FACILITATING MULTICULTURAL GROUPS: A practical guide (Christine Hogan)

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Facilitators are being called upon to work in international and cross-cultural arenas more than ever before to help groups co-ordinate plans for governance, education and community development. There are also increasingly frequent cases of pandemics that require facilitating multicultural groups such as the Tsunami and HIV/Aids disaster relief. "Facilitating Multicultural Groups" provides a practical approach for facilitators needing to enhance their skills when working with people from a diverse range of multicultural backgrounds. Based on research and facilitator experiences, it takes the facilitator step-by-step through ideas, processes, models and frameworks that are designed to assist with the preparation, facilitation and evaluation of workshops. It advises how to adapt learning materials to suit specific situations and offers techniques to deal with conflict. Complete with additional resources available on a dedicated website including: Cultural value cards pack; Cultural behaviors card pack; Medical insurance advice; Glossary of key terms; Useful networks; Country by country background information, this is essential reading for anyone facilitating multicultural groups.

Contents: 1 Preparations with clients Introduction; Preparation research; Generic cultural competencies framework; Cultural intelligence; What to take with you if working overseas; Customizing materials; What to check if going overseas; Arrival strategies; Use of local facilitation techniques and facilitators; Diversity checklist for workshop design; Getting to know and contracting with co-facilitators; Prior preparation by local counterparts; Planning workshop openings; Ending rituals and celebration; Formative evaluation; Long-term evaluation; Facilitator health and well-being 2 Workshop delivery Introduction; Claiming the workshop space; Being prepared; Introductions; Clarifying individual roles; Contracting participants' needs and responsibilities; Cultural attitudes to technology; Creating physical safety; Creating cultural safety; Enhancing respect; Warm-up activities; Energizers; Room maintenance; Strategies to encourage networking; Strategies to provoke thinking; Processes to explore understanding of concepts; Processes to explore multiple realities and perception; Assumptions; Linking the parts of a workshop; Group formation; What if they don't understand?; Transference of learning; Motivating participants to read outside a workshop; Adapting processes to different cultural contexts; Stop-start role play 3 Power and empowerment in groups Introduction; Power in groups; Modes of facilitation; Ladder of participation; Ladder of empowerment; Ladders of equity; Ladder of political safety, open and safe communication; Values in facilitation and participation; Uses of power and power bases; Empowering processes to harness positive thinking; Appreciative inquiry process 4 Strategies to enable multicultural teams to be more effective Introduction; Cultural socialization; Characteristics of effective culturally diverse teams; Intercultural leadership; Intercultural sensitivity; Cultural mapping; The MBI model; Different interpretations of the word 'culture'; Purpose/rationale of the cultural values card pack; Explanations of cultural driver cards; Sorting the cultural card pack; Bridge-building processes and strategies; Integrating bridges into the existing system; Comparing cultural ideas and reality; Other processes and strategies to map cultures; Previously mapped cultures; Behaviour cards; Cultural awareness in simulation activities; Mapping the cultures of stakeholders; Facilitative bridging strategies; Some bridge-building ideas 5 Metaphors, stories, music and dance Introduction; Metaphors; Stories; Inviting participants to tell their stories; Personal story process; Case studies created by outsiders; Case stories created by participants; Role-reversal stories through the eyes of 'the other'; Role-reversal stories to help participants to decentre; Music; Hints for facilitators; Processes involving music and sound; Dance 6 Visual techniques Introduction; Group media (community-based media); Flows of communication with pictures; Useful visual literacy research for facilitators; Pictures and cartoons as discussion starters; Facilitated discussion framework for picture analysis; Graphic facilitation; Mindscapes and concept drawing; Participants design pictures; Multi-purpose visuals; Picture card packs; Three-dimensional idea generation and development of prototypes; Empowering uses of participatory video; Resources for seeing things from different angles; How to avoid death by PowerPoint; Learning how to draw 7 Facilitating difference Introduction; Constructive and destructive paths and choices; Ways of talking and listening; Facilitating dialogue in culturally diverse groups; Warm-up activity to identify sources of conflict; Raising awareness of assumptions and stereotypes; Perception and content assumptions and misunderstandings; When dialogue stops, learning stops; Use of superordinate goals to unite disparate groups; Facilitating cultural inclusivity; Holding up a mirror to the 'others' 8 Facilitating reconciliation Introduction; Reconciliation and healing between cultures within a country: Australia; Reconciliation and healing between cultures within a country: African examples; 9 Language and silence Introduction; The relationship between language and culture; Concepts do not always translate across cultures; Speech patterns; Different cultural interpretations of concepts; Different meanings and uses of silence; Hints for facilitators to 'facilitate or hold silence' 10 Facilitating with interpreters and translators Introduction; Types of interpreting; Debriefing experiential learning activities; The mutual misunderstanding zone; Translating documents

PUBLICATION DATE: Apr 2007