Dealing with Intercultural

Mis-Understanding

Australian Curriculum: History describes cultures and clashes of cultures from indigenous through ancient civilisations to modern pop culture. In addition, the General Capability of Intercultural Understanding is embedded in the content and elaborations of all new curriculum areas. This professional learning experience can assist teachers develop the deep understanding required for implementation of the curriculum, as well as for dealing with cross-cultural misunderstandings within schools.

WHY SCHOOLS SHOULD TAKE PART:

Session 1: Joy Schultz, educational consultant and SEAQ secretary, will explore the concept of ‘culture’ and the bases of cultural differences and similarities. She will consider in a general sense the effects of culture change, culture shock, ethnocentrism and the effects of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination in intercultural relationships, as well as pointing out teaching implications (especially for the new history curriculum) and some useful resources.

Session 2: Margaret Bornhorst, a cross-cultural specialist with a background in Multicultural Affairs Queensland, will provide more specific examples of some of the frustrations of dealing with people whose cultural behaviours seem very different from our own. She will inspire participants to be aware of their own beliefs and assumptions and the richness of their own culture. She will provide insights into the behaviours and attitudes we all need to develop in order to create positive outcomes and reduce tensions and negative perceptions.

Session 3: Joy and Margaret join with members of the Global Learning Centre to take teachers through some activities and resources they can use with their students to highlight the concepts dealt with earlier, and to create empathetic responses in students that can lead to the development of respect for others.

Please register by the DUE DATE - Tuesday 12th March 2013.