building cce’s capacity for cross cultural learning

Building CCE’s capacity for cross cultural learning

Panel Discussion with:Marcia Eames Sheavly, Margaret Smith, Paul Treadwell

ESP Lambda Chapter Annual MeetingNovember 7,2011

Why Cross Cultural?• We encounter different cultures in a variety of

contexts:– Through international collaboration– By engaging in service learning

• International • Domestic

– In our own communities• In order to solve problems, in common, we have to

work with, in, and across cultures in a skillful and aware way.

Why does it matter?• Changing communities in New York State

NYS County Percentage Change in Hispanic Pop., 1990-2009

Beyond our borders• Increasing international collaboration is occurring

around issues of common interest that cross borders:– Climate change– Food security– Civic participation

• Immersion in other cultures can lead to shifts in perspective and deeper understanding.

• The internet is borderless (mostly)

Building our capacity for cross cultural engagement

• We hope to develop a community of practice within CCE that can:– Connect existing programs and practitioners– Support ongoing work– Engage interested staff, faculty and communities – Cultivate new and emerging opportunities for cross

cultural learning

THREE EXPERIENCES

International Opportunities Through CALS

Margaret E. Smith

IARD 4020Agriculture in Developing Nations I

• Major issues and problems in international agriculture and rural development

• Demonstrate how problems in development are being addressed in India and Thailand

IARD 6020Agriculture in Developing Nations II

• Field trip to India, 3 weeks, January• Observe agricultural development in Asia• Followed by discussions, written projects, and oral

presentations dealing with problems in food, agriculture, and livestock production in the context of social and economic conditions of India

IARD 4010: Experience Latin America: Rural and Urban Realities I

• Fundamental cultural, historical, sociopolitical, literary, anthropological, health, agricultural, and development issue

• Establishes the global and regional contexts for better transcultural understandings

• Field trip to Chiapas, 2 weeks, January• Observe the rich living cultures, environments,

ecologies, rural and urban communities, and development issues in tropical southern Mexico

• Followed by discussions, written and oral presentations about cultures of Chiapas

IARD 4010: Experience Latin America: Rural and Urban Realities II

IARD 4710: Cuisine, Production, and Biodiversity in Peru, Part I

• Six weeks, in Vicos, Peru• In the Callejón de Huaylas - UNESCO Huascarán

World Heritage site & State Park • Peruvian chefs train Andean young people in culinary

arts, restaurant management as a form of economic development, path to social justice

IARD 4710: Cuisine, Production, and Biodiversity in Peru, Part I

• Vicos is at the base of Huascarán - world’s largest tropical glacier and a major water source

• Examine rapid disappearance of Peru’s glaciers due to global warming

Global Seminar Series: NIFA Center for International Programs

• Extension Outreach in Rural Migrant Communities

• Nov. 17, 2 PM, Ernesto B. López, Volunteer Coordinator, 4 H Youth Development, ‐ University of Delaware

• How international efforts in extension can enhance work with rural migrant communities

• http://nifa connect.nifa.usda.gov/udelcip/‐

Short Term Consultancies• Join the CCE international list-serve:

cce-staff-international-L@cornell.edu• Notices from USAID, USDA-FAS, others

HORT/IARD 3200: Experiential Garden-Based Learning in Belize

An international opportunity for CCE educators to mentor students, while engaging in global service learning.

Educators…• Attend several classes, travel over spring break, and

work with students on final projects.• Interact with, and mentor students, in topics related

to community food security, youth development, horticulture/agriculture...

• Model facilitation, teaching, positive communication skills, engagement with children, reflection…

• Multiplier: they extend my ability to teach well.

A Sample of Benefits• “This has been the best thing to happen to me at

work. I feel renewed. I’ve already learned so much that will help me on my job.”

• An opportunity to interact in a manner and depth not possible during their daily lives at home. One mentor indicated how beneficial it was to gain an accurate understanding of another mentor’s role in another county in NYS…

• Exposure to a diverse set of learning styles and traditions of communication. This knowledge contributed to an ability to better serve diverse populations, specifically audiences from diverse cultural backgrounds.

• “Principles of community-based work are the same, no matter where you go. Stakeholder involvement, transience, and teachers that have no time, getting parents involved, summer maintenance…the challenges are the same. So it was an opportunity to both share and learn from the Belizeans.”

The Role of Technology…• …is limitless!• Distance learning via Moodle – engagement of our

educators with those in other locations.• Opportunity to interact with educators in developing

nations.• Sharing of resources and knowledge leads to cross-

cultural understanding.

Learning with, and through, technology• On the ground, and online, learning and exchange in

Nicaragua

2 days from our schedule • Wednesday 05 January, Coffee Camp La

Hermandad7:00 am Breakfast with host families.8:30 a.m. Meet at the office of Planting Hope to go to Coffee Camp Hermandad..12:00 am Lunch at the camp,together with the children.5:00 pm Return to San Ramon.6:00 pm Dinner with host families.7:00 pm Meeting with the group for discussion / reflection in the office of Planting Hope.

Thursday 06 January, and Matagalpa Ocalca Day7:00 am Breakfast with host families.8:00 a.m. Meet at the office - take the bus to visit Coffee Camp Ocalca.12:00 Lunch at Oasis , Matagalpa.2:00 pm Visit Sol Café.5:00 pm Return to San Ramon.6:00 pm Dinner with host families.7:00 pm Meet at the office – jewelry workshop and mural work.

Digital media work

Coffee camps

HomestaysLiving in community

Dialog and reflection

Connections• Facebook was used to

connect participants before and following the in-country immersion.

• These relationships are ongoing.

Leveraging networks and connectedness

The Afghanistan connection• Videoconference

connecting faculty at Cornell to nomadic farmers in Afghanistan.

What’s next and resources.• Cross cultural learning webinar – 12/07/2011• Cross cultural learning within CCE blog:– http://blogs.cornell.edu/ccecrosscultural/

• CCE international opportunities listserv– CCE-STAFF-INTERNATIONAL-L@list.cornell.edu