This part includes surface culture and elements of folk culturethe arts, folk dancing dress, cooking etc. This is called deep culture fine arts, literature, drama, classical music, popular music, folk dancing, games, cooking, dress. The culture iceberg shows a small number of things visible above the surfacelanguage, food and clothing. These aspects of culture represent our way of life and are clearly visible.
Gary weaver 1986 uses the image of an iceberg to explain these many layers of culture see figure below. How did the culture of these two people affect the way they perceived the objects in the room. Iceberg model of culture pennsylvania state university. There are many other theories or conceptualizations of culture similar to the iceberg concept of culture. Small bits of disintegrating icebergs are called growlers or bergy bits. Visualising the iceberg model of culture opengecko. Iceberg concept one tenth of an iceberg is what we see, we refer to this as surface culture. In his book beyond culture he describes the concept of culture iceberg model. The idea of culture being like an iceberg is useful to further explore and understand the concept of culture. When looking to an iceberg you can recognise 3 levels each getting you deeper. Core concepts of the theory of intercultural communication e. In this model, culture is not an integrated system or a mere aggregation of traits or behaviors but a population of meanings.
Just as an iceberg has a visible section above the water, and a larger, invisible section below the water, so culture has some aspects that are observable and others that cannot be directly observed. Its main focus is one the elements that make up culture, and on the fact, that some of the elements are very visible, whereas others are hand to discover. This hidden area underlies our behavior, influences our perceptions and is outside our immediate frame of reference until we plunge beneath the surface or perhaps like the titanic, encounter it unexpectedly. Image is also provided at the end of this document. So much of communication is nonverbal and once you get past the surface stuff, its. This part of culture corresponds with the symbols, heroes and rituals in the onion cf. Our first challenge is to be aware of our automatic assumptions which may reflect our bias and prejudice. The iceberg theory suggests that just like an iceberg, culture is made of a visible and an invisible part edward t.
It is also important to help students realise that a culture is like an iceberg, that it. Explain that the words we listed on the board are what we. There are many different definitions of the word culture. The most dangerous part of the iceberg is the 90% that is below the sea and cannot be seen. Ppt the iceberg model of culture powerpoint presentation. People often speak of english, chinese, americanindian, africanamerican, or other cultures, and they also sometimes use the world culture to suggest a level of sophistication. The norms which are rules for behavior in specific situations and values which identify what should be judged as appropriate, good or bad. These four jpegpdf images can be used in your classroom when discussing surface culture and deep culture. Iceberg concept of culture images and pdfs pbs learningmedia. The iceberg model of culture questions to consider the iceberg model of culture questions to consider surface culture above the surface emotional load.
It helps them seem deeper than the surface levels of culture. Just as an iceberg has a visible section above the waterline and a larger, invisible section below the water line, so culture has some aspects that are observable and others that can only be suspected, imagined, or intuited. For example, schwartz 1992 suggests a distributive model of culture similar to the iceberg concept of culture. Below are some links to sites that explain the concept further and in some cases offer a related activity. The iceberg model of culture culture there are two types of culture in the iceberg model of culture. Preparation for practice introducing culture 4 ersion1 2014. The iceberg concept of culture like an iceberg, the majority of culture is below the surface.
Download the definition of culture by peace corps and explain in class the concept of culture the iceberg model, p. First one is surface culture, which includes the food, dress, music, visual arts, crafts, dance, literature, language, celebrations, games, etc. This quiz and worksheet tests your understanding of the culture iceberg theory and model. The overall concept of using an iceberg to picture complexity of culture comes from american anthropologist edward t. Culture is sometimes compared to an iceberg, some of which is visible, but. The present paper aims at developing a theoretical proposal on the concept of culture from social systems theory. Visualising the iceberg model of culture one of my current roles in my school is to lead a group of staff who are interested in exploring the significance of interculturalism within our school community, and to explore ways of furthering intercultural education and sharing relevant best practice.
How culture is like an iceberg 910ths of it lie beneath the surface. Primarily, i use it for students to analyze elements of culture found in literature, movies, and art. Youll need to understand the similarities between culture and an iceberg. Explain the concept of an culture as an iceberg see culture in context give students a chance to add deeper, below surface level concepts to their. An alternative version of the iceberg on a pdf file can be found here. High unconscious rules far below surface valuebased emotional load. Dec 19, 2016 iceberg concept of culture i use this for so many activities in class. Second one is deep culture, which includes concept of time, personal space, nonverbal communications, ideals of childrearing, nature of friendships. Halls cultural iceberg model in 1976, hall developed the iceberg analogy of culture. Three cultures model national culture corporate personal culture culturesource. For example, schwartz suggests a distributive model of culture, where culture is not an integrated system or a mere aggregation of traits or behaviors, but a population of meanings. A small part of it, in fact only the peak, is above water. Iceberg metaphor is widely used in business to show the known or knowledge on top of the iceberg surface while the unknown is normally shown under the sea deeper. Hall suggested that culture was similar to an iceberg.
Like an iceberg, the visible part of culture is only a small part of a much larger whole. It has some aspects that are visible and many others that can only be suspected, guessed, or learned as understanding of the culture grows. If the culture of a society was the iceberg, hall reasoned, than there are some aspects visible, above the water, but there is a larger portion hidden beneath the surface. A free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. Understanding the cultures of those we serve requires more than words and.
Culture is similar to an iceberg only about 10% is visible above the surface. They can also be considered to be a force to be reasoned with. Introduction to the iceberg theory the iceberg model of culture. If the culture of a society was the iceberg, hall reasoned, than there are some aspects visible, above the water, but there is a larger portion hidden beneath the. Culture is a very complex topic, but there is at least one model to make this a lot easier to understand. An iceberg concept of culture culture is often compared to an iceberg. Chcdiv001 work with diverse people the culture iceberg.
The iceberg concept of culture diversity university. Infusing cultural and linguistic competence into health. Culture is often compared to an iceberg which has both visible and invisible parts. This is the part of culture that you can identify with your five senses. When you first interact with a new culture, the top 10% is clearly evident. One of my favorite ways to teach culture is with this diagram. The tip of the iceberg represents the elements of culture which we can see, such as food, language and customs.
The external, or conscious, part of culture is what we can see and is the tip of the iceberg and includes behaviors and some beliefs. When we see an iceberg, the portion which is visible above water is, in reality, only a small piece of a much larger whole. One valued the chair, the other saw no need for it. Moderately collectivist japanese tend to leave home once adults to further education or look for work, like the us, not as much emphasis on extended family. In the words of child 1981, in effect, national differences found in characteristics of organizations or their members have been ascribed to. Relatively low deep culture unspoken rules just below the surface behaviorbased emotional load. In this lesson, well examine the iceberg model of culture and see what it can teach us. If you have seen titanic, then you know that the majority of an iceberg is under the surface of the ocean, with just the tip visible. There are other theories and conceptualizations of culture similar to the iceberg model of culture. The internal, or subconscious, part of culture is below the surface of a society and includes some beliefs and the values and thought patterns that underlie behavior.
Developing a language to talk about race and racism in the. Cultural awareness and empathy manifested in social exchange e. Sources of differences between countries and groups culture is like an iceberg. Iceberg concept of culture take some time to familiarize yourself with the iceberg below and the terms inside of it. When meeting another culture, we tend to interpret the behaviour observed with our own iceberg, our own set of values and beliefs, which may be the cause for culture shock. Those elements which are less obvious, such as values, beliefs and world view, comprise the much larger portion of the iceberg. It basically means that there is more than what we see. Like an iceberg, part of a culture is above water in that it is visible and easy to identify and. The tip of the iceberg represents the very few characteristics on which we base our first impressions and make assumptions. The cultural iceberg is a helpful analogy to explore explicit and implicit aspects of culture. Originally, the concept of culture seemed even more opaque to researchers who compared organizations in different countries. The national center for cultural competence, 2004 the iceberg concept of culture is widely used and available in the public domain, for example see. Hall developed the iceberg model of culture in 1976. Like an iceberg, part of a culture is above water in that it is visible and easy to identify and know.
It is important to keep in mind that the behaviour demonstrated is rooted in values that are not clearly visible. Organizational culture is like an iceberg, with most of its weight and bulk below the surface the iceberg of organizational culture change. Introduction to the iceberg theory the iceberg model of culture learning outcomes interpersonal. Iceberg powerpoint template is an awesome presentation design for microsoft powerpoint that you can use to represent a wide range of business models and management models for your presentations. However, it is the lower, the hidden part of the iceberg, that. One of the most weel known models of culture is is the iceberg. Similarly, people often think of culture as the numerous observable characteristics of a group that we can see with our eyes, be it their food, dances, music, arts, or greeting rituals. The visible manifestations of culture are just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps the most salient document to date on cultural competence is toward a.
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