Motivation:

Objective (SPO) 1-1: The student will demonstrate and identify the Characteristics of both negative and positive assumptions, behaviors that effect the delivery of emergency service to a diverse community.

Overview:

Connecting Emergency Response with a Diverse Community

• Identify the Assumptions that Block Effective Work Environment.
• Identify Provider’s Behaviors that Block Acceptance.
• Identify Assumptions and behaviors that Promote Acceptance.
• Identify Nine Factors that Promote Acceptance and Productivity.
• Identify the Characteristics of an Agent of Change.

SPO 1-1	The student will demonstrate and identify the Characteristics of both negative and positive assumptions, behaviors that effect the delivery of emergency service to a diverse community.
EO 1-1-1	Identify the Assumptions that block effective work environment.
EO 1-1-2	Identify provider’s behaviors that block acceptance.
EO 1-1-3	Identify Assumptions and behaviors that promote acceptance.
EO 1-1-4	Identify nine factors that promote acceptance and productivity.
EO 1-1-5	Identify the characteristics of a agent of change.

I. Characteristics Of Destructive Assumptions

Note: When making a presentation, the instructor needs to be on the same language level as the audience.

• Harmful Assumptions Majorities Make
  • Minorities and women will always welcome inclusion in the majority culture
  • Open recognition of differences may embarrass minorities and women
  • “Liberal” members of the majority are free of discriminatory attitudes
  • Minorities and women are using their situation to take advantage of the majority
  • Minorities are oversensitive
• Harmful Assumptions Minorities Make
  • All members of the majority have the same negative attitudes about minorities and women
  • There are no majority members who understand minorities or women
  • Majority members are not really trying to understand minority’s and women workplace issues
  • The only way to change hostile workplace environments is by confrontation and force
  • All majority members will let you down when it really gets “Hot”

• Harmful behaviors Majority Exhibits
  • Inappropriate Interruption
  • Condescending behavior
  • Expressions of superficial acceptance and friendship
  • Talk about, rather to minorities or women
• Harmful Behaviors Minority and Women
  • Confrontations too early and too harshly
  • Reject offers of help and friendship
  • Giving answers they think majority members want to hear
  • Isolate

• Majority
  • Provide sincere attempts of mentoring
  • Demonstrate a sincere willingness in learning about other cultures
  • Listen actively, interrupting when appropriate
  • Treat people as individuals as well as members of a cultural group
  • Stay with and work through difficult issues/concerns
  • Take risks to learn about your and your co-workers differences
• Minorities and Women
  • Acknowledge sincere attempts to support, understanding and mentoring (no matter who offers if it will help)
  • Accept people for where are in the change process, instead of expecting them to be perfect
  • Express concerns directly and constructively
  • Stay with and work through difficult issues/concerns
  • Take risks to learn about your and your co-workers differences

• When addressing cultural difference expect a level of anxiety/discomfort (remember its progress not perfection)
• Resist the temptation to stop or to give-up( Remember the benefits)
• Continue to change within yourself, not just superficial
• Realize people adapt to change differently and at times
• People are at different levels of readiness for change
• People change at different paces
• Sometimes it is harder to move from/at the beginning than to go from one level of understanding to deeper level
• People will revert back to their pre-change behaviors if the pressure is not kept up in the form of rewards, sanctions, and organizational change.
• Anxiety/discomfort is experienced by the “changes”

• Listen Openly and Actively
• Actively pursue a process of self-education. Learn about the history and culture of staff
• Acknowledge and responsibility for your own socialization, your prejudices, biases and privileges
• Be willing to examine and relinquish privileges
• Learn about and take pride in the good of your own culture
• Make friends with people who are different
• Interrupt perjure, harassment and take against oppression even when people from the target group are not present
• Develop a vision of a healthy multicultural society

If the fire and rescue community is to move forward the diversity dialogue must be moved past the point of Conceptualization to becoming OPERATIONAL.

Review:

Connecting Emergency Response with a Diverse Community

• Identify the Assumptions that block effective work environment
• Identify provider’s behaviors that block acceptance
• Identify Assumptions and behaviors that promote acceptance
• Identify nine factors that promote acceptance and productivity
• Identify the characteristics of an agent of change

Remotivation:

"Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or act to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send a forward a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Thanks to you each for your ripple. Robert F. Kennedy (June 6, 1966)

Assignment:

• List Assumptions that both effective race/gender relations?
• What Factions block one’s ability to accept change?
• What becoming an Ally for improving relations between people who are different, means to you.
• List the characteristics of an agent of change
• What are the characteristics of a “Change Agent?”