AFS Intercultural Link news magazine, volume 1 issue 1 by AFS Intercultural Programs

ntercultural Intercultural YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK

VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 1 - OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2009

Introduction Welcome to the first issue of Intercultural Link, your news source for Intercultural Learning information across the AFS Network. This newsletter is a production of the recently-formed Intercultural Learning (ICL) Work Group and aims to make this essential topic more accessible within AFS. In its current form, Intercultural Link is intended for AFS staff and volunteers. Each issue will include the following: • spotlight on a key Intercultural Communications concept or theory; • a 'basics' feature for staff new to Intercultural Learning; • "News You Can Use:" an article written to be easily shared in your own Partner newsletter; • a training session outline for an Intercultural Learning activity; • ICL field conference updates and more. We hope that this series will help you breathe Intercultural Learning into everything you do at AFS. Melissa Liles (ICL Work Group, Chair)

IN THIS ISSUE Meet the Intercultural Learning (ICL) Work Group Page 2 ICL Needs & Priorities Update #1: What are we hearing via the PHQ Based on responses from 36 Partners so far, read about what Network priorities have emerged in the area of ICL Page 2 Did You Know? What are the AFS Educational Objectives? Page 3 Did You Know? What is the AFS Orientation Framework and how can it be used? Page 3 Concepts & Theories: Culture Gain a better understanding about the idea of culture and how to define it Page 4

Call to Attention World Congress 2009 ICL discussion for all delegates: Thursday, 22 October, at 09:15-10.00 and again at 11:15-12:00. Follow-up action needed with the Kaleidoscope Project/Essex researchers as soon as possible, if you have not already done so (more details about the project available on page 9).

Lisa Cohen (Intercultural Link Editor) News You Can Use: Information for Partner Newsletters: The Early Days of the Exchange Experience A brief look at ways to help orient a participant during the first weeks abroad Page 5 Training Session Outline: Ice Meteorite A new exercise for host family orientations after participants arrive Page 5 Educational Relations at the Grassroots Level: School Relations Checklist Take a look at this step-by-step approach to building mutually beneficial school relations Page 5 Educational Relations at the Institutional Level: Intercultural Learning at School - The Italian Experience Knowing what your national education agenda is and where AFS fits in Page 6

ICL Field Conferences & Event Updates (Oct 2009-Jan 2010) Plan your schedule for the next 4 months around these upcoming ICL events Page 8 Network & Partner Initiatives: Kaleidoscope Project AFS returnee Dr. Nicolas Geeraert shares the latest on the Kaleidoscope research project AFS is conducting with Essex University Page 9 Beyond-AFS ICL news: Interview with Dr. Kathryn Sorrells Dr. Kathryn Sorrells, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Northridge, talks about her entry into the ICL field, her work in linking Social Justice and Intercultural Communication and how AFS can address issues of Social Justice through exchange Page 10

MEET THE INTERCULTURAL LEARNING (ICL) WORK GROUP Formed in June 2009, the Intercultural Learning Work Group is a cross-functional international working team assembled to help AFS International define a new approach to Intercultural Learning that reflects the AFS Network’s current and expected needs. To do this, the group is using a 4-step process in which it is: 1. 2.

3. 4.

Assessing knowledge (evaluating existing materials, knowledge and tools), Assessing needs (determining AFS Network’s ICL needs/ wants and market opportunities -- Information about this will be shared at the 2009 World Congress in order to begin prioritization), Prioritizing (synthesizing then prioritizing needs/wants in terms of Network and AFSIP focus areas), and Recommending (helping determine what is needed to support the prioritized focus areas).

The group is made up of ICL subject matter experts from around the Network, from practitioner to Partner Director, who provide a range of perspectives to the areas of Rosario G utierrez training, (COL) A n nette Gis organizational evius (GER) development, and Lisa Cohe n research. The (INT) Melissa L iles, Chair current members (INT) Lucas We of the group are: lter (INT) Roberto Ruffino (ITA) Robin We Although this ber (USA) group has purposefully been designed to be small to facilitate workflow, we are committed to collaborate with others who have ICL expertise—both within and outside of AFS. If you are interested in participating, please contact any member of the work group.

ICL NEEDS & PRIORITIES UPDATE #1: WHAT ARE WE HEARING VIA THE PHQ For those not familiar with it, the “PHQ” or Partner Health Questionnaire is one of the key organizational data tools within the AFS Network. Twice a year Network Organizations input information about their programs, customers, finances, internal practices and the environment in which they operate.

Some Partners aim to expand their efforts beyond improving their training and educational ICL materials. Currently 31% are setting goals to establish and/or maintain AFS’s visibility as a credible ICL organization in their country and internationally and to enhance the branding and the reach of AFS’s ICL activities.

This year, among the internal practice questions, Partners were asked, “What do you see as the biggest areas of intercultural education need/opportunity for your organization and for the Network?”

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51% of the Partners who responded state that enhancing and enriching ICL training materials and activities for host families, participants, and host schools and to a lesser degree volunteers is a key priority:

“Academic research over the short term and long term impact of Intercultural Exchange Programs on Participants, Host Families and Host Schools. To organize activities/learning opportunities emphasizing the leading role of AFS in Intercultural Education.” (TUR).

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“While connecting and trying to work with the Ministry of Education, and thus with an educational national system, we hope to 1) reach a much larger audience among the school community, 2) introduce AFS as experts on intercultural learning and non-formal education approaches to a mostly formal education environment, and 3) consequently, increase the participation of teachers in AFS activity.” (POR).

• “Materials and trainings for the preparation and reflection of host families, better knowledge of different communication styles; pass on staff knowledge/experience to volunteers and participants/natural families more effectively (sending support).” (GER). Additionally, multiple Partners (36%) have concentrated on the academic aspect of intercultural learning and strive to develop ICL educational materials and syllabi for the classroom that can be implemented more broadly—i.e. beyond participation in AFS exchanges—in the curricula of local schools:

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“…materials for schools that the teachers can [use] for the lessons….” (CZE).

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“creating database of existing intercultural materials and manuals, academic materials, on-line courses to be used at schools, by teachers.” (RUS).

Finally, a smaller number of Partners voice support for introducing a common intercultural competency development certificate/program diploma for all AFS participants (18%).

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“We need better materials for all in our language, we already grant diplomas for all participants but it will be great to have a common certification.” (HON).

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“In our strategic planning we included a certificate of participation in the program from AFS International...” (MEX).

Did You Know? What are the AFS Educational Objectives? ROBIN WEBER, MANAGER OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION AND QUALITY, AFS USA IN 1984, THE AFS LEARNING OBJECTIVES (CURRENTLY KNOWN AS THE “AFS EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES”) WERE CREATED AT A WORKSHOP ON INTERCULTURAL LEARNING CONTENT AND QUALITY STANDARDS, ALSO KNOWN AS THE “MONTREAL WORKSHOP.” The objectives are in essence what we hope participants gain, or what participants increase their ability to achieve, as a result of participation in the AFS program. They were formulated based in great part on the results of the “AFS Impact Study” conducted by many Partners in Europe, Latin America and

the United States in the early 1980’s. This was the era when the timing of orientations shifted to a greater emphasis on in-country and post-return versus predeparture events. Quality standards were introduced and concepts of “learning through crisis” and viewing the participant as an “unfinished product” were integrated in our orientation materials.

participants more opportunities for guided and self-reflection and more tools to help host families and participants achieve greater awareness of their own and other cultures, with a special emphasis on the post-return phase of orientation. At this time the AFS Educational Objectives were affirmed with only minor changes to the language.

The AFS Educational Objectives have been reviewed several times over the past 20+ years, most recently after the completion of the “Educational Results Study” in 2005 during a seminar dedicated to this study, the Colle Workshop. The results of the study showed a need for AFS to provide

Attached please find a PDF file of the AFS Quality Standards and Conditions of Participation, including the Statement of AFS Educational Content and Learning Objectives. All staff and volunteers should be familiar with this information.

Did You Know? What is the AFS Orientation Framework and how can it be used? ROBIN WEBER, MANAGER OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION AND QUALITY, AFS USA In light of the 2005 AFS Educational Results Study (see above) and the enduring value of the AFS Educational Objectives, the AFS Orientation Framework was developed by an international group of AFS staff and volunteers in an effort to not only help participants and host families achieve greater intercultural awareness, but also to help ensure the quality and consistency of orientations within the Network before, during and after the AFS experience. A driving force behind the creation of the framework was a shift to viewing the participants and host families as true partners in the intercultural learning process, rather than placing the emphasis on cultural learning and adjustment almost solely on the participant as had been the case in the past. The AFS Orientation Framework lays out the goals of all AFS orientations in both the home and host country. At each phase of orientation, from pre-departure to post-

return, we want participants and families to achieve learning based on the following six categories of information: 1.Required Logistics: Specific information about travel and logistics of the program. 2.AFS and You: The AFS Mission, rules and regulations, preparing to go abroad. 3.

Personal Safety and Well-being: Knowledge and skills needed to help keep participants safe and healthy while on the AFS Program.

Cultural Adjustment and Coping: Stages of cultural adjustment and related coping strategies. Interpersonal relationships, changing attitudes and behavior.

Culture Learning: Understanding cultural differences and similarities, communication skills, developing appreciation for the home and host country and culture in a wider context.

Personal Goals and Expectations: Reflection on one’s goals and aspirations for the experience.

The aim of the AFS Orientation Framework is for the Network to share a common set of goals and objectives which help ensure the high quality of our program worldwide, while allowing autonomy and flexibility over how these goals and objectives are achieved in each country, region, area or chapter. Please find the AFS Orientation Framework online in the AFSpedia: http:// www.afspedia.org/index.php/ AFS_Orientation_Framework.

In future issues of Intercultural Link, we will feature one or more of the goals and objectives of the AFS Orientation Framework and provide examples of training tools that will help participants achieve them. We welcome your submissions as we work to catalogue the vast and invaluable wealth of intercultural learning tools and techniques generated by AFS volunteers and staff around the world.

Concepts & Theories: Culture ROBIN WEBER, MANAGER OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION AND QUALITY, AFS USA Culture… …is shared by all or almost all members of a group. …is passed on from generation to generation. …shapes our behaviors and structures our perception. …is constantly, but slowly, changing. Culture is hard to define because it is a system which encompasses all aspects of life, tangible and intangible. Culture is learned from birth through the family and community in which the child is raised, so its rules are often followed unconsciously. Although it is often seen as static, culture is constantly changing, just like an individual. As a result, many different credible definitions of culture exist. One definition of culture is a set of behaviors, values, and beliefs, created by groups of people, giving them a sense of community and purpose.

One helpful way to think about culture is to compare it to a tree. There are visible parts of a tree such as the branches and leaves, and there are hidden parts of the tree such as the roots. All of the parts work together to create the tree, but it is the invisible roots that sustain the tree. As with the branches and leaves of a tree, some aspects of culture are easy to identify. When we think about another country’s culture, we often

think of their language, food, music, dress, and holidays. Although visible aspects of a culture are easy to see, they are linked to hidden aspects. For example, a common nonverbal behavior such as waving one’s hand is visible, but what that gesture means is invisible. In one culture it could mean “good-bye,” in another “come here” and in yet another “go away.” The hidden aspects of culture are the parts which take time and effort to learn about. Even people from within a culture might have difficulty describing the hidden parts of their culture because they do not consciously think about them on a daily basis. Our cultural characteristics are simply part of who we are as individuals. When a person moves from one culture to another, much like when a tree is transplanted from one location to another, some discomfort can occur. Adjustments to the environment and to the tree may be needed, and the tree will require extra care, especially in the days and weeks immediately following the move, as is the case with AFS participants! Once transplanted, on the surface the tree may appear to be fine, but a struggle may be taking place below the surface as the tree becomes accustomed to the new surroundings and encounters differences that may or may not be visible to the eye. Likewise, the tree has an impact on the environment in which it is placed and the surrounding area may encounter changes or challenges as a result of the new tree, as is the case with AFS host families! If host family members and participants are feeling uncomfortable around each other but can’t articulate why, chances are they are experiencing a cultural clash “below the surface” involving differences in

values or beliefs that they may never have considered or questioned. Hosted participants will no doubt experience more of these moments than host families as they are the newcomer in this scenario. The important thing is that both are aware that cultural differences may be at the root of this discomfort. These differences may cause misunderstandings, but they can also bring about positive results. We learn from each other because of our differences. Colliding with another culture's way of being is just what we need to learn, adapt, and grow. Partners are welcome to use and adapt the text from this article in their own orientation materials which focus on the goals and objectives of the AFS Orientation Framework related to the topic of Intercultural Learning. To request the graphics found in this article, please contact Giulia Fleishman at giulia.fleishman@afs.org.

re in Italian: A definition of cultu tamenti, rie, speranze, orien Un insieme di memo mpor tamenti non esplicitate, co preferenze, norme municazione evoli, sistemi di co non sempre consap uppo, e definiscono un gr che caratterizzano lo iesa, un popolo e un'azienda, una ch altri. da dif ferenziano

A definition of cultu re in German: Kultur ist der in ein er Gesellschaf t od er Gruppe gewachse ne Bestand von Grundannahmen über die Realität, von Wer ten und Norm en sowie von Symb olen und Verhaltensrege ln, durch die Wer te und Normen zum Ausdruck kommen . Kultur steuert das Verhalten der Mitg lieder einer Gesellschaf t oder Gruppe un d zwar of t auf unbewusst e Weise und wird gleichzeitig durch ihre Mitglieder veränder t. Kultur ist dabei ein sich ständig entwickelndes Orie ntierungssystem.

What is your definition of culture?

NEWS YOU CAN USE: INFORMATION FOR PARTNER NEWSLETTERS: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE LISA COHEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT, AFS INTERNATIONAL As AFS's Northern Hemisphere (NH) program cycle begins, thousands of participants in 51 countries are in the first weeks of their experience abroad during the months of September and October. AFS participants from around the world have left behind everything familiar, including their families, homes, friends, schools, climates and cultures, with the hope of finding a new home in a new land for the next few months. In the first days of their exchange programs, participants are likely to feel tired. New sights, sounds, tastes and smells can be overwhelming. Having to constantly be "on" and open to meeting new people can be exhausting. And speaking in a new language in which

you continually stretch the limits of your vocabulary and grammatical knowledge can be frustrating. How can you help someone newly immersed in a foreign culture? It's important to recognize that feeling tired is a normal part of the adjustment process. Whether you are a local AFS contact or a host parent or sibling, you can help just by confirming that it's normal to be tired during the first days and weeks of the exchange experience. You can encourage the AFS participant to get enough rest. S/he may need help balancing the many invitations or events that come during the early weeks or beginning of the school year with a reasonable sleep schedule. Some AFS participants will need help getting integrated into their new family, school or Community Project Organization (CPO) and community. You can help by linking the newly-arrived participant with a peer

TRAINING SESSION OUTLINE: ICE METEORITE

Designed by German volunteers who work with host families, this is a new exercise for host family orientations intended for use after students arrive. It is a nice, low risk and relatively short exercise to give the host family a deeper understanding of how differing views and perceptions can often lead to a greater awareness of certain subjects, shown by means of different perspectives of a geometrical figure.

Within the Orientation Framework this Training Session Outline (TSO) is relevant in the During the Sojourn: Post-Arrival Phase. It addresses both Interpersonal Relationship building and Intercultural Knowledge and Sensitivity, two objectives outlined in the Statement of AFS Educational Content and Learning Objectives. Attached please find a Word document of the Ice Meteorite TSO. You are encouraged to translate this document to your local language and use it as needed.

For more information please contact Annette Gisevius at AFS Germany, Annette.Gisevius@afs.org

mentor. This could be a student at school who may be interested in international issues or someone in the neighborhood who can serve as an extra resource (perhaps closer in age) in addition to the AFS-appointed local counselor or contact person. The more individual connections that are made, the more a newcomer feels a part of the new community. Only when we start to share our daily joys and challenges with those around us, rather than contacting those back home via Skype, sms/text or email messages, do we truly start the process of immersion and integration in a new culture. News You Can Use: This piece is intended for Network Organizations to use in their own newsletters.

EDUCATIONAL RELATIONS AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL: SCHOOL RELATIONS CHECKLIST Schools are a key partner for AFS and one that we often take for granted. However, when approached systematically, it becomes clear that there are a number of small steps that can be taken to approach schools in a more proactive and supportive way, one that provides them with something from AFS. This builds a symbiotic relationship, benefitting both sides. Betsy Hansel, former Director of Intercultural Education & Research at AFS International, developed this School Relations Checklist to help AFS organizations break down the various actions into a step-by-step approach starting with organizations that do not already have a formal system in place. Please share your experiences approaching schools with the ICL Work Group. Attached please find a Word document of the School Relations Checklist. You are encouraged to translate this document to your local language and use it as needed.

Educational Relations at the Institutional Level: Intercultural Learning at School: The Italian Experience ROBERTO RUFFINO, SECRETARY GENERAL OF INTERCULTURA, AFS ITALY Intercultura in Italy started a systematic approach to working with the Italian school system to promote the idea of intercultural education in 1978, when migrations in Europe and intercultural issues were not so much on the agenda yet. The first step was to organize weekend workshops for secondary school teachers at our conference centre in San Gimignano: the topic was "international student exchanges in the framework of school curricula." In two days we gave an overview of the intercultural field (not just of AFS, but of what other NGOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and governmental organizations were doing); we gave concrete examples of intercultural education exercises; we asked them to talk about their international experiences; we presented our case and asked them to support our organization, if they felt it was worthwhile. Between 1978 and 1990 Intercultura has invested some 200,000 Euros in these seminars and we have talked to almost 2,000 teachers. AN INTERCULTURAL WEEK-END FOR TEACHERS This is an example of an agenda for these teacher training seminars. On Friday... Teachers arrive in the afternoon. An opening plenary introduces Intercultura, the AFS programs, the role of an exchange student at school. Questions and answers. Dinner. A social activity to acquaint the group. On Saturday... A morning session on intercultural learning: through a simulation game, teachers confront one another on cultural differences and then discuss the relevance of culture at school and in an international program.

After lunch an open forum with speakers from UNESCO, European Union, Ministry of Education presents a view of the educational exchange sector. Individual teachers may talk about class exchanges and other experiences they have had. Discussion. On Sunday... Case studies: former program participants, current foreign students in Italy, teachers who have been involved with exchanges talk about their experiences. Teachers ask questions, discuss and make proposals on how schools and AFS can better work together. After lunch, all depart. THE INVITATION Schools that send or host AFS exchange students are invited to submit participants. Also invitations are sent randomly to schools in areas where we are little known. The Ministry of Education is solicited by Intercultura to excuse teachers from their duties for the time of the seminar. CLASS EXCHANGES In 1988 - to respond to a request that many schools were making to us - we set up a program of class exchanges in Europe: for two weeks each way and a solid preparation and evaluation scheme. We now run some 30 class exchanges every year, with about 500-600 participants each way. A SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD It was set up in 1991 and it was cochaired by the best known educator in the country and by the Director General for educational exchanges at the Ministry of Education. It consisted of 25 members, appointed by the Board of Directors of Intercultura for a two year term. Most of the people who served in 1991-1992 were re-appointed by the Board in the following years,

until the Board was abolished some 8 years ago when its purpose was accomplished, which was to assess our programs in Italy and advise Intercultura on how to improve its relations with the schools; to suggest actions that would facilitate educational exchanges in Italy; and to submit them to the Ministry of Education. A ONE DAY SEMINAR FOR HEAD TEACHERS In 1989 we made a cooperation agreement with the National Association of School Head Teachers, who acknowledged our organization as the only one worth supporting in Italy in the field of educational exchanges. As a result, Intercultura now runs some 20 regional seminars for head teachers every autumn. The head teachers in attendance are usually 40-60 per seminar. They are invited in the following way: the National Association of Head Teachers and Intercultura jointly send a letter to all secondary school head teachers in the country, giving the calendar of the seminars. They may sign up for the one that is more convenient for each of them. Each seminar runs from 9.00 to 17.00. Lunch is provided by Intercultura. The day may run as follows: 9.00-10.00 A head teacher (nominated by the National Association and trained in previous seminars) welcomes the colleagues and talks about the current legislation on exchanges in Italy: rules, regulations and practices. How can

7 these exchanges become a part of school life and curricula? Questions, answers, short discussions. 10.00-10.30 Intercultura introduces four case studies: two dealing with sending problems and two dealing with hosting (two cases deal with individual exchanges and two with class exchanges). The head teachers are randomly divided in four groups and have one hour to "solve" one of the cases. 11.30-13.00 In plenary: the four groups report about their solution for each case. A discussion follows that outlines major benefits and difficulties. 13.00-14.00 Lunch break 14.00-15.00 "What have we been talking about?" (a presentation by Intercultura) * not about school trips, but about cultural exchanges * exchanges involve more than one party * cultural means that we are talking about everyday life ("culture" in anthropological terms) * types of cultural exchanges (long and short, class and individual, international meetings) * methods for cultural exchanges (hostels vs. families, with vs. without counseling support, prepared confrontations, etc.) and results that may be expected from each. * the keys to success: 1. an interdisciplinary approach to exchanges; 2. treating an exchange as a process (before, during, after); 3. setting clear objectives from the start (primary objective must be knowing oneself through a confrontation with the everyday life of another country; secondary objective may be a specific learning project of the class or of an individual student); 4. agreement between Partners at the international

level; 5. selecting the participants (also the teachers, not only the students); 6. preparing the participants with orientation sessions dealing with the specifics of the host country as well as with intercultural communication skills; 7. running the exchange with a special attention to "free" time (the concept of free time is not the same everywhere); 8. a careful evaluation. * What does “success” mean? (comparing objectives and results; measuring changes of attitudes through debriefing sessions based on critical incidents recorded during the exchange). 15.00-16.30 "Intercultural Learning" - developing the concept The head teachers are asked to do an exercise (the story of Abigail, a valuesbased learning activity well-known in our organization—please find the activity attached). They rate the five characters individually first (5 minutes), then in groups of 6-8 (30 minutes), then in plenary through the groups' spokespeople (15 minutes). Out of the chaos that usually happens, the facilitator explains that this is an intercultural exercise used in the orientation phase. The facilitator introduces the concepts of values, behaviors, etc. as they apply to educational exchanges: the stereotypes that we have of other countries (while within Italy we see one another as different and are unable to agree on common values); the state of anxiety in the story and the state of anxiety of a student on an exchange; etc. Summing up: the emotional and intellectual experience that an exchange offers for the purpose of intercultural learning. 16.30-17.00 Final questions and answers. Conclusions.

years, when commercial organizations began to reward them with money, when they provide participants for their programs. For this reason, the endorsement of the Head Teachers' Association is especially meaningful. One of their board members now sits on our board; their magazine has published a special issue on Intercultura; over 500 head teachers a year attend the regional seminars. Many of these topics are also discussed in our magazine, which is published four times a year and goes to many schools. We have been thinking of having a special class of membership for schools in Intercultura, giving some kind of intercultural support and privileges in the area of class exchanges to schools that would associate with us, but we have not defined the project yet. By now many chapters have a "school liaison" at the local level, a volunteer, usually a teacher, whose task is to keep in touch with the schools: to meet with them, to help enrolling the foreign students, to find and train school advisors in intercultural issues, to facilitate the return of our own students from abroad. These "school liaison" volunteers meet once a year in a national seminar, where they share their successes and frustrations, and where they may hear speakers from the Ministry of Education or other school authorities. We are currently trying to institutionalize the presence of a "tutor for educational exchanges" in all Italian schools: a counselor who would advise the teachers who want to organize an exchange as well as the individual students who go abroad or come to the school from a foreign country. This idea of a special intercultural tutor has been accepted by the Head Teachers' Association and included in their package of proposals to the Ministry of Education.

LOOKING AT THE FUTURE

Other school goals for the coming years are:

Not all is smooth and easy: we still find a great resistance among teachers and headmasters, especially in the latest

•To involve the classrooms more in intercultural learning through material to be produced by Intercultura and

8 distributed by the Ministry of Education. The purpose is to help teachers understand how a foreign student is not a "burden" for the classroom, but rather a source of discussions and research on other cultures - a concrete way to internationalize the school curriculum at a time when this internationalization is highly desirable. •To provide short intercultural learning units as well as international exchange units to schools and teachers, who want to know more about the field. •To open a web site called “National observatory on school

ICL Field Conferences & Event Updates (Oct 2009-Jan 2010)

If you are aware of upcoming conferences in the intercultural area, please advise Giulia Fleishman at giulia.fleishman@afs.org

internationalization and pupils’ mobility” which will document what is happening in the whole country in this area – with the support of the Ministry of Education. Why do we do all this? We want our school community to understand that an international exchange is not just an end in itself, but a tool to become aware of values and behaviors, to see our culture from the outside and to learn how to explain it to a foreigner, using methods drawn from cultural anthropology and communication sciences. We debate

with them what is quality in an international educational project. Through a well planned, well prepared, well conducted and well evaluated international exchange, teachers and students become culturally literate, which means: able to deal with the complexities of migrations and the challenges of internationalization in a mature and tolerant way. It is peace still, from a different angle. Not the opposite of war, but a guided discovery of one's identity in the only possible way: through confrontation with differences.

October

November

January 2010

Forum on Research on Study Abroad: Re-entry & narrative of the experience abroad; 3-6 October 2009; Fondazione Intercultura, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy - Three members of the ICL Work Group will be present.

Canadian Bureau for International Education Annual Conference: Internationalization Effectiveness, Strategies for Success; 8-11 November 2009; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. www.cbie.ca/english/aboutus/ events.htm

Washington International Education Council 8th Annual Conference; 25-26 January 2010; George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA http://www.washcouncil.org/

Australian International Education Conference: Transition and Transformation; 13-16 October 2009; Sydney, Australia http://www.aiec.idp.com Global Connections – Local Impacts: Best Practices, Models and Policies for Cross-Border Higher Education; 21-24 October 2009; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information visit www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/ news-events/eventsbox/2009/ global-connections/ CSIET 25th Annual Conference; 22-24 October 2009; Alexandria, Virginia, USA. For more information visit www.csiet.org/meetingsactivities/annual-meeting.html

CIEE Annual Conference: Cultivating Culture: Local Foundation, Global Perspectives; 11-14 November 2009; Istanbul, Turkey. For more information visit www.ciee.org/conference/ istanbul/ US Department of State and US Department of Education: International Education Week; 16-20 November 2009. For more information visit www.iew.state.gov/

Network & Partner Initiatives: Kaleidoscope Project In a new study designed to enable AFS to better understand the different impacts of living abroad on participants’ well-being, stress, and cultural learning, University of Essex researchers Dr. Nicolas Geeraert and Kali Daemes have begun working with AFS Intercultural Programs to survey participants from 48 different countries. This ambitious three and a half year project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), one of the leading British research councils, and will address intercultural contact issues key to AFS, such as • the rate at which one adapts to a new cultural environment, • personal developmental outcomes of intercultural sojourns, • changes over time in sojourners’ perceptions of others, and • the impact of cultural difference between home and host cultures. To measure these elements, AFS year program students in participating countries will be invited to complete online questionnaires at different times before, during and after their stay abroad. The questionnaire exists in 10 different languages so that many students will be able to respond in their

native tongue. A control group drawn from AFS students’ non-traveling peers will also be surveyed. A pilot survey is currently being run and the main data collection period for the 3.5 year study will start in October 2009. The researchers emphasize the importance of high participation numbers in this project, saying, "To be able to fully appreciate the experience of intercultural exchange and to make comparisons between students traveling to and from different destinations, high participation numbers are essential!" Volunteers and staff of each AFS organization will play an important part in encouraging high participation amongst their participants. The researchers have created a number of materials including a project flyer which directs the reader to the fun and interactive website for the project (www.kaleidoproject.org). Each AFS Network Organization can view a short video about the project which features Tachi Cazal, President of AFS Intercultural Programs, and the researchers from the University of Essex. Partners are encouraged to share this video with their volunteers and staff, as well as all 2010 participants-tobe and their parents. The video can be viewed at http:// www.kaleidoproject.org/video/

With high levels of participation, the project findings will contribute to the future development of training programs and materials for AFS participants and host families. Dr. Geeraert explains, “This initiative will try to unravel what factors enable participants to better adapt to different cultures. Once we

know the optimal factors for intercultural learning, AFS can work to create the best conditions for each participant.” For AFS students, this will include more information about managing expectations about their exchange, giving them advice about how to enhance their year abroad and making them aware of the outcomes they may experience as a result. Results can also be used in materials and training content development for host families before, during and after their hosting experiences. The study will also contribute significantly to the scientific community and is likely to generate substantial media attention. Dr. Geeraert concludes, “This project will help future exchange participants, as well as helping to improve global understanding and citizenship.” For more information please contact Melissa Liles at melissa.liles@afs.org or Dr. Nicolas Geeraert at geeraert@essex.ac.uk.

Beyond-AFS ICL news: Interview with Dr. Kathryn Sorrells Dr. Kathryn Sorrells, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Northridge and teacher at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Learning (SIIC), talks to Giulia Fleishman, Training Coordinator, AFS International, about her entry into the ICL field, her work in linking Social Justice and Intercultural Communication and how AFS can address issues of Social Justice through exchange. How did you get involved in the intercultural field? My first international experience was when I went with AFS to Brazil in 1973 as a junior in high school. This experience initiated my passion for traveling internationally. I learned as much about my own US culture as I did about Brazilian culture. After many years of traveling and living outside the United States, I started focusing on diversity issues and different cultural groups within the US. I was first involved in the intercultural field through personal experience both within the US and internationally. Over time, I realized how Intercultural Communication was going on all the time right in front of me. What academic field was your entry into intercultural studies? How do you see this link? I actually studied Asian Studies and Religion in my undergraduate work. This offered me an academic foundation that contrasted with US worldviews. I thought it was exciting and was stimulated by it. At the time, I tended to see the US consumer culture negatively, but studying Asian culture allowed me to see the value of my own culture. I received my M.A. (Masters of Arts) from Antioch University in Whole Systems Design. The theoretical foundations of this approach were strikingly in line with Asian/Eastern worldviews and provided me with a useful bridge between Western and Eastern cultural worldviews. In 1990, I went to the Summer Institute for Intercultural

Communication (SIIC) in Portland, Oregon, for the first time and was introduced to the theoretical and practical foundations of the field of Intercultural Communication. Which aspect of intercultural learning or communication has your work focused on? My work in the community has focused on intercultural conflict and trying to help different ethnic and racial groups transform conflict situations to improve the community. My written work in the academic sense has focused on conflict and intercultural communication, the commodification of culture as well as intercultural communication and social justice. I am interested in how capitalist market forces impact cultures when cultures and cultural products are commodified. For example, what is the impact on indigenous peoples and cultures when representations of their culture like pottery and rugs are used to sell not only the cultures but places like New Mexico(in the US)? How do people negotiate their identities if they are compelled to produce stereotypes of themselves to sell in the market? Most recently, I am looking at how globalization impacts Intercultural Communication and how we may need to re-theorize our understanding of Intercultural Communication given the complex, contradictory and inequitable conditions that characterize globalization. My work attempts to challenge the dichotomy between domestic (within the US) diversity issues and international intercultural communication issues. As a result of globalization, people are constantly moving in and out of domestic and international contexts. I am trying to bridge the gap between these issues and theorize differently about Intercultural Communication in the context of globalization. What do you wish more people would understand about intercultural work? Questions of power are always present in communication. We need to look at the interconnection between power relationships and the focus on cultural differences that we usually talk about in Intercultural Communication. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

important to look at the role of history in intercultural interactions as well. We need to address how historical conflicts and relationships impact the way groups of people have developed and how these groups get along with each other. I think it is important to analyze intercultural interactions from the micro to the macro level of analysis and open up our understanding to the interrelationship among these dimensions. This is the idea of framing that I have proposed in the model of intercultural praxis where we learn to move from the micro-frame, where we look at interpersonal interactions, to intermediate frames of group relationships and are able to broaden the frame to look at macro-levels, where we consider the geopolitical landscape. I also think that the Intercultural Communication field is positioned well to integrate values and practices of social justice. Many points of intersection between the goals and ideals of Intercultural Communication and the principals of social justice already existâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; challenging ethnocentrism, privilege and systems of oppression as well as questioning inequitable hierarchies of power are implicitly foundational to the intercultural field. We, as interculturalists, need to have the courage and ethical grounding to take a stance in support of social justice. What would you suggest for people new to the ICL field to read as they get started? Sorrells, K. Globalizing Intercultural Communication. (Forthcoming in 2010). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

11 Nakayama, T.K. & Halualani, R. T. (Eds.). (Forthcoming in 2010). A Companion to Critical Intercultural Communication Studies. New York: Blackwell. Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts, 3rd ed. Boston; McGrawHill, 2004. I recommend people read broadly to look at what people are writing in political science, sociology and anthropology and to open up a bit. I also think reading about post-colonial approaches is important. It’s important to get into ways of thinking from different positions, standpoints and disciplinary perspectives. What are the hot topics in ICL these days? The relationship between international intercultural communication and multicultural studies is an important topic right now. This speaks to the relationship between domestic diversity issues and international intercultural communication issues. While the two should not be conflated or seen as the same, they do have multiple intersections and places of overlap. In the context of globalization

learning for participants. To do this, I think it is important to continue to ask people questions, have them reflect, share their experiences and explore how their study abroad informs their current situation. Today, this can be accomplished through communities that are linked online to discuss their experiences, explore how the experience has changed their lives and what How has the ICL field changed since you participants are doing with the learning entered it? they have gained. Since participants go as representatives of their country, it’s The field is inching forward to take more important to bring up the economic, of a critical approach to Intercultural social, and political relationships Communication. There is more focus and between host and home countries. What interest today in looking at issues of does it mean to be a person traveling power including hierarchies and systems abroad today? What privilege does this of oppression as well as the role of imply? Why do you have certain history in intercultural communication. privileges? How can you best use those These issues weren’t really part of the privileges to challenge inequitable field when I first started in the early systems of power? How can we avoid 1990s. imposing ethnocentric assumptions on people from other cultures and what can What steps do you recommend AFS take our experience teach us about our own to continue to distinguish itself as a culture? secondary school exchange provider in the ICL arena? and transnationalism, it’s important to see how these previously distinct fields interrelate and complement each other. I’m pleased to say that the importance and value of a social justice approach to Intercultural Communication is also emerging, especially in the context of discussions and practical implications of ethics and human rights.

AFS has already distinguished itself as an excellent study abroad program. AFS or any study abroad program has the opportunity to transform the summer or year-long experience into lifelong

Intercultural Call for Submissions Partners are invited to submit articles, news items and intercultural activities with accompanying graphics or photos for consideration in future issues of Intercultural Link. Submissions can be AFS-specific or part of the larger Intercultural Learning (ICL) field. Simply send your inputs to Giulia Fleishman at AFS International: giulia.fleishman@afs.org.

YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 1 - OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2009

Questions or Comments to: giulia.fleishman@afs.org