Games are an effective way to introduce issues of cultural awareness and intercultural communications to any audience. Below are a couple of role plays that one can adopt to invoke cultural sensitivity amongst participants in a fun way.
The Nature Walk
In this game, you conceive a list of statements of your choice on sensitive topics (things that may be taboo in certain cultures, or things that you think participants may relate to such as feeling of incompetence in a new culture, isolation, etc.) and have all participants stand at one end of the room. Then, as you read the first statement, all students who identify to it cross over the line to the other side of the room. They are then asked : “What would you wish others would know about you?” “What annoys you most?” and “How could we best help you?” Then everyone returns behind the starting line again and the game continues with other statements that follow in the same manner.
Barnga
A nonverbal game in which participants are divided into groups to learn a card game based on a number of simple rules. What the participants do not know is that each group’s set of rules is slightly different, so when they begin to play the game with others conflict develops. As players are not allowed to talk, they must rely on other means of communication. While sometimes explosive, this game demonstrates how quickly ingroup-outgroup dynamics form.
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