The second rave-goer is a text written by Edward Stewart and Milton Bennett, American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (1991). This text describes a number of differences between various cultures, and in particular describes the differences between languages. For example, English maintains a structured relationship between subjects and objects while also being fairly action oriented whereas Chinese maintains a less polarized, more relational linguistic bent between subjects and objects, focusing on the continuum between polar opposites rather than on the ends of the spectrum. Another way Stewart and Bennett describe the difference is that English may be more digital and Chinese more analog. An example, dear Watson? Let us take family relationships and some event X that happens in the family. If one is raised using a language with very specific, hierarchical language around family dynamics and depending on context and formality the use of language changes, then the event within the family will be described using those same terms. However, if translated, let’s say, into English much of those formal, linguistic, relationship-specific words could easily be lost, and thus the description and full appreciation of the *experience* of the event changes.

In comes the third drunkard, careening toward the other two. This drunkard is that of the research method called phenomenology, and in particular the difference between classical phenomenology and what is at times called hermeneutic phenomenology. In classical phenomenology (or p-nom for short in this post), a reseacher may bracket his or her preconceptions, set aside these biases, and access the event at hand in a rather objective way. In hermeneutic p-nom there is a continual assumption that culture (and personal experience / bias) will always get in the way. Thus, according to hermeneutic p-nom there is no direct access of the experience, only direct access of one’s own experience of the experience, as experienced through one’s own cultural and personal lenses as it were.

KA-POW!! Stumbling, reeling, and a general sense of dishevelment and dizziness fill the air.

Ok, so what does this mean? Well, if one were to take a universalist perspective, then there does exist phenomena that occur at a ground of being level, that everyone may access. If one speaks English, then that experience is likely going to be described in polarized, action-oriented language that is not especially descriptive, and if one falls within the classical p-nom camp then one could, with some meditation and concentrated effort, set aside one’s biases and “get at” the real p-nom that occurred. HOWEVER, note that the permutation above is only one of many, many combinations. If one were relativist, then one would likely also be a hermeneutic p-nom advocate, and thus would also realize the complications of language to describe any event as a more descriptive language would give great, specific detail while another may focus more on the relationship of the event to some other event. If one were a evolutionist/developmentalist, then the event (or phenomenon) could be understood within a progressive perspective, noting that different descriptions of the event would necessarily point toward the different developmental levels of the individual (and her/his culture, language, etc.). An example here might be the difference between a 4 year-old’s description of a lunar eclipse and a 45 year-old’s description. But wait, what if they are from different cultures and speak different languages? Ah, then once again complexities arise and we might not be dealing with just a cognitively-based developmental difference.

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, why do you go on? What is the purpose? Well, that is the point. The reeling that is. The point is to acknowledge that the drunken rave-goers have collided, and that at some point a stance must be taken in order to regain balance (at least momentarily until we can start dancing again). I am searching for my balance, are you?

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Our presentation focused on the research our group conducted over a year within our own psychology graduate school, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Our cooperative inquiry research focused on six facets of assessing diversity - curricular review (through syllabus analysis), student course evaluations, a brief student survey, faculty interviews, re-analysis of a recent “cultural assessment” which included a section on diversity, and our own reflections both as researchers and as community participants.

We found a number of trends, a couple of which as a faculty I find particularly interesting. One is that syllabi do not tell the entire story - often faculty include additional, sometimes spontaneous, exercises or discussions which may include diversity but were not previously included in the syllabus, while at other times diversity discussions were planned but not carried out in the classroom. From a research perspective, syllabi are useful as a start but cannot be relied upon to demonstrate what is really happening in a classroom. Other data sources must be collected to provide a more complete picture.

A second interesting point was that we found two means by which faculty included diversity within the classroom. One way was for the faculty/instructor to intentionally make space for diversity issues or plan discussions/exercises focused on diversity. Another way faculty/instructors introduced diversity was to invite students with diverse perspectives to share their perspectives. Generally the students were of visibly diverse populations, usually of a a different race/ethnicity than the dominant makeup of the student population within the class. This second way of introducing diversity intersected with another finding that some students felt tired of holding the diversity flag, as it were. Thus, while inviting student sharing may help create an atmosphere of student participation, I now feel it is vital for faculty/instructors to intentionally create space for diversity issues through readings, assignments, and focused discussions rather than rely on spontaneous discussions or relying on students to teach diversity perspectives to fellow students. This seems like it should be intuitive and common sense, however it likely needs to be repeated.

A third finding was that the top 3 diversity areas mentioned in faculty syllabi were culture, race/ethnicity, and religion/spirituality. All other categories were mentioned much less. This is particularly interesting as the sex/gender topic, while 4th on the list, was not even close to the religion/spirituality topic and yet we have a large LGBT community.

There were other findings as well, but I’ll keep this post from getting too long by stopping here. Maybe it will whet your appetite for a future article on the topic.

However, I will note that we presented our findings to our community after completion of the research, and then we conducted interviews one year later with 6 top administrators in the school including the president, academic VP, and Chairpersons of the programs to learn how our research influenced change at the school and the feedback was quite positive. So, stay tuned!

If you are interested in the next NCORE, which will be held in San Diego, CA please visit the NCORE website. Proposals for presenting must be in by Dec. 15th, 2008 and the conference will be held May 26 - 30th. Hope to see you there!

However, when dealing with individuals in graduate schools, those conducting research, or those in the business field, it has been quite helpful to start with this simple triangle and then work into deeper issues of, for example, “am I *good enough* (whichever level you want to take that on) to succeed.” At other times we have found that intentional distractions, and even unintentional distractions, are really alternative ways of engaging the topic at hand.

Let me give an example. At one point a client was intent on completing a specific part of her project. The project was quite large, so she we had helped her to break down the project into manageable chunks in order to work toward her various goals. At one point she found that she felt absolutely stuck. And even with our accountability efforts in place, she wasn’t moving forward. On her next consulting visit we asked what she had been doing instead. As it turned out, she had watched 4 movies rather than complete the project. On the surface this would seem mere distraction - but I wanted to take it a bit further this time. After inquiring as to the *topic* of the movies and the *moral of the story* in each, the client was led to an epiphany. Every movie had the same basic topic, plot, and moral - and all of these had to do with her feelings of being stuck at this particular part of her project. After recognizing this consciously, and engaging in her own *plot* as compared to the characters in the movies, she was able to come to her own resolution and complete that part of her project.

Without going a bit deeper, she would not have likely recognized her connection with those protagonists in the movies nor would she have likely moved forward anytime soon.

In my experience writing my dissertation (a large research project I had to complete in order to graduate with my Ph.D.), there were times that I absolutely fought against the urge to write. I knew that I wanted to write, even that I had to write, but that didn’t help me write. I would either find other things to do, sit and stare at my screen, or write something small then edit it for several hours. These behaviors were entirely unproductive, and did not help me to get to the goal of having a completed piece of work.

During our consulting we have found several ways to overcome writers block. One of my favorites is doing a daily visualization, seeing a set of black bricks building a wall in front of you, each with the word “block” on it. Once the wall has been created, mentally destroy the wall - the way is up to you. Wrecking ball. Bare fists. Laser beams from your eyes. Or seeing it crumble and transform into a lush garden with a pathway in front of you. This practice can also be done by painting real wooden blocks black, then painting the word “block” on it. Build the wall and then break it down. This will instill in your own psyche the ability to break down internal blocks whenever you come up against them. Simple, and it will work for most types of blockages.

There are other exercises, and even a great number of additional resources on the web. Here are a few from a simple search:
10 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Blocks
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingroadblocks/a/writersblock.htm

A Creative Way to Get Ideas Down Before the Critic Smashes Those Good Ideas
http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2007/04/overcoming_writ.html

Good ol’ Wikipedia - With a Section on How to Overcome Writer’s Block
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer’s_block

For the article, just click the link above. For a direct link to Peter Reason’s personal website, including many of the articles he has written click here.

Just found this resource - a free, multilingual open-access journal on qualitative research. If you are looking for qualitative research articles, discussions, and debates from different countries, here is the place. Check it out.