Cultural Awareness

STCW Table A-II/1 & STCW

Table A-III/1
 STCW Table A-II/1

What is Culture?
Culture is a complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any
other capabilities and habits acquired.
– Edward Burnett Tylor
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What is Culture?
In terms of history

Culture is social
heritage, or
tradition, that is
passed on to
future generations
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What is Culture?
In terms of behavior
Culture is a way of life, shared and
learned

In terms of norms
Culture is ideals, values, or rules for
living
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What is Culture?
In terms of function
Culture is the way humans solve
problems of adapting to the
environment or living together
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Cultural Awareness
 Fundamental differences among people
arise from nationality, ethnicity and
culture, as well as from family background
and individual experiences.

 These differences affects beliefs, practices,

and behavior and also influence our
expectations of one another, this is where
cultural differences come in.
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Cultural awareness entails an

understanding of how a person's
culture may inform their values,
behavior, beliefs and basic
assumptions.
Cultural awareness recognizes
that we are all shaped by our
cultural background, which
influences how we interpret the
world around us, perceive
ourselves and relate to other
people.
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• Cultural Awareness
Inherent Trait is a
personality characteristic
or inherent value that
someone has which they
are unlikely to change and
that helps to make an
individual into the kind of
person he is.
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Cultural Awareness
When we were young students, we often
heard or read about the so-called Filipino
Traits such as bahala na, pakikisama,
ningas cogon, hiya, mañana habit, etc.
These traits were the culprits, the
scapegoat of the Filipino failures, or
basically the weak characteristics of
being Filipinos.
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Cultural Awareness
Ningas Cogon - is the attitude
when we start something with
interest and enthusiasm, then
after a very short time, we lose
interest and stop whatever it is
we are doing.
Leaving things incomplete.
Just like a wild fire burning
out quickly.
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Cultural Awareness
Pakikisama - is all about denying yourself
and your wants to get along with
somebody else. This means putting what
you prefer on the back burner so you can
get along with what everybody else
wants to do. This ability to put aside
personal conviction and personal wants
so you can get along with others is very
useful in many contexts.
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Cultural Awareness
Filipino Time - refers to the
Filipinos’ own unique brand of
time, which is known to be
minutes or hours behind the
standard time. In other words,
we tend not to observe
punctuality at all. While we
Filipinos with our easy-going
ways have somewhat become used
to Filipino time, it still is a bad
habit that needs to be dropped.
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Cultural Awareness
Bahala na – translates literally as "leave
it up to God (Bathala)" and it is used as
an expression, almost universally, in
Filipino culture.

Filipinos engage in the bahala na

attitude as a culture-influenced adaptive
coping strategy when faced with
challenging situations.
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Cultural Awareness
Crab Mentality - Simply put, this
refers to the behavior of preventing
someone from achieving something
due to jealousy or envy.

Instead of praising or rendering

assistance, someone with crab
mentality would think “if I can’t
have it, then you can’t as well” and
will purposely try to bring his/her
victim down.
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Cultural Awareness
"Utang na loob" or debt of gratitude –
Filipinos always recognize one's indebtedness.
This means that he owed to a person who has
helped him through the trials he had
undergone.

He repays that person in whatever kind,

whatever time and situation. It is one way of
showing deep appreciation for lending out a
hand.
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Cultural Awareness
Manana Habit- Known as “tomorrow” in
English, the habit encourages
procrastination, an “ability” we Filipinos
have since turned into an art form.

Even the most urgent of projects and tasks

can be relegated for some other time; we
are only forced to work on them when the
deadline is near.

It’s a miracle we get things done in this

country.
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What is Attitude?
Is an expression of favor or
disfavor toward a person,
place, thing, or event.
Is the way we react or respond
to people, objects and
institutions on issues, facts or
state.
It is an outward expression
(through body gestures) of our
state of mind.
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What is Positive Attitude?

It is a psychological term which describes a mental
phenomenon in which the central idea is that one can increase
achievement through optimistic thought processes.

Positive attitude is exhibiting fortitude when confronted

with failure.

Positive attitude has been known to help people through

certain difficult times in their lives or even help them
overcome illnesses.

Positive attitude rejects negativity, defeatism and

hopelessness.
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What is Behavior?
Behavior is made up of
personality, our knowledge
and skills, our values and
attitudes, our culture and
experience.
A major part of our behavior
is made up of personality, in
general we are not able to
change this however, we can
influence attitudes, which is
vital part of our behavior.
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Paused and Respond based on Principle

Reactive Behavior
Reactive people allow outside influences
(moods, feelings and circumstances) to
control their response.
• Paused and Respond based on Principle

• Proactive Behavior
• Proactive people pause to allow themselves the
freedom to choose their response based on principles
and desired results.
• Cross-cultural communication is a
field of study that looks at how
people from differing cultural
backgrounds communicate, in
similar and different ways among
themselves, and how they endeavor
to communicate a cross cultures.
Intercultural communication is a
related field of study.
Cultural Awareness
In recent decades, shipping and crewing,
utilizes cross-cultural teams to deliver goods
and services around the world.

However, simply combining individuals with

specific skills in a group will not guarantee
great results.

Creating a high performing and successful

teams requires advance planning and most
importantly an on-going attention to the
group dynamics during the work process.
Informal Social Structures
Members of an informal organization can
certainly hold official offices and have formal
duties, but they also bring their own values,
personal interests and assumptions into the
equation of how they act.

The main thing about informal structures is

that it becomes apparent in when it involves
cooperation. We sense and interpret the world
differently and may therefore have very
different perceptions of the same situation.
Informal Social Structures
 On a ship, there are some special challenges:
changing crew, several nationalities and some
cultures with no tradition of holding meetings.

 Common informal structures are with multi-

cultural crews happens to be made up of the
sum total of social norms, relationships, and
interactions that affect how an organization
works.

 The main thing about informal structures is

that it becomes apparent in when it involves
cooperation.
Cultural Awareness
Better understanding reduces the number
of cultural driven misunderstandings and
conflicts onboard thereby reducing
miscommunication & misunderstanding
leading to prevention of near misses,
accidents and loss of life at sea.
Managing Cultural Differences
UNDERSTANDING RESPECT
LEARN

INTERPRETER
NAME

EXPLAIN
CONSISTENT
PROCEDURES
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT
Respect- a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something
elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Respect other people’s

culture, without respect from
both culture, good
communication will not even
start.
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT LEARN
Learn what motivates
people as individuals, and as
members of their culture.

They have reasons for their

behavior.

Pay careful attention to

body language and to
reactions
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT LEARN

INTERPRETER

Somebody familiar
with the culture who
can act as a link
between two cultures
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT

LEARN

INTERPRETER

Explain your actions EXPLAIN

and give clear messages
in simple language.
Check understanding.
 Managing Cultural
Differences
RESPECT
LEARN

INTERPRETER

Checklists can reduce

misunderstandings EXPLAIN

PROCEDURES
 Managing Cultural
Differences
RESPECT
LEARN

Keep a consistent
approach and attitude. INTERPRETER
Understand culture
differences

EXPLAIN
CONSISTENT
PROCEDURES
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT
LEARN
NAME
Use a person’s
name. This helps INTERPRETER
communication
the most

EXPLAIN
CONSISTENT
PROCEDURES
 Managing Cultural
Differences

RESPECT
UNDERSTANDING
LEARN
Work at increasing
your understanding on
cultural differences
INTERPRETER

NAME

EXPLAIN
CONSISTENT

PROCEDURES
Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how
people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar
and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to
communicate across cultures. Intercultural communication is a related
field of study.
 STCW Table A-II/1
Cultural Awareness