel I’ve definitely made changes. I1: Were the training and workshops relevant to you? 94 I2: I would have to say some discussions were relevant and some were kind of/ ended up being like more of a lecture than having just general open talk about it, but I feel as Council members, what separates us from the remaining other students is the fact that we did go through those courses or those classes in order to let ourselves be representative as Intercultural Council members. Something that’s different from other students because anyone can come up and be like “yeah I have all these competencies and I’ve seen the world and things like that”, the courses do kind of structure or give everyone the same level of understanding of what racism is or what culture is, what happens this, what happens then, and it’s from really great professors in the university so they open discussions, and things like that really do help out but I would have to say that not all the courses would be/ like it’s something that you go and do it once I would say. I’ve done it twice, just because I was for the long-term right but it’s something that you definitely being in the intercultural scenario, you definitely want to go and be a part of those classes for sure. I1: Which aspect do you think was most relevant to you? I2: In the classes? I1: For example in the workshops or training? I2: The anti-racism response was interesting but kind of like just giving an approach but it wasn’t something that I fully agree with or something but that’s just again myself. I really can’t think of anything that kind of significantly stand out. It was kind of a/ the initial stages for mostly of just understanding of terminologies and like different cultural attributes and attitudes and that was really interesting, where you know you’re turning to someone from let’s say Chinese culture, how their Power distance was so high versus how someone from North American would be so low, but then Indulgence and North American culture is extremely high, whereas Long term approach for Asian cultures is a lot more higher, just let trying to understand and getting a reality of those things was really interesting. That’s the kind of knowledge you definitely need to go about trying to change something like that. I1: The lectures that you consider to be less relevant, was that because there was no discussion? 95 I2: More or less yes, it was kind of like a one-sided approach that kind of you know made me think “oh there’s probably, yes this is right obviously but…” I1: You would like to engage more? I2: Yes. I1: What did you think of the events you organized? I2: So in the two years, we primarily had two main events that took place. In the first year, we had something called ‘Taste of Cultures’. In March this year, we had something called “Around the World in 80 Minutes’. Both were really interesting to see how/ the kind of people it attracted because both of them were very unique in their own sense. In terms of the ‘Taste of Cultures’, the event was a food event. Why we went for a food event because we knew that everyone loves food and who wouldn’t want to come to a food event. But what we realised, it was a great event, a lot of people showed up, a lot more than we expected but what we realised was kind of everyone was just kind of there for the food rather than what our motive was through these events was trying to just get people to talk to each other, like engage in a secondary conversation. But everyone did have a good time and it did teach the Council a lot. Working together with the Council members was like a pretty packed situation so everyone was coordinating everyone. We worked well as a good team together for sure. In the second one, whatever we learnt from the first one, we decided to get those conversations going on a lot more as compared to concentrating on the food. I think like/that so in the second one ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’, it was kind of we had booths set up for people, about two, three representatives from their own countries just representing themselves. It was not to say how/ they weren’t talking about their country as being representative, they were just talking about themselves as someone from their country, which was kind of what we wanted to entice is that you know you have different perspectives. Everyone has her own say but then by these conversations you’re trying just to interrelate your concepts and theories. Like if I have something the Nigerian culture would show, a particular food or something, I’m relating to them, and people from China or Japan or India “oh we have something back home like that as well but we call it something differently, it’s a bit more sweeter than this” so that. And then just getting people to get talks going on, and people start playing music, they were showing dance moves and teaching people how to and that was/ I would definitely have to say that that wasn’t 96 as popular as the food event was, but this way even though we maybe engaged a lot smaller crowd, we were really happy to see like everyone stayed from start to finish, like a lot more engaged people and it kind of just laid out the groundwork for them to engage further amongst each other that way. I1: So you would say the events were successful? I2: Yes I would for sure. I1: And your expectations were met as well? I2: Yeah for sure. I1: Was there are a variety of students coming to these events? I2: Yes, the food event mostly was a lot popular amongst I would have to say international students but there was a huge mix of/ such events showed a reflection of how the university is and the campus is, so it’s not like any particular/ yes people did come in groups, and some came with their friends and things like that, but there was a good mix of people from all over for sure, Canadians, South Americans, Africans, Asians everyone. I1: For the second event as well? I2: For the second one, I have to say a lot more people who were interested and learning and knowing a bit more about other things. They were a lot more involved rather than someone just walking by and just seeing the food. I1: So there were also Canadian students? I2: Yes there were yeah for sure. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t see too many First Nations now that I think of it on either of the events but then there were white Canadian students who were there and now that I think about it I don’t remember having First Nations like that. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? 97 I2: [thinking – 21:44-21:54]. I would have to say the IDI, like that was the initial thing that really wowed me and really put a perspective on how things were on my own terms. That’s what really got me going an understanding and the fact that “okay do you want to develop on your global competency, there is a way of doing it”, and it was by I feel like I’m a more practical person and then I am more theoretical, and once you put it into use I definitely got a lot more out of it than I would have. I1: After completing the first semester with the training did you feel confident enough to organise an event and engage with people of different cultures? I2: I would say not right away, but I did have other members who had been in the Council. I would have to say yeah since the start of the Council, [member’s name], she’s been in the Council, since the start I was maybe not as proactive, as outgoing and things like that but after like we completed the first event, I would have to say just like preparing and laying out the groundworks, you know going in, minding people and talking to them about Intercultural Council, I’m telling them about “come to the event”, and after we’ve seen the success of the first event I would have to say I’ve definitely gotten a lot more confident and a lot more proactive and a change in attitude things like that. I1: Do you think that the intercultural skills you acquired will be helpful for your future? I2: Yes definitely. I feel like it is helpful now but definitely into longer, it will be helpful in the future for sure, just I like moving from place to place and that’s what I see myself doing later on as well, and that’s all these intercultural skills I feel like they bang on, fall right in there with it. Given just how the business environment and just have a career perspective how the global communities together, how everyone’s working interrelated to each other, where people from different countries are working together on a global and daily basis you definitely need intercultural competencies skills to be better at it. I1: So also for your career? I2: Yeah exactly that was what I was mentioning with the business and things like that. 98 I1: Is there something that could be improved in the IC Council? I2: I feel like the time used by the IC Council members can be a bit better utilised in the sense that we tried to do a lot/ at the end of the day the IC Council is still secondary for most students as compared to education being the primary. It’s a great place for people to understand and learn, grow yes, but sometimes the biggest struggle with IC Council is that we just come, like myself and now we are all leaving, we are graduating and moving on, and there’s a new batch of students. The biggest problem with that is that there’s no continuity like that goes into the Council from year-to-year. Yes you can have a few representatives from the previous one but then you’re completely having a new batch of students. It’s like completely going down to the root and then going from the basics again because you want them to be on the same pages you are as well, so that I mean/a way around that maybe even. We have tried brainstorming and other things like that but then nothing concrete has come that way but and also I doubt that/ like we have weekly meetings but the amount output that/ I mean that’s mostly not to stress out to students or anything, but out of the entire year we would probably do one activity or one event and I’m not sure how helpful that might be for engaging to students, like being the face of what the calendar should be like or being like understanding and going about in this multicultural campus, and I feel like maybe we don’t have to concentrate on major events like you know wait for one IDays to do one but we can just have small workshops or activities that we do on a monthly basis or something just to engage to campus. And just continue doing that from time to time rather than just one. I1: You participated two years, did you feel that in the second year you learnt as much as in the first year? Did you progress? I2: I did progress, I wouldn’t quantify it as more as compared to first or second but I do develop on whatever I learnt in the first year and in terms of/ we had a very different and diverse group in the second year, and it was honestly, even though I was in the Council the first year, it was completely different the second year. And there were frustrations and other things just based on group dynamics but I will still learning from them, I was still engaged in that, I was still observing myself, holding myself back when I was supposed to, or going ahead if I feel something is wrong. One of the greatest things that I noticed myself doing was that when I feel like someone is saying something wrong or something, it’s kind of like you have to let them say whatever they kind of say rather than trying to correct them because then I found that they 99 are not going to learn that way if you just keep on correcting them. So things like that definitely I would say I’ve definitely progressed like it wasn’t just like I was just staggered into this mood on the second year. In the second year, my job role was to move from member to mentor and that also kind of worked on leadership skills for myself. I’m trying to get your team to do and follow up on things and volunteer their time. It was frustrating for sure but you know you have to work with the group. I1: Do you think that the Global Competency Credential is a valuable outcome to the IC Council? I2: [irrelevant comment – [29:33-29:45]. I would say that anyone who is a member of the IC Council, already/ being an international student, the Global Competency criteria are kind of already there in my particular/like because they are talking about languages and other criteria which they are basing it out of, which I understand, not too many people/which makes relevant sense for Canadian culture and things like that, but I would say that if you take any international students, they would probably had those kind of experiences and things like that on a more personal and like throughout their lives, moving around and stuff like that. I found like the Global Competency for me was more of a documentation of whatever I had done and things like that. I have read other people’s and I have other friends who have been/have you take the Global Competency? I have other friends who have taken up the Global Competency and for that they truly learnt a new language and things like that. That’s how it kind of completely changed and you travel to different countries. That’s definitely worth for them but. I1: So they were not international students? I2: No some of them were Canadian students. I feel like it is very relevant in terms of if you’re from Canada and you need to know a certain language but like we knew that as soon as we heard about the Global Competency just because of the criteria that they are basing you out of and things like that. Just coming from another country to another country, having an education out here, that just qualifies you for the Global Competency. All you have to do is kind of document yourself so it’s a good credential to have and all IC Council Members kind of just have to put in some paperwork to get it but... I1: and it looks nice on your diploma. 100 I2: Exactly, that’s why we are in school, that’s why we are doing whatever. It’s not like it/I gave it last semester and I kind of pulled together/ I mean it was very last-minute, it was my final semester so I wasn’t focused much on it, I just accumulated what I read and I just went with it. But that’s just me. I1: Would you like to add anything? And have you thought about the unfamiliar situation? I2: [thinking – 32:30-32:36] I1: Maybe you already told me an unfamiliar situation because of the First Nations one. I2: Yeah something like that. Cause that was really interesting, because I was kind of surprised to see how restrained I was about going and approaching them and talk. It was not like something like “no I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it”. I was just kind of sceptical about myself and that was like “Okay why I am being like that?” They are just people and why would I subclass someone from a certain background just based on their culture. I mean they go to TRU so that’s what it was about cause now I have a good friend, First Nations friend, I just like met them like that. We don’t talk about culture, that’s like the last thing we would/ if I have a question or something, I would bring it up or something. But the fact that we can talk about everything else but culture, that’s what moving forward is. I1: Anything else you would like to add? I2: [irrelevant comment – 33:55-24:22] It is a great environment to work with, it’s a great environment to be a part of and if you’re a member the only way you are getting anything out of it is if you’re engaged enough or if you like/a lot of people join the Council trying to add to their resumes and I did it myself and that’s exactly why we were trying to just back up their resume, get some networking going on and things like that, but if you stay for the long run, it has to be for the right reasons and I’m sure the members see it like that as well and if not, Craig and everyone else, they do a great job trying to see if people are engaged enough, if they’re taking anything out. They start realising that maybe they are not interested or something, and then they are okay with it cause you know it is, the way it is but you just try to keep changing things. But I would’ve definitely have to say there has to be a certain structure in place, or a 101 certain what exactly does the IC Council do, cause I feel like this has been a problem since the Council was formed. That every year, they are just working on something new, something new, something completely/and you know it’s a different body, different members and they are going to bring different things to the table for sure but as like a brand, Intercultural Council, I don’t feel like it’s growing, it’s just stagnant and we just need to figure out how we can cause yes it’s all well and fine engaging the campus and trying to make them interculturally more aware and breaking those stereotypes or bubbles they formed around them, but it is great on a personal level, personally, individually. Whoever is in the Council does realise a lot, observe a lot, understand great growth stuff for themselves and maybe that’s what the Council is, maybe that’s what it is like for its members to double up whatever, but whatever that thing is it has to be kind of concrete and understanding. That’s basically what I feel is just lacking, there’s no proper structure in place, that’s what I think. 9.3.6 Transcription Interview S#6 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: Honestly because I wanted to see the difference between the word multicultural and intercultural. So get more information about that, start my own research on that, and see what other insights I could gain from them. I1: How did you get interested in that? I2: It was because I have never been back home, I started my undergraduate there but I never stayed there, so I went to Canada, Japan, and then to Canada to graduate, now the States, and in two weeks, I have to go to Dubai. So I think that all the time I have to travel so it’s something important that I need to learn. How to interact with others, especially different cultures. I1: Did you find the answers to the difference between those two terms? I2: Yes that was the positive thing out of it. So you can see that the difference is how they actually interact among each other. So we do have a multicultural university but we don’t have yet an intercultural university because the groups do not interact among each other, we are just in a very superficial area. 102 I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: Yes and no. I did my own research so that was good too, like we cannot leave everything to that. I think that there were shifts with the more knowledge you can get. You can start to getting rid of certain stereotypes and working with certain people, you can get rid of that too but at the same time you can also gain stereotypes or actually affirm them if you don’t have a proper interaction with your team. Because I am sure that you might know that we started like a big group and then we basically end up like being four people or something. So maybe like if somebody didn’t behave well, you will end up with a bad idea for the entire country maybe like you cultivated a new stereotype that you maybe didn’t have before. So it’s kind of like a nuancing what you learn. I1: So you said you think you have more knowledge about stereotypes, both in a positive and in a negative way then? I2: Yeah I think so because in a positive way because you break certain things that you thought before that might be true but at the same time, it’s not that you cultivated a negative one but maybe you see a bad interaction in the group that might end up giving you a negative thought from the person and you’ll tigh it up with the country, and then that will just get worse. I1: No skills or behaviour? I2: In certain things yes like currently we are also a very international school. In each module, you have our team, and the team is from different areas of the world so you kind of notice how to approach certain people. One person usually is not very outspoken, you know that you actually cannot approach that person very directly, maybe pursue in a different way, that you can get the person to cooperate. So it’s kind of like you get to know a little bit of how to manage and how to work with certain people and trying to get the best out of them. I1: Do you think the IC Council has contributed to your critical thinking? Have you become more of a critical thinker? 103 I2: Probably but not at the same time, it depends on your own research. Also the two activities that we had to do in TRU, all-day training programme but not basically the IC Council by itself. Maybe it was the training that actually helped. I1: So the training provided by for example Kyra? I2: Yeah Kyra provided one day full training but at the same time, we had different workshops. That also kind of helped. Some of them were useful more than others, but overall I think there was always something you can take away from. I1: Do you think that you started learning new languages because of the IC Council? I2: No, it was before. I1: Have you become more aware of other cultures? I2: I think that was before too. I1: So that was not something the IC Council gave you, you already acquired that before you participated then? I2: Yeah I only joined the IC last year, but I had already been in three different countries, I already had the other languages so maybe it was just more to get more/get the technique knowledge than actually a proper interest. I1: So you were interested in other cultures before the IC Council? I2: Yeah. I1: What about awareness of your own culture? I2: I think that when we were doing the test to find your own self. I1: The IDI? 104 I2: Yeah. I think I got very low on my own personal culture, but it was because obviously I haven’t lived there for a long time and obviously I have never lived in one big city in my own country so that doesn’t help as well. I1: So do you think you’ve become more aware of your own culture because of the IC Council Program? I2: Probably, I found out that I might not give it the importance that it has. I like it, and I say where I’m from, I’m proud of it but maybe I do not detail it as much as I detail others. I1: Has the IC Council contributed to your personal growth? I2: I assume so. You get more insight, we went to a really nice conference where the panellists were also very good, you get to meet other people that kind of have the same background research as Kyra. They also provide new things that you can think about. I1: So in what way would you say it has contributed to your personal growth? I2: The IC Council then? Basically the training, I think training and research is the only thing that I feel was actually a contribute. Something that I also appreciate was that it was very diverse, at least when I was present, it was a very diverse group. We didn’t have a repeated nationality. I1: That’s good. I2: Exactly. I think that that was something that really helped because if we had like four or five people of the same country, then it’s not intercultural anymore. I1: Are you now, because of the IC Council, better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: I think that that was also before. Because I am from/I travelled without knowing where I was going, and that was fine too. When I went to Japan, I didn’t know where I was going to stay but “oh I’ll figure it out along the way”, same here, when I came here, it was eight hours 105 before classes, but “we’ll figure something out”. So I don’t think that’s a challenge, I assume it should work, it should help. I1: But maybe not for you in this particular case because you had already experience before that. I2: Yes. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning skills outside of the programme? I2: Yes. I1: In what way, can you give an example? I2: Well first beside the programme, we had our own penal in the BCCIE so that was helpful and where we actually put that into practice. I had to deliver a couple of speeches in regards to that, in my post-masters. Right now in Dubai, I’m gonna take a course with/about multicultural organisations and I feel that that’s also part, that I chose that course, that I reinstate some of the knowledge that I might be missing out. So I think it keeps on going. I1: What did you think of the workshops and the training in semester 1? [repeating – 11:3611:39] I2: Well honestly, I don’t think anybody attended to all of them. I got them because I knew I was not gonna have time on winter to attend to them. So I completed that project. Some of them were useful, some of them were repeated. Some of them, I don’t think they were needed. I1: Can you give examples of the courses that you found useful and the ones you didn’t? I2: For example, since you are already in the Intercultural Council, we didn’t need to repeat again the same training session that Kyra gave for us one full day to have it in two hours, again. So that was something that was maybe not that important, like to have it maybe more with Kyra, maybe a weekend training that would have been much better but not trying to narrow everything down for like two hours. We also had like summary, your resume development. That’s 106 important but not for what we are going to represent within the school. Like maybe more leadership-oriented or maybe having a workshop for I don’t know five or six different cultures or/something like that would have opened more our eyes than just general topics of resume or networking. I1: Which part of the training and workshops was most relevant to you? I2: I think that we/basically it was talking to Kyra. After the training, after readings, after our exam, I think it was very good to have her own insight. “Maybe this is because of this”, and get more information about it. I think that’s what I value the most. I1: Okay, so mostly talking to Kyra rather than specific parts of the workshops or training? I2: Yeah. I1: What did you think of the event? I2: So the event was a ‘Taste of Culture’. It consisted in having different plates from around the world and having education background on the recipe and on the back of the recipe having the story of why you eat this or where do you eat this. It was good idea by heart I believe, but in reality we could see that students were more interested in just eating and making the food instead of actually getting the background, which was kind of disappointing because well it will show me that we are more multicultural than intercultural. People were not honestly interested in integrating themselves in what was honestly happening. It was more food situation. I1: So do you think the event was successful? I2: It was successful for what we expected, but it was not successful for the correct reasons. I1: So your expectations in that sense weren’t met? I2: No. I1: Did a variety of students and people come to the event? 107 I2: Yes different types of people. Each group had different/each of the Intercultural Council members, cooking and preparing the meals and teaching them how to do it but maybe it’s about/ I felt people just went in, ate, and left. I1: Did Canadian students also show up? I2: There were few. I think that was a/I cannot count more than ten maybe, because this was not a very/International Days is not a huge thing for Canadian there. Maybe they work parttime or they have other things to do, they just come to school to study and leave. For international students, that’s more of an interaction, happy time for a week. But no, very few Canadians have/we had a Canadian in the Intercultural Council, so I think she had to try to have a good team for her stand so that was good but it’s what I tell you, basically it was just like the attraction of the food. I1: Were you disappointed that not many Canadian students showed up because what I gathered from the goals of the programme is to include the whole campus? I2: Yes but you can also think that the current Intercultural Council is not any more intercultural, there’s like two or three countries, that’s it right. It’s hard to try to aim for the same things, it’s hard to encourage or interact with Canadians because they already know that they are in an intercultural environment or a multicultural environment so they don’t have that incentive. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: Probably I will keep on going. The trainings, the research, the books that Kyra sometimes mentioned to read, those were the basic key things that actually helped. I1: So the theory behind everything and not so much the experience of for example the event? I2: Well we basically only had two events so. I1: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired will be helpful for your future? 108 I2: Probably yes. I think that everything that you learn is not wasted. It will come useful and handy when it has to come. I1: Is it helpful for what you are doing now? I2: Yeah like I told you, when I interact with team mates, I will kind of have an idea of why they talk in this way or why they express themselves in certain ways instead of others, or even when you hear a comment in a classroom, you kind of understand a little bit of the background of the comment. I1: After the workshops and the training, did you feel confident enough to organise the event? I2: For the event, it’s more paperwork. So I won’t count that one in. For the training and everything, I do feel more confident in how to coexist and interact with people. Maybe it’s not as easy as to bond with them but it is useful in a way. I1: Do you think there are improvement that could be made to the IC Council Program? I2: Yes, there has to be something with the commitment of that programme. Even though we signed a contract and a commitment, it doesn’t seem that people actually take into account that it is a contract and that you have to follow it. So commitment issues we have. As I told you, we were a big group and we ended up being four people present so that shows how much commitment we had. Having a group like fifteen or sixteen. Interviews, application should be actually more/should be aiming for commitment. You cannot just come up and be like “well, I’m interested and since it’s only me, then I get the job. It has to be actually somebody that will be willing to put time on it. Sometimes people didn’t go to the meeting and then we have Craig sending e-mails and honestly by the age that we have right now, I think it shouldn’t be necessary if you have a correct commitment and you actually have committed people. I1: So were you sometimes frustrated about people not committing to what was expected? I2: Well not frustrated. I knew why I was there for, and I went there for the knowledge and I think I got my own reward. I went to the conference so I was pleased with that too. So I think 109 you get what you deserve in a way but it was kind of/ I feel that it was/it took time for Craig, and it took time for other people to send emails to trying to approach. It’s very time-consuming, and I think you guys can save that. I1: Okay, any other things? I2: Diversity would be important, not only international students from different countries, what I told you, but also having Canadians as well, not only one. I1: How many members should there be? I2: No more than ten. I1: Why? I2: I will go for ideal for five or six because after/like six is already a big number. I would like to be/you know have different countries but after a certain point it is too hard to manage the group, like have everybody’s time, coordinating time, coordinating activities, it’s quite difficult. At the same time, after five or six people, you’ll see that certain profiles, like there’s people that are more outspoken than others, and you’ll start looking like a hierarchy instead of actually a team. I1: So you would go for five or six different cultures? So every person representing a different culture? I2: I feel like the training has to be done for more people but have at least like/let’s suppose that we have three groups or something. They have three groups and we have team leaders among those groups, and we have somebody that markets for the IC Council, we have somebody that just do the budget for the IC Council, have like a correct division and the team leader doesn’t mean that he is the boss, it’s somebody that can actually fall in and facilitate like the meetings you know. Like when they meet, the three top ones can actually make a decision: “okay we’re going to do this event”, everybody gets their role and then maybe if you have like five or six people on the top, and they have volunteers or the people that have training, then things can progress faster. 110 I1: More committed people? I2: Yeah. I1: Do you think that the Global Competency Credential is a valuable outcome to the IC Council Program? I2: It definitely shows that if it was a requirement, it would definitely show that you have to at least commit to do it. It will be one of the commitments. I1: So maybe that would be a good idea, if you want to join the IC Council, you have to do the Global Competency as well? I2: That would be one of the ideas, but honestly people that are really interested in doing it and interested in the knowledge will do it, but I am not quite sure a lot of students will be interested. Maybe the study abroad ambassadors, you get a scholarship for it. I was also ambassador and you get money for it right. But then maybe giving the money after you have accomplished. Suppose I work for the IC Council for the semester, and I was actually in all of my meetings and actually was committed, and I actually did this and I did all my deliverables, then I get my hundred dollars you know. I1: So you would like to see money? I2: Well it’s not that I would like to, but I remember at the end of our meeting, last year before I left, we were thinking “how could we commit with people”. We tried a contract, that didn’t work, we tried verbal commitment, that didn’t work, we tried Craig sending e-mails, that didn’t work, we tried peer pressure, that didn’t work so we were thinking like the only way we can actually motivate people, even with the Global Competency, you get five points for just being in the IC Council, you get Craig’s evaluation or Kyra’s but that will still not be enough because we still didn’t have people committed. But then why are more people joining the study abroad, because you actually get paid. We were thinking that maybe it was that. I1: Would you like to add anything? 111 I2: No the only thing I would like is them to actually keep the programme but not as a mediocre programme. Not keep it just because we should have a Council but keep it for a reason. 9.3.7 Transcription Interview S#7 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: Why did I? Okay I think out of all the clubs, organisations, all student groups on campus, I was looking for something which was culturally more learning or culturally more developing because I come from a Tourism background so we meet some and talk to different kinds of people from different cultural backgrounds. I think the main very important reason would be I am from a different country, and this was the best start to mix up with everybody right. And because, as I said, from my own personal background, I love to talk about my culture of sharing and also to mingle with the other cultures so this was the best one I would say. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: [ask to repeat question – 04:34-04:43] You mean a shift in me? I1: Yeah. I2: Well no and yes. I1: Can you explain? I2: I can yes. Well the objective and the goals were to of course understand more about other people, how they talk, how they behave, how they appear from their background, but I said “yes” because yes I was introduced to different culture backgrounds, and I said “no” because I don’t think/ it was successfully you know we came up with something that would bring a successful change in you right so yeah. I1: Do you think that because of the IC Council Program, you’ve become more of a critical thinker? 112 I2: Yes. I1: In what way? I2: Well, in what way. It was/took initiatives to come up with ideas to you know culturally involve all or engage others … [bad connection – 06:00-06:20]. Yes because we had to come up with critical thinking, I mean it has definitely improved because we had to come up with ideas, which could be challenging, to involve students from different backgrounds that would accept and would want to execute in or take participation in our events and activities. So yes critical thinking was much enhanced yes of course. I1: What about language learning? Have you started learning new languages because of the IC Council? I2: New languages because of the IC Council no. I was learning a new language but this was to a different TRU language group. I1: You said that you’ve become more aware of other cultures, did you also become more aware of your own culture? I2: I can’t say, no I don’t think so. I1: Why don’t you think so? I2: Well I could just say yes, you know just to make an answer. But things like I could just say in words that “oh I did get to know more about my culture because I want to showcase my culture”, so you have to study your own culture more and deeply so that you present it in the best possible manner right. So well I don’t think there were much events during my time which allowed something like this. I do remember we did some games, some games that were from different cultural backgrounds, also one from my cultural background. But I think I already knew everything about that game so. I’m not sure if I learnt more about it but yes to phrase into words I could lie but no. 113 I1: But it certainly raised your interest in other cultures? [repeating question - 08:37-08:42] I2: I did yes, it did definitely yes. I1: Do you think it has also contributed to your personal growth? I2: Yes of course. I1: In what way? I2: [?] the really clear thing, meeting with different kinds of people. Gestures and expressions you have, need to understand when to be quiet, when to be loud, in what cultural society … [bad connection – 09:17-09:33]. Yes I did learn about the communication/so basically the communication barriers right. For example, in oriental backgrounds, those people are quiet but that does not mean that they won’t have an answer right so that’s just one example. There were ways you know how to talk to/ in what way to talk to them. I1: Do you think you are better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: Yes definitely. I1: Have you experienced a situation which was unfamiliar and you coped with that differently? I2: Yes, yes. I work in a tourism company or a travel company and we have employees from different cultural backgrounds, all over the world. So it’s different with different people. Like my imager co-worker next to me is from Hong Kong. There are different ways that I need to/ like I cannot be talking all the time, she wouldn’t like that you know. Well yeah so I did learn a few things from IC Council which I still implement in my office. It’s good because I’m lucky that I have people from all over the world working in my office. So yes few of them because when I was part of the IC Council, we had a mix of people yes we/ I remember we were/we had Canadians, Chinese, Africans, a Jamaican guy so it was a mix but it yeah. I1: So you sort of partly answered my next question already, have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside of the programme? If so, can you give examples? 114 I2: Hundred percent, it’s with my work, because I also in my work I mean inside my office and even outside my office is/ I do interact over e-mails and phone with people from different cultures. So yeah it’s different, you know what to talk and if there is a way around the thing or you can just go straight in a line or you have to make a lot of words and make a loop, and then make the person understand yeah. I1: Do you think the training and workshops were relevant? I2: I’ll have to take a pause, it has been two years. I just need to do a flashback. [thinking12:32-12:40]. I think when I was there, it was no I don’t think when I was there it was still in the building stages so we were still trying to come up with you know and establish base of IC Council. We were still thinking what would be the base of IC Council and how it would run in the following years. So I think everybody whirled it together [bad connection – 13:07-13:12] …with what we [checked?] out of the course. We did learn a little bit but well there were not many training, workshops or you know those kind of things to make the new person understand. I1: So you didn’t do the anti-racism and leadership workshops? I2: At IC Council, no we did, I remember we did had some speakers come in our club meetings. And yes I remember Dr. Kyra Garson gave a speech. I can’t remember, it was another lady, I’m so sorry I cannot remember the name, it has been a while, but yes there were some speakers that visited and talked about intercultural competency and yeah. I1: Did you also complete the IDI? I2: Sorry what’s that? I1: The survey which tests your intercultural competency. I2: I probably would have. I think they probably chose me. I1: That’s fine. So which parts of the programme influenced you most? 115 I2: Oh god, well I personally was doing the social media part of it, so I did enjoy doing the marketing side of it. I was the one doing the social media promotions and making all those posters and designing the poster for the events so I think the marketing and the personal relations, and spreading the word, that side. I1: So you also organised an event, what did you think of the event? I2: I think it was good success. We did a few events I remember. One was for the games, we had different board games and there were price money, so a good number of students showed up. Another one we did was for Valentine’s Day which was an excellent/ I remember which was a good success actually because we came up with this idea to know how different people express love in different countries so that day was a perfect opportunity. That was a great success I remember. So yeah those events as far as I can remember, we did another one which was this for all the leaders of the clubs so all the different clubs on campus, their leaders showed up, we you know what I think that’s a good point to note I don’t think we or IC Council members [bad connection – 16:23-16:30]. I think oh my god I can’t remember her name. All the club leaders, all the clubs and organisations, their leaders showed up so we had an event for them and we had actually thought that we will make it our/ as a [show?] everywhere, so something that would be a routine basis. But I don’t think that ever happened so it was just a one-time show, I don’t know why. And I also left IC Council because I left TRU, if I was there, I would still be in IC Council but I was not in school then. So I can remember these events in the second semester yeah, I can remember what they were yeah. I1: You think that these events were successful? Did a variety of students show up on these events? I2: Only, yes and no. In the very first one, no not everybody, not a variety of people, which was the games event. Maybe from few cultural backgrounds but not everybody, especially knowing that TRU has everyone from everywhere in the world. The one on the Valentine’s Day, yes I would say yes, everybody showed up. And I would like to add, I kind of remember something right now, we were in talking terms because I was always mentioning that we should have Canadian students also participate equally, it should not be just international students. I think, like I said, I think it was in talking terms why don’t they same thing just like in International Days, during International Days, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, it’s definitely for international 116 students, that’s how the name suggests but I don’t know if you’ve seen in the audience, we have very low participation from Canadian students, and I think it’s/ I don’t know if IC Council could take a step or something, Canadian students should come up as an audience in that show, it’s one show to see difference from around the world. [bad connection] I1: So which aspects of the programme influenced you most? [repeating question – 19:1219:20] I2: [thinking – 19:21-19:34] One thing is it’s a mix of students from different countries, that’s very very [important?] [bad connection - 19:40-20:23]. So yes first the thing that would be a group of mixed cultural backgrounds, that was one. Second, I did like Craig’s you know enthusiasm in it because he was ready and he allowed us to come up with ideas so open and so that’s another one, there was a lot of room, a lot of room for your ideas to be you know to be appreciated and executed which did happen because ideas came up. And I remember once we went for paintballing, that was a good exercise. I1: Do you think that your intercultural learning skills you acquired are helpful for your future? I2: Yeah of course, of course. To some extent yes. The only thing is, I wish I spend more time over there because as I said I only went a year in the Council when I was in school. I1: In what way do you think they will be helpful for your future? I2: Communication of course, no shyness at all. I am not shy with anybody so communication is one big thing. Then I think in really what you do because you want do things not only in your society or not only in your cultural group but in other cultural groups, which may make you hesitate so yeah. [bad connection] I1: After the training, did you feel confident enough to organise an event? I2: Yes. I1: Do you think that improvements could be made to the programme? 117 I2: Yes, I think we need, I don’t know if I can say “we”, I’m not part of the Council, we/there are a few things that I remember, which we at that point of time did not do right. I think discipline and diligence, that was lacking a bit at the time. Cause IC Council was growing I think for students but we didn’t have…. I don’t want to say ruesome policy, that’s a very heavy corporate term but you know discipline in the sense we had times when members wouldn’t show up for meetings right. So you miss a lot cause you are depending on somebody. I think if some I don’t know what’s going on right now but this is something that can be taken care of, that’s a thing which is very important. [bad connection – 23:37-23:50] And the second is, I said this before, I really want/I think I’d really want the Canadian students to be integral part of it right. I know ISAP is a programme that lets you do all the Canadian stuff, all the Canadian activities and fun but from the education and learning and you know from the self-supportive study, make Canadian students come in one goal would be a great idea. We had/few of them when I was there, but I think it should be integral part so more than, I don’t know whatever their issue is but definitely. I1: Anything else? I2: I usually have a lot of suggestions, I know I’m like this but I just can’t remember right now. I1: [irrelevant comment - 24:49-24:55] Would you like to add anything? I2: [irrelevant comment – 25:04-28:28] IC Council’s goals and objectives were clear but as you said the structure is not clear. So what to do, it’s basically what to do, not when and how. Maybe “how” could be a question but definitely what to do, structure is a big thing yes, I do agree. I was just thinking earlier, in an e-mail, International Days is a perfect example of something what IC Council should be doing but International Days is already TRU World’s [main] event but could be something IC Council could do on a similar [account?]. [irrelevant comment – 29:16-30:15] 9.3.8 Transcription Interview S#8 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: I wanted to see some change in the whole school and I got tired of being asked a lot of ignorant questions so I decided to make a change. 118 I1: Has it changed? I2: I think so, it’s really more so on the people who are willing to receive information, that are the ones who change. At the end of the day, I give out my information and you understand what I am saying, then it’s okay for me. So I believe on my part yes. I1: [irrelevant comment – 03:26-03:33] I2: We have school and we don’t have enough time to actually do a lot of projects in order to get everyone communicating and interculturalising. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: Yes I would say so. I1: Could you elaborate on that? I2: I would say that I am more sensitive of what I say to more people than I used to before when I came in. In terms of key words like you can’t say “an Indian” or the way you say it normally. I’ve also/the way I talk to certain groups of cultures or people who have complex in their history. I also try being sensitive about bringing up old history or bringing up sensitive topics about that. I1: So probably a shift in knowledge, behaviour? I2: Yeah and in understanding, willing to understand someone’s point of view regardless of how I have known information for myself so that’s one and also trying to also maintain a balance where at least I’m not for polite words just “kissing ass” but at the same time also providing the knowledge as well. I1: Do you think you’ve become more of a critical thinker because of the IC Council Program? 119 I2: Yes I have. I1: In what way? I2: I guess the way I connect myself, the way we/we have different group projects where our critical thinking of how we understand students as the way they are has changed in terms of also other projects we implemented I guess. I1: Do you think you’ve become more interested in language learning because of the IC Council? I2: No. I1: What about awareness? Awareness of other cultures? I2: Yes. Obviously with the Intercultural being really diverse with different groups of people, you tend to hear a lot of different opinions and beliefs, cultural backgrounds, understandings, and traditions and through that we come together to make a place where we can have a project where everyone has a bit of understanding of how students will behave cause they have some people from the same countries and that way can able to/ at least it gives me a better understanding of how if I went to another institution how I would conduct myself or how I would go through projects with something like that. I1: What about awareness of your own culture? I2: I can’t say so much so cause I was more concerned with trying to get to understand other people when I couldn’t necessarily say I have given enough of myself, cause I guess with me I was just taking in the information but not helping people understand where I was from so I’d say not so much though. I1: Do you think that because you learnt about other cultures, that you ‘ve become in that sense more aware of your own? 120 I2: I would say 50-50 in the sense that there was some things in other cultures that I would see similarities, and I’d be like “okay I can understand that, I can relate to that” but in some situations, not so much I would say so because yeah. I1: So you’ve become more interested in other cultures. I2: Definitely. I1: Do you think the programme has also contributed to your personal growth? I2: I guess yes, I guess so. I’ve become more outgoing, more of a people person. I’m able to now speak in front of crowds and be confident enough to tell them about my culture, not be ashamed of or embarrassed or even feel that I need to cover myself up. I1: That was the case before? I2: Yeah it was because you know before you’d be like in my country, we do this and that and you’re scared that you’d be/ to some people that might be weird or unnatural but at this time, I accept what I have, I’m happy with my culture and I’m willing to give it to anyone who is open to it. I1: So do you think you are now better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: I feel like not yet, I feel like there is still more to grow. You can never have an end goal in terms of learning other people’s cultures, but I would say that I’m way ahead from where I was last year. I1: Is there an example of a situation in which you coped with an unfamiliar situation based on the knowledge you now have? I2: Oh yeah. Initially my roommate was an African student and I was so used to living with him and everything but then to the Intercultural/I mean through IC Council and also interculturalising the students, now I live in a house with like an Asian, an Indian, a brown person, and a Canadian. And it’s really interesting cause you have to be necessarily open121 minded to understand what other people’s feelings are, especially when we don’t have/we have communication issues. But yeah we still maintain a really good household and house so yeah I can say that we have/I have basically grown from that. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning skills outside of the programme? I2: I guess maybe I could say at work. I would meet different people from different backgrounds and as obviously with/ I sell different kinds of products so with that I can able to talk about the background history with other people and understand where people are from and the way they go about products and sales and everything like that yeah. I1: Can you give a specific situation? I2: There was a/I was selling this alcoholic drink, Belgian from Belgium and I had a friend from Belgium and he had told me so much about the country and at that moment, the customer came up to me and he was from Belgium as well but he didn’t tell me, but he wanted to see if I knew more about what I was selling, the product. So he asked me that and I was using information that I’d gotten from my friend as well to. And at the end of it, it was a really good conversation. I1: That must’ve been great. I2: It was a coincidence that you’d never expect. I would never even have known. So it was really good. I1: Do you think the workshops and training were relevant? I2: [irrelevant comment - 10:45-11:01] Those ones that we had done before. I1: Was it before? I2: Yeah, we had done a few training before yeah. I wouldn’t say so cause they weren’t helpful for me cause of in the sense that I’ve travelled a lot of places and I have experienced way worse than what they were trying to train us. I can tell you that it’s easier said than done. I feel like maybe if the training was a bit more you know more strict, it was more like it wouldn’t hold 122 back, maybe then I’d be interesting. If you push the edge, because that’s usually what you expect in real world case situations. I1: [irrelevant comment – 11:44-12:12:06] And you completed the IDI test? I2: Yes I did. I1: Was that relevant to you? I2: I feel like it was/ I don’t support the IDI test cause I feel like it’s/ the way I was told about it was that it changed the question up and then it uses your understanding of what type of person you are. I felt that just cause you trick someone into giving a different answer every time, doesn’t make the computer show how someone could be or anything, and I felt like it was not necessarily reflecting me as I was at that time when I was looking at it. I1: Was there anything in the first part of the programme that was relevant to you? I2: I wouldn’t say so because I can’t remember. I1: What did you think of the event you organised? I2: It was really brilliant. I think it was/it went successful regardless of numbers. Because people were saying “oh it’s only fifty people” but I felt like it was still a success because we still had a lot people who turned out, and we had a lot of people who were at the end of the day really willing to sit in and talk to them cause a lot of people made friends and everything, so all in allI think it was a success and it was a two-way communication, that way the people who were presenting, weren’t necessarily only going talking, there were also back-and-forth exchanges of each other cultures. I1: This was the ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’? I2: Yes. I1: So you think the event was successful? 123 I2: Yes. I1: And your expectations were met? I2: I had no expectations. I1: You had no expectations? I2: That’s the thing about things like this, you don’t have to put expectations. I1: So a variety of students came up to the event? I2: Yes. I1: Also Canadian students? I2: Of course yeah. I1: I guess you are really happy about how it turned out? I2: Yeah I really was. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: Of the whole entire programme? Well we had a project that we had, it was supposed to be going on for a video, a video to explain about people’s/ it was supposed to be called ‘Labels’ so that people don’t/stop stereotyping, generalising, labelling people based on what you see. The video was really/we had a few post-production videos of it and people were coming up talking about how they felt and the thing is we were telling them “here’s what you need to say, and they’ll look at it and they’ll be like “but this is not how I feel, this is how I feel about that”, and then I would be like “okay you say what you feel” and then they would write down just like “just because I’m a native, doesn’t mean I get money from the government” or “just because I’m black doesn’t mean I’m a criminal” or whatever. Even if it’s not yet complete cause we’re 124 planning to still refine it, it was really good to see how other people, not from the IC Council, still felt that way and even if it’s overshadowed, I feel it’s a hidden thing people don’t want to say cause they don’t want to hurt people’s feelings so that’s a project I feel like it’s going to be really influential and it was going to be really impact. It still influences me right now because I can see how there is so much more that needs to be done. I1: What kind of people were in the video? I2: We had native, we had everyone. We had natives, we had North-Americans, people from Europe, people from Saudi, from Africa, from Australia, everyone. We are still trying to gather more people, it’s just that people don’t want to be in front of a camera so we understand how sensitive the case is. I1: So it’s not been posted yet? I2: No it’s still in production, we’re still trying to find more people to do the video. We have everything else. I1: Nice initiative. Was it your own idea? I2: It was mine and two other people, this guy called [name] and [name] who is in the IC Council. We are in the process of doing, we just need to do get/once students come back, we are going to use them to complete the whole project. I1: Do you have any idea when it will be done? I2: I don’t want to give a deadline or anything so that I don’t expectations for people to wait for that video but I will be sure to have it done hopefully by the end of summer. Once school resumes in September. I1: Sounds like a great project. I2: It would be if we finish it soon. 125 I1: Going back to the training, do you remember the games that Kyra played with you? I2: Yes I do. I1: What did you think of that? I2: It was really interesting, it was tricky in the beginning because you don’t know what to expect. But it was/ I like her way of trying to show us what we don’t necessarily see cause she played this game where she dropped a pencil down on the floor and asked us how many there were, but she wasn’t asking us how many pencils there were on the floor but how many fingers she had out. I1: [irrelevant comment - 17:25-17:33]. I2: It was really confusing cause everyone’s just looking at what you see, not what you don’t see. So I like how instead of explaining to us, it was a really good way of demonstrating for us, so I really liked that project and everything. I1: Any more games that you liked? I2: There was this other game, it wasn’t actually a game but we were trying to understand people and how we label them in terms of our time orientation. It was really good because she was trying to show us that people’s characteristics being labelled to like if you’re a person who is only one dimension, and you’re not open-minded, then you characterise as this and that and that, and it was really good to see how people do it like that. What other project did we have. There were so many games we played but I can’t remember all of them. I1: Did you feel confident enough to engage with other people, to go up to them? I2: Oh definitely, wait in the IC Council? The issue was that all the people I knew were already my friends so. I1: And outside of the IC Council? 126 I2: Outside, I’ve never been really afraid to engage people but it was more or less like “what should I say to be sensitive” before but now it’s like I’m always willing to hear what someone is willing to say before I even say so now yeah I guess I would say yeah. I1: Do you think that your intercultural learning skills will be helpful for your future? I2: Yes I do believe so. I1: In what way? I2: Because in a corporate world, when you’re dealing with a wide variety of different/people from different backgrounds like the way it is in Canada, you definitely need to be able to handle the work, the type of co-workers you have that could be from different countries and everything. So it would be really helpful in the future when I’m trying to have a team of people and I need to get things done. I1: Do you think there are any shortcomings or improvements that could be made to the programme? I2: I would say that it would be best if more people from the Council weren’t close friends. I feel like even if it’s good being close friends and everything, I feel like people who are willing to first get their leg through the door and understand what’s going on, they need to have people they are uncomfortable with. You need to be out of your comfort zone. That would be really best, if they had people. Secondly, it would be best to also do some more training. I feel like even and I don’t mean to bash anyone but I feel like even after the IC Council training, I feel like some people necessarily didn’t change for the better. They just kind of used this as a platform for them to/ for their own selfish needs, so I feel like it’s best to make sure that we have constant re-evaluation, training, understanding of exactly how we’ve grown as people in the Council. The third one was if the teachers or even the Council members were more engaging into the project because most of the time they’ll come I mean you would have like random IC Council faculty members who come in individually and there’ll be so many different people every now and then and you have to constantly update every new person who keeps coming and it’d be best if we had one consistent person who is keeping a track of it and making sure 127 that each project was going according to plan and it was done to its rightful end cause we had times where the teachers wouldn’t come or they cancelled and stuff like that. I1: So that’s more of a structural problem? I2: It is yeah. I guess the structure is more important cause without that it wouldn’t come to be really useful. I1: How do you think it can be realised that no friends come into the Council? I2: I mean, there are so many other ways you can do this. There’s interviewing students who want to be in for the position, with this, you can able to as a IC Council staff, you can able to pick and hand-select instead of telling your friends to go and bring people who are interested. That and also you can pick candidates who are willing to put in the efforts and others who are out there for the profit of their own profitable game. The second one, I would say is maybe having a sit-down talk with some people who have been through, who want to join the Council but having like a personal talk about it instead of having the information filled out in the IDI or whatever to just I think Kyra did that but it was/it felt really short cause it’s only for a few minutes. I1: So a bit more of a system to before you can actually enter.. I2: Hmm [meaning yes]. I1:The Council so that the really engaged people are in there. I2: Yeah exactly cause yeah. I1: What kind of role do you see for yourself next year? I2: I really don’t know honestly. I can’t speak on that. I’m sorry. [irrelevant comment – 23:1523:21]. I know next year I will primarily be a mentor or something but yeah, I remember that’s when you have experience for the year or so, they make you into a mentor so you be guiding 128 the new students who are willing to come into the Council so that’s good. That way at least even for the mentors, they can able to see who’s really into it and who’s not. I1: Is there anything you would like to add? I2: I don’t know, I would say maybe the group of Council members to be larger than what they were. I1: How many where there? I2: I think there were like six or eight. Six or seven, it was really little/few of us but when you’re trying to do a large workload because we had three different projects or we had three projects we had voted on and only two could be done because other people had exams and things but if we had more people on the task force that would be really good. I1: So also from a variety of countries? I2: Yes. A greater variety like at least if we have each person presenting four or five countries in one continent or yeah from different countries, that would be really good instead of having all students being from only Africa, all students being from Europe or I1: Because now many students were from Africa? I2: All the members are diverse, it’s just that when you look at it, you could see that a majority of us all Africans, and minorities is like one or two from other countries. I1: Anything else? I2: No that’ll be all. 9.3.9 Transcription Interview S#9 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? 129 I2: Because it was an interesting experience to work with people from different countries so there was a great opportunity to bring something new into university life and an experience in a more my personal level to work with different people. The issue they were working back then was kind of attractive to me because I saw that happening that people were divided in different groups, and I thought that would be interesting to bring my ideas or listen to what people say and tell them “oh this is not gonna work, but this is gonna work” something like that so. That was the reason yeah. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: In my behaviour? I1: Yes. I2: Well definitely yeah. I1: In what way? I2: Well I think in general because I was a very active student in university life so I was also working for International Student Activity Program right, yeah ISAP and in general this whole experience working in ISAP and being in IC Council forced me to understand more of [bad connection – repeating last words] people’s behaviour according to what culture they come from and you’re already kind of like you’re already prepared of what action they’re going to take or if they do something, they say something or if they react somehow, then you don’t freak out anymore. You don’t use the same kind of how do you say it, the same criteria to evaluate people’s behaviour. You know what I mean? I1: Yes I do. So you’ve become a bit more open-minded for different perspectives? I2: Yes something like that. I1: Do you think it has also increased your critical thinking, being on the IC Council? 130 I2: Critical thinking, I don’t know what way. I1: Okay and has it encouraged you to learn more languages? I2: I did at some point yes. I1: What languages? I2: I want to learn Spanish yeah. But I haven’t had a chance yet because I’m learning how to play guitar now so. I2: [irrelevant comment – 05:33-05:38] And what about awareness of other cultures, have you become more aware? I2: No yes yes definitely. I1: In what way would you say you’ve become more aware of other cultures? I2: Well I learnt more about how some cultures are more collectivistic, what we were learning in the classes as well, but being in IC Council as well kind of showed me I don’t know I can’t explain that. But you know some cultures, some people will be more collectivistic in a way, if they come to the country and they’re used to the way they live back there, they try to carry on the same model here and try to surround themselves with the same culture. It is very common for Asian people, it’s very common for some Latin-American people as well but this is kind of things I learnt. And the time lines as well, the different time lines for different cultures, that’s what I learnt a lot. And I mean we were learning in the classes right and it was all this theory they showed us but IC Council, we were kind of talking about that and it was already becoming an issue which was more like practical right so it’s more like a practical way to learn what I learnt in the classes. I1: So you could apply your knowledge? I2: Yeah. 131 I1: Are you more aware of your own culture as well? [bad connection/repeating question – 07:41-07:58] I2: Can you say it again? I1: Have you become more aware of your own culture? I2: [bad connection/calling back/repeating question – 08:07-09:00] Yeah I talked about that in [bad connection – 09:09-9:16]. I did and I had a conversation about it with Kyra yeah there was a shift in my understanding of being more kind of negative say on my own world, where I come from. So it was kind of/I was finding more negative examples and being like “oh this is wrong or this is the way it should be” and “why is it like this here and it’s not like that back home”. So it’s kind of there’s a lot of negativity in my head, something’s wrong. I1: So you said you’ve become more interested in other cultures? I2: Yeah. I1: Has it also contributed to your personal growth? I2: I haven’t noticed, I don’t know. Maybe not real [bad connection/asking to repeat]. I never noticed, personal growth like in what way. Like personality? I1: Could be. I2: Well as I said it made me more open-minded and more adaptable to life in Canada. [bad connection/asking to repeat - 10:52-11:13]. I1: Can you repeat the last part about/you said you’ve become more open-minded but then something about Canada? I2: It made me I think more adaptable to life here yeah. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside of the programme? 132 I2: No. I1: Are you better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: With which? [I1 repeating question/explanation – 11:50-12:17] Well in general what I notice is that I don’t know maybe I was always like this but in general what I notice is that I became more acceptable yeah than some people I know. I try to find sense of why people behave this way, not judgemental way, I’m not very judgemental person. So I don’t know maybe it’s both. I1: But you haven’t applied your intercultural learning to other situations, so only within the programme? I2: Yeah I would say yeah. I1: Do you think the workshops and training [bad connection – 13:06-13:12] were relevant? I2: [did not hear question/bad connection/calling back/repeating question – 13:20-14:19] Yeah I didn’t participate in all of them but yes. I1: Why? I2: [bad connection/repeating question – 14:28-14:42] Well Kyra did a good job in explaining maybe like helping us to work together so I think it was a great experience to [bad connection – 15:01-15:03]. Kyra helped us a lot to learn how to work together, there were a lot of workshops of like team work oriented, and I think this was a great experience for all of us for like future-wise. But yeah we were working together on planning some kind of events. It was relevant for us to learn how to work, to plan together right to make the event happen so I feel like this was very useful. I1: So which part was most relevant to you? I2: I can’t remember now. 133 I1: It’s been a while for you anyway. I2: Yes. I1: What did you think of the event you organised? I2: It was great, one of the events I actually was participating at, a lot was I think it was the end of summer/the end of semester. Yeah so we organised some different activities for students and it was more like a promotion of like awareness of IC Council. Put up some different events on campus and make sure people know this is who we are and this is what [bad connection] different group of people, put out some ideas and stuff like that so it was kind of like a pilot event. But the event was fun. I1: Do you think it was successful? I2: Yeah I went well yeah. I1: Did you see a variety of students showing interest [bad connection/repeating question – 17:10-17:23]? I2: Oh yeah there were lots of different students yeah. I1: Canadians as well? I2: Yes. I1: Which aspects of the programme influenced you most? I2: Which aspects. Well I actually personally liked that workshop we did, can’t remember what it’s called. Something intercultural, something testing, a test. I1: An IDI maybe? 134 I2: Yeah that one. So that task was/ that one actually made a lot of/ made me do some kind of thinking. I1: So you became more aware by doing that test? I2: Yes, I liked, yes I did. I1: Did it help that you did a debrief as well [bad connection/repeating question – 18:52-19:06] I2: Well there was more to talk to her about now. I1: Do you think that the intercultural learning [bad connection – 19:18-19:32] Do you think that the intercultural learning skills you acquired will be helpful for your future? I2: [did not hear question/calling back/repeating question – 19:39-20:52] Yes. I1: In what way? I2: Well again because in Canada there is a lot of people [bad connection/I1 asking to repeat – 21:14-21:22] so yeah people come from like different backgrounds. If you work in an environment where you have to interact with people a lot, and if you like understanding their culture might be helpful. I1: So understanding of one another’s culture if you have to interact with other people? I2: Yes so it helps a lot and it helps if people see that you’re not judging them or you’re not freaking out or you accept someone’s stand then you have a lot of success in communicating with those people so. I1: Do you think that you were confident enough after the workshops to organise the event and engage in intercultural conversations? I2: [bad connection/I2 asks I1 to repeat question/repeating question – 22:21-22:42] Yes yeah. 135 I1: So do you think there were any shortcomings or maybe improvements that could be made to the programme? I2: I am not sure how they are doing right now but I feel like back there people were not really aware of what it was so. And I feel like even when I was a part of IC Council, we were not sure of how we like/ what exactly we were working on. We had a point but we didn’t know how to reach. I feel like the first year was a learning curve for [outpouring?] to work together. And then we tried to come up with some events and see how it goes and then kind of go from there but there was a lot of learning involved back then. It wasn’t fully established as like you know Student Engagement for example, there’s this Student Engagement in Old Main, so they are like full established group of people and they know what they are doing, and there is a lot of events happening and but IC Council was like a learning process so there was a lot to improve. I1: Were participants engaged when you were there? I2: [bad connection/repeating question – 24:27-24:36] Yes yeah. I1: Okay would you like to add anything? I2: No not really I think I’ve said everything. 9.3.10 Transcription Interview S#10 I1: Why did you enter the IC Council Program? I2: Okay so I used to see people downstairs around like IC Council meeting time, like these jackets, and I always used to like wonder who they were and what they stand for kind of, and then I went to one of the events for International Days, which was a food event that they put on, and I really liked it and I talked to [member’s name] about it cause I knew she was in it and she told me about it and then I joined yeah. I1: So it was also interesting to you what they did and what they stood for? I2: Yeah also because I/once [member’s name] explained what it was, I really wanted to join it because one of my goals is to work for the United Nations so I thought having something like 136 this or having some sort of experience or learning about different cultures would help me in the long run. I1: Have you experienced a shift in knowledge, skills, or behaviour because of the IC Council Program? I2: Yeah definitely, we had that evaluation, what was it called? I1: IDI. I2: IDI yes. Kyra made us take an IDI and as far as I was concerned, when I took the IDI, I thought you know I was culturally competent, it made sense I my head but when I took the IDI, it told me something completely different. So she gave me some things to work on based on my results and everything, which is great because I got to understand how to think and how to sort of adjust my thinking because I’m here, and we also had a few workshops from, I forgot her name, she’s a sociology professor and I think Gail yeah. And then, so those were really good because they were talking about anti-discrimination and all this other stuff so they really equipped us with quite a lot over the fall semester. I1: Do you think that you have acquired knowledge, skills, and behaviour or more a specific thing? I2: I know definitely knowledge because they were like teaching us. Skills I believe that you acquire the skills if you put into practice what you’ve learnt so with different scenarios. You know, I got to learn but it’s limited to what I encounter or the scenarios that I’m in. I1: Do you think you’ve become more of a critical thinker because of the IC Council Program? I2: I feel like I’ve always been a critical thinker but I’d like to think so yes because I’ve opened my eyes up to see a different perspective on different cultures, so things that I wouldn’t necessarily see before being in IC Council and I’m more aware of them now more than before yeah. 137 I1: Has IC Council also contributed to you being interested in learning or starting to learn new languages? I2: To be honest, no. Not really. I’ve always liked French cause I studied it in high school, and I took it here but as far as other languages no. I1: You talked about that you’ve become more aware of other cultures, do you think you’ve also become more aware of your own culture? I2: Yes because the IDI helped us highlight sort of difference in culture so I suppose I’ve learnt different things in it, not necessarily in IC Council only but in classes and all these other things but yeah I’d like to think it has made me a bit more yeah. I1: As I gather you are interested in other cultures? I2: Yeah definitely. I1: Has it also contributed to your personal growth? I2: Yes yes yes. I1: Can you give an example? I2: So I tend to be somebody who is really closed off to people that don’t know me and people that don’t know me are typically people from different cultures right. So when I came into IC Council, I sort of/I was sort of starting to open up my shell sort of but as time continued, it allowed me to truly be who I am like regardless of who’s around me so that was really great. I1: Do you think you are now better able to cope with unfamiliar situations? I2: Unfamiliar situations, I feel it would take me while to adjust. I’d probably just be quiet for a few minutes just to assess the situation but yeah definitely. I1: Is there perhaps a situation which was unfamiliar to you and which you were able to handle? 138 I2: To be honest what I was thinking of is you were talking about different cultures right, I was thinking of being fully immersed like being the only one of my kind in a different culture, you know what I mean, so that’s what I was thinking of. I don’t know, maybe yeah. I feel like we could work on that a little more as IC Council. I1: Have you applied your intercultural learning into situations outside of the programme? I2: Yeah, I’m trying to think of a specific example. I1: [irrelevant comment – 07:57-08:02] I know during the anti-Islamic, I think it was the Paris attacks, and there was just this general feeling of uncertainty amongst people and you know in most places where I am, especially because of my major, people are going to discuss this stuff right, especially in class and all the politics classes, and people have different opinions on all that stuff so I feel like learning/I think we had a session on it and we were talking about it, actually yeah we were talking about it as IC Council, how we feel and the message that we should be spreading out to everybody that kind of thing. I feel like it also helped me when I was in class and we’re talking about it, I felt like I was able to express interculturally my knowledge. I1: Regarding the Paris attacks or in general? I2: It was specifically during the time of the Paris attacks because that sentiment was being felt by quite a lot of people. I1: Any more? I2: Can’t think of one right now. I1: Do you think that the workshops and training were relevant? I2: Yes definitely. Definitely, especially the anti-discrimination one. It was definitely relevant because the Paris attacks came, it was before the Paris attacks I believe we had it in fall and then the Paris attacks came so we were able to put into practice what we were being taught. 139 I1: So especially the anti-discrimination, any others that were? I2: I’m trying to remember what/it was pretty interesting, I just forgot what the title was. I forgot but if I think of it, I will let you know. I1: So the anti-discrimination you felt was the most relevant? I2: Yeah. I1: Because you were more aware after that? What was the reason? I2: Because sometimes I feel there is a lot of discrimination that happens subconsciously right so being able to pick up on those little things, especially like I don’t know if this is relevant or not but I noticed that during exam period in the computer blocks, there tends/the computer blocks tends to be racially discriminated like all the Indians are in one place, all the Africans are in one place, all the Ukrainians and all the Russians are in one place, so being able to break the ice and being able to literally just go in there and talk to them, you know what I mean, like I feel like it’s been good. I1: What did you think of the event you organised? I2: It was a good event, it was definitely great. I really give props to [member’s name] and oh god sorry it’s been a long weekend but yeah I give them props for that event. I think it was really/they had the best intentions by placing the event but the problem with International Days event is, it’s limited to what the different individuals who come to the event, who want to take out of it right. So I could produce a platform for you to learn all this amazing stuff, but if you come and all you want is food, then you’re not going to learn anything. But if you actually come and you want to learn, then you’re going to learn something. So I think they had a really/they thought it out and it was really well planned, it was great. I1: Was it successful? I2: Yeah I’d like to think it was successful because people who actually came genuinely enjoyed it and had fun. 140 I1: So people did engage with other people, it was not just about the food? I2: No no, because what they did, they set up different booths for different countries and you go and once you learn about a country, you get a sticker. So at the end of the event, you could go to the passport place and then they check your stickers and you get like a price. So there was definitely that sort of engagement for those who were willing to learn, who went to the different booths to ask questions and all that stuff so yeah. I1: Did a variety of students and people show up on the event? I2: To be honest with you, I was only there at the event only towards the end because I was putting on an event on the exact same day, at the same time with the African society so an African club, so I was only there towards the end. So I couldn’t be able to tell you that most accurate answer. I1: So did you see Canadian students as well? I2: No no. I1: Because that would be important I guess. I2: Yeah I see like genuinely with events like this, you get less Canadian students than you do international students. It was actually something that was highlighted in one of our discussions that in most of events, they have International Days, they have different countries represented but Canada usually isn’t represented so it’s yeah. I1: Do you know why? I2: Honestly no. I don’t know if it’s that they feel that they don’t have a culture or they feel like it’s just for international students cause sometimes that message can be miscommunicated and they feel like international days is for international students. I1: So which aspects of the programme influenced you most? 141 I2: The IDI definitely and I have a feeling that this conference in Victoria that’s coming up, I have a funny feeling that that’s gonna influence me quite a bit. And the different talks that we had. I1: With? I2: With Kyra and Sophie I believe, I always forgot her name, and Gail. I1: So with the presenters of the training? I2: Yeah. I1: Why did the IDI influence you so much? I2: Because I was living in a bubble. I was living in a bubble where I thought I was culturally competent and then Kyra just pressed my bubble. I1: So you became very much aware of your own ability? I2: Yeah. I1: After the training and the workshops, did you feel confident enough to organise events and show yourself, and engage with other people? I2: Yeah no definitely. It gave us that extra boost of confidence cause coming into Intercultural Council to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew there was some form of learning about culture, but I didn’t know what exactly. So I feel like they definitely gave me that extra boost that I needed and burst my bubble and pull me back to my level so I feel like/you know what actually, that IDI it is a really good thing because I felt like I knew everything and then it burst my bubble and it brought me way back here but then the training and everything gave me that extra boost that I needed to be confident. 142 I1: Do you think that the intercultural learning skills that you acquired will be helpful for your future? I2: Oh yeah definitely. I1: Can you think of a way? I2: Because working/ well my future goal is to work for the United Nations right and there has to be culture, you have to learn how to work with different cultures, you have to learn to appreciate different cultures so I feel like being in IC Council has definitely taught me some skills of working with different cultures and you know and all that stuff. So it’s definitely going to be a plus. I1: Do you think that there are any shortcomings or improvements? I2: In terms of the actual programme I think if we did our planning way before, like the people that are coming back which are the mentors or whatever, if they sort of started a plan generally of what is going to go on for the next two semesters before the actual semester starts, I feel like that would be really helpful. If we could get a president of the club, I know that’s really/ we don’t have presidents but I feel like sometimes when people clash because people are human right, people are going to clash. So if people clash, there needs to be that point of “okay this is our president, what do we do, madam or sir President kind of thing” because I know that Craig has a lot on his plate and dealing with petty situations in the IC Council is not something that you know he should be dealing with because he has a lot. So I feel like if we did that, and if we had an outing, like I know [member name] and [member name], they went to a conference, a Washington conference, I feel like if they could invite more people but I know that’s budget, it’s because of the budget, but if they could get maybe one newcomer to go and experience and have like two mentors, that would be great. I1: Are you going to continue participating next year? I2: Yes but it’s only till the fall semester cause that’s when I’m done. I1: Do you have a specific role next year? 143 I2: To be honest with you, we probably have to sit down and talk about that because we still have to bring in new people and refer people, so I’m not too sure. I1: Because some people mentioned they would be mentors in their second year. I2: I’m not too sure about how it works whether you become a mentor the second year but I guess so if that’s how it works. I’m not too sure. I1: Do you think that the group is diverse enough at this point? I2: No, it’s not diverse enough. I1: What would ideally be a diverse group? I2: If we at least had one person from each like continent maybe at the very least. You know what I mean. I1: How many persons were there in the IC Council this year? I2: I would be lying to you if I told you a number. I1: About seven. I2: Ten maximum. I1: Is that a good number? I2: No I feel like we need more. I1: Any other things? I2: I definitely had fun, it was an experience that I have being on this Council. It’s really helped me in many more ways than one. I look forward to this conference coming up in Victoria, I’m 144 really looking/ I don’t know if you’re coming. Yeah. I feel like it’s going to blow my mind once again and maybe shift my master’s, my graduate programme, I don’t know. Depending on how it goes. I1: So you might change your mind after the conference? I2: Yeah it’s possible, I don’t know. I know I’m just definitely looking forward to it because it’s going to be a mind-blowing experience. I1: Would you like to add anything else? I2: No I think I’m good. 145