Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Background and Theoretical Framework
3. Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles
“Self-awareness consists of a range of components, which can be developed through focus, evaluation and feedback, and provides an individual with an awareness of their internal state (emotions, cognitions, physiological responses), that drives their behaviors (beliefs, values and motivations) and an awareness of how this impacts and influences others”[24] (p. 164).
- RQ1: Does the completion of the InterEqual training module, which includes work on an intercultural telecollaboration project, increase (a) the overall empathy level and/or (b) a specific cognitive construct of empathy—the perspective-taking ability?
- RQ2: What is the prevailing conflict communication style in the context of an intercultural telecollaboration project?
- RQ3: Does the combination of cooperative learning and critical self-reflection have the potential to raise students’ self-awareness of their conflict communication styles?
4. Materials and Methods
5. Results and Discussion
5.1. Analysis of Quantitative Data
5.1.1. Normality of Empathy Measurements
5.1.2. Changes in Empathy Measures
5.1.3. Conflict Styles
5.2. Analysis of Qualitative Data
- How do you feel about completing this training module?
- What task did you enjoy the most? Why?
- How does this training module relate to the real world where you live?
5.2.1. Students’ Feedback on Completing the Training Module
S4: [This module] taught me a lot about myself and how I interact with other people [...].
S11: I feel very glad to have completed [this] module as conflict resolution has always been unconscious for me, so a deeper analysis of my conflict behavior was much needed.
S25: I feel more equipped to deal with conflicts confidently.
S29: [...] I learned new things that I did not know before. I am now able to recognize cultural differences, commonalities, perceptions, power and privilege dynamics, and how these differences can lead to conflict.
S30: I feel like I understand more about my conflict styles and lenses. It made me more aware of my approach and genuinely reflect upon the outcomes that some of my conflicts had in the past. I also felt a bit relieved that I got to dig deeper into things that I didn’t consider and why I do the things I do. I also felt a bit upset because the conflict style really showed me what kind of person I was in the past and how poorly I act when I argue with others.
S12: [This] module [...] allows me to find solutions to intercultural conflicts and gives me new ideas on how to [...] intervene in these conflicts.
S34: I had a lot of takeaway points that I could improve in my own life. For instance, the assignment where we learned about having [the] confidence to speak up when in situations where someone is being verbally attacked really resonated with me.
S21: As human beings, we are always going to have thoughts and opinions. But being able to learn about the motives and reasonings behind those thoughts is what is really important, which is where compassionate curiosity comes into play.
S45: I feel very accomplished completing [this] module because I learned a lot of new concepts that I have not previously encountered in my other classes. For example, I did not use to think of empathy as a skill that can be developed. Instead, I used to think that either someone is empathetic or they are not. It was refreshing to learn that people can actually learn to be more empathetic by increasing the diversity of their interactions with others so they can better understand how people of different backgrounds think.
S6: I feel that I understand my conflict [...] style more and I know what I need to work on [...] to improve it.
S11: I liked [the activity on conflict styles] because it showed me where I needed to improve in order to become a better person.
S23: I feel as though I have a much better understanding of my own self in terms of how and why I deal with conflicts the way I do and how to refine it going into the future.
S38: [This module] gave me a good idea of what I need to work on to become a better intercultural communicator.
5.2.2. Students’ Feedback on the Training Module Activities
S18: I most enjoyed completing the [task on] conflict styles. After completing the [...] conflict modes assessment, I was asked to investigate where I could have learned my conflict mode tendencies from. I immediately knew that I picked up on a few habits from my father. I thoroughly enjoyed making him take the assessment and seeing his reaction when we both had eerily similar results.
S30: Learning about these different conflict styles helped me get a better understanding of what my tendencies are in a conflict and what to stop and improve upon myself to be more considerate and compassionate towards others.
S11: I enjoyed the “learning to intervene” activity the most. Attacks similar to that of the video aren’t unfamiliar to me as I have fallen victim to them simply because of my race. As a result, it was easy for me to write my reflections on the questions and speak on my motivations to intervene.
S16: I liked completing [the task on individualistic and collectivistic conflict lenses] the most because I enjoyed learning about people and their views on individualistic and collectivist cultures. I believe it is quite beneficial for people to learn more about these topics because individualistic and collectivist cultures can learn a lot from each other. There are moments where it may be preferred to have an individualistic approach like defending yourself during a conversation and a collectivist mindset may be preferred when thinking about how to help the community.
S3: I enjoyed learning about how I can change my words to reflect compassionate curiosity and I can still achieve my desired outcome without raising any conflicts. These skills of communication [...] are really helpful and will always be in my educational, professional, and social life.
S26: I feel like I’ll be a better person moving forward. It is always nice to discover new ways in which one can be effective, yet perfectly polite when communicating. For example, practicing compassionate curiosity was a huge eye-opener.
S30: I really enjoyed the compassionate curiosity practice [...]. This is because I say some of these statements and I didn’t know that it was more confrontational (assertive) than I thought it was. Getting to practice how to say things in a more compassionate way made me feel as if I can continue to do that with any interactions and not just in a conflict.
5.2.3. Students’ Feedback on the Applicability of the Training Module
S2: I felt that this module was one that will be extremely beneficial in the real world. Conflict is inevitable in the real world, so understanding how we best handle it is very important. It is also important to understand how I tend to approach conflict, as I can then work on aspects of conflict that I may be weaker at and aim to improve them.
S19: In the real world, fostering diversity, inclusion, and mutual understanding across other groups requires an awareness of how to approach and overcome intercultural problems. I [acquired] the abilities and information required to successfully navigate and resolve conflicts in my personal and professional life [...] by learning about inclusive solutions to intercultural disputes.
S28: It related significantly. People are so different and naturally their attitudes and approaches to different problems differ greatly. This module brings light to the various tools and approaches that exist that can help us navigate confrontations in an efficient and positive way.
S15: I can apply this module via how I handle disagreements with people I care about, which is currently something that I deal with often.
S26: [This] is a very relatable module, because a lot of its content (compassionate curiosity, learning to intervene, etc.) show[s] up on a day-to-day basis, particularly in a school environment.
S33: Conflict between my partner and me is bound to arise, so learning more about how to use compassionate curiosity makes resolutions much easier.
S35: This module helps us with that so we will be more knowledgeable about behavioral and thought process differences across different cultures which we can apply to the real world to better connect with people.
S38: Empathy and engaging ambiguity are especially important in diverse settings like [our university]. You will eventually have to work with a classmate from a different culture or background, and being mindful of these differences and working towards common ground is very important.
S44: I think that mindfulness is very important to where I am. For me, the United States is a melting pot of different cultures. Being mindful of my physical and psychological decisions at all times is the best way to avoid conflict and collaborate with others.
6. Discussion of Limitations and Implications
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
1. | This research study is not part of the Hrabowski Innovation Fund project on Enhancing Student Engagement in Internationalization at Home: Towards Inclusiveness and Intercultural Dialogue. |
2. | The experiential learning approach was put forward by David A. Kolb [25]. |
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Indicator | Pre-Project Score | Post-Project Score | Finding |
---|---|---|---|
TEQ | 50.70 (SD = 6.59) | 51.86 (SD = 6.76) | n = 162, p = 0.002 1 |
IRI—PT | 20.30 (SD = 4.02) | 20.71 (SD = 4.91) | n = 138, p = 0.09 |
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Golubeva, I. Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project. Societies 2023, 13, 223. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13100223
Golubeva I. Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project. Societies. 2023; 13(10):223. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13100223
Chicago/Turabian StyleGolubeva, Irina. 2023. "Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project" Societies 13, no. 10: 223. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13100223