intercultural learning & non-formal education gurgen balasanyan
TRANSCRIPT
Intercultural Learning & Non-Formal Education
Gurgen BalasanyanGurgen Balasanyan
Aim
• What it takes to be an “interculturally competent individual” and how can the profile be developed in a classroom and non-classroom atmosphere.
Objectives:• What is intercultural learning and how valid it is for
Armenian reality;• Can it be patterned in the frame of non-formal
education.
• Energiser: 60 seconds: how much is it?
Value• Methodology:- analysis, synthesis, contrastive study, descriptive
and depictive method, contextual analysis and experiential data collection
• Theoretical Value:- Parallels of Formal & Non-Formal Education
• Practical Value and Validity: - Prioritization of Non-Formal Education worldwide
yet its underestimation in Armenia;
- Globalization and increased opportunities/threats for intercultural communication.
Culture
• shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize a community or a set of people;
• Primitively: Software - culture is what people say and think; what they do and what is done to them.
Dimensions of Culture
Intercultural Communication
Stages of Intercultural Learning
Intercultural Learning Disciplines• look at their own culture from the point of view of
their own culture;
• be aware of how their culture is seen from outside, by other countries or cultures;
• understand or see the target culture from its own perspective;
• be aware of how they see the target culture.
Culture Shock
EducationFig. 6 Formal Education Non-Formal Education
Learning
methods
The dominance of the vertical relationship
between the possessor of the knowledge and the
receiver.
Interactive relationship between the learners
and the environment surrounding them.
“Learning by doing”.
Content Mostly defined by educational institutions or
government.
Chosen by the learner. No definition except
concrete experience acquisition.
Orientation Fact oriented Process oriented
Control External/hierarchical Internal/democratic
Certification Usually provided at the end of the course as a
document certifying the successful completion
of the subject.
No mandatory certification; however, a
certifying document may be provided that can
later be presented to a formal educational
institution or attached to the CV.
Length Provided with layers: primary, secondary, higher
education, etc.
Lifelong learning process
Strong Points Almost always free and systematized /for more
information refer to the “Millennium
Development Goals” of the UN, Goal 2/.
Accessible to all with no age limitations and
boundaries; inclusive and entertaining.
Weak Points Not adapted to meet personal needs and
interests, at least in primary or secondary
education; monotonous to people, especially that
of young age; not interactive enough.
Absence of formal recognition; difficult to
assess – it is generally achieved by means of
internal evaluations.
Non-Formal Education Methodology Selection
• Aims and Objectives• Target Group• Environment, Space and Time • Resources, Framework• Previous Evaluation, Experience• Transfer; Participant Experience
NFE Tools
Prioritization of NFE for Intercultural Learning
Thank You!
Q & A