Cultural induction and awareness training - United Nations Volunteers

12 . CULTURAL INDUCTION AND AWARENESS TRAININGCultural orientation in the field –practical modulesPossible orientation activities andexercisesThe following exercises and activities aredesigned to help newly arrived UNVolunteers to discover important aspects ofthe host culture, and to start making linksbetween that culture and the work thevolunteer will be expected to do.Most of the following activities can be doneeither as part of a training session with agroup, or on one’s own. More exerciseswith focus on individual reflectionsupporting cultural integration can be foundin the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit.The present document does not offertheoretical inputs about the various aspectsof intercultural communication. We advisethe UNV Field Units to check the followingwebsite for easy and reader-friendlytheoretical inputs on cultural andintercultural issues related to orientationand induction at the beginning of anassignment:http://www.pacific.edu/sis/culture/As UN Volunteers represent a greatnumber of people and thus a great varietyof learning styles, the suggested activitiestry to take into account all of Kolb’s 4learning styles. A short introduction in thetheory of Kolb can be found in theVolunteer Reflection Toolkit.For more information also visit:http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm