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As I’m sure you all know, Shakespeare once wrote “The play’s the thing”, The Spinners once sang “Games People Play” and Stanley Clarke once played “Life is Just a Game”. It seems that since time immemorial, mankind has consistently developed and enjoyed game play. Over the centuries, thinkers, philosophers and scientists have thought a great deal about game theory. In modern times, social scientists and technology creators have theorized about the impact of game play and knowledge transfer, the difference between strong games and weak games and why we play games at all. Just between you and me, I think we like playful activities because they are just plain fun. But I think also that playful activities, exercises and role playing games can be used to teach us about ourselves and one another. If Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is correct, playful activities can help us to develop the capacity to solve problems and create products and solutions that are valued in more than one cultural setting. Garder lists seven aspects of cognitive skill required for learning and problem solving:
Linguistic intelligence - sensitivity to spoken and written language Logical-mathematical intelligence - the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically Musical intelligence - the capacity to recognize and organize pitch, rhythm and tone Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence - the mental ability to coordinate bodily movement Spacial intelligence - the potential to recognize and use patterns of wide space and more confined areas. Interpersonal intelligence - the ability to understand intentions, motivations and desires of others. Intrapersonal intelligence - the capacity understand oneself and appreciate one’s fears, feelings and motivations. It is easy to see how playful activities, exercises and games help us to practice and develop multiple intelligences. Dr. Stuart Brown at the National Institute for Play goes even further to describe how playful exercises, activities and games provide opportunities to unlock human potential and problem solving abilities. Brown describes patterns of playful activity as attunement play, movement play, object play, social play, imaginative play, storytelling play and transformative-integrative play. Understanding these patterns of behavior help us to make sense of the world, transcend our everyday experiences, understand body language symbols, develop our curiosity of others and create new ideas in teams. Thankfully, Donna M. Stringer and Patricia A. Cassiday explain how this works in their excellent new book “52 Activities for Improving Cross-Cultural Communication” (Intercultural Press 2009, ISBN: 978-1-931930-83-3).
They describe cross cultural communication as what takes place when we try to communicate with someone whose cultural perspective is different from our own. Sometimes the difference is age or gender, language history, profession or educational background, nationality or regional orientation. Trying to communicate effectively across these cultural barriers often requires extra effort and practice. In an increasingly networked, global society, this is a timely reality: in businesses, organizations and institutions, the ability to navigate communication styles affects productivity, employee satisfaction, teamwork and ultimately, the bottom line.
9:52 PM
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