IDSS -

Home > Training > Training Schedule - Melbourne > Working with Muslim Communities in International Development

Intercultural Communication: Working with Muslim Communities in International Development

Facilitator: Monique Toohey
Dates: TBA

Who is it for?

The course is suitable for both emerging and experienced practitioners working in the field of International and/or Community Development. Volunteers, project/program staff and/or professional who have (or may have) working relations with Muslim communities or Muslim majority countries will find this workshop useful in understanding the socio-cultural issues affecting the stakeholders.

Course Description

Be prepared to move out of your comfort zone and past the stereotypes that reduce the Muslim community to one homogenous group. Whilst joint service activities provide the greatest opportunity for people of diverse cultures and faiths to build bridges, literally, this course seeks to bridge the gap between attitudes towards Muslims and knowledge of the world’s second largest faith community in the context of Aid and Development. Intercultural dialogue alone has become the foundation on which global relationships succeed or fail and intercultural training works well when organisations take responsibility for change. Culturally competent practitioners are able to leverage off cultural knowledge gained and use intercultural skills to effectively engage Muslim / Islamic organisations, it’s leaders and community members. Enhancing professional cultural competence is often perceived as an optional area of study, but appreciation of cultural & religious diversity is an asset to be harnessed by all NGO, government and corporate organisations and practitioners, for effective global teams and empowering communities we work with. When most of the recipients of humanitarian aid are Muslim, the value of attending a course like this, cannot be underestimated.

A highly interactive and visual two day introductory course will focus on: building cultural fluency when working with Muslims and community engagement strategies; insight into Muslims in Indonesia, the greater Asia pacific region, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East; the development of intercultural competencies such as self knowledge and communication styles. The course will help you and your organisation evaluate how well you already engage with the Muslim community and will provide opportunities to discuss relevant and ‘hot’ issues that affect Muslim communities globally.

Course Content

Intercultural competencies and how these relate to challenges and performance in global work environments;
Global team dynamics and underperformance;
Harnessing individual strengths to form effective global teams;
Introduction to the basics of Islam & debunking myths;
An Islamic perspective of aid & development services;
Defining Images: Women & Islam;
The usefulness of strength based approaches with the Muslim community within the context of prevention and intervention services;
Building relationships between faith based aid organisations;
Politically incorrect question time, from female genital mutilation to terrorism, let’s discuss!

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

Understand the basic principles of Islam and recognise the interplay between faith and culture;
Understand the difference between cultural sensitivity vs cultural safety and cross-cultural awareness vs Intercultural skills;
Be able to use some practical activities in own workplace;
Understand the principles of using a strength based approach with the Muslim community;
Apply the learning from the course to his/her own work/practice environment by using an Intercultural competence audit.

Course Fees

	Early Bird Fee	Regular Fee
Full Fee	AU$730.00	AU$780.00
Staff from ACFID member organisations	AU$680.00	AU$730.00
RMIT University students (with assessment)	AU$650.00	AU$700.00

The above course fees are applicable for participants based within Australia only. All course fees are inclusive of GST and they cover registration, course materials and meals during the course delivery.
To qualify for Early Bird registration fees, course fees must be paid to IDSS within the early bird registration deadline. Beyond that the regular fee will be applicable to all registrations including the existing ones which were not paid within the deadline.
Overseas participants will incur an additional fee of AU$40.00 (inclusive of GST) to cover the additional cost of processing overseas payments and registration. Please click here for further information relevant to overseas participants.
The assessment task is included within the course fees for students of RMIT University who are currently enrolled in academic programs relevant to the course and are going to claim advanced standing/Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) status. Participants who are willing to complete similar follow-up assessment task are requested to contact IDSS directly before submitting their enrolment request. An additional fee of AU$110.00 (inclusive of GST) will be applicable.

Venue

IDSS Pty Ltd

Level 12, 60 Albert Road

SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3205

AUSTRALIA

Registration:

Participants are requested to read the IDSS Training Policy before applying for registration/enrolment.

To register/enrol, download the Enrolment Form here and email your completed form through to training@idss.com.au

For additional information please contact:

Ruth Garner

Phone: + 61 8 8919 9767
Fax: + 61 8 8919 9750
Email: training@idss.com.au

(Back to Course Schedule)