Value Lens Post-Arrival Orientation Activity
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Contents |
Goal
The purpose of this activity is for participants and host families to gain insight into the dominant cultural values of their own and each other's home country and to discuss how these difference may impact their AFS experience. The activity fulfills the Culture Learning category of objectives of the Host Family Pre-Arrival Orientation.
You may wish to include new liaisons in this activity, treating them as you would host family members. Experienced liaisons and returnees may serve as small group leaders in the second half of the activity.
NOTE: You may choose to do this as a Take Home Activity if there is not time to do it during the group orientation.
| Phase | Post-Arrival |
| Audience: | Host Family, Participants |
| Focus: | Culture Learning |
| Also covers: | Cultural Adjustment and Coping |
| Time: | 75 minutes |
| Preparation/Materials: | Substantial |
| Group size: | 3 or more families |
Objectives
By the end of this session participants will be able to:
- identify one or more cultural differences they have observed between themselves and their participant
- demonstrate one or more methods of culture learning (effective communication);
- state the opportunities and challenges that they/their hosted participant are facing, including but not limited to integration within the family, school and community;
- identify ways to help themselves, the host siblings or hosted participants deal with these challenges.
Materials
- USA Cultural Detective Value Lens two copies per family
- 1-2 copies of the Cultural Detective Value Lens for the home country of each participant
- Communication Styles Cubes handout - one per person
- Value Lens - Small Group Leader Instructions
- Value Lens - Instructions for the Host Family Parts III and IV
- Host Family Handbook
- writing utensil - one per family
- blank sheet of paper - one per family
Preparation
Prior to the Orientation:
- Create a packet for each host family containing one copy each of the following:
- Two copies of the USA Value Lens.
- Two copies of the Value Lens for their participant's country or a country relatively similar to the participant's country.
- Group families into countries or regions and identify and assign a group leader with experience related to that country or region to the group. (This would be a good role for a returnee or an experienced liaison.)
- Create and provide to the small group leader a packet as you have done for the host family, plus a copy of the Host Family Handbook and the Value Lens - Small Group Leader Instructions. Ask small group leaders to review these instructions prior to the orientation and to reflect on and take note of any cultural misunderstandings which they have experienced relative to the target culture/cultures.
- Review the activity and related handouts as well as pages 75-83 in the Host Family Handbook.
- To order the Value Lenses for this activity, submit a request to orientations@afs.org specifying the number of each Lens to be ordered and the date of the orientation at which they will be used. Please allow at least 3 business days for your Value Lens order to be sent via email.
Instructions
Make sure each family member has a writing utensil and a piece of blank paper.
Part I - 30 minutes
- Explain to the families that the purpose of this activity is to learn about their family culture, U.S. culture and their participant's culture, in order to help them and their new host daughter/son/sibling adjust to each other and to avoid misunderstandings.
- Refer families to and review the concept of the Cultural Iceberg on page 76 and Culture, Cultural Generalizations and Cultural Stereotypes on page 77 of the Host Family Handbook.
- Ask each family member to list 5-10 values that they as individuals hold. (Allow 2-3 minutes for everyone to list their values.)
- Ask each family to come up with a list of at least five shared family values. Allow 2-3 minutes. (If there are any single family members present, ask them to instead rank the values in order of priority.)
- Ask a representative from each family to share the 5 values they listed and record the number of times a particular value is named on a flip chart. (If applicable, ask any single family members how their priority list compares with the list generated by the group.)
- Explain to the families that you are now going to look at how the same value can be perceived in different ways by different people, using "communication style" as an example.
- Distribute and review the Communication Styles Cubes handout together and make sure that everyone understands the concepts described. The idea here is for people to see how one behavior can be perceived in two different ways, based on one's values.
- Refer back to the list of values recorded in step 5.
- Discuss and record ways in which these values are manifested in daily life, in other words, our visible behaviors. Some examples follow.
- 10. Discuss and record how a selection of these values and behaviors may be seen in a negative and a positive light. Examples follow.
Part II - 15 minutes
- Distribute the USA Value Lens
- Review the USA Value Lens with the group and discuss the following:
- Were you surprised by anything in the Lens?
- How does this list compare to the one created by your family/this group?
- To what degree does each family member hold the values described in this lens?
- What does this say about the nature of cultural generalizations? (As a culture, in general, we share a common set of values, but individuals hold these values to a different degrees and there are always exceptions to the norm.)
- Group families by country or region. The small group leader takes over the facilitation at this point.
- Value Lens - Small Group Leader Instructions
Parts III and IV - Instructions for Host Family (To be done by the family at home several weeks after the participant's arrival)
