Understanding other cultures and outlooks - a few more ideas

[Boyd Roberts]

1. At a recent conference I played the game Barnga. It is a card game designed to promote inter-cultural understanding and demonstrates a situation in which we realise our understanding is different from that of others. It needs enough players for there to be a number of groups of 4-5 people. It takes about 45 minutes to play and can elicit very worthwhile discussion afterwards. Find instructions at

http://cwy-jcm.com/logbook-kenyawinnipeg/files/2012/08/The-Game-of-Barnga.pdf

I was surprised at how many general and personal insights this simple game could produce.

Of course this is a simulation.

2.            Here is simple game that can be played to demonstrate cultural assumptions and differences, based upon real objects.

Students bring in from home one or two items which reflect their “culture” or a particular interest and which other people are unlikely to be familiar with.  In groups of 4-5 a student presents one of his/her objects to the group without any introduction. The other members of the group have to try to “interpret” the object – decide what it is and what it is used for. This will reflect their own cultural assumptions and background.

This could also be used with unusual objects provided by the teacher.

3.            A short TED video (less than 3 minutes) by Derek Sivers - Weird or just different -demonstrates the Japanese proverb The reverse side also has a reverse side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K5SycZjGhI