In the words of Martin Luther King Jr: "If we are to have peace on earth…our loyalties have to transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective." To achieve this, a certain skill set has to be honed ~ 'power skills' as they are right- fully called; skills which include attributes such as adaptability, tolerance, understanding, creativity, critical thinking and the like.
One organisation that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world is AFS, which began as 'American Field Service' in World War I and II, when nearly 5,000 ambulance drivers, who had been witness to the horrors of the war pledged to promote peace and global understanding through intercultural exchanges. Since 1947, over 14,000 exchanges per year, in more than 54 countries, have been organised by the organisation.
In India, AFS has been present since 2005, with a pool of 750 volunteers and presence in 27 Indian cities.
It is with this aim of generating awareness on the issue of global competence and intercultural learning, that AFS Intercultural Programs and the AFS Asia-Pacific Initiative (AAI), with the support of UNESCO New Delhi Office and its partners — the Education World, World Bank Group and The Statesman, organised the forum titled "Global Citizenship Education: Essential for Employability and the 21st Century Workforce."
Daniel Obst, President and CEO, AFS Intercultural Programs, aptly summed the objective of the forum when he said, "Having an intentional and well facilitated intercultural experience is the key to developing global competencies."
The Forum, which saw important issues like the requirement of global citizenship skills in the local and international job markets, prioritisation by employers as regards intercultural and global competencies when looking for candidates, inclusion of intercultural learning, by educators, in their curricula, besides other associated and important subjects. The Forum saw the participation of organisations such as the World Bank Group, UNESCO, British Petroleum, Reliance Industries, and the Australian High Commission, amongst other prominent names.
So, how was the Forum received? Angela Roye, Chairperson ~ AFS Intercultural Programs India Board and President AAI, says, "The most important thing was that the audience was a mix of school owners, principals, teachers and students, which made the interaction more productive, as challenges and respective solutions were discussed in an open and conducive environment."
National Director Divya Arora adds, "The Forum saw the participation of nine countries, including India, with 15 Indian cities being a part of the Forum. The objectives of the Forum were more than met, especially since we always emphasise that it is not only about the exchange programmes but learning from all the experiences these exposures provide."
Roye says the main challenge is parents viewing an exchange programme as a "break or loss of time", while in reality what it can provide is far beyond that what is taught in a classroom.
What next? "We have started working on curricula which focusses on, and integrates intercultural learning. These are certificate online modules, with mentors for guidance and support. Besides this, we have been conducting many teacher training programmes focussing on leadership skills, conflict avoidance and handling," Arora says.
In addition, 'peace education' has been introduced for select principals of schools and has received a lot of appreciation.
"In 1966, I travelled on an AFS programme to Nebraska as part of a group comprising predominantly of girls. The friends I made have been friends for life. What I learnt as part of that experience, I, perhaps, could never have dreamt of achieving the same elsewhere. This is what is called the AFS effect," Roye concludes with a smile.