European Women between Tradition and Transition
Transnational Workshop in Ulm January 30 - February 3, 2009

Workshop for teachers »Creative Methods in Intercultural Adult Education«

Teachers
France: Christine
Spain: Marisa
Turkey: Funda
Denmark: Lone and Hafide
Cyprus: Anastasia, Antonia, Kakia, Klea, Lucy, Panayiotis
Germany: Gabriele, Gesa, Solveig

German students
Andrea, Angelika , Brigitte, Gila, Hilde, Inge, Rita, Roswitha, Uschi, Ute,

In our project so far the local project groups and the transnational meetings mainly focussed on the interests and needs of the learners. Therefore the teachers decided to have a special workshop meeting in Ulm in January 2009 in order to concentrate on the exchange of best practice and the improvement of concepts and teaching skills of the pedagogical staff especially in multicultural settings.

Contents
1. Workshop »Collaborative Art Techniques«
The team from Cyprus introduced us to some creative activities and methods
The storyline
The portrait (about facing  each other)
Draw on each other’s backs
The knot
The general idea was to get a group of people to work more closly together and to get to know each other better.
The methods and activities can be used in many different groups  considering the context and target group.
 
2.Workshop »Monuments«
The art-teacher Solveig from “Frauenakademie” gave an introduction to the theme.
The activity had several components
Why do I deserve a monument? (brainstorm)
Talking in a group
Having my photos taken
Creating a monument
Presenting the monument
The purpose of this activity was to get in touch with your own (female) self and then to get in touch with the other participants. Especially women have difficulties in finding and expressing their strength and achievements and showing things they can be proud of. The activity aimed at women’s self-awareness and empowerment.
For the participants, who normally work as teachers, it was a change of roles and perspectives. Here they were „learners“ and  felt how a task given by a „teacher“ can lead to emotional stress. They experienced how they react  dealing with stress. There was a change between periods of self-reflection and individual creative processes and periods of exchange and discussion with others. The participants learned about personal and intercultural differences and similarities.

 
3. Workshop »Intercultural Techniques«
This workshop was introduced by the Cyprus team. The theme was aspects of intercultural abilities

Look at the drawing and tell us what you see!
The human rights ( expressed by making a t-shirt, theater and a poster)
Make a moving statue (inspired by music)
The net of a spider ( throwing a string to one in the group and complement her or him)
The grade of complexability in the activities can be increased. The group experienced different interpretations of the same object. These methods can be used against racism and to encourage self-reflection.

Supporting programme
4. Guided tour Weisshaupt Collection
Andrea El-Danasouri explained the history of  the art group ZERO (1957/8 – 1966). The foreign guests got an impression of the philosophy of these artists who tried to give an answer to  the situation in post-war Germany. Some abstract pictures motivated to reflect on terms like:  a change of  standing point leads to new ways of perspective and perception. In several ways the guided tour „visualized“ aspects of intercultural dialogue.

5.Swabian Carnival Parade
On Sunday afternoon the streets of Ulm were full of music bands and groups in traditional carnival costumes. A highlight was the parade which passed in front of the Ulmer Volkshochschule.  For this occasion men  can dress  like witches and women like wild animales (wolf, bear). Gender roles and political correctness are suspended. Hidden behind huge wooden masks „normal people“ allow themselves to  behave in a rude and noisy way and „out of control“ – not as they would normally behave in everyday life in Germany.