Listening Accurately to High and Low Context Communicators

💡 You are an international school teacher and you have these two conversations with parents of your students:

✳ “It’s an important day for my child next Wednesday because of the whole-school event you are hosting. Grandmother’s eightieth birthday is also on that day.”
You heard this from a parent who is from an Asian high context communication culture. What message should you hear?
(a) My child is looking forward to both the school event and the family birthday celebration
(b) I will help my child balance home and family commitments
(c) My child will be absent from school due to our family event

✳ “I can’t attend our scheduled parent/teacher meeting next week. At some point, could you please share with me some feedback about my child’s progress?”
You heard this from a parent who is from a North American low context communication culture. What message should you hear?
(a) I can’t come so please email or call me with an update.
(b) Our meeting isn’t valuable at this time so let’s wait until the next opportunity.
(c) Please offer to reschedule our appointment so we can meet another time.

⬆ A high context culture is one in which communication is typically indirect, nuanced, based on shared assumptions, and messages can be read between the lines. Messages are often implied and not clearly stated. National cultures which tend to be high context include China, Japan, Indonesia, India, and moderately high context cultures are Spain, Brazil, and France, for example.

⬇ Low context cultures, on the other hand, prize communication that is explicit, direct, and simple. People generally say what they mean. The USA, Australia, and Canada tend to be the most low context, with the UK and Scandinavian countries moderately low context.

✳ For the first scenario, (c) might be the real message because you are meant to read between the lines and allow the parent to save face by not needing to explain something awkward, such as the child’s absence. For the second scenario, (a) is likely the real message because low context communicators say what they mean more directly, so you can go ahead and reply with an email or call about the child’s progress.

Read more about high and low context communication for international school staff here.

💡 Where are you on the high/low context communication scale?
💡 What insight are you having about your communication with parents?

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