Trust Before Change—Building Trust Across Cultures

Victoria Surtees, Teaching and Learning Specialist in internationalization, recently hosted the latest installment of the Building Trust Across Cultures workshop.

Like all things in life, changemaking relies on effective communication. The guiding principles of inclusive empowerment and reciprocity reflect the importance of mutual respect in all interactions, engaging in active listening, and fostering environments that result in solutions that are not transactional, but deeply relational.

“Trust is the foundation,” says Surtees, when asked about the connection between trust-building practices and these changemaking principles. “I think that trust-building piece is what fosters innovation, fosters learning and creativity.”

The workshop, which began in 2022, came to fruition after a request from the IT department. Being a highly multicultural department, they were seeking ways to build community within their teams and when engaging with students. Surtees explains the workshop covers cultural humility, and what that means as a “foundation for understanding, trust-building, [and] knowing that we can’t know or understand everything about someone else’s experience.”

Participants learn about various trust models, reflect on their own priorities in trust-building, and are encouraged to think about how their approaches might differ from someone else’s. They also discuss the difference between relationship-focused and task-focused trust-building practices. Higher education has typically been very task-focused, Surtees explains, and she is intentionally thinking about how to be inclusive of other methods.

When asked how the workshop has changed over the last two years, Surtees refers to her focus on internationalization, and thinking of culture from that perspective. One example is the importance of acknowledging and addressing the various knowledge levels of international faculty, staff, and students regarding Indigenization, settler colonialism, and Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Workshops of this nature are often the initial seed planted that will grow into something beautiful and impactful, given the proper care and attention are invested. Surtees says that she “[doesn’t] often get to see what happens afterwards,” but that it “catalyses a journey for some people.”

The Building Trust Across Cultures workshop is a powerful example of the changemaking practice of turning ideas into action. Surtees describes it as a “great place for colleagues to get to know each other, [and] to collaborate.” The 90-minute workshop is offered through HR as a professional development session, but it is also available to faculty and staff units on request. Contact Victoria Surtees at the Teaching and Learning Centre to request this workshop for your team.