Module 3 Intercultural Skills for Facilitating Learning

1. Module 3Intercultural Skills forFacilitating Learning

2. Aims of Module 3 • Explore our Racial Identities & how it may influence how we work as intercultural educators • Consider the influence of ‘positioning’ for students & educators • Identify inhibitors, strategies & resources for effective student engagement in the intercultural space • Consider barriers & facilitators for having effective intercultural discussions What practice based learning’s did you take away from yesterdays session?

3. Exploring our Racial Identities • Racial consciousness: “A process where we seek to explore how we understand ‘race’, how it has featured in our lives and what factors influenced it, inclusive of broader social narratives and policies” (Singleton & Linton, 2006, :73). • For intercultural educators, reflecting on our own racial identity supports us to be mindful of our position, & how influences shaping our racial identity may influence how we engage with students.

4. Activity 1 • In pairs, discuss your Racial Autobiography homework experience. • In the whole group, discuss • What did this exercise highlight for you about who YOU are as an educator in the Intercultural Space? • What kind of implications may this have on your teaching?

5. Theoretical Models • Racial identity models: • Helms White Racial Identity Development Model – talks about whiteness and systemic privileges • Fearon’s Model – talks about how social and personal identity develops and there differences • Cross’ People of Color Identity Model – talks about social and personal identity but in context of political & historical forces

6. Self Reflexivity • Having an ongoing conversation with one’s own whole self about what one is experiencing as one is experiencing it. To be self-reflexive is to engage in feeling and thought while being in the moment. • “If you don’t question yourself and your actions and assumptions you could well be participating in the continued disadvantage of others” (ICH Student Reflection, 2011).

7. Positioning & ‘Lens’ • Positioning & Lens: • Affected by discourse, individual psychology & the dynamic social role • Multiple positions can exist at any one time • Lens shape how we perceive and interpret the experience we are having • Examples of lens we can see through: • Gender, Cultural, Social justice, Class, Professional, Age.

8. Dimensions of Diversity The photo “Dimensions of Diversity” (Loden Associates Inc, n.d.)

9. Activity 2 • In groups of three, discuss Classroom Scenario 2 or 3. • In the whole group, discuss • How you can draw on your own sense of your Racial Identity, Positioning & Lens to facilitate safe & effective intercultural discussion? • What other strategies can you use to facilitate effective discussion in the intercultural space?

10. Activity 3 • In the whole group, discuss • Is the context of the video appropriate for having an intercultural dialogue? Why/why not? • Given Australia’s colonial history, how do present material & have intercultural discussions that are productive rather than polarising? • How would you facilitate this space to have safe & effective discussions?

11. Challenges to Effective Engagementin Intercultural Space ICH focus groups feedback: • Racist students • Difficult/ defensive • Anger/ resentment (often arising from negative past experiences) • Denial of racism • Non-engaging/ silent • Sense of ‘imposed content’ • Stereotypes • Feeling that material is not relevant…. • Different types of ‘colour commentary’ • Tokenisation • Political sensitivities ‘walking on eggshells’ • Lack of time to engage students in genuine ‘shifts’ • External factors (personal/ social etc)

12. Strategies to Enhance Effective Engagement in IC Space ICH tutors feedback: • Identify/connect with student • Practice what you preach • Avoid binary discussions Asmar’s exemplars… • Show confidence in your expertise • Get students to question established assumptions/ myths & stereotypes

13. CCAR Strategies for Dealingwith Resistance • Recognise resistance • Ignore behaviours - (to see where its going…) • Delay/ deflect - (turn issue to group, while composing) • Respond – treat not as an attack but as ‘reasonable question’ • Direct confrontation – sometimes necessary • Back door approach – meet individual privately • Regrouping – separate enclave groups into random groups • Team – get support from your colleagues • Evaluation review – feedback to explore how resistance affects whole group.

14. CCAR Strategic Principles for Courageous Conversations • Remain connected • Honesty is best policy • Discomfort is OK! • It’s a marathon not a sprint • Connect through your story • Make complexity your friend

15. Key Principles for EffectiveIC Teaching & Learning • Reflexive self practice • Understanding our various ‘positions’ & how they influence how we make sense of experiences • Make the information your discussing connect to the current Australian context • Remain empathetic & interactive • Making connections between the material being learnt & your own cultural frameworks • Foster in students - & yourself- a commitment to engage

16. References • Asmar, C. (nd). Teaching examplars. Retrieved from http://www.indigenousteaching.com/html/exemplars_index.html • Lawrence SM & Tatum BD. White Racial Identity and Anti-Racist Education: A Catalyst for Change. Teaching for Change: Building Social Justice in the Classroom. Retrieved http://www.teachingforchange.org/node/149. • Loden Associates, Inc. (2007). Diversity wheel. Retrieved from http://www.loden.com/Site/Dimensions.html • Singleton, G., & Linton, C. (2006). Courageous conversations about race. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

17. References • What I learned in the class today: Aboriginal issues is the classroom. Tokenization (n.d.). http://www.intheclass.arts.ubc.ca/discussion-topics/2-tokenization.html