Out of the comfort zone

Ironically, providing this sense of safety often involves exploring subjects that
pull learners out of their comfort zones. One tool both Melendez and Stabler-
Havener find especially useful in the classroom is critical incidents.

A critical incident is a short description of a situation in which a

misunderstanding or conflict took place between people. The problem may be caused
by cultural differences or some kind of communication failure. It is the students'
job to discover what happened and why. And, they are asked to come up with as many
reasons as possible – other than reasons based on stereotypes.

Melendez gives an example of a critical incident she has used from a book called
Tips for Teaching Culture*.

"You have two students who are working on a project. And, the student is supposed
to be sharing the book with the other student. And, it's time for one of the
students to leave for class. And, the older student who had checked out the book
grabs the book, gets up and leaves because it's time for him to go to his next
class. The other student – he's left a little bewildered (thinking) 'Why is
leaving? Why is he taking the book?' You know, 'We were sharing this book.' In
another part of the incident, too, with that one, the younger student had come
late."

Another favorite tool of Melendez is digital storytelling. Digital stories are

short movies that combine photos, video, animation, sound, music and words.
Melendez says digital stories encourage healthy conversations around cultural
myths.