Intercultural Leadership – 7 Links to Learn More!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by arturo.romeropereda@afs.org

Leadership is a word that we hear a lot nowadays. The concept has been studied from multiple perspectives and one of them, intercultural leadership, is becoming increasingly relevant as organizations become more culturally diverse. Many theorists see leadership as a set of practices that anyone can perform in relationship with others, whatever our role may be: “[Leadership is] a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task” (Chemers, 1997, An Integrative Theory of Leadership).

For those of you interested in the topic of leadership and education, we have prepared a list of seven links with interesting research areas and examples of intercultural leadership in different cultural/regional contexts and roles:

Educating global leaders: Exploring intercultural competence in leadership education: An introductory paper on the importance of intercultural competence in Leadership Education by Justin Irving, published in the Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies.
Ten tips for the intercultural leader: Ten quick tips on intercultural leadership from a business perspective.
Intercultural leadership: Lessons from leaders in Southeast Asia: Report on practices and testimonies of leaders in Southeast Asian organizations and contexts by Arnaud Despierre for Spencer Stuart Consulting.
A leader’s experiences of intercultural education in an elementary school: Changes and challenges: The experience of an Icelandic school principal introducing Intercultural Learning in an elementary school and the challenges faced.
Intercultural competence for future leaders of educational technology and its evaluation: An editorial on the role of intercultural competence in Teacher Education and how it should be an integral part of education professions.
List of resources on Global Leadership from the Global Leadership Advancement Center in San José State University, California.
Distance program at the International Institute for Global Leadership: self-directed and based on readings by level and written assignments.

Are you a globally focused youth?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by laura.schaack

Do you consider yourself a global citizen? Would you like to become more involved in global issues? The organization New Global Citizen (GNC) provides globally conscious youth with opportunities to make their reach go farther and their impact stronger in relation to some of the world’s greatest challenges. It’s an organization for youth– and by youth!

One youth team focused on the right to education for all children around the world.

GNC offers a wide range of global projects, such as providing sanitation and clean water, shelter, education and doing many more important works to improve vulnerable populations around the world. Their main focus is sustainable development that is not the “cookie-cutter” approach. Instead, they hope to find solutions while keeping the population and culture in mind.

For those of you in education, they also have initiatives for you to use in your classroom, including team building exercises and curriculum to develop intercultural competency.

If you are a youth interested in global causes, this is an organization you might want to explore! Learn more on their website: http://www.newglobalcitizens.org/ or their blog: http://newglobalcitizens.wordpress.com/

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.

Up With People, Up with ICL!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by laura.schaack

Innovation in the way people are connecting is becoming more and more mainstreamed into youth culture, creating global citizens in such a multicultural world. Yet, there are several organizations, like AFS, that have had this as part of their missions for decades. One such organization is Up With People, a global educational organization that brings the world together through service and music. Founded in 1965, Up With People emphasizes the need for a global perspective, along with an attitude of volunteerism, community, and intercultural understanding. As they explain on their website:

Up with People was founded on the principle of using music as a means to communicate with and inspire people. In each city we visit, Up with People cast members perform a vibrant and inspiring musical stage show that brings the community together to enjoy a night of entertainment while sparking people to take action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world.

Beyond performing with a talented group of international singers, Up With People also offers service opportunities for those participating in its programs. These service opportunities include hosting music summer camps and taking part in intercultural education initiatives, among other activities.

Learn more by visiting their site, or viewing the video below:

Many AFS participants return from their time abroad invigorated to contribute more toward intercultural understanding. Up With People is a great example of a way you can continue interacting with cultures and expanding even further your intercultural competence. Whether you were an AFS participant, host family, volunteer, classmate, or otherwise touched by AFS, you may feel a calling to further promote global interconnectedness and understanding. With organizations such as Up With People, its clear that your options are not limited, and hobbies are not necessarily secondary.

Interview with Tatsushi Arai, Professor in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation

Posted on April 23, 2012 by charlotte.steinke@afs.org

How do you deal with complicated conflicts, when two or more contradicting positions make a solution seem impossible? How can you transform the conflict so it becomes easier to manage?

Tatsushi Arai, professor at the SIT Graduate Institute, has recently given an interview to the SIT Graduate Institute Blog about his new book, Creativity and Conflict Transformation: Alternative Pathways to Peace. In the interview, he explains how creativity can help to transform intergroup conflicts.

Arai’s idea about what creativity means regarding conflict transformation is very different from a standard understanding of creativity that may come to mind – Michelangelo, maybe, or Einstein. To Tatsushi Arai, creativity for conflict transformation is not something of individual capability, but something that happens in a group. How so?

Tatsushi Arai, Professor in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation

Creative conflict transformation, as Arai sees it, happens through continuous dialogue and continuous interaction. It is shown when a small number of those who are involved in a conflict come up with unconventional ideas about why the conflict exists at all – with a different story about the causes of the conflict. When others feel they can accept these new explanations, the conflict can be transformed: goals shift, the evaluation of the conflict changes – and new solutions become possible.

Arai presents and analyzes 16 examples of how intergroup conflicts have been transformed in the past. The cases he looks at range from conflicts on the community level to international conflicts. He shows how the breakthroughs of conflict transformation became possible and what the elements are that lead to a re-evaluation of the conflict, and consequently to its transformation.

In the interview, you can learn more about Tatsushi Arai, his book, and find examples of what creative conflict transformation can mean. His ideas can inspire our work as AFSers, and improve how we help others connect. To understand the underlying principles of conflicts and how to transform conflicts is to have access to a very powerful tool. When we combine it with our awareness of cultural differences, possible misinterpretations and different ways of how conflicts are approached in different cultures, we can be even more successful and responsible in our day to day lives – in the intercultural environment of AFS and elsewhere.

Engaging with Difference: The Essential Work of AFS

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Anna.Collier

By Christian Kurten, Chairperson of the AFS Board of Trustees

The following is a transcript of remarks given by Christian Kurten in his address to the Intercultural Competence and Conflict Resolution Symposium organized by AFS Sweden in Stockholm on 21 October 2011 and attended by various dignitaries including the members of Sweden’s royal family. Read more about the Symposium in the Intercultural Link Newsletter, v3, i1.

Your Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria, distinguished speakers and honored guests: In 1998 John Hume, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Irish politician said “All conflict is about difference; whether the difference is race, religion, or nationality the European visionaries decided that difference is not a threat, difference is natural. Difference is the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”

Our AFS statement of purpose says that we help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world, and we do this by reaching out to a diverse community of global citizens determined to build bridges between cultures. As we prepare to begin our discussions today on the role of intercultural education in contributing to peace building, I cannot help remarking on the number of our distinguished speakers and guests who have done so much to work towards building a more peaceful world. Many of you are former or current AFS participants and volunteers and I believe that your presence here is not mere coincidence.

As an educational organization, AFS believes that learning about another culture through immersion in a school, family, and daily life in a community teaches us at a very human level that there is more than one way of looking at the world, more than one truth, and more than one way of being right. Intercultural learning thus helps us embrace diversity. When we become interculturally competent, we are more willing and able to engage appropriately and effectively with those who are different from us. AFS helps people develop intercultural competence by fostering knowledge, skills and attitudes that broaden our cultural perspectives. These skills are increasingly important in today’s interconnected world where we interact so widely with people from many cultures.

If all conflict is about difference, as Hume said, then helping people to develop intercultural competences that translate into a willingness to positively engage with others who are different from us is essential work, and that is the essential work of AFS.

Thank you.

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?