Volume 3, Number 1, Oct 2002

Culture Matters Workbook

A new cultural diversity resource is available from the Peace Corps. The organization is offering its Culture Matters Workbook to educators. The workbook was initially designed to help new Peace Corps volunteers acquire the skills needed to work successfully and respectfully in other cultures. According to the Peace Corps, the cross-cultural training workbook is beneficial in classrooms from 8th grade to college.

Culture Matters can help with the following:

• Providing students with a wide-range of cross-cultural understandings and skills,
• Building a framework to analyze cultures around the world and at home,
• Developing community and cross-cultural understanding within a school,
• Promoting students' understanding of themselves, others, and the world,
• Broadening students' perspectives and increasing their ability to see the world from another culture's point of view,
• Appreciating how, despite our cultural differences, we are all united in a common bond of humanity.

According to the Peace Corps, "The conceptual summaries, practical exercises, high-interest learning activities and opportunities for reflection and writing in Culture Matters will not only increase students' cross-cultural understanding and skills, but will also help them see that the ability to live and work respectfully in a culturally diverse environment is a 21st century survival skill."

The workbook is divided into six chapters and an appendix. The chapters are titled Understanding Culture, American Culture and American Diversity, Styles of Communication, Culture in the Workplace, Social Relationships and Adjusting to a New Culture.

Those interested in Culture Matters can download the entire workbork in PDF.

Page last updated 11/27/2005

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Supported by a FIPSE grant from the US Department of Education
and seed money from the Hewlett Foundation-funded CRInfo project.

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