Suchergebnisse

The paper presents a purely pedagogical application of Amin Maalouf's "identity check-up" as a tool which has proved to be useful in cultural mixed classes as a basis for self-analysis and discussion, and as a means of preventing the development of stereotypes and prejudices.
Revised version of a paper given at the conference Changing Identities in a globalized world. 29th November – 1st December, 2007- Faculty of Communication,Vilnius University

Būti grupės nariu – ar kultūrinės, religinės ar tautos – ką tai reiškia? kodėl mes norime būti tam tikros bendruomenės nariai, nors tai dažnai susiję su kitų baime ar agresija? kas tai – tapatybė?Amin Maalouf, libanietis, krikščionis, rašantis prancūziškai, dėl savo prigimties turi daugelį tapatybių. Toks pavyzdys rodo, kad bendras "tapatybės" suvokimas yra netinkamas ir netgi pavojingas. Toks pavyzdys atskleidžia, kad tapatybė negali būti stabili, ir ji apibrėžiama atsižvelgiant į priklausymą grupei.Šiame straipsnyje siekiama parodyti, kaip metodas "Examen d'identité" gali būti taikomas auditorijoje ir kurio rezultatai gali būti lyginami ir aptariami studentams įvardijus tapatybės elementus ir atitikimą.In the name of identity: Teaching cultural awareness in the intercultural classroomUlrike Meyer
SummaryBeing part of a group – be it a cultural, religious or national one – what does it mean? Why do we want to be part of a community, although this very often leads to fear of others and to all kinds of aggression? "Identity" – what is this?Amin Maalouf, Lebanese by birth, Christian by religion, writing in French and from a position of multiple identities ("I am posed between two countries, two or three languages, and several cultural traditions"), tries to show that the common notion of "identity" is false – and dangerous. He shows that identity is not stable and defined by belonging to one group or another. He suggests a way that might help accepting a multiplicity of equally legitimate allegiances. Maalouf's "identity check-up" is an effective way for analysing one's own identity and has proven to be useful in culturally mixed classes as a basis for self-analysis and discussion. Many students in countries like Germany, with a high number of immigrants, have experienced the influence of different cultures, religions, societies and are open for a notion of "identity" as a kind of a dynamic puzzle.The paper will show how this "examen d'identité" can be used in the classroom and compare and discuss the results of these identity check-ups, filled-in by the students.Key words: identity, cultural identity, self-analysis, intercultural communication, international classroom, pedagogical approach

Abstract
The paper will outline a research project based on the analysis of diary entries written by a multinational cohort of German, Polish, Chinese and US-American Master students during a time span of 15 months as part of the course requirements for a module entitled "Applied Intercultural Communication" in the MA "International Management and Intercultural Communication / GlobalMBA". The diary-writing project, which was started in 2013, is intended to serve two main purposes:



For the students, the diaries will be a tool and personal "learning log" to gain greater awareness of their own cultural values and to critically reflect on the process of cultural adjustment (or lack thereof) and the experience of travelling, living and studying with a multinational cohort in four foreign countries. In this way, the diaries also represent a dynamic scenario of the students' acculturation process at various points of their studies.


We, as researchers, educators and program developers, want to explore how this experience-based approach allows us to chart a student's development and attitudinal shifts from the beginning to the end of a 15-month program, both in terms of personal growth and intercultural learning. Consequently, the diaries are intended to serve as a tool to discover and assess which aspects of human experience are globally shared and observable and which areas require the students to undergo processes of cultural localization and adaption in order to function adequately in new cultural environments.



Students are encouraged to observe, monitor and report on any culturally defined and "different" situation without being judgemental. Moreover, students are required to specifically report on the process of team/cohort building and on ways of dealing with criticism, disappointment, conflict and "Otherness". The findings of our qualitative research will be fed back into the process of further curriculum integration and development.