Exploring new projects, ideas, learning and exchange formats
Living within the global village with almost no cross-cultural barriers concerning the overcome of distances and similar issues, a huge amount of digital possibilities and a never-failing access to online and human resources, people are more than ever tempted and challenged in their personal decision-making process by choosing what really matters and plays an essential role in their everyday lives. Variety (great mass of influences) meets responsibility (human constraints) and thus the way people structure and shape their relationships and time-schedules is guided towards a certain direction.
Thinking about ways of how to improve the transatlantic relationships basically involves the question, how human beings “function”. A world that somehow seems to “serve everything on a silver dinner tray” (German proverb), results in the focus-shift of human beings from initiative towards consumption. People are satisfied with the so called “status-quo”, as exploring new things would require an extra amount of effort. Understanding the foundation pillars of the human nature and current tendencies within societies of different countries, leads to the awareness that openness towards new cultures, intercultural competence and curiosity cannot be realized within a preconditioned manner.
For this reason, human beings need relevant, realistic and manageable impulses from their environments. One the one hand, these impulses imply being attractive and fresh enough to awake interest and one the other hand, they demand to a certain degree plausibility, relevance and simplicity within the specific living context of the human being. Schools and universities and other forms of educational systems can create a frame for attractive and meaningful learning moments and intercultural encounters. Their role of shaping and influencing the value-system of human beings is often under-estimated. However, their impact is crucial. By using the method of forming an international tandem for learning and exchange, different people of different cultures (e.g. German and American culture) can be brought together easily.
This learning format on a peer to peer level can be applied already in schools, in universities and in other institutions of higher education. Basically, an intercultural tandem consists of two people with different cultural backgrounds. Surely, the degree of difference can be also greater. For instance, there can be as well differences within religious attitudes/mindsets and different languages, that are spoken.
Nevertheless, the common ground for communication processes should be a common Lingua Franca, in this case English. Pupils or students could be brought together/find another through a simple digital system, that offers the opportunity to find a suitable tandem partner based on a digital profile, which includes relevant information (interests, age, religion, language, dreams, books, quotations). This digital tool for searching for a suitable tandem partner should be accessible to all members of the institution (school, university) regardless of the financial background of the person. Hence, interculturality stays at the level of being reachable for all people instead of becoming something that matters only for an elite.
After having found a suitable tandem partner, the teacher, lecturer or instructor sets the frame for the intercultural project. He or she explains the rules of the international tandem. In general, they are flexible and ever changing, depending on the group of people. But there are also some base lines that should be applied. For instance, the international tandem should be able to figure out a project both want to work on within a specific time frame. The tandem is free in choosing, what they want to create.
Their product can result of common passions and fields of interests. Both are only asked to get a project realized within a certain period. After choosing their project idea, they are challenged, to find a mentor that will support them with their project. The mentor could already be an expert within the topic, the tandem wants to work on. The mentor will also be invited by the institution. He or she will also be able to guide the tandem regarding intercultural phenomena that could accrue during the common working process. Thus, learning gets interactive, intercultural and self-responsible. Young people are challenged to organize their learning process based on foreign language skills, common interests and by planning their project step by step. This requires important project management skills and soft skills (teamwork, accountability, responsibility, tolerance, ambiguity, the ability to handle frustration).
Following this path of innovative learning enables young people at a very early stage in their lives to deal with responsibility towards their resources and possibilities. As they are put into a situation of choosing their own topic that they want to deepen, they start to focus on what matters and what they want to achieve collaboratively and personally.
Possible topics for such an intercultural and interactive exchange can differ among the tandem groups. Besides how to teach each other within a certain subject (e.g. history), tandem partners can support each other in learning a language together (in this case the expert could be a native speaker of this chosen language), creating a piece of art together (e.g. poetry slam) or work on a scientific project (scientific research project) together. Their results will be presented after having reached the end of the given time frame. The presentation will be held in front of an audience. This could also be another reason of motivation.
In order to deepen relationships among different cultural groups and to build bridges among Germans and Americans, sustainable and attractive learning formats and offers are required. By implementing the intercultural tandem for learning and exchange young people are positively pushed into a brighter frame of learning and exploring cultural differences and new ideas. Being followed and led by experienced mentors they get the necessary knowledge and understanding for possible misunderstandings, conflict management and the expert knowledge, the need for their common project. The international tandem meets the need of encounters among young people and offers the possibility to develop personal skills as well as abilities that are urgent for future responsibilities and duties.
I really enjoyed reading your essay, Diana! I think the intercultural tandem for learning and exchange is a great idea to give students the possibility to get to know students from other countries and cultures, and to view new perspectives while working on issues of interest to them. If the students decided to work on transatlantic relations, it could be interesting to incorporate their projects in the interactive and digital museum of transatlantic relations that I proposed.
Dear Sarah,
Thank you a lot for your comments and thoughts!
After having read your article, I agree on the potential my idea has in order to be connected with yours. Surely, the projects of the students could be imbedded into the interactive and digital museum of transatlantic relations. Great idea!
Hi Diana,
your article is very well written. I really enjoyed reading it. I’d definitely join such a tandem. Having the opportunity to partake in such tandems outside of educational institutions would be very appealing to me, too. How do you think about that? In my opinion, establishing your proposed digital system with the possibility to offer own small projects and being able to search for tandem projects would be an idea worth considering.
Regards,
Mathias
Hi Mathias,
Your comment pushed my motivation towards a possible realization and implementation to the next level. Thank you for sharing your thought and lightening the idea.
Consequently, I understood, the project should be easy accessibly to a large target group – especially when I stick to your idea of implementing this project also outside of educational institutions. Maybe a “facebook” for this international tandems for learning and exchange within the transatlantic context could be invented. To my mind, most importantly the project should meet a need and interest of young adults and pupils. For this reason, it is very nice, to think about a digital system, where the target group can present their profile by making clear into which direction a possible cooperation could lead.
I like your idea to widen the target group and opening the digital platform also outside the educational frame. This way, more people could be reached. Furthermore, the possibilities of cooperation are getting bigger. For instance, common research projects with the transatlantic context could arise.
Are you experienced with digital systems, which are easy and effective?
Thank you a lot!
Kind regards,
Diana
“For this reason, it is very nice, to think about a digital system, where the target group can present their profile by making clear into which direction a possible cooperation could lead.”
HelloTalk app, basically your idea
– make an account
– select your native language (English)
– select language you want to learn (German) and the level you speak at
– select your hobbies
– look at people with similar profiles
– ta dah! Tandem friends
Dear Anna,
Thank you a lot for explaining the basic principle behind my idea. Moreover this Tandem is enlarged through the idea to work on together on different subjects/topics and projects.
The idea of creating an App is gorgeous. Thanks a lot!
Maybe the following things could be added:
-select topics and themes you are interested in
-select areas you would like to learn more about
-select topics you would like to cooperate in
What do you think?
What could be useful, to stress the transatlantic context?
Kind regards,
Diana
Yes, yes, HelloTalk can do all of those things. If you like “soccer,” you can search for people who also like “soccer.” You can write a profile, like the ones here, and write, “Hi! I like ______ and I want to do _______”.
There is also literally an app called “Tandem” which does the things you listed …… available on both Android and iOs
You can install both to your phone and see if they are what you are looking for….
Diana – I completely agree with your strategy of improving attitudes via intercultural training, experiences, and exposure – I minored in Intercultural Management and took classes on how to identify and respond to differences in societal dimensions, and they were very formative. Still, regarding your accessibility strategy: “This digital tool for searching for a suitable tandem partner should be accessible to all members of the institution (school, university) regardless of the financial background of the person. Hence, interculturality stays at the level of being reachable for all people instead of becoming something that matters only for an elite.” I would point out that those with college degrees tend not to support isolationist or highly-protectionist foreign policies, and that the focus as it relates to this objective should be outside of the university, such as in public schools as Mathias mentioned. I think you touched on that, but do you have some thoughts on the logistics – how to get it into schools, how to convince school districts to adopt these programs, what costs might be associated that we should account for? Or, are you arguing for social media as the channel through which to reach non-university populations? -Mike
Michael, I second your point that the focus of intercultural exchanges or tandems must lay outside of the universities’ realm. I love the peer to peer approach but wonder if having English as the sole language of the tandem appears exclusionary and US-centric. With 77 percent of EU-pupils studying English, it is the language most widely spoken, yet by focusing exclusively on English, the US-pupils will not benefit from the tandem as much as the European students. Also, Diana, I feel your idea resonates greatly with Lindsey DePasse’s article on why language is key to closer transatlantic relations!
Dear Christin,
Thank you a lot for your thoughts and wise hints! Surely, European students would benefit on the language level much more than their partners, native-speakers. But maybe, there would be US-pupils among, that you like to use the tandem especially for language reasons, maybe to improve their German knowledge. Thus, the tandem could be useful for both sides by offering the chance to learn from a native speaker. This tandem could not only share language knowledge, but also create and think about tools for learning a foreign language, in order to let other tandems with similar goals benefit. What do you think about this? Thank you a lot in advance!
Nice regards,
Diana
Hi Christin and Diana,
I agree that Diana’s idea of a app or platform to connect people on platforms would be engaging and create meaningful relationships. I think it could be done within the school system as a part of school assignments or through an external organization or initiative. Although, facilitating this through schools would eliminate the question of how to engage people who wouldn’t normally engage in such an activity.
I could also see how this plays into the language component! Thank you for bridging together these ideas, Christin. Currently I use Duolingo’s app wherein they have a “chat” feature. However I am chatting with a robot. And obviously not building a meaningful connection there. I think this is where Diana’s idea of a project-based communication really facilitates the transatlantic relations bridge.
Diana, what other types of common projects did you have in-mind? Perhaps artists or gamers would cater to this type of idea.
Kind regards,
Lindsey
Dear Lindsey,
Thank you a lot for your thoughts and very nice ideas.
Yes, it is my idea to make this tool of communication as natural and meaningful as possible. Because only if it starts to be relevant and purposeful for other people, we can make sure, they really will use it. So what I have in mind, is actually more than only a language and hobby-partner searching machine. Truly, these are step 1 in order to get a possible match. Nevertheless, the deeper idea is to start a common/mutual project in order to create something new out of the connection of two people, who have different cultural backgrounds (EU/American). For this reason, we can have a look, what is already existing (thanks Anna!), but be brave enough to go on developing the idea.
Common projects could be:
-Art: Poetry Slams, short movies, writing together (collaborative writing) –> all kinds of text sorts are possible
-Science/ History/ Politics:
creating youtube videos in order to explain topics/subjects/knowledge
-Religion/Values:
Bringing different people/stakeholders together and led them discuss their positions towards religion/worl view
….
These are only ideas. Actually, everything is possible, what the tandem develops.
Kind regards,
Diana
Hi Lindsey, hi Diana,
wow, these all sound like great ideas. I would maybe add a component like joint content on websites such as Buzzfeed, where tandem-partners could create lists such as: “15 things I leant while tandem-ing for the first time.”
Let’s do this 🙂
Thank you, Michael, for your wise comments and thoughts. I appreciate all of them.
To my mind, to convince the staff at schools and the ministry of education there should be a clear and well composed handbook (guidelines), which offers very detailed and precise instructions and possible cost. Maybe cost could be saved or hold down by explaining the benefits of such a digital project within the current digital area. Thus, this project could become an constituent part of the educational system.
In order to reach non-university populations I suggest to create or use already digital formats, which are very popular (facebook, youtube) and easy to usable.
In my reply to Mathias, I mentioned a similar digital system like facebook, but with the intention to search via the platform for potential project/tandem partners based on common interests and within the Atlantic context. What do you think about this?
Thank you a lot in advance!
Thank you, Michael, for your wise comments and thoughts. I appreciate all of them.
To my mind, to convince the staff at schools and the ministry of education there should be a clear and well composed handbook (guidelines), which offers very detailed and precise instructions and possible cost. Maybe cost could be saved or hold down by explaining the benefits of such a digital project within the current digital area. Thus, this project could become an constituent part of the educational system.
In order to reach non-university populations I suggest to create or use already digital formats, which are very popular (facebook, youtube) and easy to usable.
In my reply to Mathias, I mentioned a similar digital system like facebook, but with the intention to search via the platform for potential project/tandem partners based on common interests and within the Atlantic context. What do you think about this?
Thank you a lot in advance!
Dear Diana,
thank you for this great contribution to the transatlantic debate, I enjoyed reading about the peer-to-peer approach. I could not agree more that a personal intercultural experience is the best way to foster understanding. What is, moreover, appealing about your idea: It does not require large funds or a complex infrastructure (after the online platform has been set up). But Mike is right – it would probably need quite some effort to convince “new” groups to participate in the tandem approach.
Did you come across the recent activities of the ZEIT newspaper “Deutschland spricht” (http://www.zeit.de/politik/2017-05/deutschland-spricht-aufruf-d17)? They, basically, matched people with different opinions on a certain topic to meet an discuss, perhaps this could also be part of the tandem approach.
Dear Charlotte,
Great ideas and I thank you a lot for your comments on my article. Actually, my basic idea is, to make the project easy accessible and usable for people, which are interested in an transatlantic tandem for learning and exchange. After the platform has been set up, it should be simple to searchch for a possible tandem partner and start the project. Within my studies we work with the online platform “Moodle”. Benefits of this online tool are, that it is for free and very creative (everything can be embedeed (for instance a blog, pictures and so on). But it needs to be applied with a university context. For this reason I am thinking of possiblities, that could open the project also within a non-university and non-school context.
Thank you a lot for your ideas (Deutschland spricht), that caught my interest deeply. It gave me the idea, creating a discussion round could be one project of a tandem. The tandem could bring together different people and moderate such a discussion round. My work within the foundation for basic values and understanding among people already deals with this format. They bring together different people of high responsibility and offer them a frame of discussion. As it is written in the article, we need this kind of meetings and exchange more and more, because it supports value building and the decrease of prejudices. Thank you for this idea a lot!
Good evening Diana,
I thoroughly enjoyed your piece and thought it brought a lot of insight into German-American relations. I like that you opened your piece from a sociological/anthropological approach. Furthermore, I certainly agree with your statement that the power of schools and universities is often underestimated. When you discussed the international tandem – is this a one-on-one meeting or rather a more formalized group? I also really like your suggestion of a project and working towards not only a common goal, but tangible deliverable. I’d be curious to know which demographic you’d start with – more K-12 students or start at the University level?
Dear Sarah,
Thank you a lot for your nice comments and ideas. Basically, I thought to start with a one-on-one-meeting. 2 people, one from the American and one from the EU-context. Both would work one a chosen topic/project. My idea was to bring them together for something meaningful, something that would bear fruit, a product.
As it is very usual in Germany to give already pupils the chance to make an exchange (America), I would suggest to start already at this level. Do you think it should concentrate on older pupils? Or would you suggest to let it begin with students? If yes, why?
Thank you a lot!
Nice regards,
Diana
Dear Christin,
I really like your idea of joint content. 🙂 Great!
To my mind, this is a very precious tool, to allow the different tandem groups to learn from one another. Your idea with the list, is useful, to reflect on good and parts, that need improvement, of the tandem. This is helpful, to generate learning process on the base of best practice.
In general, it led me to the idea, to allow the different tandem groups to see, what the other groups are doing by making their learning process visible on a blog or website. Thus, different tandem groups can observe, how other groups work together and get inspiration from it.