Activities in Ratingen (Germany)

Football and team games:

Aim

Warm-up activity, students break the ice and get familiar with each others, they play together to reach a common aim – the badge of DFB. Students experience fun, competition and fairness, which is based on the acceptance of common rules. In these games the gender equality will be practised as well.

Description

Students in international gender mixed groups play different games, helping each others and becoming a team by solving different tasks.

After these activities they received the badge of DFB (German Football Union).We realized this activities in cooperation with our Partner of the Football Club Fortuna Düsseldorf. We have been supported by their school coach, who organized the materials and some tasks.

Results

It was a good icebreaker – playing football and other team games allows to be relaxed and to know others in a non-verbal and a verbal contact and communication.  Also girls as boys of all nations played football and had a lot of fun. First intercultural differences became visible (e.g. nonverbal communication, different temperaments).

 

Mikel Jentzsch, author of the book „Blood brothers“ and his guest, a Liberian refugee

Aim

To get in contact to an author of an interesting and stirring autobiographic book about his live as a fourteen years old German boy in Liberia before the Civil War, his friendship to a Liberian boy and the hard decision of his family to escape from war. His friend could not escape and had to experience violence, murder and child soldiers without any humanity left.  His book tells us the story of both.

The contact with a German who lived in Liberia for several years and a Liberian refugee who starts to live in Germany could be very helpful to strength the understanding of the refugees in all over Europe.

• :

Mikel is a partner of our school regarding the project “Schools without Racism/ schools with Courage”. He supported our project “Same but different” by visiting us and our partners.On one hand he presented some important and interesting parts of his book “Blood brothers” which shows in an autobiographic way how civil wars and the possibility to escape from it or not influence our fate and our future. On the other hand he presented us a guest of him, a Liberian refugee, who is living since some months in Mikel’s home town. We had an interesting discussion about the needs of the e.g. African refugees who arrive in several parts of Europe and in Germany.Students could ask him about the reasons of his escape from his home, how he managed the dangerous routes to come to Europe and what are is his hope for the future.In this discussion we could give the word “Refugee” a face and a name.

Results

It was an amazing experience – Mikel is a person who can explain very well in English and in German the problems and difficulties of living in foreign country as a guest or as a refugee. His empathy allows him to be authentic and to get in a good contact to the students. It was a pity that the refugee spoke a Liberian English which was very hard to understand to all of us.Nevertheless we think it was a rich experience to discuss face to face to the refugee and Mikel as an representative of Literature and Reality.

[Michael Jentzsch u. Benjamin Kwato Zahn: Blood brothers – Our friendship  in Liberia.  www.blutsbrueder.eu]

 

Intercultural Games[1]:

Changing Places and information – Welcome diversity

Aim

Warm-up activity, students break the ice and get familiar with some information about the students of the group. They notice similarities and first differences between the students of different countries.  

Description

Teacher and students prepare questions or options in order to get some information about the students: 

Depending on the number of students, they make one or two groups and stay in circles.  One student/ teacher reads a statement and all students who aggrege change the places. Nobody may remain on his place.  These are some examples:

• All people from Spain…
• All people from Italy…
• All people from Portugal…
• All people from Denmark…
• All people from Germany…
• All people who understand ‘bonjour’ or ‘merhaba’…
• All people who have ever worn traditional clothes…
• All people who have ever been to a church, mosque or synagogue…
• All people who have one or more friends from a foreign country…
• All people who can speak at least more than two languages…
• All people who travel to foreign countries in their holidays…
• All people who think not to have any prejudice towards other people…
• All people who can understand why refugees want to come to Europe…

 

Results

Students started to know each other. We got the aim of the activity although we think it could be a bit shorter.

To find a friend

Aim

Warm-up activity, students break the ice and get familiar with some differences in the  languages of the students of the group. It is useful if you want to match pairs or groups.

Description

Every one of you gets a card with a phrase, then you go around and change cards while the music is playing. As soon as the music stops playing you try to find the persons/partners who has the matching card to yours -  shouting loud the word on your card in its language. So the group find together.

• 5 x Amici (ital.)
• 5 x Freund /germ)
• 5 x Ven (dan.)
• 5 x Amigo (span.)
• 5 x Vriend (netherl.)

Results

Students started to know each other. We got the aim of the activity it is short and very simple activity – could be better for younger students.

Shaking hands

Aim

Warm – up activity, experience the foreign and getting to know how important is the knowledge of the greeting rituals of countries and to be able to separate them form habits of subgroups.

Description

Each of you gets a card with a way to greet a person. You are not allowed to show the persons which kind of greeting you have. As long as the music is playing you go around the room. As soon as the music stops playing you look for a person to greet. Now you have to greet the other person only in the way written on your card.

 

• Hugs
• A kiss on each cheek
• Shake hands
• Namaste
• Kiss the hand (indicated)

 

After five/six times of exchanging you have to find the other three persons (“your nation”) with the same greeting.

• How did you react?
• How did you find your group?
• Have you ever experienced similar situations?
• Do you know any other ways to greet people?

 

Results

It was fun and it was confusing: During the game the students hat to find their way how to react to the foreign greetings. And who was the domineering person who realized its greeting ritual?

A tree of life

Aim

Students think about themselves and their families and talk about their roots, their present life and their future dreams and plans. Each person thinks about what is important for him/her in life and what did stamp/ mark this person in its personal development.

Description

Each person should draw its own tree of life on a DIN A 4 paper with roots, trunk and leafs  and do its own interpretation of the meaning of each part:  They can use coloured pens and  should not need more than 20-30 minutes to draw the tree. (They can also draw the contours of a tree...). To save time during the visit in Germany, all of the students prepared his own Tree o life at home and brought it to Ratingen.

roots: symbolize the roots, origin of the family in their homeland (native country). Where do I come from, which events/ persons did influence and stamp me?) =>  my past time

trunk:  my family, my friends; which values and principles are important for me?  =>  in the present time

leafs:  my planes and dreams for the future – Who and what does influence me and help me to find my way in the society and in life. =>  my future

Students can express the importance of each part drawing it in a personal form (with long and winding or short roots in the country they live, do they have many brothers and sisters or do they feel alone... – do they have good memories of their childhood or not...) They can draw faces / or write names of important persons in the roots.

Its is similar thinking about the trunk: is it big, straight or parted (because of separation of the  parents/ family...?). They can paint symbols in the trunk...

The dreams and wishes for the future can be expressed in the leafs – form, number, position (are there some falling leafs (bad marks and wishes which didn’t come true...).

When they come to Germany students will present and compare the trees in small groups of 5 students (one of each country) and tell other students the story of  their tree. The students can ask them questions and comment the similarities and differences – but it is forbidden to evaluate the trees. 

Results

Students were really involved in this activity and they were able to reflect on their life situations. We prepared a language support which the students could use if they needed help. Students presented their trees to the whole group. So they practised their ability of presentation in English, they answered questions and made sure to speak loud and clear enough. The audience gave feedback. They realized that their dreams of a good life, family and fortune is very similar in all the countries. The family is the most important value they describe in their presentations.

It was planed to exchange the results in small groups of five students from different countries, but than we noticed that students were interested in all the trees and we tried to present as much as possible. Next time we would prefer to do it as we planned before, because the contact between students of different countries will be more intensive and more results could be presented in the small groups. Listening more than five presentations in the big group is a bit boring and as it is in English it is hard work for the students.

 

Intercultural arithmetic

Aim

Handling prejudices and cultural misunderstandings

Students can experience the foreign and recognize their individual reaction, when rules and norms are not longer working. So they can understand the meaning and  function of intercultural codes.

Description

Students must read carefully the instructions and solve mathematic tasks where the meaning of the signs were changed:

The following Mathematic tasks seems to be very easy. You should be able to solve them without any problems. But careful: You are in a foreign country and the signs here are different from those at home:

- means multiplication; : means addition; + means division and x means subtraction.

Every one of you gets a spreadsheet with different mathematic tasks, which you should solve as fast as possible.

Instructions:

• Solve the tasks reading carefully the above mentioned instructions.

• Don`t write over any signs on the paper
• Write down the results
• Raise your hand as soon as you have finished and compare your solution with your partner/s
• Hurry up! Time is running.

 

Tasks:

8 - 2 =	8 + 4 =	6 – 6 =
12 + 4 =	12 x 2 =	8 – 5 =
4 x 3 =	14 – 7 =	9 + 1 =
6 : 2 =	6 : 6 =	8 x 2 =
9 + 3=	20 + 10 =	49 : 7 =

Evaluation:

• Who has tried to solve the task without carefully read the instruction and why?
• Was it difficult to solve the task with the change of the signs?
• Which feelings did you have while solving the task? (irritation, resistance, frustration, anger)
• What do these experiences mean transferred on other foreign experiences?
• What does this have to do with intercultural learning and the rules and codes in other countries?
• https://www.stepin.de/weltneugier/die-kulturen-dieser-erde-mimik-gesten-und-korpersprache/]

Results

Students liked the game very much – they were surprised how confusing the change of the signs was. As they could not change the signs, they had to find a strategy to solve the tasks quickly. They felt insecure and noticed that small changes can create serious difficulties. Many of them didn’t read well the instructions and felt a bit bad when they noticed it. 

The discussion about the conventions and rules was very productive.

My fate

Aim

To experience the foreign and possible segregation because of financial problems, gender or social discrimination. Students take several roles and answer questions according to their role and see by stepping forwards or belonging on the same place without the chance to go on how discrimination can work. In this way we would like to alert the students to their own prejudices and stereotypes against others.  They often don’t recognize discrimination of their classmates or others. Or they discriminate students of other cultures without knowing the reasons for their behaviour.

Description:

- 15 persons who play and the others observe

- Every player gets a role card and identifies with his/her role – the role is not published to others

- Stand in a line side by side.

- The moderator is going to ask questions. If you in your role can answer the question with ‘yes’, go one step forward.

- After the last question, stay in your position.

The questions are:

            - Could you go to any disco without any problems?

            - Could you get credit at a bank for buying a new car?

            - Can you expect fair treatment by the police in the case of crime?

            - Can you do your driver’s licence?

            - Is it possible for you to get married and have children in the nearer future?

- Can you get a treatment at a dentist, when you need it /[ in case of an urgent need]?

            - Can you feel save on the streets after twilight?

            - Can you expect support from your family while having problems?

            - Can you plan your future?

            - Can you do any job you want to?

            - Can you join a sports club?

            - Can you have a dog?

            - Can you go out with friends on Friday/Saturday night?

            - Can you take part in elections in the country you live?

 

Alternative: (means: Selection of five role cards out of 15 and five parallel movements)

 

• The members of each country form a group of five.
• Identify with your role.
• Answer the questions considering your nationality and country.
• After the last question stay in your position.

 

Evaluation: Possibilities / restrictions are to be observed separated for each country because of the different  experiences in the countries.

 

Results

We could not finish at all the discussion about the feelings and experiences of the students in their roles. But it was a hard and sometimes surprising or a bit frightening experience for the students to see how subtle discrimination is working and that you cannot easily escape from it.  They were fully engaged in the game and the discussion.

 

Neanderthal-Museum – Workshop “Project Anthropogenesis“

Aim

To understand that we all are part of the human family is a basic point to accept and respect the diversity of human being and cultures. This is one of our basic aims in the project. The Neanderthal Valley and Museum represent one of the most famous places of the human evolution. We want to make obvious what is discrimination to enable our students to recognise and avoid it and to enforce respect and tolerance towards others. To see the origins of human evolution could be helpful to reach our goals.

Description

The history of the discovery of Neanderthals, on their way of life and on their place in the framework of human evolution is told in the permanent exhibition. In several workshops students can discover archaeological technology or answering anthropological questions and find similarities and differences of bones and skeletal structure of apes and humans. The differences are the result of evolutionary adaptations to their respective ways of living. This is still similar when we compare our different lifestyles and habits, religions, rules and norms as a result of individual or local/ national markedness. Different cultures are a result of different ways of living – but they are all expression of human live .

Results

Students were interested in the exhibition and in the workshops. They were worked in small groups in different workshops and learned a lot about the human evolution.  They experienced that in the period of time we all essentially are humans and not nations. This was a basic goal of our project: We are all the “Same  but different”.

https://www.neanderthal.de/en/workshops-for-Schools.html

 

Oberhausen, Gasometer: Exhibition „Diversity- Wonder of the Nature“

Aim and Description

The exhibition in the Gasometer is a fantastic way to sensitize the students to diversity of nature: the planet Earth can be experienced in a gigantic model with its continents, countries, plants and animals, the evolution of life is shown in this exhibition. Photographs and models demonstrate the diversity of nature which is our living space. To conserve the nature for future generations is one of the biggest challenges. Peace and community are some of the basic preconditions to realize these aims. Our project works on it.

Results

Students were really involved in this activity and they were impressed of the model of planet Earth.  To have different views on the continents and seas enabled them to feel how much the place of birth decides of your luck and your chances of a good and peaceful life. Changing the perspective is one of the main parts to develop empathy and respect. The diversity they could experience in this extraordinary Museum helped us to reach our project goals.