The training is the result of a process of international exchange of knowledge in adult learning and education: Curriculum interculturALE makes use of best practices in the empowerment of displaced adult learners in other countries, namely in the Middle East. Consulting diverse perspectives on education after forced displacement, and on intercultural learning, is intended to help master challenges in integration work in Germany. The qualification provides impulses for adopting an attitude of appreciative inquiry. Instead of giving ready-made solutions for working with particular groups of learners from specific countries of origin, it fosters the ability to choose learner- and situation-orientated learning and teaching strategies for creating an appreciative learning atmosphere.
Curriculum interculturALE is based on three educational approaches, namely:
1. The participatory education approach,
2. Diversity and multi-collectivity, and
3. Active Citizenship Education (ACE)
These approaches reflect the spirit of diversity which the curriculum attempts to convey; they originated from different parts of the world, evolved to respond to different realities, and place emphasis on different aspects of the human experience.
The Curriculum interculturALE training is intended to be conducted in a two-tier structure. Within the first tier, international meta-trainer tandems qualify multipliers/train-the-trainers in three weekend workshops of two days each. In the second tier, the multipliers/train-the-trainers qualified in this process offer two-day workshops to instructors and volunteer learning guides.
Both qualification tiers are application-oriented, and foster the idea of ‘learning by doing’ or ‘walk the talk’, meaning that during the entire qualification, contents and methods are supposed to be learnt by applying new methods and techniques. In this way, the notions “practice what you preach/teach” and “feel how you feel when using a method” supports an integrated methodological learning process among the target groups.
Module 1 supports self-reflection and self-positioning in order to explore one’s own role as an instructor or volunteer learning guide. It reveals effects and influences of one’s own image of the perception of oneself and others. It contains a critical analysis of values and presuppositions, and introduces the importance of emotions and communication for interpersonal dialogue, especially in multicultural settings.
Module 2 enhances an understanding of education after forced displacement. In addition, it fosters an appreciation of diverse educational backgrounds and biographies, raising important political, educational and socio-economic issues in the context of migration.
Module 3 gives clues to a successful choice of teaching techniques in courses for refugees. It fosters participants’ skills and motivation when it comes to designing a learner-centred, participatory learning setting. Furthermore, all the methods and techniques that have been previously applied in Modules 1 and 2, as well as other techniques which can be contributed by the participants, will be summarised and critically reflected on in order to enrich participants’ own methodological toolkits.
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