Tools for Promoting Intercultural Competence “LEGO ® SERIOUS PLAY ® vs. PLAYMOBIL pro”

In recent years, gamification methods have won keen recognition of current pedagogies seeking to stimulate the modern generation-Y students’ interest through entertainment. While computer-based solutions remain more popular, the engagement potential of tangible, toy-like gamification tools may not go unnoticed, seeing that they provide an excellent counter-experience to the e-learning overkill. Such interactive, project-based activities seem not only well-received, but also highly effective in terms of advanced design thinking, team building and active participation on the part of learners enrolled on the programme of intercultural field. In order to benefit from this positive energy, and generate more commitment and creativity in our trainings, we have designed, Dr. Renate Link (Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany), Vincent Merk (Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands) and David Sauvignon (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi) an experimental workshop based on the Danish method LEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) and the new PLAYMOBIL pro (PP).

Can the intercultural experience be a haptic one?
Yes – this workshop will rethink interculturalism by gamifying it. This unique workshop will allow participants to gain an insight not just into one, but into two different toolsets and how they can be applied to intercultural settings: on the one hand, they will get to know LSP and PP on the other hand. Each tool’s potential for enhancing intercultural skills will be tested and contrasted to enable participants to forge new powerful non-digital realities with either tool in their own future IC gamification workshops.”

Renate Link is a Professor of Business English and Intercultural Communication at Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences/Germany. She is also the Vice Head of the Language Centre and the Founding Director of the Institute of Intercultural Communication at Aschaffenburg UAS. In addition, Renate co-heads the regional SIETAR chapter Frankfurt-Rhine-Main-Lower Franconia, is a board member of the German Society for Key Competences in Teaching, Research and Practice and a member of the IAIR (International Academy for Intercultural Research) Council. Besides, she is a certified trainer for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® & PLAYMOBIL®pro.

David Sauvignon is a qualified educator, linguist, and geographer. David has developed his professional and personal experience in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, China, and United Arab Emirates. Born and raised in France, he is a holder of a Master’s degree in geography. At present, David is working at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (UAE). He is a certified trainer for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®.

Vincent Merk worked for 38 years at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands as a professional skills trainer, intercultural management lecturer and community advisor, before he retired last year. In addition, he has worked for ca 40 years as an independent trainer and consultant in intercultural communication, management, and professional mobility. He currently focuses on issues of diversity and inclusion (D&I) in education and business and in particular on the impact of new educational approaches including gamification, LSP and other serious games on management and leadership practices in Europe and beyond. He is a regular presenter at SIETAR and academic conferences in Europe and Asia and a former president of SIETAR Europa.

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