Bridging Values

Aims of the tool

Overall aim:
To enrich the intercultural competences of educators and workers in multi-cultural environments. The training is build on the pedagogy of the oppressed and the experiential learning cycle.
Specific goals:
1- To discover how human values are universal but it's prioritization varies from person to another as from culture to another.
2- To learn by experience about the different intercultural conflict styles and how to mediate between them. This is by bridging the similar values behind it.

Description of the tool

Bridging values is a 90 minutes interactive workshop. It is developed by Samar Zughool. She is an intercultural trainer at Povod institute for culture and the development of international relations in culture. It is dedicated for educators who are working with youth and civil society within an intercultural context. This training is designed to develop their intercultural competences when facing the deep cultural values beyond the cultural aspects that appear on the surface like music, dance, costumes and food etc.
In the first 30 minutes, the participants will have a chance to explore their values and how they would prioritize it from the most important to the less. Individually each participant will choose 7 values from a list of 15 values and then prioritize these values from 1 as the most important to them till 7 as the least important.

Later on, in their national groups the participants will share and reflect on the prioritization of these values. This time not according to their personal views but according to the commons in the socio-culture in their countries. Every national group will present the scale of values based on their socio-culture on a flip chart to be observed on an exhibition before briefing and reflection.

The aim of the first part is to assist the participants to better understand their own values and how it is connected or might be connected to their socio-cultures. And to understand that human values are universal but the order in which societies as well as individuals prioritize these values differs.

The second part of the workshop will start with a short presentation of the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (ICS) developed by Mitch Hammer followed by simulation activity for the participants to explore the different intercultural styles by experience. Every participant will assimilate to a certain character. Through role playing the participants learn by experience how to mediate and build bridges for a proactive cross-cultural negotiation beyond misunderstandings.

The workshop is concluded by briefing and reflecting. The participants highlight the main features of intercultural mediation as an effective tool to enhance an effective intercultural communication. To prevent or solve possible intercultural conflicts when working with diverse cultures. In the reflection, the participants make similar connections to their reality through their work as intercultural trainers.
In attachment you can find
1- Real scenarios of intercultural conflicts ( Names and other facts are modified) with questions for simulation.
2- The list of values for the participants to select 7 from them and prioritize them from one to seven as the most important to the less important.
3- The document with the description for the four intercultural conflict styles.