Cross Culture Activities

Cross-cultural activities enable you to see the world from perspectives different from your own.war no more image by Leticia Wilson from Fotolia.com

When we are ethnocentric, we tend to make false assumptions about cultures different from our own. Without our conscious awareness, we misjudge people, leading to distorted communication. Ultimately, we are not able to appreciate the intrinsic value of a given culture different from our own.

In recent decades, the desire for understanding differing cultures has become more and more pronounced. We recognize the need to see differing cultures as being invaluable to our world economy. We are seeing that part of the solution in addressing social problems lies in respecting diversity.

Cross-Cultural Solutions

Since 1995, Cross-Cultural Solutions, a non-profit organization, has been sponsoring volunteer programs in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. With a worldwide staff of over 300 people in 12 countries, the organization is cognizant of the need for activities that facilitate greater understanding for unfamiliar cultures, to make the volunteer experience more enriching. Activities include an orientation, language training, field trips, guest speakers and immersion in local activities.

In Ghana you could visit a small village for a ceremony and participate in drumming and dancing performance or attend a traditional Ghanaian funeral. In China, you may take a cooking class or visit with practitioners of Chinese medicine. In Russia, you may visit museums, concerts or bathhouses. In Guatemala, you may learn about weaving textiles or participate in a Mayan wedding ritual.

In 1989, the then Director of the Peace Corps, Paul Coverdell, started the World Wise Schools program as a means to bring cross cultural learning experiences into the classroom for students from kindergarten to high school. The program was designed to enlighten students on differing cultures and geography as well as to encourage service.

Initially the program focused on facilitating correspondence between peace corp volunteers and U.S. students. Since the beginning, more than three million students have benefited from corresponding with Peace Corps volunteers in the field. Correspondence with classrooms usually takes place in the form of e-mail, postal letters and telephone calls, as well as photographs, videos and tape recordings.

The program has evolved to provide educators with materials for teaching in subjects like language arts, social studies, geography, environmental science and international economics. Teaching materials have included award-winning videos, stories, folk tales, guest speakers and cross-cultural publications. The teaching materials are free and can be found on the Internet. You can find lessons by region, country, subject and grade level.

In 1989, leaders of the Rochester Public School in Minnesota initiated a nonprofit organization called Building Equity Together to counter racism and discrimination amongst youth. This program later became known as the Diversity Council and has since evolved to not only focus on influencing students, but also adults. This effort has received national attention and is considered an example to duplicate in other school districts.

One of its flagship programs, Spark workshops, focuses on reducing prejudice. Facilitators, who are representative of the community's diversity, present workshops with every grade level, at every school. They start with basic concepts about similarities and differences and move on to more challenging discussions regarding discrimination. Students learn to value human differences and gain empathy.

The Diversity Council has also initiated training for adults through the Diversity Toolkit for Business, to point out the benefits of reaching out to those of differing walks of life. By embracing diversity, businesses are able expand their growth to more population segments and attract a diverse talented workforce, as well as create a workplace that is inclusive and respectful. Workshops focus on topics such as race, language, immigration and cultural proficiency.