INTERCULTURAL TRAINERS KIT

INTERCULTURAL TRAINERS KIT
FOR MIGRANTS’ EDUCATORS

Promoting interculturalism, tolerance and diversity in the learning process

Teaching techniques: Hosting Dynamics (Discouraging factor #2 and #5)

  • Factor #2: Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion
  • Factor #5: Feeling of exclusion from the group (classmates)

Learning objectives:

To increase knowledge about different cultures;

To understand that every human being is different;

To diagnose tolerance and intolerance at the general level, as well as those that occur in our midst;

To discuss feelings that arises when a person is discriminated against.

Time:
The necessary time will vary depending on the number of participants, but is estimated around 1 hour.

Necessary materials:

Cards in different colors, such as red, blue, yellow, green and white.

Description of the activity:

  1. The coordinator distributes color cards: (red, blue, yellow, green, white) to the participants. The people will be grouped according to the color of the cards. The class will be divided in small groups of five.
  2. Explain that discrimination means depriving someone of benefits and excluding them from social activities, based mainly on prejudice.
  3. The coordinator will handle a case to each of the group participants.
  4. The group will discuss each case and will put them in order according to the degree of discrimination. In the group each member will defend the order until a consensus is reached among all, taking into account the following criteria:
    • Extemelly discriminating
    • Quite discriminating
    • Little discriminatory
    • No discrimination

Cases:

  1. In a small village, a group of neighbors prevented Samara from going to school with their children because they claim they don’t shower and that they don’t smell good.
  2. Faced with claims from the local population, the mayor of a village issued a public notice preventing the immigrant population from bathing in the public pool.
  3. Faced with disturbances caused in a group, a young person of African origins was punished, claiming that it is always his fault.
  4. Theft occurred in a locality where five gypsy families lived. Most neighbors blamed the gypsies, claiming they are always responsible for stealing.
  5. A South African family wants to rent an apartment. The owner wants to rent it because the apartment has been empty for a long time but when seeing the family, he said: “I won’t rent it, I don’t want to have complications with foreigners.”
  6. Paco and Fatima want to get married, but Paco’s parents don’t allow them because Fatima is black.
  7. In a European city live several Indian families. The Indian girls want to use they traditional clothes, but the school board tells them to dress like the others if they want to get into the classroom.
  8. A young man named Daniel wants to enter a foreign country, but the airport police doesn’t allow because he doesn’t have visa.
  9. A family from Central America goes to Europe and the airport security asks them how much money they have brought to spend during their stay. Since they have nothing, they are sent back to their country.
  10. Several boys start a discussion in a public square, which leads to a fight. The police arrives and takes only the gypsy boys.
  11. Debrief:
    • How would I feel if I were in the shoes of any of these people? If that happened to me would i be happy?
    • How do I feel when I’m disrespected, discriminated against or excluded from a group?