Experiences and Coping Strategies of Host Families in International Youth Exchange

Autor/inn/en	Weidemann, Arne; Bluml, Frances
Titel	Experiences and Coping Strategies of Host Families in International Youth Exchange
Quelle	In: Intercultural Education, 20 (2009), (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-5986
Schlagwörter	Grounded Theory; Student Research; Intercultural Communication; Coping; Cultural Differences; Comparative Analysis; Personal Narratives; Interviews; Parent Attitudes; Student Exchange Programs; Masters Programs; Personality Traits; Motivation; Self Esteem; Adolescent Development; Cultural Awareness; Foreign Countries; Family Environment; Attribution Theory; Interpersonal Relationship; Role; Role Conflict; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Studentenforschung; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Bewältigung; Kultureller Unterschied; Erlebniserzählung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Elternverhalten; Schüleraustausch; Magister course; Magisterstudiengang; Individual characteristics; Personality characteristic; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; psychologische; Motivation (psychologisch); Self-esteem; Selbstaufmerksamkeit; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Ausland; Familienmilieu; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Rollen; Rollenkonflikt; Deutschland
Abstract	Twenty narrative interviews were conducted with German host parents between 2006 and 2007 about their experiences with a one-year stay of a guest student in their family. The study took place within the context of a student research project as part of the research-oriented MA course "Intercultural Communication-Intercultural Competence" at Chemnitz University of Technology. The interviews were analyzed by means of Grounded Theory, which revealed that the guest families' experiences are determined not only by the personality/character and sociocultural background of the guest student, but to a higher degree by the specific motives, wishes and expectations of the host parents. Both socially shared and individual norms, attitudes and values proved to guide the host parents' interaction with their guest, to some extent explicitly, but mainly in an unconscious and implicit way. The action chains as explicated by the interviewees can be understood as individual coping strategies for cultural differences, which in themselves can turn out to be problematic (i.e. when they mainly serve the regulation of self-esteem, or when experienced difference is wrongly attributed to culture instead of, for example, developmental processes of adolescence). Hence, in comparative analysis, both challenges and potentials of intercultural learning (as defined in the CfP) from hosting a guest student could be identified, and recommendations for better practice could be derived. In particular, the latter should be discussed in a practitioner-scientist dialogue. (Contains 4 notes and 3 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10