Click
on the picture above to get an overview of the brain gym activities.
For more information, contact the Brain
Gym - Kinesiology Foundation.
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Terry
Leary, Equity and Diversity Coordinator for District 4J, and
John Lenssen from Oregon Department of Education (coordinating
school safety, violence prevention , cultural competence, &
community schools) organize the cultural competence activity
props.
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Click
on the picture above to see the dimensions of diversity that
the Instruction Department studied at the retreat.
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The
culture activity started with 4 groups creating their unique
culture - what's our language, taboos, values, way we greet
one another, power...
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Here
a culture group practices their greeting: the sign language
gesture for "I love you."
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The
group pose for the Nozamas (Amazons, backwards). Be ware -
twirling the tail is a sign of anger!
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This
group is named the High Fives, because they trade only for
playing cards with five on them - oh, the baby? They protect
their young.
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The
third group is the Wings of Heart, their sacred object the
Ken doll (well, in a group of all women...)
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If
you click on this picture, you'll see why this group is called
the Tight Cheeks - their greeting: laughter!
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The
first interaction between the Nozamas and the Tight Cheeks
resulted in confusion and alarm. Click
here for a QuickTime movie.
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After
the first interaction, groups were asked to describe the other
culture they had interacted with.
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Then
the next task was to plan a strategy for interacting with
a strange culture.
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Having
a strategy for interacting had mixed results.
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Oh
my gosh, the baby is armed! What's happened in this interaction
between cultures? Click
for movie.
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Now,
how would we describe those Nozamas....aggressive!
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This
time, plan a strategy for interacting in a way that will help
understand the culture...
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Oh,
you like cards, but only the ones with hearts! And what's
with the elbows, anyway?
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The
Tight Cheeks and the High Fives seem to be getting along in
a friendly (but puzzled) fashion. Click
for movie.
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Then
each group described the last culture they interacted with.
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Then
John had each culture take their turn - the first group to
interact with them read their description of them.
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Next
the group who had an interaction strategy with the first culture
read their description.
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The
fourth group, who had planned a strategy to try to understand
the new culture, read their description.
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Then
the first culture group read their own description of themselves.
What fascinating differences between expectations and perceptions!
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The
activity was followed by having different sections in the
Instruction Department write a description of themselves and
compare it with how a different group described them.
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On
April 20, 2005, members of the Eugene School District 4J Instruction
Department gathered for their annual retreat. This time, the topic
was "cultural competence." Typically, the retreats have
been designed to support the cutting edge training being offered to
educators in the schools. So it's not such a surprise that this one
started off with "brain gym activities," structured physical
activities designed to wake up and focus the brain prior to instruction.
The remainder of the day was spent in activities and reflections regarding
the topic of cultural competence.
Eugene School District 4J