Bafa Bafa
A Cross-Cultural Leadership Simulation
Bafa' Bafa' is designed for administrators, faculty, and students who are in situations that require an experiential understanding of another culture. After participants are given a brief orientation to the exercise, they are divided into two groups or "cultures." They are then introduced to the values, rules, expectations, and the social norms of their new culture.
Observers are exchanged between the two cultures. After a fixed time, the observers return to their respective groups and report on what they saw. Each group tries to develop hypotheses about the most effective way to interact with the other culture. After the exercise, the participants discuss and analyze the experience and generalize it to other groups in the real world.
Benefits include enhancing teaching and learning in a culturally diverse classroom, dealing with racial and ethnic conflict, and developing an understanding of the needs of different racial and ethnic groups.
Real OHIO Student Feedback (taken from anonymous open-ended responses):
- My most powerful learning moments came after the Bafa Bafa workshop as I reflected on what I did and why. I was shocked at my own behavior. I was assertive to the point of ignoring the idea that I was entering a different culture with protocols that would be different from my own.
- I learned that not everything is as it seems and seriously, every single student should experience it. Today’s discussion really made me reflect and made me think.
- I have not had many intense cultural experiences in my life. There have been “differences” that I have faced, but nothing extreme. I am traveling to Europe after graduation, and I learned from this to have an open mind to cultural differences and to educate myself.
To SCHEDULE this for your organization, class, team, or group, CLICK HERE
Duration: 3 interactive hours - can be divided into 2 concurrent sessions
