Teach Middle East Magazine Sep - Dec 2020 Issue 1 Volume 8 | Page 10

Sharing Good Practice
INTERCULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
WHEN HIRING AN EXPAT: LESSONS FROM UAE
BY GREGOR CAMERON
to the new cultural context. Three
elements need to be considered here:
• Ability to interact in a polychronic
culture. Expatriates come from
monochronic cultures, whereas
the Middle East is considered a
polychronic culture, characterised
by such things as multiple
interruptions, distractions, focusing
on events, people and undertaking
multiple tasks at one time (Al-Omari,
2008; Hingston, 2012)
• Ability to interpret meaning from
non-verbal signs. The Middle
East is also considered a high-
context culture (Hingston, 2012)
where meaning is not explicit and
interpreting meaning often comes
from non-verbal cues.
E
ducating in the Middle East
context is unique. Daily,
thousands of educators in
private and National school
settings, across all the seven Emirates,
work alongside each other with the
aspiration of maximising student
learning. This uniqueness stems from
the multi-cultural richness of the
individuals in each school setting.
Few places in the world provide such
an opportunity for different ‘first’
language speakers from different
countries, different religions and
different ethnicities, to work together
for a common purpose.
Coaching and/or mentoring has long
been considered an effective way to
develop people. The literature is rife
with a plethora of models, approaches
and strategies to develop leaders and
teachers in education. Unfortunately,
the origins of much of this research are
monocultural and monolingual, not
specific to a context like the Middle
East. The intercultural element though,
adds another dimension, or layer of
complexity that cannot be ignored, as
too often individuals ‘fail’ when placed
on/in international assignments and
situations (Story, 2011).
same first language) interacting daily.
Both international, but predominantly
National schools employ experienced
educational leaders and teachers from
all over the world to work alongside,
often Arabic first language speakers,
to develop leadership and teaching
capacity. Yet many of these expatriate
(expats) teachers and leaders may
not be equipped to deal with the
complexities of this new cultural
environment, resulting in reduced
capacity to deliver.
The following are some broad
considerations educational employers
and potential expats should consider,
when working in an intercultural
context.
1. Ability to Acculturate - The level
of cultural intelligence or intercultural
sensitivity of the individual, the
possession of which may help the
individual transition to the new
international environment. This has
implications for induction processes
(Gundling, E., Hogan, T., & Cvitkovich,
K. 2011).
2. Cultural Nuance - The ability of
the individual to assimilate and adapt
‘Intercultural’ in the United Arab
Emirates school setting describes
two or more people from often very
diverse cultures, often without the
same lingua franca (mother tongue or
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Class Time
• Understanding
Power-distance
relationships. The Arabic culture is
considered as having a high power-
distance index, where challenging
authority is considered to be
culturally inappropriate (Hingston,
2012; Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J.
& Minkov, M., 2010). These factors
combined or in isolation can equate
to frustration experienced by the
expat.
3. Culture Shock - A very real condition
experienced by most expats to a
lesser or greater degree (Hofstede et
al., 2010). The acculturation or culture
shock curve is a concept that attempts
to define an individual’s ability to work
through stages of adjustment and
become “fully competent” in their
new culture (Lucas, 2003).
4. Language
-
Language,
for
people in an intercultural context,
is a significant challenge (Cooper,
O’Roark, Pennington, Peterson and
Wilson-Stark, 2008). Lacking fluency
in a common language is considered
to be a formidable barrier to effective
capacity building (Peterson, 2007). This
fact has implications for employers in
terms of the use of translators to break
down communication barriers.
Currently a Senior Advisor of Teaching and Learning with Independent
Schools Queensland. Worked for Abu Dhabi Education Council for eight years
predominantly as a Cluster Manager with National schools. Three decades
experience in three educational contexts. Doctorate of Education with a focus
on capacity building in Intercultural contexts.