ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the experience of teaching “Organisation Behaviour” to a group of Eastern European managers, as part of the ‘Australian Program for Training Eastern Europe’ (APTEE). Communicating across cultures in the classroom or other contexts inevitably requires change in all members of the group involved. It challenges habits, assumptions and everyday taken-for-granteds. If it doesn’t, then probably there is no communication, only the sterile comfort of confirming an entrenched position. This paper is concerned with such challenges. It is sub-titled as ‘a process of adaptation to change’ in order to stress the positive outcomes. The other side of adaptation, regrettably but insistently present, is the resistance to change experienced both in the author and in the group with which she worked. The paper will explore both the adaptations and the resistances; the learning and the failures to learn. There is also some focus on the psychodynamics of change and the paper concludes with some practical considerations for teaching in cross-cultural contexts. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.]
