RGLP Participants Self-Assess Using the Intercultural Developmental Inventory

 
Before week three of the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program, “Self Assessment with IDI,” began, participants took an online test, the Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI). This purposefully vague assignment (RGLP’s leaders intentionally did not provide much context), asked me to respond to many statements that evaluated my culture with respect to others.

Our Monday session of RGLP came as a relief as we welcomed Amy Newcomb, the Student Programs Officer for Dartmouth’s Dickey Center for International Understanding, and Vincent Mack, our program officer, to guide our understanding of the IDI. In a series of five steps, beginning with denial and ending with acceptance, the IDI tracks one’s intercultural competence. Newcomb explained and Mack outlined the stages, their strengths and weaknesses, and strategies for increasing one’s intercultural development at each point. Newcomb stressed that the stages do not end with acceptance. Rather, “visualize an arrow extending past the final stage,” she recommended, for intercultural development is never a complete process—one can always improve. The group then broke up into smaller teams to play an IDI board game. The game tested our knowledge of the five stages, and asked us to apply the IDI to various situations grounded in Dartmouth life.

I especially enjoyed getting to know my teammates. RGLP represents a fairly diverse cross section of the Dartmouth community, and it was interesting to hear people’s perspectives. At the end of the session, the bigger group came back together for a debriefing. After hearing about the stages in detail, I am excited to begin my own journey towards improving my IDI, both in RGLP and beyond. The skills and benefits that come from knowing how to treat cross-cultural experiences will prove valuable when I study abroad, when I enter the workplace, and generally, as part of a citizen of this increasingly globalized society.

--Amanda Harkavy ‘17, RGLP Spring 2014 Participant