AFS USA Resources for Educators

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Eva Vitkova

Global competency, 21st century skills, intercultural communication competence – these are all buzz words present in most curricular discussions and educators’ conversations nowadays. Understanding the importance of the role of educational institutions in nurturing these highly demanded skills is without a doubt the key starting point in shifting the focus of our educational systems. But how do we apply this new approach in practice? How do we work with global competence development in the classroom?

AFS USA, one of AFS Intercultural Programs’ member organizations which runs all of AFS’s exchange programs to and from the US, has recently launched a brand new section on their website that aims to provide inspiration and answers to some of the questions above. Their Educators website offers a variety of resources and tools that are not only relevant for US based Educators, but that can also be used by other teachers around the world.

Browse the Teachers Toolbox that includes suggested lesson plans and curricular resources or learn about the AFS Educational Goals. The portal also presents the various offerings AFS USA has for schools: group educational programs, scholarship opportunities for individual students or AFS school clubs are some of the examples.

Do you want to receive Education and Intercultural Learning news from AFS USA? Subscribe to the Global Classroom Newsletter that will bring new inspiration directly to your inbox every three months!

“Me Exchanged” – an unusual perspective on impact of study abroad

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Eva Vitkova

From http://www.inakoehler.de/ausstellung.html

From http://www.inakoehler.de/ausstellung.html

When we talk about intercultural experiences of young people abroad, we focus primarily on the internal changes that are happening with the young individual. We can hear that “the young person has become a real adult”, “s/he is more mature”, “s/he has learned a new language” or that “s/he is now more prepared to face the reality of our globalized world”. A number of researchers have attempted to describe and interpret what is happening “inside” of the young person. But have you ever thought about what kind of change happens on the outside?

German photographer Ina Köhler posed this question after she saw how her own daughter changed after spending a year abroad. Her experience then motivated her to explore the topic through art, namely photography.

In her project, Ina aimed to capture the impact that a year abroad can show in a person’s face. She invited 30 high-school students from Berlin to pose for a portrait photography both before leaving for abroad as well as after returning home after a year. The collection of portraits was first displayed in her gallery in Berlin and it is now touring various schools in Germany. You can view sample of the portraits on her website or read a more detailed article about the exhibition.

Do you know about any other art projects inspired by intercultural exchange experience? Let us know!

The Value of Intercultural Skills in the Workplace

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Anna.Collier

Intercultural Skills is becoming a buzzword in educational and work environments, but why do employers value such skills? And which specific skills are employers actually looking for? British Council, together with Ipsos and Booz Allen Hamilton (a market research and consulting company, respectively), recently conducted a study on the Value of Intercultural Skills in the Workplace which addressed these particular questions.

The study found that “employers are under strong pressure to find employees who are not only technically proficient, but also culturally astute and able to thrive in a global work environment.”

The intercultural skills that where shown to be most important were:

The ability to understand different cultural contexts and viewpoints
Demonstrating respect for others
Knowledge of a foreign language

And these skills were so highly valued because employees with them:

Brought in new clients
Worked well within diverse teams
Supported a good brand and reputation for their organization

The study also suggested that policy makers and education providers could contribute to the development of these intercultural skills by prioritizing:

Teaching communication skills
Offering foreign language classes
Opportunities for students to gain international experience

These results from British Council’s study provide further justification for the importance of developing intercultural skills and sensitivity to differences – especially for the younger generations who have not yet entered the job market.

AFS is proud to have a long history of providing opportunities for its audiences to develop intercultural skills – as an exchange student, host family, volunteer, or staff! Read about the AFS Educational Goals and the Intercultural Link Learning Program as examples of how AFS activity contributes to this global theme.

A fascinating journey around the World… through photography

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Eva Vitkova

Have you ever dreamed of traveling around the World? Embarking on a journey where you are not limited to a tourist experience, but rather learn about people’s lives, listen to their stories and get an idea of what their usual day looks like? Nothing compares to a real life experience, but you can also do all this without getting on a plane or even leaving your own living room/desk.

Menzel's book, Material World: A Global Family Portrait

Photojournalist Peter Menzel has taken numerous trips around the world and invites us to join him in visiting people’s homes through the photographs that he had taken. Besides being respected for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment, Menzel is also known for producing a number of books that capture the realities of people living in different parts of the world.

His book Material World: A Global Family Portrait (1994) focuses on the material possessions and daily lives of average families around the world. It depicts 30 families from 24 different countries with all their possessions in front of their homes. Pictures are accompanied by essays and background stories of the photographed families. Women in the Material World (1996) is another documentary book, based on his previous work, but focusing specifically on lives of women across the globe.

Another fascinating journey, this time through people’s diets was captured by Menzel in Hungry Planet: What The World Eats (2005) and also in his latest release What I eat: Around the World in 80 Diets (2010). In the first book mentioned, families share what they week diet looks like; in the latter, 80 people are captured with the food and beverages they consume on an average day.

Images from Menzel's book, What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets

To learn more about Menzel’s work and browse through a gallery with a sample of pictures, you can visit Peter Menzel Photography website. Are you and educator and do you wonder how to use this for educational purposes? Then explore the link to educational materials that were developed in addition to the books and that represent an inspiring example of how to bring global perspectives into the classroom.

Global Youth Voice Conference

Posted on September 21, 2012 by laura.schaack

International opportunities for interculturally-minded youth to get involved and collaborate with each other are becoming more and more accessible. A great example is “Global Youth Voice“, an international youth conference which brings together 200 young people from all over the globe with the common intention of finding out how young people can make the world better, together. An innovative approach to international organization, the project began in 2011 with a small group of 8 young people who dreamt of a place where all the intercultural-driven youth could collaborate and be in contact.

This year’s conference took place in Moscow, Russia on the 18^th of August, and was held at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It is one of the three conferences that together make up the AISEC International Congress, an international event to plan projects for social and economic development. At the Global Youth Voice event, two AFS staff members had the opportunity to take a more active role and act as facilitators for one of the sessions.

Tom McLeod, an AFS returnee (Australia 2000-2001) and current Intern at the AFS Russia office in Moscow, along with Nonna Kovrizhnykh, Partner Director of AFS Russia, and Organisational Development Coordinator Natalia Zakharova facilitated a session on Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance. The 10-day conference hopes to foster a positive global impact in the way youth collaborate and interact, and aims to build a global perspective for future generations.

Deep Culture Learning | Webinar with Young SIETAR

Posted on August 20, 2012 by charlotte.steinke@afs.org

Young Sietar is an international organization of young professionals in the field of Intercultural Learning that regularly provides its members webinars on numerous intercultural topics. One of these, an online webinar on “Deep Culture Learning: The Cognitive Unconscious and the International Brain” will take place on September 15, 2012 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm BST (British Summer Time). To check availability and to register for this webinar, click here.

This webinar addresses the fundamentals of neurology, cognition, and perception and by presenting the concept of “Deep Culture Learning” Joseph Shaules, author of the book Deep Culture: The Hidden Challenges of Global Living, invites participants to discover ways to get in touch deeply with a new culture - beyond the tip of the iceberg. Shaules argues that if we learn a culture, we will more deeply impact our brain’s unconscious “Auto-Pilot”, also known as our “Cognitive Unconscious”.

Joseph Shaules is an intercultural educator who has worked and lived in Japan, Mexico, and Europe for more than 20 years. He is now an associate professor at the Rikkyo University Graduate School of Intercultural Communication, Tokyo. He is the author of many books, including “Beneath the Surface: A Beginner’s Guide to the Deep Culture Experience” (Intercultural Press); “Identity” (Oxford University Press), and “Deep Culture: The Hidden Challenges of Global Living” (Multilingual Matters). Shaules works, thinks, and writes in English, Japanese, French and Spanish.

As an educational organization, AFS offers young people the opportunity to spend time abroad and to engage in intercultural learning. With support from volunteers and staff who have knowledge of intercultural concepts and skillful ways of applying that knowledge, the experience of each participant is shaped. Shaules’ webinar can be an opportunity to get deeply involved with intercultural learning, and to reflect on its importance for the contemporary world.

To learn more about Young Sietar, sign up for the 13th Annual Congress 2012, taking place from 6-9 September 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland!

When China Met Africa 中非遇

Posted on May 9, 2012 by laura.kline-taylor

“When China Met Africa,” a documentary released in 2011, presents an unbiased look at the interactions between Chinese (from the People’s Republic of China) and Zambians in an impressive example of the large scale impact intercultural encounters can have on businesses and in daily family life. Chinese investment in Africa is the topic of this documentary. Here, the viewer observes the interactions of Chinese and Zambian politicians as well as those of Chinese businessmen with African employees and families.

The viewer witnesses fascinating footage of intercultural encounters, where questions of power and hierarchy are deeply intermingled with the motives and dreams of all who are involved. Optimistic politicians try to demonstrate how the goals of two Chinese investors, one in the farming business, the other building roads, can benefit both China and Zambia.

Without mutually agreed upon, pre-defined methods of negotiation, however, and only a limited common framework for communicating and relationship-building, it will be difficult to achieve the goal on common grounds, and in collaboration with the local workers.

Few are able to speak a common language well enough to communicate without major problems and neither party has enough knowledge about the other to anticipate the misunderstandings or conflicts before they arise. Zambians and Chinese use their own frames of reference in this documentary to judge their own and other’s behavior – and so are frequently startled by unexpected behavior of the other. That lack of common expectations impedes trust-building and results in frequent breakdowns of communication and cooperation. The ways in which all parties attempt to deal with the resulting high levels of stress (smoking, yelling, laughing…and more) are highlighted in the story, as is the importance of developing knowledge of general cultural tendencies.

This knowledge can be developed through a reflective intercultural experience, and the AFS year abroad is one way of providing this kind of structured learning environment. As soon as we can understand what is driving the behaviors of others, we can better understand the thoughts, feelings, and assumptions of those with whom we interact and can have more successful experiences. It is not unnatural to rely on stereotypes in our reactions to unexpected behavior, but if our responses are grounded in culture-general frameworks, we can more constructively approach our differences with others in a way that is likely more productive and pleasant for all.

Watch a video clip here or visit the website to purchase or rent the documentary.

Workplace Skills with Global Reach

Posted on February 10, 2012 by laura.kline-taylor

The organization Institute for the Future works to provide research into future trends and phenomena. Last year it published the report “Future Work Skills 2020″ where it outlined key skills that will significantly aid the workers of tomorrow. Not only does it note a globally connected world as a major driver of change, but it also prominently describes cross-cultural competency as one of the essential work skills of the future.

The world becomes increasingly interconnected from business, to education and politics. Companies and institutions spread their offices throughout the world, very often operating in vastly different cultures. In addition, the advent of the Internet, mobile smart phones, and other technological breakthroughs have connected lives like never before. As a result, the report describes how people of different cultures and backgrounds must interact with an unprecedented closeness.

The world’s growing interconnectivity is the inevitable reason why “Future Work Skills 2020″ defines cross-cultural connectivity as a key skill for the workforce of the future. It is already a valued skill in the workplace, and the ability to understand other cultures and societies will only grow as global connectivity itself does.

“Future Works 2020″ reports on skills that will most likely be essential to success in the workplace and beyond. While the future is never certain, it is a certainty that young people are the leaders of tomorrow. AFS will continue to provide facilitated intercultural learning opportunities to all those involved in our programs, and encourage intercultural competence building by grounding in in theory and reflective practices the practical hands on experience they attain.

Click here to read “Future Works 2020″

Defining Leadership

Posted on December 19, 2011 by laura.kline-taylor

What is leadership? Simon Norton, Director of World Learning’s Youth Program, defines leadership in this video as a concept that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Here he discusses how leadership can be for everybody, especially for youth between the ages of 15-18. At AFS we facilitate the Intercultural Learning in youth of these same ages and promote thier contributions to global initiatives.

How is leadership defined in your local AFS chapter? How does AFS give a leadership voice to our youth and what tools are they provided that allow them to connect their big ideas to their home and host communities? Tell us here by commenting on this video, or create your own video to explore leadership further: What is leadership to you? Who is it for?