Social Interaction | Growthfolio

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Social Interaction
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
— Henry Ford

Legend:
🟦 [IDEA] – worldview, belief, broad notion

🟩 [CONCEPT] – more defined notion used analytically

🟥 [THEORY] – system of ideas explaining something

🟪 [FRAMEWORK] – structured lens guiding application

🟧 [TOOL] – practical mechanism used in practice

Summary

Understanding Social Interaction as a learning outcome goes further than working in group settings and understanding social norms and stigmas. Social Interaction is the skill of cultivating ease and flexibility in engagement with others, recognizing that social settings are dynamic and governed by both spoken and unspoken rules.

It focuses on the complex, reciprocal, and shared effort required to move fluidly between different interaction types, such as one-on-one professional relationships, task-oriented project groups, and exploratory divergent groups, providing opportunities to successfully adapt one’s behaviour. Achieving this outcome relies on developing acute self-awareness and empathy through hands-on experiences and practice. Allowing one to actively listen, accurately read social cues, assess group power dynamics, and most crucially, respond constructively to disagreements and conflict with an ethical and responsible framework.

Course Connections

Courses such as Leadership Foundations (RCLP 1001) and Practicing Leadership in Community Projects (RCLP 2001) emphasized collaboration, active listening, and shared leadership. In Images and Insights (RCLP 4031) and Leadership in Cross-Cultural Contexts (RCLP 3002), I learned how communication norms shift across environments and how cultural, emotional, and personal contexts shape interaction.

These lessons translated directly into practice through my team-based work with Partners for Youth, where effective communication was necessary for safe program delivery and emotional containment in group dynamics. Additionally, working in NB Power’s customer service environment and living and working internationally in Vietnam (LEAD 3046) required adaptability in language, tone, non-verbal communication, and conflict navigation. These combined experiences have strengthened my ability to engage thoughtfully, responsively, and respectfully with others across diverse settings.

Indicators of Change

1. Shifting from “managing behaviour” to “understanding behaviour”: In group home work, as well as my work with Partners For Youth at "Camp Tippy Canoe”, as well as through the “Sport3” programs, I learned to view reactions through a trauma-informed lens, responding with patience instead of correction. This was the beginning of unlearning the assumption that all conflict is personal or intentional.

2. Ability to adapt communication to particular audiences: Working with youth, coworkers, NB Power clients, and international colleagues, I have learned to adjust tone, pace, and language depending on who I was speaking with and the context of our conversation (audience specific communication). This helped me realize that one communication style cannot fit all situations.

"So What?"

My own growth and development in the realm of Social Interaction has reshaped my understanding of communication from something that is primarily verbal to something that is culturally structured, relational, and grounded in shared meaning. During my International Internship In Hanoi (RCLP 3046) and its preparatory course, we examined "Peach & Coconut" cultural communication frameworks, adapted from the work of Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997), and expanded upon by Hayes (2021). This model illustrates how cultural norms inform social openness: Canadian interaction tends to be “peach-like,” which means warm, friendly, and quick to share casual personal information, while Vietnamese interaction prioritizes a careful layer of formality and reserve, more “coconut-like” in the gradual process of entering deeper relational space. Recognizing this distinction allowed me to understand that my familiar approach to conversation was not neutral, but culturally situated. What I previously interpreted as “awkward distance” was, in reality, a different cultural logic of trust-building.

Similarly, my academic exploration into freedom of expression and public–private boundaries introduced me to Kleinen’s (2015) discussion of “Kính nhi viễn chi,” a principle emphasizing personal autonomy paired with non-interference in the public sphere. This framework helped me see why certain topics that are commonplace in Canadian small talk, politics, identity, and personal dilemmas are all treated differently in Vietnamese conversational contexts. Rather than assuming avoidance or fear, I began to see the protection of social harmony as the guiding value. This insight strengthened my ability to listen first, observe context, and enter conversations with intention rather than urgency.

The Integrative Forum courses (RCLP 1111/1112) had already introduced me to dialogical reflection and the practice of allowing meaning to emerge collaboratively. However, it was not until my time abroad that this practice became practical rather than theoretical. The experience of navigating linguistic limits, translation tools, gesture-based communication, and social subtlety demonstrated that effective social interaction does not depend on speaking well, but on attunement: to timing, tone, relational positioning, and shared cultural reference points.

This development shows that communication is not simply the transmission of information, but the negotiation of meaning across cultural, linguistic, and relational boundaries. It required me to suspend assumptions, tolerate ambiguity, and accept that understanding often develops slowly, indirectly, and relationally. Through this, I began to recognize interaction not as a performance of self, but as a mutual exchange that is shaped by history, culture, and worldview.

Moving Forward:

I will...

Apply cultural attunement by adapting communication style to relational and contextual expectations.
Prioritize observation and listening before contributing in unfamiliar social environments.
Use ambiguity tolerance to navigate cross-cultural conversations with patience and intentionality.
Engage in dialogue as a shared meaning-making process rather than a performance of self.

Frameworks & Sources

Hachey, J. (2021). Peach & Coconut Cultures: Navigating Small Talk Around the World. MyWorldAbroad Quick Guide.
Kleinen, J. (2015). Vietnam: One‑Party State and the Mimicry of Civil Society. IRASEC Occasional Paper Series, No. 3. Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud‑Est contemporaine.
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Renaissance College Council. (2015). Renaissance College Learning and Leadership Outcomes Guide.
Trompenaars, A., & Hampden‑Turner, C. (1997). Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Taylor, D. (Ed.) (2011). Michel Foucault: Key Concepts. Acumen Publishing. — includes McGushin’s chapter on subjectivity.
McGushin, E. (2011). Foucault’s theory and practice of subjectivity. In D. Taylor (Ed.), Michel Foucault: Key Concepts (pp. 127–142). Acumen Publishing.

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