While reading Schein this past week, I was surprised by how many personal examples or anecdotes popped into my head of different time concepts and their meaning ( as well as new understanding now that I have read about the Nature of Time and Space). During Capstone last semester, my group was charged with working with the VCU Global Education office to assist them with their New Student Orientation to students that are coming into the English Language Program (ELP) at VCU. The ELP is targeted to students who are not proficient in English, the goal of many of the students is to complete the ELP and be able to transfer into a degree seeking program at VCU (or another University) as an International student. When the students arrive, it is usually their first time in the United States and they do not know a lot about the culture in the United States. The lack of cultural understanding is what was causing some of the issues that we were trying to help the global education office work with.
A few Issues relating to the Time Concepts:
- Students were not arriving to the Unites States on time for New Student Orientation or for classes to start – at times they were arriving a week late.
- Students would miss class or come to class late without understanding that it was a problem for teachers
Where the students were from, showing up late or canceling without notification is not a big deal. If something comes up, it is expected that you take care of what you deem the most important to you.
Different concepts of time are not just limited to people from different cultures, but it can also be raised on how people are raised or the environment that they work/live in. I’ve worked at places where showing up 3 minutes late is considered late (punishable) and I’ve worked at other jobs where showing up 15 minutes late is just fine. These are things that you have to learn when you are coming into a new environment – what are the societal and cultural norms for that place.
Adult Learning Reflections 
Rachel Wiltshire
Hi Lauren! When you told me about your blog post, I couldn’t resist reading and commenting on what you had to say. I am so glad that you enjoyed working with our office. We really learned a lot from your team, and I am glad that the experience gave you insight into some of the other cultures that you work with as well. It is really interesting how ideas of time vary across cultures, In many places outside of the United States, time is more of a fluid concept. One example is students coming late (or sometimes early) for their advising appointments. A few days ago, a student came to the office looking for me after I had already left for the day. Her appointment was supposed to be 2 hours before that. The receptionist rescheduled her for the next day, and she came 2 hours early (when I was in a meeting). She was puzzled as to why I was not available to see her both times. Her view of my job was more polychronic in nature as opposed to the monochronic way in which we view our tasks in the USA. When you are dealing with so many diverse cultures it is definitely a challenge. I wonder how multinational corporations with office across the globe manage these situations when they have meetings between different offices. There are so many different things to take into consideration!
Shannon Bey
I agree that how people are raised influences their actions. I also agree that interactions with others influences personal actions. Once I learn about different cultures practices I adjust my behavior based on my new learning. I think most react similarly.
Before I can change my behavior to accommodate new practices I have to learn about other’s practices. Sometimes this learning occurs through failure. Dixon and others talk about examining failure. I think your example of being late was a failure in the eyes of the impacted. We change because we value the needs of the impacted (because we care or for personal gain). This situation is similar to organizations that change because they value or can benefit from the opinion of the impacted.
Thank you
Shannon