Intercultural Skills for a Globalised World Workshop PBL

2008_01 PBL No Responses »
Jan 312008

This PBL was a 3-day workshop led by Marjeta Novak, interculturalist from Slovenia. The workshop was highly interactive, including games, discussions, pair and group exercises, a movie, and lots personal examples and stories from participants.

What:

  • intercultural knowledge and skills: one of the key competencies for succeeding in a globalised world
  • how (national) cultures shape our perceptions of the world (and cause misunderstandings…)
  • be alert – differences in verbal and nonverbal communication styles across cultures
  • tools to understand, and deal with, stereotypes and prejudices
  • how to successfully build a “third culture” when cooperating with others
  • how globalisation affects cultures – and ourselves

The participants had the following to say at the end of the workshop:

- “From now on, I’ll better respect cultures very different from my own.”

- “I will try to accept things as they are, rather than attempt to change other people’s behaviour to better suit to my own cultural norms.”

- “I have learnt that everybody deserves respect.”

- “This workshop has made me more human.”

- “From now on, having cultural relativity at the back of my mind, I will try to clarify tricky situations which I don’t know how to interpret.”

- “In the last year and a half, I have tried to change myself to be more ‘in line’ with the prevalent culture of UWC. After this workshop, I know that the culture I come from is just as good as Western cultures are. I’m now again very proud of my own culture’s values and traditions.”

- “I will try to talk more to others, to get to know them better.”

- “I will try to be more open-minded and less judgmental.”

- “I have learnt how important it is to listen well to people.”

- “I will try to look more for signs – not rely merely on words.”

- “I will listen more from now on.”

- “Thanks to this intercultural knowledge, I will take things less personally from now on.”

- “I will show more interest in people and their backgrounds.”

- “From now on, I’ll try to avoid sarcasm.”

- “I will try to be more direct – now that I know how my indirect culture shaped me.”

- “I will observe more, and judge less.”

- “As a result of the workshop, I now accept myself and my culture more.”

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Posted by EAP at 14:46

Non-Violent Conflict Resolution PBL

2008_01 PBL No Responses »
Jan 312008

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This PBL was a 3-day workshop with Robert Krzisnik, psychologist from Slovenia, who has led similar workshops with five generations of RCN students, and once with the staff.

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Content:
Through our socialization we were all taught the violent way of resolving conflict; how to win, how to argue and convince, and most importantly, how to prove we are right. In the long run this, unfortunately, leads to endless struggles and competitions, away from fulfilling relationships.

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In this workshop, through various practical exercises and case studies, participants explored another way of approaching communication and conflict – a non-violent one. After the workshop participants may very well see human relationships, communication and conflict in a fairly different way.

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Themes:

  • Psychological and other causes of conflicts among people
  • Understanding and applying principles of good communication
  • How to deal with conflicts in everyday life
  • Basics of mediating in a conflict between two sides
  • Many practical (and funny) exercises
  • Relevant, real-life examples

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Posted by EAP at 14:36

Indoor Bouldering EAC Description

Indoor Bouldering No Responses »
Jan 282008

Climbing training in the bouldering room, occasional trips to the room in Dale.

Posted by EAP at 01:08

Boat Building EAC Description

Boat Building EAC No Responses »
Jan 282008

A replica of an 18th century “sherrif’s boat” is being built on campus (new naust), using traditional methods. Objectives of this EAC are (a) to help the boat-builder in this process: collect wood from forests, prepare & shape it, assist with construction of the boat, and (b) through this assistance, learn about boat-building & woodwork in a traditional west coast Norway style.

Posted by EAP at 01:06

Culture & Conflict Style Workshop, Jan 25, 2008

2008_Other No Responses »
Jan 252008

conflictstyle.jpgOn January 25, 2008, a Special Focus Day, all second-years and some staff members participated in a Culture & Conflict Style workshop, led by Marjeta Novak, interculturalist from Slovenia.

In an intercultural setting, conflict is inevitable. It may be noticed, however, that people from different cultures approach conflict differently.

conflictstyle2.jpgHow much of conflict behaviour is personal – and how much is conditioned by the culture in which people grew up?

In this workshop, all the second-year students and staff participants explored how their cultures had shaped their preferred conflict styles.

After a short introduction to the theme, they were engaged in an interactive, conflictstyle3.jpgparticipative exercise, in which they

  • Got to know themselves & their own conflict styles better;
  • Learned how to better collaborate with people whose conflict styles are different from their own;
  • Examined how their behaviour in conflict is or is not affected by the culture in which they grew up.

The exercise was based on the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory, developed by Mitchell Hammer, PhD.

Posted by EAP at 14:56

Youth Leadership Workshop

2008_Other, Other, Youth Leadership Course Development No Responses »
Jan 252008

ylw1.jpg25th January 2008: A regular Friday morning? No! Instead of merely going to classes, 100 motivated First Years readily woke up to participate in the first Youth Leadership Programme that has ever been offered at RCNUWC.

After a fresh start with a luscious breakfast (hot chocolate!), these First Years either joined a workshop on Teamwork or on Communication and Meeting Management – skills that are essential not only for their stay at the college, but also –and especially– for their future life.

Students also got to take a Belbin personality test, ylw5.jpgassessed each other’s communication skills and practiced diplomacy and negotiation when taking the lead as Flekke’s (fictional) Town Council.

This kind of active role play was followed by lively discussions and both theoretical and practical knowledge was gained.

The Youth Leadership EAC, with Xiaohang Sumner’s and Angie Toppan’s enthusiastic support, is happy that their 6 months of hard work paid off in a such a successful day. And best of all: more is yet to come!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………. ……….

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Posted by EAP at 14:35

RCN Votes! – 2008

2008_Other, Other No Responses »
Jan 212008

The new members of the Student Council have been elected at RCNUWC. One Board Representative, one Deputy Board Representative, five House Representatives and six Aspect Workers were chosen by the votes of the Student Body to represent the students’ opinions and take part in negotiations related to their life and well being on campus.

The elections for the positions of Board Representative, Deputy and Aspect Worker took place on different dates (January 10th and 16th, respectively). In both cases, candidates had to hold a speech of two or three minutes, putting forward their views and opinions about RCN and highlighting their qualities as speakers and listeners.

The elections for the positions of House Representative took place during the first house meeting of the month (January 14). The candidates held their 3 minute speeches in front of the 40 inhabitants of each house, proposing ideas for improvement and passion for their respective houses.

The Student Council elected in 2007 is still in charge. The newly elected members of the 2008 SC will take over in around 4 weeks, because a new Chair has to be elected among the Aspect Workers.

Good luck to the new SC!

Posted by EAP at 08:12

Youth Against AIDS: December Report

EAC, Youth for Aids Awareness No Responses »
Jan 192008

yaa2008.jpgThe main ideas behind the Youth Against AIDS (YAA) are to create an awareness about AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases within the college, and to raise money for children orphaned by AIDS-infected parents in Africa.In the first term of the college year, YAA worked towards these goals by (1) promoting awareness about AIDS during Safe Sex Week and (2) helping to organize the Winter Show. The show was organized to demonstrate the ways of transmission of HIV/AIDS and related diseases.

YAA also held a World Today presentation to show the spread of AIDS across the world. We invited students who are orphaned by AIDS-infected parents, or who have had other close experiences with HIV/AIDS , to share their stories, so as to make all students more sensitive about the situation.

Posted by EAP at 12:45

Rainbow Week

2008_Other, Other No Responses »
Jan 132008

Rainbow Week took place on the first week of this academic term, from the 8th to the 13th of January. The Gender and Sexuality Group kicked if off with a controversial introduction in the Tuesday College Meeting: First a boy and a girl came in and pretended to kiss, then two girls, and finally two boys. A very interesting look at how the reactions differ according to gender and sexuality.

The same night we showed a Swedish movie about coming to terms with your sexuality called “Fucking Åmål” in the Auditorium. It was very successful, with many people coming to watch it and liking it very well.

rainbowweek2008.jpgOn Thursday we showed another movie, “Transamerica” which, again, many came to watch. This constituted a very good introduction to the World Today on Friday, which was about gender identity problems in children and adolescents. For the World Today itself we were lucky enough to get Tone Maria Hansen, the leader of LFTS (The National Organisation for Transsexuals), as a guest speaker. She talked very well about the topic before opening for discussion. There were a lot of questions which she answered clearly and with good humour, creating a good atmosphere and making it easy for people to get the information they wanted.

On Saturday we opened the evening with a panel discussion in the Høegh. First, we got presentations on how homosexuality is viewed from different religious points of view (Islam, Christianity and Buddhism), in diverse geographical areas (Swaziland, Thailand, The Netherlands) as well as from a health perspective and a personal perspective. Then we divided into discussion groups where everyone could choose which one they wanted to join. The alternatives were Religion/Culture, Political, Health, Education and Family. While this was going on, we also had a café running, where people could buy green and pink cake, jelly and other colourful foods. Attendance was good and discussion intense, and the money we gathered in the café will be donated to the Mercy Centre of Bangkok, an organisation which provides care for children and adults with HIV/AIDS.

Later the same evening, a Rainbow Party with Swedish, Latino and Caribbean music was held. People dressed up in colourful clothes, danced and had lots of fun.

To round off the week, on Sunday afternoon we showed the German movie “Summer Storm”. Not as many people came to this final event as to the others, but it was clear that those who came didn’t regret it.

All in all, it was a very successful Rainbow Week, and we have gotten good feedback from many. Good work, GAS!

Posted by EAP at 12:33
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