Sarah puts on Finishing Touches Just in Time for Winter!
RDNA: Cultural Mentoring
Regenerating Culture
We have become acutely aware of the need to attend to the cultural aspects of learning, and not just the content of what we wish to teach. There are many subtleties involved in working with culture, and in our experience with the RDNA Program, it is well worth the effort. We call this aspect of the RDNA curriculum "Cultural Mentoring".
What is Cultural Mentoring?
Whereas mentoring can be a conscious choice by an individual facilitating another's learning journey, cultural mentoring is learning as a side-effect or unintended consequence of exposure to culture. The inherent, powerful effects of culture are often unnoticed or even invisible to most. Thus we also refer to cultural mentoring as "the invisible school".
The Cultural Mentoring curriculum in the RDNA Program was developed by Jon Young and his team. Over their 25 years of research and experience in this area, they have witnessed the powerful effects of 'cultural elements'.
For example, the "greeting custom" element really attracted his team's curiosity when they saw that so many cultures, from all races, and all walks of life, had greeting customs. They thought, "How does a cultural element like a greeting custom influence learning?". They found the answer through interviewing people they were mentoring and facilitating in groups on long-term learning journeys, and by observing the overall morale and efficiency of the learning. The obvious response was very simple and yet profound in its impact:
People feel better when they are greeted, welcomed and included in a group. They can concentrate more clearly. The morale increases on a group and individual level, and people are much more engaged.
That's the effect of one cultural mentoring element. Jon Young and his team count hundreds of cultural mentoring elements that have been applied and tested. In the RDNA Program, we make this information and skill-set available through first hand experience and direct teachings. "The Art of Mentoring", a 7-day intensive course on this technique, is included in the RDNA Program during the second week of instruction.
