Workshop Notes

Methods of Intercultural Training (#5 Kathryn Sorrells) Use and design of traditional methods Explore non-traditional methods Create methods to respond to audience needs Strength and limitations of methods Role of the teacher/facilitator Content should drive the method. What is the goal? Who is the audience? What to consider before selecting a method: # of participants and who they are (demographics); audience analysis Time: double time of simulation for debrief Space Language Environment Money, resources/materials Goals/objectives of training Time of day Cultural diversity Level of receptivity (mandatory vs. voluntary) After you select a method, you have to: 1. Wrap (set it up) 2. Debrief 3. Connect (to overall goals) METHOD #1: Critical Incidents Describe enough so you realize there’s a problem but don’t explain why it’s a problem. Make sense of it during debriefing. Interview people: the most effective critical incidents are the those that are realistic and relevant to the work you’re doing. Brainstorm ideas and possibilities, get people thinking vs. right & wrong, teaching the theories, etc. Assign learning points. Don’t try to do too much with one critical incident. How are you using it? To realize ignorance? Giving it too soon can be a problem. They may need more background. A skilled facilitator must know timing. Can use reverse methods where it’s your culture that isn’t being understood!

Set up a set of norms in your classroom/training room: create a non-defensive environment. METHOD #2: Role Plays Create a brief scenario and roles instead of a script (allows for more flexibility). Facilitators must know how to respond to negativity from trainees. Role plays can be done in teams: take a time out, coach one another Some people may not be comfortable being watched (practicing skills vs. a demonstration) To trainees: what skills do you have to work on? It’s not about how well you perform: it’s a practice, not a product! Take a time out and ask the person role playing how they feel. Different cultures may have different attitudes toward role plays. Don’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Try to find someone from the culture to advise you on the role play and make it more authentic; we tend to exaggerate based on limited experience We’re not teaching you how to be another culture but how to effectively interact with another culture. METHOD #3: Human Sculpting Use your body, tap into creativity. What have you created? Cultures frame creativity. Not depositing knowledge (banking model): pull out vs. put in; we co-create knowledge, we make it, we create it. Transformation of objects: transform the meaning of an object. It’s important how you set up the training and prepare for it so people understand why they’re doing it. METHOD #4: Simulation Who’s had an intercultural experience? How did it feel? Be aware of your audience: acknowledge diversity and variety of approaches. Simulations pull everything together. Facilitation Skills 1. Create an inclusive environment (safe and challenging) a. Safe: model responding to people; be interested in what people say (what’s being said is sacred and valuable); create ground rules ahead of time and the group can help to create some norms; remind about respect for everyone; respond to negativity, don’t just ignore it

2. Meaning-making skills a. Contextualizing (set-up): explaining why you’re doing it, how it relates to real-life experiences, expectations of what you want them to learn (culture make meaning differently), weaving and connecting (linking something back to the main idea); intercultural praxis; framing (micro/macro); positioning (in relation to participants); dialogue; reflection; action 3. Debriefing: very critical, the learning happens here (it takes two times the time of the activity to debrief) DIE model Description: describe the interaction Interpretation: ascribe meaning from your own culture Evaluation: put a judgment on it (based on our own norms) De-roling is important after the simulation. Address complications that can arise from this. METHOD #5: Process Map Focus on the process Visual (learning styles) Brings new insights, new POVs Symbolic (provides distance and depersonalization) The language is neutral Everyone is represented in it Team-building METHOD #6: Journaling Opportunities for reflection and processing information Meaning-making Creative Visual journals Can be prepared in advance or done privately Before and after word association Reflection: different ways to do this (free writes, lists, etc.) METHOD #7: Storytelling Visual: photo essay Used during simulations, critical incidents, etc. Pictures that aren’t clear: how people make sense of images METHOD #8: Icebreakers Connect them to the content of the workshop