*This blog has been published by Katrin Kuhla and translated by EPALE Ireland*

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What is ‘Culturatorium’?

Culturatorium is a registered brand. Teachers, intercultural trainers and improv actors have come together and combined their respective expertise in order to develop this particular approach.

Copyright: Katrin Kuhla

What does this approach consist of?

Anti-racism and anti-discrimination approaches are taught as part of intercultural education, which includes learning about democracy. We also integrate resource-based and skills-based approaches, as well as concepts of empowerment. Among other things, these are developed and tested as part of E+ projects: Can Do Empowerment www.candoempowerment.eu.

The educational approach is oriented towards the principle of improvisational theatre. Theatre is regarded as a gateway to changing social structures, similar to the approaches of the Theatre of the Oppressed. We adopt the attitude from improvisational theatre that the participants’ spontaneous impulses determine how we work.

Of course, we have a “red thread” for the content we want to put across, but it is the participants and not us who decide how exactly this happens. We are strongly orientated towards participation, processes, resources and relationships. That’s how we achieve a high level of motivation among our participants, and ensure that what has been learned is transferred to their daily lives.

Intercultural education using improvisational theatre

The aim of raising intercultural awareness with the Culturatorium Approach is similar to other intercultural training programs: Raising awareness of cultural differences, discrimination, and controversies based on one’s own privileges, as well as imparting knowledge and acting skills. However, unlike many other intercultural training programs, Culturatorium focuses particularly on emotions and acting. On the basis of the Pestalozzi approach “Head, Heart and Hands Learning”, we believe that intercultural competence is evident above all in our internal, emotional behavior, and in our actions. Thus, in our training programs, we focus less on imparting cognitive knowledge, and more on helping the participants on an emotional and acting level.

We achieve that through a conscious use of humor, through the active involvement of participants (participation), through work on their issues (important for motivation and transfer), and with the attitude that the participants are experts (also interculturally) in their daily lives (strengthening ownership and empowerment). Through the use of humor and the inclusion of emotions, the majority of Culturatorium workshops have a team-building nature, and can be targeted towards team development.

Intercultural awareness workshops

In intercultural awareness workshops, we train participants from various different target audiences in social sectors, e.g. administrative employees, carers for the elderly, teachers, social workers, VHS employees, etc.

The advantages of the Culturatorium Approach are:

• The methods require very little speaking, and can therefore also be used in groups with very little overall speaking comprehension
• Work with this approach is based on fun, enjoyment and the recognition of the participants’ competences. Thus, there may be strong opposition in groups, however this is also, to an extent, barely noticeable if there are participants in a group who have not decided to participate of their own free will, but would rather participate in organized programs
• The approach is very well-perceived by groups who have been previously unenthusiastic about, or showed little interest in, intercultural education:  Collectivist/relationship-oriented groups, groups that suffer from stress or a lack of personnel, and groups that work more on emotions and actions.

The approach was founded in 2017 and since then various publications and films have been produced, and various training courses offered. We hold regular workshops to help people to get to know this approach: You can find all info, publications and recent data at: www.culturatorium.org.

Participant feedback

“I have always worked in a very relationship-oriented manner. Now I have better arguments why it is a good thing, and can also better represent it when talking to colleagues and teachers!”  School social worker, participant in an awareness workshop

“Now I know that I have been a victim of racism, and how can I get support. Thank you!” Carer for the elderly, participant in an awareness workshop

“Connecting political education and theatre is cool!” Intercultural trainer, participant in a training course

“The elements of improv theatre combined with intercultural education have a liberating and invigorating effect on me. I feel empowered and strengthened. I really enjoyed working with the group and in groups – with various different people organized by age, origin, gender, religion, profession.” Social worker, participant in a workshop

“That was the first course that I have taken in Germany that wasn’t boring. In my country (Syria), the heart comes first. From Germans, I learnt to use my head first. From you, I learnt how important my experiences from Syria are...” Youth leader, participant in a training program

The author

Katrin Kuhla is an intercultural trainer and consultant, syndicate leader, project leader and social entrepreneur in political education. She founded Culturatorium together with Yusuf Demirkol and Ercan Öksüz.