AFS Intercultural Link news magazine, volume 1 issue 5

Intercultural YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK

The State of Intercultural Learning (ICL) in the AFS Network & Update on Priorities MELISSA LILES, DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, AFS INTERNATIONAL It’s June! We are halfway into 2010 and the momentum for intensifying our Intercultural Learning (ICL) content continues to build. As we’ll see below and in a number of the features in this issue of AFS Intercultural Link, in addition to your growing enthusiasm, more and more activity is steadily but surely happening in the ICL area all across the AFS Network right now.

Since the last issue of Intercultural Link there has been an important in-person meeting of the AFS Network Intercultural Learning Work Group in Colle, Italy. This was an opportunity for AFS Network leaders who bring ICL expertise and insight into the state of ICL in their countries and regions to come together and

VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 5 - JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2010

Congratulations AFS-SIIC 2010 Scholarship Winners!

The following staff and volunteers have been awarded Scholarships for Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) workshops this July. As a part of the AFS Core ICL Competency Development Program, this opportunity will help improve our formal educational foundations in intercultural education in order to help ensure AFS’s expertise. They will be joined by at least 8 other AFSers including members of the AFS Network ICL Workgroup, AFSIP Board of Trustees, and AFS USA staff. We plan to celebrate and promote AFS’s presence in Portland by hosting an evening reception on campus so that some of the other 500+ participants can learn about what AFS is doing and our plans in the ICL field.

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IN THIS ISSUE The State of Intercultural Learning (ICL) in the AFS Network

by Melissa Liles Page 1 Did You Know? Two Basic Concepts in AFS's View of Intercultural Learning

by Lisa Cohen Page 3 Concepts & Theories: Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture

by Anna Collier Page 4 Training Session Outline: Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture

by Lisa Cohen Page 4 Kaleidoscope Project Update Page 5

News You Can Use: Intercultural Adjustment Writing the End of Your Exchange Program Story

by Ana Maria Saldarriaga Page 6 Educational Relations at the Institutional Level: AFS BFL and Government Relationships Linked to Funding

by Jan Van Keirsbilck Page 7 Educational Relations at the Grassroots Level: School Relations in the USA

by Tara Boyce-Hofmann Page 8 Art for Peace: AFS Costa Rica Dresses Up

by Alonso Solis Page 9 Network & Partner Initiatives: Crossing Cultural Borders: EFIL’s EuroAfrican Partnership for Change Project

by Edïte Millere Page 10

Beyond-AFS ICL News: Geert Hofstede announces 3rd edition of “Cultures and Organizations The name of Geert Hofstede is not unknown to the readers of this newsletter.

In the early 1970s he conducted the most comprehensive study at the time on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. He analyzed a large database of employee value scores collected by the IBM Corporation between 1967 and 1973 covering more than 70 countries.

He was interviewed by Roberto Ruffino.

Page 12 ICL Field Conferences & Event Updates (Upcoming in 2010) Page 13

2 review where we are as a Network, make progress on some of the projects underway (notably the AFS Core Intercultural Competence Development training program for staff and volunteers), and begin to paint a “big picture” direction for AFS and ICL looking ahead to 2020. The group investigated why previous initiatives to bolster our educational focus have not been as successful as desired on a global level and it agreed on some initial action steps that need to be taken at the same time as we work to first “Ensure our Expertise.” Ultimately, the group recommends that having stronger ICL methods and measurable results becoming a hallmark of our programs will enable us to differentiate our brand in a meaningful way affecting market results, and thus grow our programs while better helping us realize our mission.

With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that a key theme at the AFS 2010 World Congress in Buenos Aires will be Intercultural Learning as a fundamental aspect of the AFS brand.

Knowing that time is very valuable at this four day event, at least one half day will be dedicated to the topic and the Congress design team is working hard to help ensure we maximize this opportunity. We have begun to step up our discussions with AFS’s many friends

and advisors who are recognized experts in the field (including having Dr. Darla K. Deardorff, editor of The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence, meet with our Board of Trustees in a recent board education session) and hope

to leverage their insights at the Congress and afterwards in formats that will be shared with you.

Regional meetings have just concluded around the AFS world and a discussion point in these has been emphasizing regional efforts in ICL as a strategic lever. For example, in April the AFS Asia-Pacific Initiative (AAI) celebrated its 20th anniversary in Bali, Indonesia. At these milestone events, the region identified four strategic priorities.

Among them is “to build the AFS brand in the AAI region as the ‘go-to’ expert on intercultural awareness and understanding.” On a related note, I am

happy to announce that Dr. Irid Agoes of Indonesia will join the AFS Network ICL Work Group later this year.

In Europe, EFIL hosted a seminar in Strasbourg in May, where 29 volunteers and staff from 17 different AFS organizations came together to overview the latest developments in ICL in the region (internally and externally), and discussed the positioning of AFS/EFIL and the field within the European context.

AFS has also attended several recent conferences dedicated to the topics of intercultural learning and dialogue, including those of SIETAR USA, NAFSA Association of International Educators, and the UN’s Alliance of Civilization. The latter was particularly encouraging as we heard heads of state and ministers of education as well as corporate and NGO leaders from a wide range of countries openly discuss the need for citizens and workforces to have global competencies.

Themes that emerged and that are relevant to AFS included involving teachers, NGOs, and media in the development of these competencies.

So, at the halfway point in the year, there remains much to do ahead of us but the mood continues to be positive and I remain confident that by the end of the year we will have made good progress on some of the key AFS Network ICL priorities that are our focus between today and 2013.

Congratulations AFS-SIIC 2010 Scholarship Winners!

Africa Peter Mireku, AFS Ghana *Mary Mlambo, AFS South Africa Asia Pacific *Naoshi Takatsu, AFS Japan Jason Lee, AFS Malaysia *Lynda Boyd, AFS New Zealand Central & South America *Elis Motta, Volunteer, AFS Brazil *Maria Elena Gutierrez, AFS Honduras

Europe *Michael Rosak, AFS Czech Republic Kai Böttner, AFS Germany *Frauke Peter, AFS Germany Birte Vehrs, AFS Germany North America *Jennifer Hille, AFS Canada * Will also receive a supplemental scholarship from the AFS International Diversity Fund to cover international air and workshop lodging costs.

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DID YOU KNOW? TWO BASIC CONCEPTS IN AFS'S VIEW OF INTERCULTURAL LEARNING LISA COHEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT, AFS INTERNATIONAL The two concepts outlined below came out of the so-called Montreal Workshop, an AFS meeting on intercultural learning which took place in Quebec, Canada, in 1984. The first concept, that of the "Unfinished Product," confirms the view of intercultural learning and intercultural competence as parts of a life-long learning process, one that progresses developmentally over time. It posits that AFS participants, like all individuals, arrive at each new experience carrying the sum of their past knowledge and experiences and can only progress from that point. It allows participants with minimal intercultural exposure to join the program and it allows them to receive support during the inevitable challenges of their cultural immersion and to be able to learn from these encounters.

The second concept, that of "the Value of Crisis in Learning," builds on the first one, allowing AFS participants to confront new ways of thinking and behaving, to have difficult moments, and to face aspects of their intercultural experiences during which they will have to question deeply-held beliefs. It is through these challenging new looks into their own worldviews that program participants can reimagine the role that their home culture plays in their lives and in the world at large. This viewing of culture from a new angle is a powerful learning tool in the intercultural education experience.

These two concepts have proved useful over the past couple of decades and

have been instrumental in shaping the approach that AFS volunteers and staff have to recruiting, selecting, preparing and supporting our participants.

1. THE “UNFINISHED PRODUCT” CONCEPT The conception of some volunteers concerning what happens to an AFS participant as he or she proceeds from initial selection through post-return orientation should be modified. Some volunteers feel that it is the responsibility of the sending country to deliver to the hosting country a finished “product,” that is, a person prepared to cope with an intercultural experience in the host country. When participants encounter or create difficulties, these volunteers tend to criticize the sending organizations instead of assisting in participant support activities. Staff and volunteers should view participants as unfinished products; the image should be of a “product” (the AFSer) passing through cumulative phases of development that begin at selection and continue even after he or she leaves the program.

2. THE VALUE OF CRISIS IN LEARNING It is not accurate to conceive of participant orientation and support as aiming toward a crisis-free intercultural experience. Personal crises are bound to occur throughout an AFS experience because the participant is continuously compelled to act and react in the absence of familiar cues.

When they remain manageable, such crises become highly productive bases for intercultural learning because they force the participant to challenge old assumptions, to think creatively, and to

acquire new knowledge, attitudes and skills. Crises rarely become overwhelming for AFS participants because of the emotional security provided by the host family and other host nationals, and because of the network of support available from AFS volunteers and staff members.

Participant orientation and support should be reconceptualized as an effort to provide AFSers with knowledge, awareness, and skills that will better enable them to seize, cope with, recover from, and above all learn through the succession of personal crises that inevitably will occur throughout their intercultural experience.

4 effectively together on a team, it is more beneficial to know how close the two cultures are in relation to the dimension of power distance than to know the actual numerical scores of their placements along the continuum. Knowing the relative difference between their placements will provide more useful information than knowing on which side of the continuum the countries fall.

The use of continua has allowed Hofstede’s findings to maintain their validity ANNA COLLIER, over time. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions ICL PROJECT CONSULTANT, evaluate national values, which one acquires AFS INTERNATIONAL during childhood and which generally remain consistent throughout one’s life.

In the 1960s, when the intercultural Although cultural values can shift over field was just beginning to take form, Dutch generations, the values of neighboring countries often shift in the same direction social psychologist Dr. Geert Hofstede and at relatively the same speed. This conducted a massive, two-part study on phenomenon of continent-wide, or even cultural differences that would become eminent within the growing field. In the global, shifting of values means that the original study, begun in 1967, Hofstede relative distance between countries on a surveyed approximately 116,000 employees certain continuum remains reasonably at all levels of the multinational company stable over the years.

IBM, focusing on differences in employee Hofstede defines culture as "the values. Data were gathered in the form of collective programming of the mind questionnaires as part of IBM’s international employee attitude survey TRAINING SESSION OUTLINE program and included IBM employees Attached you will find a six-page located in 40 different countries and who document which includes a survey that spoke 20 different languages. The study was individuals can take to find their later expanded to include more than 70 personal ratings on each of the four countries worldwide. The surprising outcome Hofstede cultural dimensions. Also, of the research was that the employees’ values there are explanations of each dimension and relevant examples of and attitudes were more strongly influenced behaviors and values linked to different by their national culture than by the measures on each continuum. Lastly, employees’ position, gender, or age. there is a chart with culture dimension Through his research, Hofstede values for several dozen countries identified key differences between the around the world. employees of the multinational company This piece is based on the work of and, based upon these findings, proposed Geert Hofstede, much of which can be the existence of four fundamental found on his official website http:// dimensions of culture: Individualism/ www.geerthofstede.nl/ and in the Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty latest edition of his book, Cultures and Avoidance, and Masculinity/Femininity. He Organizations (3rd edition 2010). The later added a fifth dimension: Long-Term document can be the foundation of an engaging training session on Orientation, and very recently included a Hofstede's cultural dimensions, sixth: Indulgence/Restraint. allowing individual self-reflection, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are introduction to four key cultural relative and cultural variations are presented dimensions, and learning about on continua. When evaluating the placement standard dimension measures in many of a certain country on a cultural national cultures. continuum, it is more important to consider the country’s placement in relation to Please see the attached Training Session Outline another country, than the actual numerical for a suggested training score assigned to that placement. For session using Hofstede’s example, in regards to the ability of people four original cultural from two different countries to work

Concepts & Theories: Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture

dimension + the survey.

CultureGPS is a tool for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that “enables users to analyze behavior differences in intercultural encounters and to consider which interactions might evolve when people from different nationalities meet and work together.”

The application is based entirely on the five cultural dimensions developed

by Geert Hofstede and is designed to help users analyze, understand and handle cultural differences in a business context. There are two version of the application: lite (free) and professional (paid).

Lite: • provides an introduction to the 5D model • looks up the respective values on the 5 dimensions for 98 countries and 3 regions • assesses user’s personal cultural profile • offers recommendations related to the cultural differences when working as manager, employee, (virtual) team member, or with customers in or from the respective country Professional: • includes all lite functionalities • has the ability to compare the profiles of two different countries • provides more in-depth analysis and recommendations http://www.culturegps.com

5 distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from another." In this definition, the word ‘category’ encompasses nations, regions, organizations, and religions, among others.

Hofstede acknowledges that countries are composed of many different ‘categories,’ with some countries being more homogeneous than others. Thus, when comparing national cultures, it is necessary to keep in mind that not everyone will fit the national norm. Hofstede also warns that his cultural dimensions cannot directly predict the dynamics of a specific interaction. They are useful as predictors of trends or generalities, but factors such as individual personalities and context can also strongly influence the interaction.

Dr. Hofstede published his first book, Culture’s Consequences, in 1980, and since then his theories about cultural comparisons have been applied, reproduced, and expanded upon, and they remain one of the more valid and practical frameworks in the intercultural field. In 2001, Culture’s Consequences was completely re-written to include an updated literature review and in 2010, Hofstede published the 3rd edition of Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. For more information on Dr. Geert Hofstede and his cultural dimensions, as well as his other research, see his website: www.geerthofstede.nl.

Please find the attached TSO on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

KALEIDOSCOPE PROJECT UPDATE Muchas cosas son muy diferentes, pero eso no significa que no me guste. Hay muchas cosas que estoy aprendiendo que me gustaria seguir haciendolas cuando llegue de vuelta a Costa Rica.

Très excitée et heureuse à l'idée de partir dans un mois, mais aussi anxieuse ! C'est un rêve qui va se réaliser.

Everyone in Japan is so nice and polite. It reminds me of Canadians. I miss everyone at home, but I haven't thought about leaving Japan.

As illustrated by these sojourner quotes , data collection is well underway for the AFS-University of Essex Kaleidoscope Research Project that looks at acculturation, cultural diversity & similarity, and cultural learning.

Each AFS organization can play a truly meaningful part in this project and every single participant counts. If your organization has not already activated the project, there is still time to do so. Invitations to join the project can be sent out by the Kaleidoscope team at any time between 10 and 3 weeks before arrival.

For more information or to get started, please contact Kali Dames at yp2010@essex.ac.uk. http://www.kaleidoproject.org/

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News You Can Use:

Writing the End of Your Exchange Program Story ANA MARIA SALDARRIAGA, ICL INTERN, AFS INTERNATIONAL AND FORMER PROGRAM COORDINATOR, AFS COLOMBIA This article is intended to help participants nearing the end of their stay to reflect on their AFS program. It can also be used to prepare volunteers, specifically contact persons, as well as host and natural families to support participants as their exchange program draws to a close and they have a last opportunity to make the most of being in their host community. Feel free to translate the article and use it in national or local newsletters or other AFS publications.

The exchange year is like a short story, a tale that you need to finish writing. When you arrived in your host country at the beginning of your program you had few references. Your hosts couldn't know you by your family name.

Thus, other than your nationality, it was hard for them to make any judgments about you. The neighborhood in which you were born and raised offered no clues to them, and the attributes that the people of your native school recognized were meaningless in your new host school.

Also, your host family was not aware of what you have meant to your natural family. All your personal references and the meanings you constructed during your childhood and early adolescence were only understood by you. Your hosts did not grasp them.

Certainly, when you arrived in your host community, you had no story there.

Instead, it was waiting to be written. And by now, you have made your mark.

Without the benefit of any of your context from back home, you have shown your hosts who you are. You have constructed an identity and a life in a new place. You have engaged in a context that even a year ago you could not imagine and you now have a story in this place.

For example, you are used to the neighborhood and know by heart the way

to go to school. You know the proper way to greet people, to cross the street, to buy your favorite candy at the local store.

Your host teacher now understands the way you process information. Your exchange friends have realized that you are the funny one, the quiet one, or the cheerful one. Finally, your host family has a deeper understanding of who you are as an individual.

As you look to your final days and weeks on an AFS program, aim to finish your story in a meaningful way. End up writing it with wise and sensitive phrases.

Conclude your exchange program by consciously exploring the culture that surrounds you. Question how the ideas you had about people of your hosting country have changed. Challenge your understandings of your own culture and try to figure out if the biases you still have are a result of your ignorance or of your insensitivity. A cross-cultural understanding requires that we clarify what we don't know about other people.

On a very practical note, consider sharing your learnings with others. Find out if you can speak at your school or others in the area. Talk with clubs, religious centers, scouts, and others who are part of this community that has become your home. Share the journey you have made from stranger to part of the local scenery. Share a bit about your home culture, what you left behind, and what you will be returning to.

Now that the world seems not to have boundaries, who else but you is there to make it a better place in which to live?

Coming back home will be like a small death. There will be feelings of loss and perhaps of regret. Why didn't I appreciate what I had when I was there? Why didn't

I make time to investigate that place or spend more time with that person?

It is a short life you are getting to live now. But still, you have some time to consolidate your memories. There is still a chance to make your story have a "happy ending." Sooner or later you may need those memories because there are going to be moments in the future when recalling your exchange program will soothe you, when remembering what you went through will make you stronger, and thinking of your family and friends abroad will ease your mind.

Extra kilos, a travel overdose, and some additional tears will only be worth it if, when you leave, the hearts of those around you are broken. Only then can you say that you have done a good job.

Only then have the efforts of your natural family and your own personal strength been worthwhile. Now, have you laughed enough? Tried all the foods there were to try? Walked enough? Showed appreciation to your host family? Have you smiled enough, observed and sensitively said all there is to be expressed?

Going back home will be a long journey. Lots of goodbyes, a couple of sights, the impossible task of packing and the last-minute pictures will keep you busy. And in the blink of a eye you will find yourself lying in your bed again, back home, debating whether or not it was all a dream or is it true that you just had a unique journey far from home. And that place far from home has somehow, miraculously, become your home now, too.

Please find the attached translations of the article in Spanish and French.

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Educational Relations at the Institutional Level: AFS BFL and Government Relationships Linked to Funding JAN VAN KEIRSBILCK, PARTNER CHAIR, AFS BELGIUM FLANDERS

Things are

For a long time now, AFS BFL has been fortunate to count on government grants that come from the Belgian Department of Youth.

In the federalized state of Belgium, that department is regional and thus AFS BFL receives its funding from the regional government of Flanders. The subsidies are provided for AFS activities related to the sending and hosting of AFS participants, as well as for Belgium volunteers until the age of 30. It should be acknowledged that AFS BFL does not receive any monies from the Belgian Department of Education.

In the context of the Flemish government, the minister dealing with the Department of Youth often also has other responsibilities, which, in the recent past, have included culture and sports.

Currently, however (since 2009), the Department of Youth and the Department of Education have the same minister. This is an interesting situation, especially in regards to lobbying for the accreditation of our exchanges.

What does AFS BFL need to do to receive this government funding? First, it must be recognized as a youth organization, a recognition that was accomplished several decades ago. In Belgium, a youth organization is a nonprofit organization that, as demonstrated by its goals, statutes and activities, deals with social-cultural work for young people and covers at least 4 out of the 5 provinces in the regional state of Flanders. To be recognized as a youth organization, the organization must accomplish a total of 6 policy-related “modules” every year. There are 3 different types of modules: a) supporting local youth organizations; b) organizing activities for young people; c) training of youth workers. Each module is defined as to the minimum number of activities, hours, and people reached.

Naturally, it is often necessary to deliver some modules more than once, in order to reach the minimum of 6 modules.

In addition to the modules, each recognized youth organization must deliver a policy plan every three years that contains an overview of what the

looking up for AFS BFL! Partner Chair & Vice Chair with Belgian Ministry Officials in Brussels

organization wishes to accomplish in the coming period and how much government funding it requires so that these goals can be met. Like any policy plan, there is a listing of strategic and operational goals and result indicators. AFS BFL takes the preparation of its policy plan very seriously. Starting with a reflection on the mission and the AFS Network’s long term vision, and advancing to an exercise involving all levels of our volunteer organization (resulting in a strengthsweaknesses-opportunities-threats [SWOT] analysis of the situation in AFS BFL), we develop a policy plan which must then be accepted by our General Assembly.

After the delivery of our policy plan, we receive formal feedback from the ‘Advisory Commission of Youth Organizations’. This document provides insight into what the government finds important. In past years, we have received recommendations on many different aspects of the way we are organized. For our current policy plan (2010-2012), the feedback we received was extremely positive. The commission congratulated us on our choice to not only let young people participate in our programs but also ask them to engage themselves as volunteers, thus resulting in a stronger and more lasting link with the organization.

They also liked the way we set ourselves apart from other exchange programs, in that we see exchanges not as a goal but rather as a means of growing and learning. They are aware of our quality standards, professional approach and scientific research. Also, the commission

commended our efforts to lower the threshold for young people with less educational opportunities and the fact that we are consistently networking with other organizations such as schools, universities, our own AFS Foundation in Belgium and several other experts in the field. Currently, the government funding we receive covers between 15% and 20% of our annual expenses.

As demonstrated above, Belgium has developed a well elaborated system of subsidizing in the fields of youth, culture, education, and sports, among others. This system can hardly be compared to the situations in other countries. The Belgium government clearly describes the rules and criteria which an organization must meet before receiving any financial intervention.

Once these criteria are met, a subsidy is awarded. However, this subsidy is not ‘eternal’. Each new policy plan is evaluated and annual reports over those three years must prove that progress has been made.

Recently, another exchange organization lost its state subsidy due to the fact that the government’s evaluation of the policy plan was negative.

Personal contacts between the board and staff at AFS BFL and the responsible politicians and civil servants are important to the policy plan evaluation process, as well as not ‘forcing’ things to get a subsidy but rather to ‘keep the finger on the pulse’ so that we can foresee further developments in the Department of Youth and understand what Belgian policy goals are and how our organizational goals overlap with them.

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Educational Relations at the Grassroots Level: School Relations in the USA

BY TARA BOYCE-HOFMANN, SENIOR BUSINESS STRATEGIST, AFS USA

AFS USA initiated a nationwide organizational study on AFS in high schools this year. The study’s goals are to improve AFS’s outreach to educators and administrators and to improve our overall alignment with high schools across the country. As part of the study, AFS USA has launched a variety of initiatives intended to generate an understanding of how AFS can better meet the needs and interests of educators, while simultaneously raising AFS’s profile in the educational community.

A strong partnership with educators is critically important for all AFS organizations around the world. In the United States, this challenge is compounded by the fact that the education system is extremely decentralized.

School curricula, budgetary funding, teacher selection, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards. Such boards have jurisdiction over school districts and function under directives from state legislatures. School districts are usually separate from other local jurisdictions, with independent officials and budgets.

Educational standards are usually set by state governments.

When considering the magnitude of this challenge for AFS volunteers in the US,

we know that 40% of our volunteers work with up to five different schools districts, all of which could have different policies and directives on exchange programs. Some volunteers may work with up to 20 schools in one district alone. Additional to following the district policy, principals themselves may have varying perspectives on the value of exchange programs and/or varying capacity and resources in light of the dramatic budget cuts that are occurring across the country over the past few years. (see graph for detail) To move the focus on schools forward at AFS USA, the Outreach to Educators Task Force was established, comprised of volunteers with extensive professional and volunteer experience in working with educators and school administrators. One goal for the Task Force is to develop tools and resources for our volunteers that will help them improve their skills necessary to enhance AFS’s visibility among educators and district administrators. In order to achieve this objective, the Task Force wanted and needed to first learn more from volunteers about how they work with schools and the challenges they face.

In March of 2010, the Task Force asked all volunteers to complete a survey intended to obtain feedback on their experiences in working with schools and school districts across the country. Volunteers identified their three biggest roadblocks in working with schools as follows: Restrictive policies (43%); a lack of interest by schools in exchange programs (39%); and schools’ financial limitations (35%). When volunteers were asked to indicate who determines policy related to hosting of exchange students, 61% of volunteers stated it was the School District Administration.

Feedback from the survey reinforced the need for AFS USA to upgrade its communications with educators at various levels and provided valuable insight as to how to improve our messaging on the benefits of AFS exchange programs to schools, as well as to students and parents.

Volunteers responded that they consider AFS to be aligned with the interests of most schools in regard to hosting. They also emphasized that there is significant competition for slots in schools among exchange organizations and more and more schools are dividing up their allocation among a variety of different exchange organizations.

Volunteers who responded to the survey did not convey a majority opinion that AFS’s current sending programs are aligned with schools’ interests and needs. A significant factor is that curriculum requirements for graduation and college entry are becoming more stringent and the traditional Year Program model is considered to detract from college entrance preparation. AFS USA plans to review its program models with some of our key schools and our Partners in the coming months to see what possibilities exist for creating short-term programs during the traditional NH school year.

Many volunteers conveyed through the survey that they recognize the need to

9 improve their communication skills when working with schools. Volunteers want to be able to communicate more effectively with decision-makers in schools, and be confident they can overcome a lack of interest (and even resistance) among guidance counselors and educators.

Although there are many challenges for AFS USA to overcome in regard to schools, there are also many positive experiences and relationships with educators across the country. The survey results reflect that our volunteers feel strongly that AFS is considered (by schools that are involved in AFS) to provide value.

Schools do appreciate and value the fact that AFS USA brings cultural diversity and a broad world view to a student population.

Schools in rural or with less diverse populations appreciate the value of AFS a great deal. On the flip side, volunteers who work in diverse and usually more urban areas conveyed that as their student populations are very diverse, AFS is not necessarily considered to provide something unique.

There are a number of States in the US which have recently recognized that intercultural or global competence is a critical skill for all students. The Asia

Society’s Partnership for Global Learning reports that over 25 States have initiatives to promote international education. The National Education Association (NEA) also recently issued a policy brief that calls on schools to prepare globally competent youth. One of the NEA’s recommendations urges schools to develop students who have high-level, creative thinking skills, as well as the ability to communicate in at least one other language (besides English). These skills often support students becoming more culturally aware and more appreciative of the great diversity in local and global communities.

AFS USA is committed to working more strategically with like-minded organizations to capitalize on these national and state initiatives. The Outreach to Educators Task force has taken on the responsibility to help our volunteers help educators better understand how hosting and sending exchange students can foster real-life learning of intercultural and global education. Efforts to place a stronger focus on improving outreach to schools have also served to heighten awareness among the volunteers to investigate policies in their districts and states. All of these efforts are expected to help AFS USA enhance its

Art for Peace: AFS Costa Rica Dresses Up ALONSO SOLIS, MARKETING & COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR, AFS COSTA RICA As part of AFS Costa Rica’s commitment to intercultural learning and our work to create responsible citizens who work for peace and understanding in a diverse and multicultural world, the National Office of AFS Costa Rica in collaboration with our Intercultural Learning Center, or CAI (Centro de Aprendizaje Intercultural), made the decision to dress our office in the fundamentals of AFS. The National Office is located on a main street that is quite well traveled. Therefore it has always represented a great opportunity for the thousands of people who pass by here daily to learn about our mission of peace. It is for this reason that in the month of March we gathered together hosted students, host siblings, volunteers and staff members to paint a mural that represents that which is AFS. From now on all who pass in front of the office will be able to see a work of art that illustrates the thinking of a world

without borders, in which each one of us, regardless of skin color, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or gender, all are necessary to build a better world.

The work of art shows how a blank wall can be transformed thanks to dedication and teamwork.

In AFS Costa Rica we are very proud of this new work of art that embellishes our office, and thanks to the CAI and to our participants is a reality.

We thank all the collaborators for helping us to create the mural, those who worked hard without regard to the weather and exhaustion. For all of them there are only words of thanks and our wish to remind them that now their names in the mural will be a footprint that will remain for many years in AFS Costa Rica.

Please find the attached translation of the article in Spanish.

profile in schools and expand its presence (and footprint) in schools across the country.

AFS-USA is currently developing an e-learning training module for volunteers that addresses how volunteers can more effectively approach schools and overcome obstacles with school and district policies.

It also focuses on how to communicate the benefits of the AFS USA experience in a way that is more aligned with the interests of schools today. Our marketing team is working with the Task Force to design a new school section of the AFS-USA website, and new materials for schools. We are planning to re-launch a digital newsletter for educators in time for the new school year, with content focused more appropriately on the interests of educators and not solely on the promotion of programs. Overall, AFS USA is committed to raising our profile and helping educators and school administrators connect their interest in global or international curricula with AFS USA exchange students and program opportunities more effectively.

Look to a future edition of Intercultural Link for an update on AFS USA’s school outreach initiatives.

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Network & Partner Initiatives: Crossing Cultural Borders: EFIL’s EuroAfrican Partnership for Change Project EDÏTE MILLERE, VOLUNTEER & PROJECT PARTICIPANT, AFS LATVIA EFIL, the European Federation for Intercultural Learning, is the umbrella organization of 21 AFS organizations in Europe that are part of the worldwide AFS Network. A current EFIL project to foster intercultural learning, the EuroAfrican Partnership for Change, is now underway and has already been impacting the lives of volunteers in 14 AFS organizations.

EFIL secured sponsorship for the €95,484 project from the European Commission and aims to enhance civil society development in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa through the empowerment and capacity building of youth organizations and structures. The project perfectly reflects the AFS Network’s increased focus on Africa as seen in the AFS Vision 2020 and the discussions on Network priorities at the AFS World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2009.

24 experienced youth workers from 11 European AFS organizations (Austria, Belgium Flanders, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia and Portugal) and three African organizations (Ghana, Kenya and South Africa) travel to Africa in the first half of 2010, where they are involved in feasibility studies and trainings aimed at over 200 youth workers and multipliers - AFS volunteers and staff - in three different regions in each of the three participating African countries: Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya. Training workshops focus on topics such as intercultural learning, roles and responsibilities of volunteers, project management modules tailored for volunteer networks, risk management, facilitation and presentation skills, communication and reporting competences, activity planning, etc.

In a week-long closing international seminar “Empowering our EurAfrican Partnership” in Vienna, Austria, in August 2010, all participants will gather to share their experiences, engage in debates, define possible paths ahead, and formulate recommendations. Project results will be compiled in a guide “Facilitating a

Sustainable EurAfrican Partnership for Change.”

Meanwhile, the first and second legs of the project – the visits to Ghana and South Africa – have been completed, involving two groups of ten trainers each from 14 nationalities (Europe and Africa), and close to 50 Ghanaian and 100 South Africans youth workers as the main beneficiaries of the trainings.

EuroAfrican “Partnership for Change Project” Calendar of Project Activities • November 2009: First Steering Group meeting, Portugal • December 2009: recruitment of participants • January 2010: "Homework" - a guided self-preparation for all participants • March 2010: Feasibility Study & Trainings - Ghana (Accra, Cape Coast and Sunyani) • April 2010: Feasibility Study & Trainings South Africa (Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) • April 2010: 2nd Steering Group meeting, South Africa • June 2010: Feasibility Study & Trainings Kenya (Nairobi, Southern Rift Valley and Coastal Region) • August 2010: 'Empowering Our EurAfrican Partnership' International Seminar, Vienna, Austria • October 2010: 3rd Steering Group meeting (conference call)

My encounters with Ghana started back in 2001 when, as a 15-year-old Latvian girl, I went on my AFS year to the USA and met Ghanaians for the first time. They happened to be the other AFS exchange students at my school. Ever since then we have kept in touch and, despite the fact that neither of them still live in Ghana, we always speak about how I should visit their sunny country.

Eight years later and, once again thanks to AFS (and EFIL), I finally went to Ghana and even happened to meet one of my old friends again. It was day one in Ghana and my first reminder of the truly powerful and life-long impact that AFS can leave on the individual.

The next two weeks in Ghana were spent with EFIL’s EuroAfrican Partnership for Change project. The project constantly reminded me about the power of AFS - the vision through the years, values taught, and connections made. Despite the fact that the average age our participant group was 23, we all had quite a bit of experience with AFS, both as participants and volunteers.

We also had quite some experiences in our professional lives, allowing us to take this project beyond the volunteering level.

Personally for me, this project reminded me that in the professional environment one often forgets that communication, even if it is content-oriented, can not avoid culture and its differences. For example, the concept of time in most European countries and Ghana is different, which therefore impacts the mode of collaborative work.

Similar to an exchange year, much attention should be paid to intercultural education before entering into mutual agreements in an international work environment. However, in our project, despite the fact that we came from more than ten different countries and two continents, the obstacles and cultural differences were overcome fast. I attribute this to our previous experiences with different cultures and numerous intercultural case studies that we have all learned and taught.

EFIL’s project ‘EuroAfrican Partnership for Change’ mostly differs from an exchange year with the fact that people not only participate for a personal

11 experience, but also have a specific task. They represent their own AFS organizations and support the work of AFS Ghana (as well as South Africa and Kenya, in the other parts of the project). We did not have as much time and chances as I might have wished to share our organizations’ unique identities. Nevertheless, for an organization like AFS Latvia, there were things to be learned. One of which is the great work done by AFS Ghana to keep AFS returnees involved with AFS; some of which have been with the organization for over 40 years. Such loyalty says a lot about AFS Ghana.

AFS Ghana really impressed me with the variety of programs on offer, their enthusiasm for new things, and their willingness to work and do more. I also got a very positive feeling that people in Ghana really love the idea of AFS, even if it is not always 100% understood (this applies to some of the new volunteers I got to train in the newly developing chapter in the Cape Coast area).

People in Ghana simply have it in themselves to help others, regardless of who you are. And they are proud about their culture and very happy to share it, which makes Ghana a perfect AFS destination.

This chance I was given by EFIL to participate and work together with such a diverse group in a short but intense period, and to be able to produce positive outcomes, has been a real intercultural learning (ICL) experience for my professional and personal growth. Even though delivering trainings and classes is my daily reality (I am an English Language teacher), I was still very proud of myself for being able to deliver a quality (as rated by the participants!) training to AFS Ghana volunteers in Cape Coast, without knowing much of their background, experiences and expectations beforehand.

And secondly, I realized that even despite the fact that I call myself an experienced AFS volunteer and ICL trainer, I cannot escape the natural experience of a new culture. I still have culture shock and managed to live through the U-Curve model of intercultural adjustment in the two weeks spent in Ghana. My twelve days in March 2010 were comparable to the twelve months of my AFS program in 2001: I did have my ‘honeymoon’ stage, when I just floated around and was trying to capture what is what and how things happen, got frustrated on day three by how different things were to what I am used to, and soon after that went into my happy adjusted state and by day seven I had learned how to eat a fish with one hand, wore local garb to dinner, and even attempted dancing to the local rhythms. One may say that twelve days is a too short a period to speak about any sort of learning and yet I would like to argue, that it all depends on the ‘student’ – if he/ she listens and learns fast, has previous experiences with other cultures and/or is well prepared for the new encounters, then no matter the amount of time spent on the grounds – it is all part of meaningful intercultural learning.

Weeks later, back in Latvia, I have the joy of telling people about my experiences in Ghana. I tell them about how I too had culture shock but anyhow fell in love with the people and the country. Back in 2001 I went to the USA filled with stereotypes and lacking the basic knowledge about the history, the food, and the size of the country (I even thought that I would travel to California in one weekend from Ohio, but the USA turned out to be bigger than Latvia). I learned through immersion. This was similar in Ghana. And just like the USA experience helped me later in life to better understand the cultures I was living in, the Ghana experience has helped me to better teach others about the world.

When I get to teach my students about Africa, I am now able to use my personal experience, souvenirs, and pictures to break their stereotypes. I share my knowledge with the youngsters in Latvia with the AFS goal in mind – to educate people to be more tolerant towards differences in hope for a more peaceful world.

Projects like EFIL’s ‘EuroAfrican Partnership for Change’ not only help individual AFS organizations to grow, but offer further intercultural learning opportunities for AFS volunteers who have a constant appreciation and interest in their professional and personal growth. Such projects spread the idea of AFS and foster a better world through the people involved in the project and those touched by it, during and after the experience.

The Author, Edïte Millere, is pictured at the far left.

Please find the attached translation of the article in French.

CORRECTIONS: • The author of the Concepts & Theories article in issue 4 of Intercultural Link is Anna Collier, and not Lisa Cohen.

• Please find a amended version of the Adjustment Curves Graphics published in issue 4 of Intercultural Link as per Robin Weber’s suggestion.

Please see the corrections attachment

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Beyond-AFS ICL news: Geert Hofstede announces 3rd edition of “Cultures and Organizations” Interview by Roberto Ruffino The name of Geert Hofstede is obviously not unknown to the readers of this newsletter.

In the early 1970s he conducted the most comprehensive study at the time on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. He analyzed a large database of employee value scores collected by the IBM Corporation between 1967 and 1973 covering more than 70 countries. The result of his research was a fundamental study for contemporary interculturalists, called “Culture’s Consequences – International Differences in Work-Related Values,” published

by Sage Publications in USA in 1980.

As noted previously in this issue, his five “cultural dimensions” have become widely known and used and discussed all over the world: power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation.

The latest edition of his acclaimed book (“Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind,” revised and expanded 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill USA, New York) will appear in June 2010. Roberto Ruffino has asked Geert Hofstede what has happened in between.

“After my retirement in 1993,” Hofstede says “I completely re-wrote Culture’s Consequences. The new 2nd edition appeared with Sage in 2001. Then I continued to re-write Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. I asked my eldest son Jan to become a co-author: he is an associate professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and, among others, an author of books on culture in his own right. The revised and expanded 2nd edition, by both of us, appeared in 2005.

Translations of this edition have so far appeared in Czech, Danish, Dutch,

German, Hungarian, Polish and Swedish; a Chinese translation is in the press. This 3rd edition of Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind is based on the state of the art in cross-cultural research and its applications as of 2009. Dr. Michael Minkov from Bulgaria has joined our author team, so it is now Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov.”

Hofstede is not new to the AFS world.

He was invited to be a keynote speaker at a general assembly of European Federation for Intercultural Learning (EFIL) several years ago and he appears in the documentary video presentation of the European “Year of Intercultural Dialogue” prepared by EFIL in 2008. Further back, he was the guest speaker at the inauguration of the AFS/Intercultura office in Colle Val d’Elsa, Italy, in October 1991.

It is appropriate therefore to hear some of his opinions about AFS and its programs.

And it is encouraging to find out that some of his ideas are already in place in AFS. It is the case of our orientation courses: “Geert, in preparing pupils (age 16-17) for an extended period of life in a foreign family and of study in a foreign school (one year) what would be the key elements to include in an orientation course?” Hofstede responded, “I would use the experience of their predecessors in the same host countries to put together an awareness package.”

Hofstede believes that teenagers are very receptive to intercultural learning and that they may attain a high level of cultural literacy though an individual exchange: “It is the best age to learn a second culture!”

And, within Europe, exchanges contribute to the social cohesion of the Union: “Absolutely – this is a very attractive way

to turn us into Europeans.”

Hofstede also believes that school teachers may be encouraged to think and teach less in national terms and more in international terms, by using “basic concepts about their own culture in relationship to others, and the experiences of former exchange students to and from their country.”

A final question: “How has the intercultural field changed since the 70s when you started to research?” Hofstede replied “It has become much more known, but also more controversial for political reasons!” _________________________________ Notes and Remarks: The third edition counts approximately 167,000 words (second edition 133,000). It offers the following new features: In Chapter 1, “The Rules of the Social Game”, some new concepts: the “moral circle”: the boundary of those whom we consider our group with its moral rights, and “national identity.”

Expanding and transferring to a new Chapter 2 methodological notes about measuring cultures, and the description of current cross-national studies like those by Schwartz and GLOBE. In Chapters 3 through 6, the description and implications of the national culture dimensions of Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity and Uncertainty Avoidance for 76 countries.

In Chapter 7, a new treatment of the Long versus Short Term Orientation dimension. Analysis of the results of the Chinese Values Survey across 23 countries.

Expanding this to 93 countries with a new measurement of the index based on Minkov’s analysis of the World Values Survey.

In an entirely new Chapter 8, introduction of a sixth dimension “Indulgence versus Restraint,” also based on Minkov’s analysis of the World Values Survey, across 93 countries. This dimension caters for how societies deal with the gratification of basic human drives.

Chapter 9 (was 7) refers to the cultural factors having played a role in the 2008 economic crisis.

Chapters 10 and 11 correspond to the old chapters 8, 9 and 10 with changes and deletions.

In an entirely new Chapter 12, a treatise on the biological and evolutionary origins of the variety in human cultures. It traces human cultural prehistory since far before the invention of agriculture. It shows how selection between groups has shaped human nature and human morality. It concludes with reflections about how cultural evolution affects humanity today.

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ICL Field Conferences & Event Updates June

July

August

September

The Second International Conference on Linguistic and Intercultural Education (CLIE2); 10 – 12 June 2010; Herceg Novi, Montenegro http://www.uab.ro/ sesiuni_2010/CLIE_2010/

The Governance of Higher Education in the Gulf Cooperation Region; 7 – 10 July 2010; Cambridge, UK http://www.grcevent.net/ cambridge/index.php? page=workshop&wname=8

Linking International Conference of Intercultural Collaboration ICIC 2010; 19-20 August 2010; Copenhagen, Denmark http://langrid.nict.go.jp/ icic2010/

22nd Annual EAIE Conference; 15 – 18 September 2010; Nantes, France http://www.eaie.org/ nantes/ INTER Network International Conference: Intercultural Education as a Project for Social Transformation; 16 – 18 September 2010; Malta http://sites.google.com/a/ oafmalta.org/internetwork-conference-malta/ home

ELSIN 2010 15th Annual International Conference: Exploring Styles to Enhance Learning and Teaching in Diverse Contexts; 28 – 30 June 2010; University of Aveiro, Portugal http:// www.westminster.ac.uk/ schools/exchange/newsand-events/events-calendar/ 2010-conferences/elsinconference-2010

If you are aware of upcoming conferences in the intercultural area, please advise Hristo Banov at hristo.banov@afs.org

Intercultural VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 5 - JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2010

YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK

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 Hristo Banov at AFS International: hristo.banov@afs.org

Intercultural Learning Work Group Johanna Nemeth (AUT) Rosario Gutierrez (COL) Annette Gisevius (GER) Lisa Cohen (INT) Melissa Liles, Chair (INT) Lucas Welter (INT) Roberto Ruffino (ITA)

Questions or Comments to: hristo.banov@afs.org

Newsletter Editor: Lisa Cohen Editorial Consultant: Melissa Liles Layout & Research: Hristo Banov Design Consultant & Graphics: Raquel Martinez Contributing Writer: Anna Collier