One keynote speaker will be Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and professor at New York University School of Law. You can see Bryan A. Stevenson in this Ted talk on the topic of social justice.

Another keynote speaker will be Dr. Janet Bennett, Executive Director of the Intercultural Communication Institute, sponsor of the of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication, and director of the Master of Arts Degree in Intercultural Relations sponsored by ICI and the University of the Pacific. Dr. Bennett’s work in the intercultural field is well-known around AFS. She is one of several key theorists in the materials and programs prepared and delivered by the AFS Education & Intercultural Learning Team.

Click here for a list of the concurrent conference sessions. Registration is still open, if interested in attending click here.

There are many educational programs for young people in the fields of intercultural learning and international relations. While their approaches may differ due to the unique subject matter of the two fields, these programs have an overall goal of increasing understanding and knowledge across societies.

One of the most well known youth driven international programs with a basis in international relations is Model United Nations. These programs allow young adults to represent a different member state of the United Nations in a setting that mimics the actual deliberations and functions of the real United Nations. Through these events, students can argue their own nation’s position or a completely different nation’s position. Together, the students debate international issues, draft resolutions and form diplomatic alliances.

While these programs take the form of fun, friendly competitions, they allow students to learn about the various cultural and political issues that are on the forefront of global affairs. They learn about why states have their particular positions on issues and use this knowledge to collaborate on common interests and bridge differences.

There are also many youth organizations that provide education about differences from an intercultural learning standpoint. For example Youth Peace Camp is one such organization that uses ICL to educate youth from conflict ridden regions. At the initiative of the Council of Europe in 2004, this organization has had a presence in areas of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. A more culture specific organization is the UK-German Youth Ambassadors Programme. This initiative engages youth interested in German and British culture to participate in seminars and other activities in order to advance the understanding of people from both countries.

In each organization, culture is studied on its own term on a very personal level. This is in contrast to an international relations (IR) centered youth program, such as the model UN, because IR focuses on formal policies among different governments. However, there are other youth centered international organizations that combine the government policy centered approach of IR and the culture learning strategies of ICL. YC Social Diplomacy is a non-profit that seeks to enhance the tolerance and understanding of young people of the Black Sea region through a combination of youth-driven government policy research and essay writing and cultural exchanges, seminars and other personal educational activities. This organization combines concepts of IR and ICL into one comprehensive program designed to advance awareness and understanding throughout the region.

AFS is a youth organization that is centered in the principles of ICL. Its programs offer culture learning in an educational context. While different, IR based programs and ICL based programs enrich each other. They offer different perspectives on many overlapping topics, all of which are firmly based on the principle that education is the key to understanding differences.

Paul Edinger is a contributing writer for the ICL Blog. He was an intern at AFS International in 2011 in the Development and Branding department, and continued in 2012 in the Intercultural Learning department. He holds a B.A. in International Studies.

The report encourages people’s development of ‘transglobal communication skills’ or an ability to communicate effectively with others around the world. These skills are seen as high priority, as goods and services continue to exchange across country borders. The report also cites a rise in global competition over jobs and an added value in learning how to be more cultural aware with those with backgrounds different from what we might be used to.

Adaptability is also key to rising global challenges. With the spread of disease, climate change, and financial crises, the ability to work collaboratively across international teams in spite of race, religion or nationality could be priceless. Moreover, as technology advances, understanding these issues can only strengthen diplomacy.

The U.S. Department of Education developed their International Strategy with the following goals in mind: to educate the increasingly diverse U.S. society, promote diplomacy, and strengthen the ability to address global challenges, as well as reflect upon the importance of international engagement.

The U.S. is not alone in creating such educational strategies. If you are not from the U.S., are you aware of your country’s educational and/or intercultural policies and strategies? And if you are from the U.S., do you know where your State government stands on these issues?

This project was initiated by a group of Missouri students who were able to produce 114 video testimonials from people including former President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Auma Obama, and activist and athlete Beatrice Faumuina to shed light the fundamental commonalities that people of diverse backgrounds and ages hold.

“Journeys of Belonging tackles mistaken religious, cultural and gender identity stereotypes like the inaccurate assumption that non-Westerners hold contrary values to those of Americans, the British and other Europeans.”

You can find the videos on the official website and sort them by topic or person interviewed. This project will also continue with a panel discussion in Washington DC in December (check website for updates) in which the speakers will build on some of the topics arising from the videos: personal identity, the relationship between religion and democracy, the “us versus them” mentality and many more topics.

“Part of what it means to develop the skills to live in multicultural, diverse societies is to recognize that we are the product of diverse strands of identity. Personal stories play an important role,” Emmanuel Kattan, Project Manager, Our Shared Future.

We leave you with a short video as an introduction to the project Journeys of Belonging.

These questions arise while reading the article “Textbooks around the world. It ain’t necessarily so”, published in The Economist on 13th October 2012. Textbooks are an essential tool in education and what is taught often spurs controversy, because it may challenge or confirm our accounts of national history, of our culture and the cultures of our neighbors.

An international reference in textbook research is the Georg Eckert Institute, which has collected textbooks from over 160 countries and analyzed their content, maps, images, etc., and has found significant reason to be concerned about this topic. The most controversial areas are history and geography, but opinions also differ around the content of religion and science. Language is a critical area too, especially with regard to which foreign languages are chosen to teach and learn in the general curriculum. The choice of a language may or may not represent the language and the culture that a community speaks. Children and communities expected to learn in a language that is not their first or native language receive subtle messages that their language is not as good, as precise or developed to transmit knowledge and educate. Because language is so rooted in culture, by extension they also sense a devaluing of culture.

Governments and communities all over the world have used textbooks as tools to influence and modify national culture and attitudes, and continue to do so. Sometimes these policies are used to depict the neighbor as undesirable and dangerous. While textbooks can be used to spread knowledge and tolerance, it is important to be mindful of the knowledge limitations and intolerance which can also be built as a result of incomplete or biased information.

We must explore the ideologies printed in educational texts around the world and remain mindful that this is part of our work as global educators in AFS with a mission to build knowledge, skills and understanding that create a more just and peaceful world. As facilitators of intercultural learning, global professionals and emerging global citizens it is critical that we are aware of the messages being sent by our community’s educational institutions. We can reflect on these and ask ourselves how messages are rooted in cultural norms. How do these messages solidify or contradict our values and our understanding of what is right and wrong?

The article first reviews the Cultural Immersion Programs at Indiana University‘s School of Education, which places students who will become certified teachers in an eight-week or semester program where they teach full-time in a new cultural environment. This environment can be abroad, on Navajo reservations in the Southwest of the United States, or in multicultural urban schools in the U.S. The main purpose of this experience is to immerse the future teachers as active participants of the host culture, working with students and other teachers and completing a project and written assignments that allow them to “dig below the surface of that cultural iceberg.” The School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego requires that all students have an international experience during the course of their program. This requirement, which seemed controversial at the beginning, has been accompanied by a wider offer of international programs that do not necessarily equal studying abroad. International experiences can also occur in the San Diego community, in multicultural environments or courses that allow students to explore the impact of international and intercultural relations in the local context, or working with international scholars or partners in the San Diego area. The objectives of the program are to “develop a deeper understanding of another culture; appreciate its differences and similarities; consider its gifts and challenges; and understand the educational and practical implications of cultural diversity and globalization issues.”

Charlotte West also features the efforts of University of Maryland‘s College of Education in developing an infrastructure that allows students, professors and departments to create international initiatives. A key part of this infrastructure is a university-wide international advisory committee that captures cross-departmental dialogue and acts as a hub to share ideas, resources and best practices to enhance international and intercultural programs across the school. This “think-tank” came along with the creation of an Office of International Initiatives, travel funds for students and professors, and an initiative to create an international experience requirement in certain programs. In their view, this intercultural educational experience should be “integrating, rather than adding on, a global perspective across all course content.” At AFS Intercultural Programs, we also want to foster an intercultural learning experience for our AFS Volunteers and Staff by providing the opportunity to understand international and intercultural challenges in our daily work. We value and admire the initiatives of like-minded professionals and organizations that believe that cultural immersion and exchange can enhance our learning experience, not only that of our participants, and can help us grow as professionals and as individuals.

Two AFS Staff members, Anna Collier (AFS International) and Carolyn Rehn (AFS-USA) are collaborating with a session titled “A Global Curriculum for Intercultural Competence Development,” where they will be presenting the AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program. Attendees will learn more about Intercultural Learning and the way in which AFS develops a collective intercultural competence and a language around intercultural topics.

To attend the SIETAR-USA Conference, you can still register on the website and get ready for four days of exciting intercultural opportunities and learning experiences with the keynote speakers, concurrent sessions and other opportunities to connect with professionals and researchers.

Can’t make it to the SIETAR-USA Conference? SIETAR Baltimore (October 17) and SIETAR Metro New York (October 23) are organizing events this month in the US.

If you are in Japan, the Japan Intercultural Institute is celebrating its 2012 Annual Conference on November 11 in Tokyo. The title of the one-day conference is “Developing Global Leaders: Education and Training for Language, Culture and Confidence” and it will cover a wide variety of topics such as intercultural leadership, bilingualism and biculturalism in a globalized world, and intercultural understanding. To check the presentations, the special workshop and the keynote speaker, go to the conference’s website in the previous link and request a reservation.

Wherever you are, we encourage you to connect with Intercultural Education specialists in your area!

AFS-USA, AFS Indonesia, AFS Malaysia and the US Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam have cooperated with GNG for a media literacy project called the Global Connections: one LENS program. This program is sponsored through the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Through this project, opportunities were offered to students and educators from Indonesia, Malaysia, the United States, and Vietnam to develop their media skills and to get to know each other better through working towards a common goal. The students met online (through video conferences and social networking), and later also in person. The project ended with a local media festival, where students had the opportunity to showcase their public service announcements or digital stories. On the Youtube channel below, you can find videos that were taken during the completion of this project.

This cooperation of AFS and the Global Nomads Group was a big success. It has become more and more common for us, especially for young people, to connect to others via online tools and video conferences. AFS and the Global Nomads Group have pioneered in the area of facilitating youth exchange using these tools, and their positive and very successful experience lets us hope that there is more to come in this area.

The document defines culture, education, language, religion, and diversity (among other concepts) and explains how their interrelation can help clarify what Intercultural Learning means and how best to approach it. UNESCO addresses the question: What is the role of Intercultural Education? and indicates four main objectives:

1) Learning to know. This objective highlights the value of a obtaining a general education, which brings learners into contact with other areas of knowledge and encourages communication.

2) Learning to do. This involves helping learners find their place within society and cultivates specific skills as well as an ability to develop and apply a broad range of new skills in diverse environments.

3) Learning to live together. Acquiring knowledge, skills and values that contribute to a collective spirit of collaboration allow learners to co-exist in societies rich with diversity.

4) Learning to be. Solidifying one’s sense of personality in order to act with autonomy, judgement and personal responsibility. Regard of a person’s potential and right to cultural difference strengthens identity and builds cognitive capacity.

The document proposes three main principles for Intercultural Education:

I: Intercultural Education respects the cultural identity of the learner through the provision of culturally appropriate and responsive quality education for all. This means that the learning content should relate to, and build on the learner’s background and the resources they have access to; also, the knowledge transmission should be culturally appropriate, incorporating local pedagogy and traditional ways of learning and teaching. This way, learners can become deeply involved in the learning process.

II: Intercultural Education provides every learner with the cultural knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to achieve active and full participation in society. This should happen by providing equal access to all forms of education, eliminating discrimination in the education system, facilitating the integration of migrant workers into the education system and respecting their special needs. It should also happen by eliminating prejudice about culturally distinct population groups within a country and by promoting an inclusive learning environment.

III: Intercultural Education provides all learners with cultural knowledge, attitudes and skills that enable them to contribute to respect, understanding and solidarity among individuals, ethnic, social, cultural and religious groups and nations. This should happen by encouraging learners to struggle against racism and discrimination. It can also occur through the development of curricula that promote knowledge about cultural backgrounds and their impact. This means that learners should be aware of how our way of thinking, feeling, and evaluating is shaped by our own cultural background and experience.

By understanding how our background has shaped our values, assumptions, and judgments, we build a base for effective, reflective communication and cooperation across cultures and social boundaries – thereby developing the knowledge, skills, and understanding to create a more just and peaceful world.

The Guidelines on Intercultural Education  are a part of the UNESCO online library, where you can also find other materials to learn more about ICL, Human Rights, Education, Culture, and more.

The United Nations.

An essential part of developing intercultural competence is the ability to analyze and understand a situation. Interculturalists strive to understand how a member of a given culture perceives the world. Similarly, a person with a background in international studies must look at the various reasons why a society or people pursue certain policies. People working within both of these fields ask questions when addressing a situation. Some of these basic questions exemplify how intercultural learning (ICL) is distinct from international relations (IR). Take these questions as examples – In each pair, one question relates more to ICL and the other to IR. Can you guess which?

A) What type of person has authority in this culture?
B) What does the concept of authority mean to the people of this culture?

A) What advantages does this society’s natural environment offer?
B) What does the society’s relationship with the land tell us about its value system?

A) How has a national government planned for long term international challenges?
B) What is the time orientation (long term or short term) of people who belong to the nation’s dominant culture?

The three questions preceded by the letter ‘A’ are typically asked by a person with a background in international relations. The main focus of these questions is to seek answers about how a society organizes and governs itself. In an international context, the answers to these questions would increase our knowledge of the society’s leaders, the practical consequences of its natural resources and overall governing policies.

In contrast, the three questions preceded by the letter ‘B’ relate more to the concepts and theories of ICL. The answers to these questions could help us understand a culture from its own perspective. They could provide us with information about the given culture’s view of authority, why its people interact with the environment in a particular way and in what context the people plan for the future.

While all of these questions focus on foreign cultures, they provide answers that are unique to either the field of international relations or intercultural learning. At AFS, it is common for a sojourner to question why a foreign culture values a particular behavior or belief system. It is equally common for the AFSer to use increased understanding of a host culture as a way to become more accustomed to different situations and interact with different people throughout life. At its core, ICL offers educational strategies to view and comprehend difference on a more personal level. Hence, the concepts and theories are more uniquely suited to the needs of AFS than other subjects with an international focus.

Paul Edinger is a contributing writer for the ICL Blog. He was an intern at AFS International in 2011 in the Development and Branding department, and continued in 2012 in the Intercultural Learning department. He holds a B.A. in International Studies.