Handbook+for+Participants+ +GCC+At+Home

Participants Handbook
GCC At Home
SUMMARY | PAGE 2
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION 3
PARTICIPANT’S LEARNING 4
CONTENT 6
CERTIFICATION 9
USING THIS HANDBOOK 10
INWARD 11
OUTWARD 27
FORWARD 70
REFERENCES 74
© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

INTRODUCTION | PAGE 3
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Global Competence Certificate Program!
The Global Competence Certificate (GCC) is composed of a

series of modules, with guided reflection and live training
options at key points in the curriculum.
Each of these online modules will have a short video for you
to watch, where we introduce the key topics around
building bridges across differences and begin the
conversation online (through forums, discussion questions,
and assignments). These modules build on each other as
well as on your experiences. The GCC is designed to be
experiential, developmental, and holistic. The goal is to
provide you with a toolkit that will make you more
comfortable and effective when dealing with cultural You will acquire
differences—a skillset that will not only help in your studies the knowledge,
but also for your future career, within your community and skills, and
as you navigate in our increasingly diverse and understanding that
interconnected world! are needed to work
effectively in
diverse teams and
create a more just
and peaceful world.

PARTICIPANT’S LEANING |
PAGE 4
PARTICIPANT’S
LEARNING
While intercultural skills are considered highly valuable in

today’s world, the real value of this Global Competence
Certificate is in your own personal growth. We’ve designed
the GCC to cater to you by having you reflect deeply about
yourself and your experiences while also looking at
examples of stories that include people with diverse
identities, viewpoints and experiences. Global Competence
asks learners to practice a basic four-step “adaptation
process” grounded in six core educational goals:
Self-awareness: You’re going to learn about yourself,

uncovering the ways that your own culture and identities
have shaped your characteristic ways of feeling, perceiving,
thinking and behaving.
Awareness about others: You will recognize and

understand patterns of behavior and values of people from
different cultural contexts. gain insight into how
communication, values and norms are some of the building
blocks of differences in society. You will become familiar
with intercultural communication and conflict concepts to
better understand similarities and differences across
cultures.

PARTICIPANT’S LEANING |
PAGE 5
Mindful emotional responses: You will develop your

emotional intelligence: your ability to identify and
mindfully manage your emotional responses and resilience,
especially in contexts that disorient or challenge you.
Bridges across differences: You’ll learn how to build

bridges across differences, communicating and working
effectively with people who are different from you by
shifting your perspective and adapting your behavior. All of
this will propel you to take action and to use your global
competence to create positive change at your workplace or
in your local community.
Global perspective: You’ll get an opportunity to reflect

on how inequality, power and privilege shape our
interactions. You’ll also analyze how these inequalities
influence encounters between different people.
Application: Finally, you’ll move from theory to

action. You’ll reflect on how to apply global competence
in your daily life and start taking action for positive
impact in your local environment.

CONTENT | PAGE 6
CONTENT
INWARD
Roadmap
Introduces the course and its different pillars and methods.
Learning Styles
Reflects on the methodology used in this course and how each of us best learns
(based on Kolb).
Who am I?
Introduces the notions of culture and identity and how they shape us and the way we
act and see the world.
Leaving your Comfort Zone

Explains how getting in touch with differences can be challenging and yet rewarding
if we are aware of our own comfort / stretch / panic zone and able to self-regulate
the level of challenge we put ourselves up for.
Observe your Context

Reflect on your own reality and on what kind of differences you meet on a daily basis
- and what kind of differences you could meet if you stretched your routines.
Facilitated Dialogue Session 1
OUTWARD
Stereotypes & Generalizations
Introduces the difference between stereotypes and generalizations and prompting
you to look at your potential unconscious bias.

CONTENT | PAGE 7
Empathy and Listening

Introduces empathy as a tool to learn more about different realities and
growing our toolset to be able to understand and bridge differences.
When Differences Collide

Explores how encounters of people with different cultural backgrounds can lead to
misunderstandings or even interpersonal conflicts. You reflect about your own
experiences of encounters with people of different backgrounds than your own.
DIVE- Suspending Judgement

Introduces the DIVE model and helping you apply it to your own real-life
experiences.
Cultural Value Dimensions

Introduces the value dimensions Individualism / Collectivism and Hierarchy /
Egalitarianism and explore them through case studies.
Communication Styles
Explores the role communication plays in situations where differences collide. The
module introduces the dimensions of high vs. low context communications and
allows you to explore through examples.
Dealing with Conflict

Introduces the different ways we react to conflicts based on Hammer's intercultural
conflict styles and prompts you to reflect about your own preferences when dealing
with conflict.
Polarized Societies
Introduces you to the notion of polarization in a globalized world and explores tools
to overcome it in day-to-day interactions.
Spiritual Diversity
Introduces spiritual and religious diversity and the challenges that can arise from it.

CONTENT | PAGE 8
Understanding Inequality
Introduces the importance of looking at inequality in terms of power and voice when
looking at differences in our society. You explore the notions of mainstream and
margin, and apply them to your own reality.
Microaggressions
Learnhowourpre-madeassumptionscan lead us to engage in microagressions and
how we can gain more awareness of our own biases.
Power & Privilege

Get to know the concept of privilege and how it shapes our access to opportunities
and the barriers we face in life. The module shares simple steps to act for more
equity.
Coping Strategies
Reflect on how dealing with differences and trying to build bridges across different
sets of values can be challenging, and learn about different coping and self-care
strategies.
FORWARD
21st Century Skills
Dive deeper into why soft skills are increasingly needed in today's world and how
they relate to global competences and their relevance in a globalized economy.
Taking Action
Inspires you to act as responsible global citizens and take action in your local
communities, workplaces or universities.
Facilitated Dialogue Session 4 (optional)

CERTIFICATION | PAGE 9
CERTIFICATION
To achieve your Global Competence Certificate, you must

complete all of the core online modules and attend the live
facilitated components.
These should be completed in order, as the content builds

on itself. These modules can be taken at your own pace. You
can move through it quickly or re- watch videos as needed;
it’s up to you! Please complete the quizzes and contribute
to all discussion forums online. In addition, this participant
handbook will be provided to help guide your learning
offline, do your learning exercises and allow you to keep
personal notes.
After you have completed everything, you will receive your

Global Competence Certificate.

USING THIS HANDBOOK |
PAGE 10
USING THIS HANDBOOK
You will be able to find all exercises and reflection questions in the online modules in
this handbook. You can also take notes in the dedicated spaces for each module.
Those spaces are yours to use, feel free to use them as you wish to add your own
notes in order to remember what resonates best with you in your own words.

INWARD
Roadmap
Learning Styles
Who am I?
Leaving your Comfort Zone
Observe your Context
ROADMAP
Introduces the course and its different pillars and methods.
NOTES
Imagine you have completed the Global Competence Certificate program.

In what specific situation do you imagine applying what you have learned?
How will the newly gained skills and competences help you in your life, work or study?
© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12

LEARNING STYLES
Reflects on the methodology used in this course and how

each of us best learns (based on Kolb).
TASK
Which of the four friends do you identify with most?

In other words, how do YOU learn best?
For example, you might write “I learn best in a group,” or “I learn best by reading”
Next, in what environments do you learn best?

You might write something like “I learn best in coffee shops with a bit of distraction” or “I learn best in the morning.”
Finally, from what types of teachers do you learn best?

A possible answer might be “I learn best by observing an expert,” or “I learn best by trying something on my own
and then getting feedback from a coach.”

LEARNING STYLES
FORUM
Did you find yourself described in any of the four categories?

Which category fits best with your learning preferences?
Your Notes

WHO AM I?
Introduces the notions of culture and identity and how they

shape us and the way we act and see the world.
FORUM
What are visible components of your culture?
What are invisible components of your culture?

WHO AM I?
TASK
Fill the petals with your own answers. In the empty petal you can pick an identity that is
very important to you which is not yet part of the flower. Take a picture and upload your
flower to the forum. We invite you to share in the forum the thoughts that came up
when you filled in the flower.

WHO AM I?
FORUM
Think of five people you most identify with. You might scroll through your friends on
social media or your contact list to help.
What do you notice when you look at these five people?
What identities do these people hold that are different from your own?

WHO AM I?
CASE STUDY
Ade is facing discrimination when applying for job.
Have you ever witnessed a similar situation as Ade’s? What other identities do you think
make it harder for people to find a job in your reality?
How do you think companies could reduce such discrimination?

WHO AM I?
Your Notes
music
food
Visible dress
components greetings
Invisible values and

beliefs beauty
components
relationships time
between younger
and older people
gender
roles
health

LEAVING YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
Explains how getting in touch with differences can be challenging and yet
rewarding if we are aware of our own comfort / stretch / panic zone and able to
self-regulate the level of challenge we put ourselves up for.
FORUM
What were moments today or yesterday when you felt completely at ease?
This could be shopping in a familiar environment or going out for lunch. It might also be your usual routine.
When have you experienced panic moments? How did it feel?

What are your typical reactions in moments of panic?
What happens in your body? What happens in your mind?

LEAVING YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
FORUM
When did you last step out of your comfort zone and learn something new?
What was the setting? Who was involved? What did you learn? How did it feel?
NOTES
We encourage you to take note of some self-regulation strategies you want to try later.
This could include things you’ve used in the past or new ideas you got from others in this
program. Add to the list over time as you encounter new challenges and try out new
strategies. Having such a list at hand in a “panic moment” can help you step back and
regain composure

LEAVING YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
CASE STUDY
Oliver feels uncomfortable at his new work.
What would you do in Oliver’s case?

What self-regulation strategies could be helpful in this situation?
FORUM
Have you ever been in a similar experience that put you in panic mode?
Did you manage to move to the learning zone?
What self-regulation strategies helped you?

LEAVING YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
Your Notes

OBSERVE YOUR
CONTEXT
Reflect on your own reality and on what kind of differences you meet
on a daily basis - and what kind of differences you could meet if you
stretched your routines.
TASK
Look for an opportunity to go around your community. This can also be when walking to
a nearby store or to the park or bus station. As you walk, ride or drive, look around and
try to find symbols that show you the different identities and cultures around you. You
can observe signs, street art, shop windows, people and the way they dress or talk,
decoration in gardens and windows, etc.
FORUM
Take some pictures, if you can, and share them in the forum with your answers to the
questions below.
What identity groups do you think the symbols you found are related to? What findings surprised you?
What symbols could you easily identify? Which ones could you not connect to a specific identity group?
In which areas of your community do you think you would have found totally different symbols? Why?

OBSERVE YOUR
CONTEXT
FORUM
Have you ever been mistaken as a member of a group that you don’t identify with?
What visual signals or symbols did the other person misread?
Have you ever made a similar mistake?
Think back on your walk or drive around your community.

Did you identify any diversity within the different cultural and identity groups that you
spotted? What signs did you see?
Have you ever made an assumption about someone based on only one of their identities?
When did you realize that your perception was incomplete or limited?

OBSERVE YOUR
CONTEXT
CASE STUDY
Park Min-ji meets a Korean family with cultural references different from hers.
How can you apply the concept of super-diversity to the story of Min-ji?
Your Notes

OUTWARD
Stereotypes & Generalizations
Empathy & Listening
When Differences Collide
DIVE - Suspending Judgement
Cultural Value Dimensions
Communication Styles
Dealing with Conflict
Spiritual Diversity
Polarized Societies
Understanding Inequality
Microaggressions
Power & Privilege
Coping Strategies
STEREOTYPES &
GENERALIZATIONS
Introduces the difference between stereotypes and generalizations and
prompts you to look at your potential unconscious bias.
FORUM
Think back on the different groups you identify with.

What stereotypes do people have about these groups? How do these stereotypes make
you feel? How are people in these groups impacted by such stereotypes?
NOTES
Think back on the different groups you identify with.

What stereotypes do people have about these groups? How do these stereotypes make
you feel? How are people in these groups impacted by such stereotypes?

STEREOTYPES &
GENERALIZATIONS
FORUM
Choose a stereotype about a cultural group you identify with and go through the four
questions: Is it positive?
What else could be influencing this person’s behavior? Why do I think that?
What other behaviors can you notice in people of this cultural group?
Your Notes
Stereotypes Generalizations
- Inflexible - Flexible
- ... - ...
- X - X
- x - x

EMPATHY &
LISTENING
Introduces empathy as a tool to lean more about different realities and
growing out toolset to be able to understand and bridge differences.
NOTES
Do you know anyone like Rawiri?

Do you also put yourself in others' shoes in your work or life?
TASK
Today, critical voices are growing in relation to empathy. Is it really effective to help
others? Is empathy affected by bias? Is our empathy limited? Is empathy good or bad?

EMPATHY &
LISTENING
FORUM
How many of these types of listeners have you experienced?

Which of these types of listening habits are you most likely to fall into?
TASK
Think about someone that you meet in your everyday life who is different from you
because of their age, their beliefs, their gender identity or anything else you can think of.
Interview them to find out how they experience the environment that you share.

EMPATHY &
LISTENING
FORUM
Who did you choose to interview and why? How did it feel to practice active listening?
Could you empathize with the person as you were listening?
Which parts of active listening do you find the most difficult? Why?

EMPATHY &
LISTENING
Your Notes
Active Listening is not…
- Giving advice;
- Competing for being the one that suffers most;
- Closing the conversation half-way;
- Seeming to interrogate;
- Trying to convince the other of their own point of view;
- Trying very hard to show that they show solidarity with the speaker.
Active Listening is…
- Listening not only to the words, but also the emotions, intonations,
emphasis and body language of the speaker;
- …
- X
- X
- x

WHEN
DIFFERENCES COLLIDE
Explores how encounters of people with different cultural backgrounds
can lead to misunderstandings or even interpersonal conflicts. You
reflect about your own experiences of encounters with people of
different backgrounds than your own.
NOTES
Close your eyes and think about a challenging encounter you had with a person who had
a background, belief or behavior that was different from yours. You can think of a
situation that you experienced or one that you witnessed.
Once you have chosen a specific encounter, reflect on the following questions:
Who were the people involved? What was the main challenge?
What differences were most striking? What did the people do about the challenge?

WHEN
DIFFERENCES COLLIDE
FORUM
Now go back to the challenging encounter you chose earlier in this module. Take a
couple of minutes to look at it using the Culture-Person-Situation Model.
What did you discover by using the Culture-Person-Situation Model to analyze your
encounter? To what extent do you think the individuals’ culture, personality or the
particular context played a role in the challenging situation and why?

WHEN
DIFFERENCES COLLIDE
CASE STUDY
Pieter has a student in his class that has trouble concentrating.
Which of the three elements: culture - person - situation did Pieter most focus on in his
analysis of the situation? What could he have done differently?
Your Notes

DIVE - SUSPENDING
JUDGEMENT
Introduces the D.I.V.E. tool and helping you apply it to your own real-life
experiences.
TASK
Look at the picture in Bridge. What comes to your mind when you see this image? Take a
few minutes to write down everything you come up with. Don’t just write for 10
seconds. Really take some time and write down everything that comes up for you when
you look at this image.

DIVE - SUSPENDING
JUDGEMENT
FORUM
Now that we have reviewed the steps of D.I.V.E., take a let’s look at the original picture
again. Look at what you wrote down. How much of what you wrote were descriptions,
interpretations or evaluations? Take a moment to reflect.
TASK
Think about the following situation: You are at a restaurant and at the table next to you there is a
man and a woman of more or less the same age, sitting across from each other. During the whole time
that you are there, they do not talk to each other but rather look at their phones.
DESCRIBE: Come up with a list of description for this situation.

DIVE - SUSPENDING
JUDGEMENT
TASK
INTERPRET: Try to interpret the situation. Write below at least three possible
interpretations. Remember to only interpret at this point and not evaluate. In other words,
think about what could be happening here, not whether it is right or wrong, good or bad.
VERIFY: Think about how you could verify your interpretation of the situation. Who might
know more about it? What could you research on the internet? Write down your ideas.
EVALUATE: Choose one of the interpretations you shared in step 2 and come up with at
least one positive and one negative evaluation for it. Write down your ideas.

DIVE - SUSPENDING
JUDGEMENT
CASE STUDY
Juan thinks his daughter is suffering from depression and decides to take her to see a
doctor.
Do you agree with Juan’s decision? Why? What can be recognized as an assumption in
this situation? Can you come up with 5 other reasons why Rosario stays in her room
with the door shut?
Apply the DIVE model in the case study.

DIVE - SUSPENDING
JUDGEMENT
FORUM
Think of a time when you find yourself jumping to conclusions only to realize later that
your first impression or judgment was incorrect. How could the D.I.V.E. tool have helped
you in that situation? How might you react differently next time?
Your Notes
Description: describe the object, situation or content using only

observable facts.
Interpretation: focus on what the situation might mean.
Verification: try to find out if any of your interpretations from the previous
step are accurate.
Evaluation: is a feeling that you have about what you see and interpret.

CULTURAL VALUE
DIMENSIONS
Introduces the value dimensions Individualism / Collectivism and
Hierarchy / Egalitarianism and explore them through case studies.
FORUM
Where along the continuum of Individualistic to Collectivistic would you place yourself
generally? What experiences have you had with people who are in a different place than
you on the continuum? Did it lead to any conflict or misunderstandings?
So where do you fit into this? How comfortable or uncomfortable are you showing your
emotions openly in public? Similarly, how do you feel when you interact with people who
have a different preference for how they express or restrain their emotions?

CULTURAL VALUE
DIMENSIONS
FORUM
What's one conflict or misunderstanding in the past that you think might have been
related to one of these value dimensions? If you could go back to that situation, how
might you change your approach knowing what you know now?
Your Notes
Individualism Collectivism
- Focus on the “I” identity - Focus on the “we” identity
- ... - ...
- X - X
- x - x
Hierarchy Egalitarianism
- Inequality is accepted - Inequality is minimized
- ... - ...
- X - X
- x - x

COMMUNICATION
STYLES
Explores the role communication plays in situations where differences
collide. The module introduces the dimensions of high vs. low context
communications and allows you to explore through examples.
FORUM
Do you tend to communicate in a high or low context style?
For example, do you use a lot of nonverbal signals and assume people will figure things
out when you speak, like a high context communicator? Or do you tend to tell people
exactly what you think and use a lot of details and examples like a low context
communicator? Why do you think that is?
To practice telling the difference between high and low context communication, choose
a conversation you’ve had recently.
During the conversation, what strategies did you and the other people involved use to
communicate your messages? Was the conversation generally more high context or low
context?

COMMUNICATION
STYLES
CASE STUDY
Milan buys snacks and is questioned for not sharing with his colleagues.
What do you think was going on in this story? What do you think the problem was?
What is the source of the misunderstanding?
Your Notes
High Context Low Context
- Tend to rely on the context - Communicate straightforwardly
- ...
- ...
- X
- X
- x
- x

DEALING WITH
CONFLICT
Introduces the different ways we react to conflicts based on Hammer's
intercultural conflict styles and prompts you to reflect about your own
preferences when dealing with conflict.
NOTES
Take a moment to think about some of the experiences that you’ve had with conflict
within your work, family or study life.
Have the conflicts you’ve experienced been heated or calm or something else? Did
people speak directly to each other, indirectly by having other people speak for them?
Take a moment to write down some notes on your conflict experiences at home, in
school or at work. What are some of the different ways that people deal with conflict?

DEALING WITH
CONFLICT
CASE STUDY
Roger and Jordan deal with noise at the reception. In the situation at the reception,
Roger tends towards a Dynamic Style of conflict resolution and Jordan tends towards
the Discussion Style. If you were Mrs. González’s lawyer and had to solve this matter,
what would you do it if:
Your intercultural conflict style was Discussion?

Your intercultural conflict style was Engagement?
Your intercultural conflict style was Accommodation?
Your intercultural conflict style was also Dynamic?

DEALING WITH
CONFLICT
Your Notes
4 conflict styles
4 steps of Bridging Technique
1. Bring your own way of behaving into awareness

2. Bring the other’s way of behaving into awareness
3. Manage your emotional response
4. Practice adapting to and moving toward the other’s way of behaving

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
Introduces spiritual and religious diversity
FORUM
Do you consider yourself spiritual? What does that mean for you?
Does religion play a role in your identity? Why/why not?
Do you encounter differences of faith and religion in your daily life? How do these
differences come up?
TASK
Step 1: Select a religion that is present in your community, but that you know little about and
research the following questions:
Do members of this religion believe in one higher power/deity, several, or a different form of
higher power?
Is that higher power benevolent or punishing? Both? Neither?
How do people connect with the divine in this religion?
What specific roles and/or hierarchies exist in this religious community?
What are the most important rules and taboos?
What are this religion’s most important rituals, dates, ceremonies?
Where do members of this religion meet and what do they do when they practice their
beliefs together?
Does this religion treat genders differently from each other? If so, what are the differences?
What different sub-groups exist within this religion and how do they differentiate
themselves from each other?

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
TASK
Step 2: The answers to these questions may vary a lot depending on which source you
consult or which person you talk to. If possible, discuss the answers to these questions with
one or more persons practicing the religion you have chosen.

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
FORUM
Is there anything surprising that you learned about the religion you researched?
For which questions did you get different answers from different sources or people you
talked to?
TASK
Let’s consider a couple of challenging situations. Pick out one of the following situations. You
are invited to reflect and journal what you would do in the handbook. We will come back to
these case studies in the next facilitated dialogue session.
1. At your new workplace, there is a small Buddha statue in the restroom. As a practicing Buddhist, you find
this deeply offensive. What do you do?
2. You work in Human Resources at a hospital and are in charge of hiring a new kidney surgeon specialist.
The most qualified candidate for the job tells you in the interview that she is Jewish and for that reason does
not work on Fridays after 4pm or on Saturdays. Yet, you have clear instructions to hire someone with flexible
work hours. What do you do?
3. Your college roommate comes from a different cultural background than your own. One day when
cleaning your room, you find a stack of condoms making you think that your roommate is having sex despite
not being married. This is unconceivable for yourself and you want to move out of the room right away.
What do you do?

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
TASK
4. You are on the board of an international company. You realize that the company has a mostly male
leadership and want to change that. When one of the higher management positions are vacant, you
convince the board to promote one of the female talents of the company. Yet once her promotion is
announced, she declines and mentions her religion as the reason. You feel frustrated and feel like this could
hinder future promotions of female managers. What do you do?
5. You are being relocated to a different country but staying with your own company. The first day you go to
work, you feel that everyone is staring at you. You realize that you are the only woman who is not wearing
the traditional local clothing that includes a headwrap. When you ask a co-worker if she thinks you could
dress differently, she does not give you a direct answer but mentions that most people in the company are
religious. What do you do?
6. You move to a new place and join the church there. You are shocked to find out that the minister is openly
gay as for you this is clearly against Christian doctrine. What do you do?
7. You work at an NGO that works with youth in the outskirts of a big city. Several times a year you receive
intern social workers from abroad who work with you in giving the local youth access to leisure activities
that keep them away from drugs and crime. One day your office is visited by a group of upset parents telling
you that one of your interns is telling the youth that they are gay and that it was ok for them to be LGBTQI+
too. The parents say this is against their Christian faith. They let you know very clearly that either you send
the intern home or they will make sure your organization gets closed down. What do you do?
8. You volunteer for an NGO in another country. It is their custom to say a prayer before team meetings. Out
of respect, you usually quietly join in, even though you are not religious at all. One day, your boss asks you to
be the one to lead the prayer. What do you do?
9. You are a teacher in middle school and one day your students, who are mostly Muslim, challenge you on
why they get days off for Christian holidays but not for Muslim holidays. They say that given that the
majority in the class is Muslim, they should switch Christmas for Eid-al-fitr. What do you do?
10. You join a start-up with a very relaxed working culture. Your co-workers, that include both men and
women, usually greet each other with a hug. You have been taught in your religious education that this kind
of physical contact between men and women can lead to adultery and are deeply uncomfortable with it.
What do you do?

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
TASK

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
FORUM
So what about you? Write down about your own experience by reflecting on the
following questions:
Have you ever experienced tensions or challenges in your work or study life that were
linked to religious beliefs or backgrounds? If so, how did you deal with them?
Can you think of a moment when your relationship to religion and spirituality felt
welcomed and included?
Were there times when you felt marginalized because of your religion or spirituality?
What impact did that have on you?
What are good practices for inclusion around spiritual diversity based on your own
experience?

SPIRITUAL
DIVERSITY
FORUM
Think about what you would want others to understand about your relationship to
spirituality and religion?
What, if anything, could your work or study place do to include you more fully?

POLARIZED
SOCIETIES
Differences can be challenging and yet rewarding if we are aware of
our own comfort / stretch / panic zone and able to self-regulate the
level of challenge we put ourselves up for.
FORUM
Have you ever been in a situation like Devi where a group you are a part of is divided and
people are trying to pull you into one side or the other?
Or where people think you have taken sides on a polarized issue when you haven't?
How did it make you feel? What was the polarization about?
NOTES
Words are being used to draw a clear line between our group and the others.In this case
Allison’s supporters are called “technocentrics”, whereas Yusuf and his supporters
receive the denomination “softies”. Giving others derogatory names makes us distance
ourselves from them. Think about “conservative” or “liberal”, “left” and “right” and many
other terms used to define different political positions.
What words come to your mind from what you hear in your community?
What terms are used against specific political groups in your country?

POLARIZED
SOCIETIES
FORUM
What polarization is prevalent in your community? How does it affect you?
Have you had any conversations with someone who has opposite opinions to yours
lately? How did that conversation go?
Do you think you could have applied any of the techniques of Nonviolent
Communication?

POLARIZED
SOCIETIES
Your Notes
Definitions
Polarization:
Confirmation bias:
Stretch collaboration in 3 steps

1- Accept the plurality of the situation
2- Experiment to find a way forward
3- See yourself as part of the problem, not outside of it
Non-Violent Communication in 4 steps

1- Observe without judging
2- Express our feelings
3- Express and clarify our needs
4- Express specific request

UNDERSTANDING
INEQUALITY
Introduces the importance of looking at inequality in terms of power
and voice when looking at differences in our society. You explore the
notions of mainstream and margin, and apply them to your own reality.
TASK
Pick 5 companies or organizations in your country that have at least 20 staff members.
Go to their websites and find the staff page. Look for patterns among the pictures or
names that you are seeing.
FORUM
Are you seeing any groups that appear to be more represented than others?
How well do the people in these pictures seem to reflect the makeup of the society you
live in?
Are there any differences between the higher ranks (board, executive team) and the
lower ranks (interns, staff)?

UNDERSTANDING
INEQUALITY
FORUM
What other examples of discrimination and inequality, whether intentional or

unintentional, can you think of?
TASK
Step 1: Choose at least three of the articles and read them carefully.
Step 2: Pick out one sentence from one of the articles that really impacted you and
share in the forum.
Step 3: Reflect on the following questions:

What are the sources of inequality and/or discrimination shown in the articles you read?
Did you discover anything new (anything you did not know before) while reading?

UNDERSTANDING
INEQUALITY
TASK
Step 1: Draw a circle on this page or another piece of paper. Now think about your own
context and write all groups that are mainstream in your context in the center of the circle
and write the marginal groups on the outside of the circle. Make sure to add the identity
groups you previously created in the flower.
Take a look at two examples. The mainstream and margins might not be the same for your
society or context, so it’s important to create your own version. You can use the examples to
gather some ideas about different groups.
Step 2: Return to your mainstream and margins drawing. Circle all the groups, both
mainstream and margin, that you identify with. Reflect about where you are on the margins
and where you are mainstream in your life.

UNDERSTANDING
INEQUALITY
FORUM
Remember a time when you were in the margin. How did it feel? What could people in
the mainstream have done to support you in that situation?
In the groups where you’re in the mainstream, what actions could you take to support
people in the margins to be more visible and have more voice and power?
What examples of mainstream and margins within your workplace or school can you
think of?
Reflect for a moment how you could act more inclusively in those situations

MICROAGGRESSIONS
Learn how our pre-made assumptions can lead us to engage in

microaggressions and how we can gain more awareness of our own
biases.
FORUM
Have you ever experienced a microaggression directed toward you?

What happened? How did you feel? What did you do?
Have you ever said something that has been received as a microaggression? What could
you have done differently?
Or have you witnessed a microaggression directed at someone else?
What did the person who made the microaggression do about it and what if anything do
you think they could have done differently?

MICROAGGRESSIONS
NOTES
Would you like to know more about what to do if you suffer or witness a
microaggression? If you are unsure if it is worthwhile responding to a microaggression,
think about the following questions:
If I do respond, is this going to negatively affect me? Am I willing to enter an argument
and deal with the person potentially acting defensive? Does this compromise my
self-respect and self-dignity - or with other words, am I going to regret not speaking up?
If you decided to answer, find some simple ways to address microaggression in a

non-aggressive way.

POWER & PRIVILEGE
Get to know the concept of privilege and how it shapes our access to
opportunities and the barriers we face in life. The module shares simple
steps to act for more equity.
FORUM
Which privileges or lack of privilege do you share with the people in this story?
What other things do you have in your life that you think might be examples of privilege?
What oppression in the history of your country has left differences in privilege in your
society?

POWER & PRIVILEGE
FORUM
What strategies for being an ally can you think of? Which actions toward being an ally or
toward the six steps above can you commit to taking?
CASE STUDY
Dolores Huerta & Gloria Steinem partnered to fight for more rights.
How do the cases in the module illustrate the concept of allyship?

POWER & PRIVILEGE
FORUM
How does intersectionality apply to this case?

Why do you think this concept is relevant when talking about Power and Privilege?
Your Notes
Power:
Privilege:
Oppression:
Equity:
Allyship:
Intersectionality:

COPING STRATEGIES
Reflect on how dealing with differences and trying to build bridges

across different sets of values can be challenging, and learn about
different coping and self-care strategies.
TASK
Think of a time you got into a big fight with someone very close to you like your
boyfriend, girlfriend, partner or best friend. You were really upset. What did you do
first?
Think of a time you felt sick and didn’t really know what was going on in your body. What
did you do first?
Think of a time you traveled for work or holidays in a different city or country and were
unsure how to behave correctly. People seemed to have different customs or values, but
you were not sure how to follow them. What did you do?

COPING STRATEGIES
Think of a time you had an important assignment. You hadn’t done as much work on it as
you would have liked. The deadline was approaching, and you felt stressed and
frustrated. What was your first reaction?
FORUM
Now look at your notes: Do you notice any patterns? Do you have a top strategy or
typical way of reacting to stressful situations? How do you react?
CASE STUDY
Alyona is dealing with a stressful time at her work.
If you were in Alyona’s situation, what could be 3 strategies you could use to help you
deal with stress?

FORWARD
21st Century Skills
Taking Action
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Dive deeper into why soft skills are increasingly needed in today's world
and how they relate to global competences and their relevance in a
globalized economy.
FORUM
Which of the 21st century skills shared in this module do you think are your strengths?
Which ones would you like to develop further?
TASK
To deepen your understanding of your own strengths, reach out to 3 of your colleagues
at work and ask them to list 3 strengths and 3 points for development they identify in
you related to 21st century skills.
Compare their answers with your performance appraisals, function map or recent
feedback conversations with your manager. What did you find out about yourself?

21st CENTURY SKILLS
TASK
Search the web for a job or internship posting in your field or a field you’d like to work in and
copy the text or make a screen capture. From this job/internship posting, identify two to
three 21st century skills that the applicants must possess
FORUM
Now think about how you could prove to these companies that you possess these
specific skills. What would you write in an application letter or say in an interview?
What examples of your work or stories could you share?
Look at the list of skills you picked out earlier in this module as the ones you’d like to
develop further. How do you think you could best do that?
Choose one action from your list that you will commit to.

TAKING ACTION
Inspires you to act as responsible global citizens and take action in your
local communities, workplaces or universities.
Active Global Citizens see themselves as members of the global community and recognize that
the challenges the world faces are interdependent and that our choices and actions may have
repercussions for people and communities locally and globally. Active Global Citizens engage in
open, appropriate and effective interactions with people from different cultures and take an
active role in working with others to make the world a more just, peaceful, inclusive, secure and
sustainable place.
FORUM
What comes to mind when you hear this definition? Does the idea of an Active Global
Citizen resonate with you? If so, how? Can you see yourself in this definition?
What organizations and individuals working for social impact in your local community
inspire you? Why? How could you connect with them?

REFERENCES | PAGE 74
REFERENCES
CITATIONS
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the
source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Hammer, M.R. (2009). Solving Problems and Resolving

Conflict Using the Intercultural Conflict Style Model and
Inventory. In M.A. Moodian (Ed.). Contemporary
Leadership and Intercultural Competence (Ch.17, pp. 219-
232). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ting-Toomey, S (1999). Communication across cultures.

New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Sanders, J. & Alimchandani, S. (2014) Resiliency: Meeting

the Emotional and Human Needs of the Intercultural
Workplace. Concurrent session presented at the 15th
Annual IMI Conference on Intercultural Relations,
Washington DC.
Burch, N. (1970). Four Stages for Learning Any New Skill.

Solana Beach, CA: Gordon Training International.
Bennett, J.M, Bennett, J., & Stillings, K. (1977). Description,

interpretation, evaluation: Facilitators’ guidelines.
http://www.intercultural.org/resources Retrieved July 7th,
2014.
DeAngelis, T. (2009) Unmasking ‘racial microaggressions.

Monitor on Psychology. Vol 40, No. 2. http://www.apa.
org/monitor/2009/02/microaggression.aspx Retrieved
July 10th, 2014.
Derald Wing Sue (2010). Microaggressions in Everyday

Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. Hoboken, New
Jersey: Wiley.

REFERENCES | PAGE 75
Hall, E.T., (1976) Beyond Culture. New York: Doubleday.
Hofstede, G. (2005). Cultures and organizations: software

of the mind (Revised and expanded 2nd ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Hofstede, Geert (2001). Culture’s Consequences:

comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations
across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
La Brack, B. (2003). What’s up with culture?

http://www.isss.umn.edu/reentry/resources.html Retrieved
July 7th, 2014.
Meyer, E., (2014) The Culture Map: Breaking Through the

Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. New York:
PublicAffairs. © 2015 Sentio, Inc. All Rights Reserved 71
Osland, J, Kolb, D. et al (2007). Organizational behavior: An

experiential approach (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
Vande Berg, M., Paige, R.M. & Lou, K. H. (Eds.). (2012).

Student learning abroad: What our students are learning,
what they’re not, and what we can do about it. Sterling, VA:
Stylus Publishing.
Vande Berg, M. (2014), Four Step Bridging Technique.

Unpublished paper.
Vercamer, B. (2011) Intercultural Encounters. Brussels.

Unpublished presentation.
White, A. (2008) From Comfort Zone to Performance

Management: Understanding Development and
Performance. White & MacLean Publishing.


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Participants Handbook

USING THIS HANDBOOK 10

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Welcome to the Global Competence Certiﬁcate Program!

The Global Competence Certiﬁcate (GCC) is composed of a

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

While intercultural skills are considered highly valuable in

Self-awareness: You’re going to learn about yourself,

Awareness about others: You will recognize and

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Mindful emotional responses: You will develop your

Bridges across differences: You’ll learn how to build

Global perspective: You’ll get an opportunity to reﬂect

Application: Finally, you’ll move from theory to

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Leaving your Comfort Zone

Observe your Context

Facilitated Dialogue Session 1

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Empathy and Listening

When Differences Collide

DIVE- Suspending Judgement

Cultural Value Dimensions

Dealing with Conﬂict

Facilitated Dialogue Session 2

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Power & Privilege

Facilitated Dialogue Session 3

Facilitated Dialogue Session 4 (optional)

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

To achieve your Global Competence Certiﬁcate, you must

These should be completed in order, as the content builds

After you have completed everything, you will receive your

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

USING THIS HANDBOOK

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Introduces the course and its different pillars and methods.

Imagine you have completed the Global Competence Certiﬁcate program.

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12

Reﬂects on the methodology used in this course and how

Which of the four friends do you identify with most?

Next, in what environments do you learn best?

Finally, from what types of teachers do you learn best?

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Did you ﬁnd yourself described in any of the four categories?

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Introduces the notions of culture and identity and how they

What are visible components of your culture?

What are invisible components of your culture?

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What do you notice when you look at these ﬁve people?

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Ade is facing discrimination when applying for job.

How do you think companies could reduce such discrimination?

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Invisible values and

© 2020 AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 19

When have you experienced panic moments? How did it feel?