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"If you make it plain you like people, it's hard
for them to resist liking you back."
~Lois McMaster Bujold, Diplomatic Immunity, 2002 as quoted at www.quotationspage.com
Overview:
In learning about diplomacy, one must better understand what
is similar between cultures and what is different. A
simple game we have played with the children in both the United
States and Cambodia includes, "Same and Different."
Goal:
To Teach Students the Diplomatic Skill of Nonverbal Observations
and an appreciation of universal and particular values.
Terms:
Younger Kids-Older
Kids
- Nonverbal Communication = "Body Language" or
how we communicate without words. This actually accounts
for the vast majority of our communication.
- Verbal Communication = How we use words to communicate.
Terms:
Used For Older Students to College Age Students
Why
this Skill is Important to Diplomacy:
We need to learn more about how we are similar with people
from other nations, cultures, co-cultures, families and even
with our friends.
How
this Game Promotes Diplomacy:
We ask the children to note the differences which become very
obvious and we hope they appreciate the fact that life is
different (and very harsh sometimes) elsewhere. However,
when we begin to look at how life is similar, we begin to
see most people want the same things in life. We need to focus
upon the similarities.
The
Game!
1. Define
"value." Ask the children what they value.
2. Define "diplomat." Ask how is being a friend
the "same" and "different" from being
a diplomat.
3. Explain that the students will watch a video and
be asked to describe how living in Cambodia is the "same"
and "different" from living in the United States
(or your country).
4. Watch the video - we have several videos we show, but for
online purposes, this is a good choice: http://www.roch.edu/webcast/video/cambodia_videos.html (see
clip three).
5. When they are done, ask the - what was the same and
what was different? Help them in their responses.
6. We also show them drawings that American and Cambodian
children have made for us and ask the same questions.
7. To conclude, ask how diplomats from Cambodia and
the United States might approach diplomacy similarly and differently.
- Variations!
Other
websites offer a view of what is similar and what is different
between cultures. This exposure to multiculturalism
will help any student learn more about the skills a diplomat
must have.
Sources in this page:
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