During Auckland’s lockdown last year, some of our Year 10 students were busy zooming with students in Vietnam and Korea as part of the Global Competence Certificate course run by Education NZ and Massey University.

They reflected on their own personal cultural responses and how/ why all people interpret and respond to situations through their own cultural lens. These graduates have broadened their perspective and learnt some good strategies for their futures in any group situation. Here are some of their comments:

“My favourite topic so far has been learning about the difference between stereotyping and making cultural generalizations. The way you speak to people in your own culture can be different to how people of another culture speak in terms of high and low context”. - Natasha 

“Having the chance to talk with strangers, let alone strangers from another country, is really cool. We have in-depth conversions about realistic situations. Every discussion is amazing because I get to see others’ perspectives on the situation. Even the modules that we watch give us a chance to understand more about others. I really enjoy this course and the opportunity it has given me.” - Zaynah

We are very proud of how these Year 10s made use of the long ‘learning-at-home’ time to complete this valuable course, and are looking forward to seeing how they put what they learnt into practice this year!