Promoting Mindful, Reflective

Perspective Taking
A World Café Session
Mascha Gemein, University of Arizona
Aisha Haque, Western University
Nanda Dimitrov, Western University

What does perspective taking mean to you?
• What are some potentials you see with it in
higher education?

• What are some potential pitfalls of engaging
students in learning activities that involve
perspective taking?

Perspective Taking in Higher Education
• Over 90% of students and higher education professionals identify
perspective taking as an essential goal of the college experience (AACU).
• Reconciliation in Canada and Inclusive Excellence in U.S. higher
education call for more attention toward a more explicit focus on
learning activities that may be applicable across disciplines.
• Introspection, awareness for one’s own positionality and awareness of
the positionalities of others are foundational elements in developing
intercultural competence. (Merryfield and Subedi, 2006; Deardorff,
2006)

Examples of Learning Activities
that Promote Perspective Taking
• Visibility Exercise
• Creative Re-Writes
• The Avatar/Ally Exercise
• Contemplative Practices
• Theatre of the Oppressed
• Simulations and role plays
• Empathy Lab (Mobile Simulation Aging Lab)
• Storytelling/Story Writing
• Human Library (http://humanlibrary.org)
• More examples in Berardo, K., Deardorff, D. K. 2012. Building cultural competence:
Innovative activities and models (1st ed.). Sterling, Va: Stylus Pub.

World Café
Method

http://www.theworldcafe.com

World Café Etiquette
• Share ideas, doodle, ask questions
• Move to a new table in each round
• Table hosts stay and summarize the conversation
• We will share ideas via google docs after the
session

Round 1

How do you promote
perspective-taking in ways
that encourage students to
first reflect on their own
positionalities?

Round 2

How can instructors negotiate a
balance in monitoring students during
perspective-taking activities?

Round 3

How can instructors help students
negotiate their affective responses
to intercultural learning experiences?

Takeways and highlights

• What will you take back to your own
practice from today’s conversation?

Sharing activities online?
We will add our examples to google docs using the template
Share your own examples with the group at:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16BsEHUYpUu9DM6JqpK28OR
KjqbdUiuJp7toertuX2lw/edit?usp=sharing

References
•

Berardo, K., Deardorff, D. K. 2012. Building cultural competence: Innovative activities and models (1st ed.). Sterling, Va: Stylus Pub.

•

Brown, J., & Isaacs, D. 2005. The World Café: Shaping our futures through conversations that matter (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

•

Deardorff, D.K. 2006. “The Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization
at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States.” Journal of Studies in International Education 10, 241-266.

•

•
•

•

Jorgenson, J., & Steier, F. (2013). Frames, framing, and designed conversational processes: Lessons from the world café. The Journal
of Applied Behavioral Science, 49(3), 388-405. doi:10.1177/0021886313484511
Merryfield, M. M., and B. Subedi. 2006. “Decolonizing the Mind for World-centred Global Education.” In The Social Studies
Curriculum: Purposes, problems, and possibilities. Ed. Ross, E. W. Alba: State University of New York Press. 283–295.
Reason, R.D. 2011. “Encouraging Perspective-Taking Among College Students.” Diversity & Democracy 14(1), n.pag. Web. Retrieved
from: https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/encouraging-perspective-taking-among-college-students
Ruppert-Winkel, C., Hauber, J., Stablo, J., & Kress, M. (2014). “Das World Café als Integrationsinstrument in der transdisziplinären
Nachhaltigkeitsforschung/The world café as an instrument for integration in transdisciplinary sustainability research.” Gaia, 23(3),
243-252.