Introductory Level
Please Choose A Webquest
Tolerance
Tolerance and Diverse Workplace
Being creative
Tolerance and Open-mindedness in the Workplace
Tolerance and Diversity
Tolerance
What is a WebQuest? By conducting research activities on the internet and combining these with additional activities, you will become familiar with new things concerning a specific topic. This allows you to expand your knowledge and create new skills for you.
The topic of this WebQuest is getting a basic knowledge of what is meant by “tolerance”, “values”, “beliefs” and “customs”, of the value of diversity in the workplace and dangers of cultural intolerance for peace and security of all people. Everyone is different, individual and comes from different parts of the world and cultural backgrounds. And that is wonderful! A diverse world with huge opportunities for learning. Diversity is not only important in our everyday life, but also major for workplaces. By the end of this WebQuest you will be an expert on open-mindedness and tolerance. You will be able to identify intolerance and discrimination and know how to raise your voice against it. Raise awareness!
The following tasks will guide you through this topic:
Task 1: What does tolerance mean?
Your first step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define “tolerance”.
Task 2: What are values, beliefs and customs?
Your second step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define values, beliefs, and customs.
Task 3: What is the value of diversity in the workplace?
Your third step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to find out what the value of diversity in a workplace is.
Task 4: Dangers of cultural intolerance
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to learn about the dangers of cultural intolerance.
Task 5: Raising awareness
Your fifth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to raise awareness of diversity.
On it!
Task 1: What does tolerance mean?
Your first step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define “tolerance”.
Klick on the definitions below:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/tolerance
https://www.verywellmind.com/be-more-open-minded-4690673
Which definition suits you best?
Why is tolerance so important?
Task 2: What are values, beliefs and customs?
Your second step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define values, beliefs, and customs.
Read through the articles and watch the videos.
Values:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm
Wellbeing For Children: Identity And Values
Customs:
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/custom
What is the difference between customs and traditions?
Beliefs:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/belief
Values VS. Beliefs
Can you name the difference between values, customs and beliefs?
What are your personal values, customs and beliefs?
What are your cultural values, customs and beliefs?
Share and compare with your peers!
Task 3: What is the value of diversity in the workplace?
Your third step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to find out what the value of diversity in a workplace is.
Watch the video and read through the links below:
https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-diversity-really-means-and-why-its-crucial-in-the-workplace
What is Diversity? – About Diversity in the working world
Discuss in your peer group the following questions:
-What does “diversity in the workplace” really mean?
-What are the 4 types of diversity?
-How does diversity benefit the workplace?
Task 4: Dangers of cultural intolerance
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to learn about the dangers of cultural intolerance.
Read through the article and answer the following questions:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/discrimination-and-intolerance
What are the problems or effects of discrimination? | Eschooltoday
Answer:
-Where is the statement “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” embedded?
-What happens when there is intolerance in society?
-Have you ever felt or seen intolerance or discrimination?
-What are effects of discrimination?
Task 5: Raising awareness
Your fifth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to raise awareness of diversity.
Read through the article and watch the videos.
What can you do to raise awareness?
Discuss with your peers.
https://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Awareness-of-Diversity,-Equality,-and-Inclusion
UNITY: Anti-Discrimination Video
Good job!
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You have almost completed this WebQuest. Let’s give it a try and answer the following questions to confirm how much additional knowledge and skills you have gained:
-What aspects of open-mindedness were new to you?
-Which things have you already known before?
-Which strategies to raise awareness of diversity did you find?
-What are the differences between “values”, “beliefs” and “customs”?
Very well done! You now know the difference between values, beliefs and customs. Furthermore, you can identify diversity and tolerance and know about the dangers of intolerance and discrimination. Moreover, you found a good strategy to raise awareness of diversity.
Tolerance and Diverse Workplace
In this WebQuest, you can work in small groups of 2-3. There are four tasks waiting for you in the WebQuest. Let's look at them.
TASK 1
You first task is to learn more about the terms of tolerance and intolerance.
TASK 2
Your second task is to support tolerance in your everyday life.
TASK 3
Your next task is to learn about the advantages of a diverse workplace.
TASK 4
Your final task is to prepare a professional presentation on the topic The Advantages of Having a Diverse Workplace.
TASK 1
Learn more about the terms of tolerance and intolerance.
Study the following information sources that contain all knowledge you need to fulfil this task.
Source 1 – Video about tolerance
Source 2 - Article about how to be open-minded
https://www.verywellmind.com/be-more-open-minded-4690673
Source 3 - Article on tolerance at Work
Source 4 – Video: Don't Put People in Boxes
Intolerance refers to a lack of acceptance, respect, or tolerance towards beliefs, opinions, or behaviors that differ from one's own. It can manifest in various ways, including discrimination, prejudice, hatred, and bigotry.
Intolerance can be directed towards individuals or groups based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political views, or other characteristics. It can lead to exclusion, marginalization, and mistreatment of those who are perceived as different or "other."
TASK 2
Your second task is to support tolerance in your everyday life.
One real-life story that illustrates the importance of tolerance happened in the United States in 2019. In New York, there was a woman named Susan who lived next to a Muslim family. Susan had prejudices against Muslims and felt threatened by their religion and culture.
One day, Susan fell ill and was forced to stay at home. Her Muslim neighbors decided to help her by bringing her food so she wouldn't have to go shopping. Susan was surprised and touched by their kindness. Thanks to this situation, Susan became more interested in Islam and learned more about this culture. She gradually realized that her prejudices were based on ignorance and misunderstanding. She started to build better relationships with her Muslim neighbors and became more open and tolerant towards their culture and religion.
This story teaches us that prejudices and ignorance can lead to hatred and conflicts, but openness, empathy, and a willingness to get to know and understand others can lead to change and better relationships.
Source 1 – Video: That Little Voice
Source 2 - Article about discrimination and intolerance
https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/discrimination-and-intolerance
Source 3 – Article: 8 Tips to Build Tolerance in Your Life
https://chopra.com/articles/8-tips-to-build-tolerance-in-your-life
Source 4 - Article: How to Be Tolerant of Others
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Tolerant-of-Others
TASK 3
Your next task is to learn about the advantages of a diverse workplace.
A diverse workplace is one that includes employees with different backgrounds, cultures, ages, genders, religions, abilities, and other characteristics.
Source 1 – Article: What diversity really means, and why it’s crucial in the workplace
https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-diversity-really-means-and-why-its-crucial-in-the-workplace
Source 2 - Article about the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace
Source 3 - Video about diversity in the working world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqGEQFoN3Y
Source 4 - Video on how diversity makes teams more innovative
TASK 4
Your final task is to prepare a professional presentation on the topic The Advantages of Having a Diverse Workplace.
You have learned many useful skills in this WebQuest. Now your task is to prepare a presentation where you will summarize and present the advantages of diverse workplace. The following resources will help you.
Source 1 – Video about the benefits and challenges of a diverse team
Source 2 – Video: 5 Reasons Why Workforce Diversity is Good for your Workplace
Source 3 - Video about how to prepare a presentation with the correct structure
Source 4 - Article about tips for making effective PowerPoint presentations
https://www.ncsl.org/legislative-staff/lscc/tips-for-making-effective-powerpoint-presentations
And now think together about what you will do with the presentation. You can present it during classes at school or make an interesting video from it on YouTube or publish it on an internet blog. There are many options. Share your knowledge with other people
You have successfully completed several tasks in this WebQuest. Try to answer the following questions to see how much you have learned:
- Which knowledge from this WebQuest was just a repetition for you because you already knew it?
- What knowledge was new to you?
- Why should people have the knowledge contained in this WebQuest?
- What would you say if you had to say a few words about the tolerance and intolerance?
- To what extent, in your opinion, are people tolerant in your country?
- On what issues or situations do people in your country have problems with tolerance?
- How do you develop and learn tolerance in your daily life?
- Can you mention and explain several advantages of a diverse workplace?
You have just successfully completed this WebQuest on tolerance and diverse workplace. If you have completed all the tasks, you can rightly consider yourself an expert on this topic because you now have much more knowledge about this topic than the average person in your country. You already know that a tolerant person is someone who is accepting and respectful of people with different beliefs, opinions, or lifestyles, and does not discriminate against them based on those differences. You know how to support and develop tolerance in your everyday life. You are able to describe and explain the advantages of mixed work teams. You know that a diverse workplace can bring many benefits to companies, including increased innovation, improved problem-solving, better communication, increased cultural awareness, attracting and retaining top talent, and improved customer relations.
Congratulations, your knowledge of tolerance and diverse workplace is excellent now!
Being creative
Among the soft skills, being creative is one of the most sought-after by companies. Developing creativity at work is not an easy task for those who do not consider themselves creative, but we can certainly improve by putting some tips into practice. Having good ideas is added values that can make your profile shine wherever you go.
Undoubtedly, the greatest enemies of creativity are the fear of failure and the culture of perfectionism we live in. Getting rid of these two prejudices will go a long way towards making progress.
First we will define what creativity is, then we will give some tips on how to improve one's inner creativity and finally we will carry out two group dynamics that encourage creativity in groups.
Step 1: What is creativity?
We will start the session by explaining what creativity is and how having creativity at work helps us to perform tasks.
Content:
What is creativity?
- Creativity is defined as the process of bringing something new and useful into being. In order to establish the relationship between this new environment and reality, we use our imagination.
- Creative thinking is highly valued in our societies, where innovation and change play an important role. It involves memory, intelligence, imagination and other complex mental processes that lead to original thinking.
- Creativity is typical of human cognition, and is what differentiates it from forms of artificial intelligence. It is present to varying degrees in many personality forms (called creative personality) and is found in a pure and free state during childhood, the greatest example of which is imaginative play. Writers, artists, architects, scientists and inventors all cultivate the creative aspect of their personality.
Characteristics of creativity
- Spontaneity: The emergence of creativity is often spontaneous, i.e. unplanned, and leads to what many call "inspiration", i.e. a state of consciousness particularly inclined towards creation.
- Freedom: Creative thinking does not usually play by the rules, but rather contradicts them and places itself in new, different, free perspectives.
- Sensitivity: More than intelligence or knowledge, creativity has to do with the ability to take on new perspectives, which is often linked to sensitivity and playfulness (playful thinking).
- Excitability: Creativity can be stimulated through the consumption of complex and novel cultural objects: art, literature, games, activities that allow for the freer exploration of subjectivity and original thinking.
The importance of creativity
- Creativity has played a vital role in the evolution of the human species, as it has allowed it to face diverse problems throughout its history and to develop novel, original tools and solutions for each one. In fact, this talent probably meant the superiority of homo sapiens over other contemporary hominids, which allowed him to reproduce more and dominate the whole world.
- In everyday human life, creativity is a highly valued talent. Scientific, inventive, artistic or architectural endeavours depend to a large extent on this talent, not to mention the development of new materials, new technologies or new philosophies of thought, whose impact on civilisation is often more or less revolutionary.
We can generate a presentation with the content.
Step 2: Tip to be more creative
We will start with a brainstorming session on how to improve our creativity, to see what knowledge the participants have.
After this brainstorming that we will have collected on a poster board or continuous paper we will watch the following video that talks about how to work on our natural creativity:
A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity | Tim Harford - YouTube
We will give each participant a list of tips with advice on how to apply them on a daily basis:
- Surround yourself with the best
Surrounding yourself with good people helps you develop creativity at work. Admiring good ideas and innovative colleagues will help you be more creative.
- Identify your creative moment
Not every moment of the day is a good time to be creative. Some people feel more productive in the morning, others in the evening. Knowing this is key to fostering your own creativity.
- Set your own goals
Being ambitious, setting goals and being focused on achievement will help you develop that creative mindset. This will keep you motivated and help you achieve your goal of being creative.
- Say goodbye to fears
Having good self-esteem and being positive is part of the plan to be creative. Here, as we said, we must put fears aside. Fear of the judgement of others, fear of our ideas being ridiculous, fear of not being liked... These fears must be put aside to prevent our creativity from being truncated.
- Perfection does not exist
This is a phrase that we repeat all the time but that we don't manage to believe for ourselves. We live in a culture of perfection where not being perfect scares us and fills us with insecurities. Surely, the ideas we have at the beginning are not the best, but it is also true that many of the best ideas have had their corresponding adaptations.
- Keep your impatience aside
Impatience is never a good companion. If you want to develop creativity successfully, you must put it aside. Creativity does not always come when you want it to.
- Practice brainstorming
Brainstorming is a technique for teamwork that consists of brainstorming ideas for creative thinking and pooling them for the implementation of innovations and creative actions.
This technique is very useful not only at group level, but also at individual level to develop creativity at work. It will also help you to gain self-confidence when you make this practice a regular part of your work.
Step 3: Creativity diary
Each participant will have a blank notebook, we will generate a record of activities that encourage creativity.
Each page will be used to creatively record some aspect of the activity. The bullet journal is used to record the routines we do in our daily life, we can adapt it to our needs. In this case we will adapt it to activities that promote creativity.
Each participant can customise their pages, add or remove, here are some examples:
- Days we practice sport
- Follow-up of series
- Films you watch during the year
- Monitoring of documentaries
- Crafts that we must do
- List of things we want to study or do research on
- Places we want to visit
- Museums we want to see
- Concerts we want to attend
Step 4: Group creativity
Finally, we are going to work on creativity with a group dynamic and collaboration.
Participants will be seated in a circle and will be given a sheet of paper with colours and pencils.
We will start the round by drawing the head of a fictional character on a piece of paper, which must be completely invented. After each person has drawn their head, we fold the sheet of paper where the character's neck is and pass it to the person on the right. With this new sheet of paper, without looking at what their partner has drawn, they should draw the torso and arms of the character.
They will follow the same dynamic, drawing the legs and then the feet. The result will be a character made by 4 different people.
This exercise can be repeated as many times as the participants want as it is quite quick.
Learning outcomes (for the trainer/teacher)
Topics | Knowledge | Skills | Attitudes
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Collaboration (empathy, trust, cooperation) |
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At the end of this WebQuest, the facilitator can use these self-reflection questions to find out how participants felt about this activity:
- What did you learn from this activity, can you name 3 things?
- How does creativity have a positive impact on your work environment?
- Can you name one tip for being more creative that you think will be easier for you to apply? Why?
- What do you think is the most important thing you have learned today that you can take back to your working life?
The use of creativity at work helps to differentiate us from our competitors, as the intellectual capacity of the workers that make up our company is very different from the rest, so we must encourage it and motivate our employees to exercise it.
Tolerance and Open-mindedness in the Workplace
In this WebQuest, you will work in threes. You are tasked with building your tolerance and cultural intelligence skills.
To begin, you will conduct some research on the importance of cultural awareness and tolerance in the workplace, and how cultural intelligence can help to create a more inclusive and positive workplace for all employees.
Next, you will participate in a group discussion about personal biases and prejudice, and how these things can affect a workplace culture. This group discussion will include some brainstorming prompts on how to improve cultural intelligence and awareness in the workplace.
Once you have completed your discussion, you will research ways to improve communication and understanding in the workplace. These skills are very important when building tolerance as they help people to better understand one another.
With your research complete, it’s time to put your learning into action! You will participate in a series of roleplay scenarios where you will practice your new understanding of tolerance and cultural intelligence. These scenarios are created to highlight the advantages of increasing cultural awareness in the office, the value of diversity in the office, and the importance of raising awareness of prejudice faced by disadvantaged peoples.
Step 1 – Understanding the Concept of Tolerance and Open-Mindedness
For the first step, you have to learn about the definitions and importance of tolerance and open-mindedness in the workplace. Using online articles and videos about tolerance, open-mindedness, and diversity in the workplace, increase your knowledge about the skill of cultural intelligence and the impact it can have on creating a positive and open working environment.
When researching try to keep the search board and look at the importance of tolerance and diversity in the workplace to create a safe and inclusive working environment for all people.
Here are some links to get you started:
- Open-Mindedness in the Workplace (Medium): https://medium.com/@techspecialistconsult/open-mindedness-in-workplace-be497ceed7a7
- Cultural Awareness in the Workplace (RallyBright): https://www.rallybright.com/cultural-awareness/
- Importance of Cultural Awareness in the Workplace (EasyLlama): https://www.easyllama.com/blog/importance-of-cultural-awareness/
- What is Cultural Intelligence and Why is it Important? (Indeed): https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/cultural-intelligence
- The Importance of Cultural Intelligence in the Workplace (Engage for Success): https://engageforsuccess.org/culture-and-working-environment/the-importance-of-cultural-intelligence-in-the-workplace/
Step 2 – Overcoming Personal Biases
The next step is to identify and challenge personal biases and stereotypes that may exist in the workplace. Think of the ways that cultural intelligence can benefit the workplace, and how personal biases and prejudices can affect the dynamics of a workplace and society.
Have a discussion about the different type intolerance that can be found in the workplace, and how we can work together to eliminate profiling and stereotyping in work to help create an inclusive and open working environment.
Here are some prompt questions:
- Where are some common personal biases and stereotypes that people hold?
- How can we become more aware of our own biases and stereotypes?
- How can people help to promote an environment of tolerance and open-mindedness in the workplace?
- How can we foster a culture of respect and understanding in the workplace?
- What skills are needed to improve tolerance among people?
Step 3 – Communication Skills for Inclusion
Now that you understand the importance of cultural intelligence in the workplace, it is time to understand how you can increase your communication skills for inclusion.
After completing the previous process, you must learn effective communication techniques for promoting inclusiveness and understanding in the workplace. Research some online articles and videos about communication skills for diversity and inclusion, and summarise the key communication techniques for promoting inclusiveness and understanding in the workplace in a written reflection.
Here are some links to get you started:
- Communication & Diversity in the Workplace (Chron): https://smallbusiness.chron.com/communication-diversity-workplace-11389.html
- Effective Communication in a Culturally Diverse Workplace (heartbeat): https://wellbeing.lifeworks.com/au/newsletter-content/effective-communication-in-a-culturally-diverse-workplace/
- How to Promote Inclusive Communication in the Workplace (High Speed Training): https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/inclusive-communication-in-the-workplace/
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-Based Communication (Forbes): http://bit.ly/3x3448H
Step 4 – Practicing Tolerance and Open-Mindedness in the Workplace
Finally, the last step is to put into practice the concepts of tolerance and open-mindedness in the workplace. Using roleplays, demonstrate some opportunities to interact with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and participate in workplace events and activities promoting diversity and inclusion.
Below are some scenarios you can use to put your new cultural intelligence skills to practice. Complete these roleplays as a group:
- Recently, many new employees have started work in your office. As a teambuilding activity, your boss has decided to bring the team out to the pub. However, you are aware that this can be difficult as some people may not drink for religious or personal reasons. The scenario involves roleplaying your manager’s response, the employee's response, and a human resources representative's response to the situation.
- You are deaf. While remote working, you have noticed that you are continually being invited to team video meetings but many of your colleagues keep their cameras off during the meeting. You are unable to participate fully as you are unable to lip-read when your colleagues cameras are off. The video software that is being used at the moment is incapable of live captioning. The scenario involves roleplaying your manager’s response, the employee's response, and a human resources representative's response to the situation.
- At the breakroom, one of your colleagues has expressed their frustration about discrimination in the promotion process. Your colleague thinks that she is being unfairly passed over by your manager because she is female and a mother, whereas all the other candidates are men. The scenario involves roleplaying the hiring or promotion decision, the employee's response, and a human resources representative's response to the situation.
Once you have completed your roleplay, take some time to reflect on each one, and what skills you used to relieve the situation. Note down the different types of discrimination or cultural difference experienced in each, and how these scenarios prompted you to consider the way that a workplace culture can be inaccessible to every employee.
Forevaluating this WebQuest, educators should use the following questions to reflect onthe learning experience for learners:
- What did you learn from this activity? Can you mention 3 things?
- Why is open-mindedness important in the workplace?
- Can you explain why tolerance is important when working with others?
- What do you think is the most important thing you learned today that you can bring with you into your working life?
Congratulations, you have now completed this WebQuest about tolerance and open-mindedness! In this WebQuest, you learned the importance of tolerance and open-mindedness in the workplace, identified and challenged some personal biases, improved your communication skills, and are now ready to put these into practice in the workplace!
Tolerance and Diversity
The following tasks will guide you through this topic:
Task 1: What does motivation mean?
Your first step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of motivation and motivational strategies is to find out a little bit about the word “motivation” and how you can boost it at the workplace or classroom.
Task 2: How do you motivate yourself?
Your second step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of motivation and motivational strategies is to think about your personal and professional motivation factors and to figure out how others motivate themselves.
Task 3: Tips and Tricks!
Your third step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of motivation and motivational strategies will provide you with very helpful, easy-to-use strategies with instant effects. The questions for the interesting article invite you to analyse the content.
Task 4: Reflection.
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of motivation and motivational strategies is to identify motivational methods and exercises that will bring you closer to your goals.
Task 5: Motivation Diary:
Your fifth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of motivation and motivational strategies is to try out a motivational diary to keep track of emotional highlights.
Have fun!
Task 1: What does tolerance mean?
Your first step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define “tolerance”.
Klick on the definitions below:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/tolerance
https://www.verywellmind.com/be-more-open-minded-4690673
Which definition suits you best?
Why is tolerance so important?
Task 2: What are values, beliefs and customs?
Your second step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to define values, beliefs, and customs.
Read through the articles and watch the videos.
Values:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om3INBWfoxY
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/values
Customs:
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/custom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PT29WBpLyM
Beliefs:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/belief
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAAd7maNzQI
Can you name the difference between values, customs and beliefs?
What are your personal values, customs and beliefs?
What are your cultural values, customs and beliefs?
Share and compare with your peers!
Task 3: What is the value of diversity in the workplace?
Your third step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to find out what the value of diversity in a workplace is.
Watch the video and read through the links below:
https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-diversity-really-means-and-why-its-crucial-in-the-workplace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqGEQFoN3Y
https://ideal.com/types-of-diversity-in-the-workplace/
Discuss in your peer group the following questions:
- What does “diversity in the workplace” really mean?
- What are the 4 types of diversity?
- How does diversity benefit the workplace?
Task 4: Dangers of cultural intolerance
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to learn about the dangers of cultural intolerance.
Read through the article and answer the following questions:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/discrimination-and-intolerance
https://eschooltoday.com/learn/effects-of-discrimination/
Answer:
- Where is the statement “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” embedded?
- What happens when there is intolerance in society?
- Have you ever felt or seen intolerance or discrimination?
- What are effects of discrimination?
Task 5: Raising awareness
Your fifth step for becoming an expert on the basic knowledge of open-mindedness is to raise awareness of diversity.
Read through the article and watch the videos.
What can you do to raise awareness?
Discuss with your peers.
https://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Awareness-of-Diversity,-Equality,-and-Inclusion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll56imVATLk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQoVLqCuA2g
Good job!
Topics | Level | Knowledge | Skills | Attitudes
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Open-Mindedness | Introductory:
Sub-topic:
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Basic knowledge of the dangers of cultural intolerance for the peace and security of all people |
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You have almost completed this WebQuest. Let’s give it a try and answer the following questions to confirm how much additional knowledge and skills you have gained:
- What aspects of open-mindedness were new to you?
- Which things have you already known before?
- Which strategies to raise awareness of diversity did you find?
- What are the differences between “values”, “beliefs” and “customs”?
Very well done! You now know the difference between values, beliefs and customs. Furthermore, you can identify diversity and tolerance and know about the dangers of intolerance and discrimination. Moreover, you found a good strategy to raise awareness of diversity.
Congratulations, your knowledge of tolerance and diverse workplace is excellent now!
Advanced Level
Please Choose A Webquest
Curiosity
Creativity and Curiosity
Expanding My Horizons
Creativity, Curiosity
Expanding My Horizons
Curiosity
Curiosity is a powerful human trait that drives us to explore, discover, and learn. It's the desire to know more about the world and the people around us. Curiosity can lead to new insights, creativity, and innovation. It's also an essential quality for personal growth and development.
In this WebQuest, you will have the opportunity to learn more about curiosity and how it relates to different aspects of our lives. You will learn more about creative thinking. We will also discuss our future career goals! Let's start! 🙂
Your previous work did not give you satisfaction. You are curious about the world and very much want to achieve your career goal. However, you don't know quite how to do it. Your friends have advised you on creative thinking techniques to determine your short - term and long - term goals. You would like to do exactly that.
Step nr 1 – Curiosity as ingredient of education
Curiosity is the natural human tendency to seek out and explore new information, ideas, and experiences. It is the innate drive to ask questions, discover, and learn about the world around us.
In education, curiosity is a critical value that plays a significant role in promoting student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes.
Please, read the following texts and answer the questions below:
Text 1: https://www.unitedlisbon.school/curiosity-the-main-ingredient-of-education/
Text 2: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-curiosity-enhances-learning-marianne-stenger
- How does curiosity affect our learning? (
- Does curiosity make subsequent learning more rewarding? If yes, how?
Great! We can move on to the next step!
Step 2 - What are you curious about?
Now we know what curiosity is and have learned its value. Let's move on!
Please think about and list 5 topics that you are curious about in your life. Don't worry if you don't have all 5. We never know what will inspire us!:)
If you would like to learn more about this topic, please visit:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201407/seven-ways-be-more-curious
https://www.fastcompany.com/90712182/3-ways-to-train-your-brain-to-be-more-curious
Step 3 – Creative thinking
Great! Let's move on to the next issue, which will allow us to open up to learning and developing our careers.
Let's talk about... creative thinking!
Please, find the definition of "creative thinking" on the Internet and post it below. Then, write how you understand the term "creative thinking "in your own words.
- Online definition of “creative thinking”:
Source:
- My definition of creative thinking”:
Excellent!
If you want to learn more about the topic click here:
https://www.theforage.com/blog/skills/creative-thinking
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/creative-thinking-definition-with-examples-2063744
Step 4 – Creative Thinking Exercises
How to develop creative thinking skills?
To answer the above question, watch this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfg9a9diN40
Please list 4 exercises that can be done to develop creative thinking. Which of the ways appeals to you the most?
In my view, best exercise is:
Well done! 🙂
Step 5 – My career goal
Let's think about our career goals. First, let's focus on what it is!
A career goal is a specific objective or target that you set for your professional development, usually for a defined period of time. It is a desired achievement or accomplishment that you want to reach within your career, such as earning a promotion, landing a new job, developing new skills, or starting your own business.
Depending on how much time you anticipate spending working toward your objective, career goals can be classified as short-term or long-term. In the end, reaching your intermediate and long-term professional objectives will help you get closer to your desired career path.
Example:
Andy’ career goal is: becoming a thought leader
Short-term goals: attending specialized training sessions, relevant classes, professional conferences, and growing a social media following.
Long-term goals: publishing papers, writing a book, speaking at conferences, and obtaining a professional credential or advanced degree.
- Please think about your dream career goal. Specify it below. Don't worry if you don't know what it could be yet. If you are still thinking about it, you can give an example of a dream career goal.
My career goal is: ..............................................................................................................
If you want to find out more about the topic, please visit:
https://www.coursera.org/articles/career-goals-examples
https://www.mentorcliq.com/blog/what-are-career-goals
Step 6 - Determine your short- and long-term goals
Wonderful! You have already gone through so many steps!
Please, think about the short-term and long-term goals to the aforementioned career goal. It would be great if you could come up with 3 examples each. Remember that creative thinking can be a valuable asset in achieving both short and long-term goals, as it enables you to think outside the box, find new solutions and opportunities, adapt to change, and enhance your problem-solving skills. Try to use it! 🙂
My short- term goals:
My long – term goals:
Well done!
If you want to find out more about the topic, please visit:
https://clickup.com/blog/short-term-vs-long-term-goals/
https://www.wrike.com/blog/short-term-vs-long-term-goals/#How-Wrike-can-help-your-team-plan-and-achieve-long-term-and-short-term-goals
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Congratulations! By keeping up with the steps given, you have managed to increase your knowledge.
Individuals who cultivate their curiosity and use creative thinking are more likely to achieve their career goals. Being open to new ideas and perspectives allows for innovative thinking and problem-solving, which can help propel one's career forward. Additionally, staying curious and continually learning can provide new opportunities and avenues for growth.
Thank you for your work! 🙂
Creativity and Curiosity
The topic of this WebQuest is creativity and curiosity. You will become familiar with the concepts of creativity and curiosity and understand their importance for work and personal life. In this WebQuest, we will pay attention to creative thinking, and you will improve your creative thinking skills. You will get to know specific techniques of creative thinking and try some of them use practically. You will focus on improving your career plan by using creative techniques.
In this WebQuest, you will have the opportunity to learn more about curiosity and how it relates to different aspects of our lives. You will learn more about creative thinking. We will also discuss our future career goals! Let's start! 🙂
The following 5 tasks await you in this WebQuest.
TASK 1
Your first task is to familiarize yourself with the concepts of creativity and curiosity.
TASK 2
Your next task is to focus your attention on creative thinking. Find out what creative thinking is and how to develop creative thinking skills.
TASK 3
The third task is to become familiar with specific techniques of creative thinking.
TASK 4
Your next task is to use some of the creative techniques to improve your career plan.
TASK 5
Your final task is to create a vision board of creative ideas to develop your work career quicker. You will list your career goals and creative ideas, which can help you reach these goals faster.
TASK 1
Your first task is to familiarize yourself with the concepts of creativity and curiosity.
You can work in a group of 3 people. Your first task is to discuss the following questions:
- How would you describe creativity and how do you recognize a creative person?
- How would you describe curiosity?
- Do you find curiosity and creativity beneficial to everyday life?
After answering the questions above, study the following resources to check how correct your answers were.
Source 1 – Article about what curiosity is.
https://gostrengths.com/what-is-curiosity/
Source 2 – Article: The Science of Curiosity
https://curiosity.britannica.com/science-of-curiosity.html
Source 3 – Article: 4 Reasons Why Curiosity Is Important and How to Develop It
Source 4 – Article about what creativity is.
https://99designs.com/blog/creative-thinking/what-is-creativity/
Source 5 – Video: The Neuroscience of Creativity
TASK 2
Your next task is to focus your attention on creative thinking. Find out what creative thinking is and how to develop creative thinking skills.
Creative thinking skills allow people to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to problems. Explore the following resources to develop your creative thinking skills.
Source 1 - Animation about creative thinking
Source 2: Article about creative thinking
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/creative-thinking-definition-with-examples-2063744
Source 3 – Video: Creative thinking - how to get out of the box and generate ideas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEusrD8g-dM
Source 4 – Article: 30 Tips to Rejuvenate Your Creativity
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/30-tips-to-rejuvenate-your-creativity.html
TASK 3
The third task is to become familiar with specific techniques of creative thinking.
Creative thinking techniques are tools and methods used to stimulate and develop creative thinking. These techniques can be used to generate new ideas, solve problems, and overcome mental blocks that might limit a person's ability to think creatively. Here are some common creative thinking techniques:
- Brainstorming: A technique where a group of people generates ideas without criticism or judgment. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible, regardless of how feasible they are.
- Mind Mapping: A technique that visually organizes ideas, showing the relationships between different concepts.
- SCAMPER: A mnemonic that stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Rearrange. It is a technique used to prompt creative thinking by asking questions related to these different aspects.
- Random Word or Object Association: A technique where a random word or object is selected and used to stimulate new ideas.
- Reverse Thinking: A technique that involves flipping a problem or situation on its head, and looking at it from a different perspective.
- Storyboarding: A technique that uses images or illustrations to create a visual narrative, which can help generate new ideas.
These techniques can be used individually or in combination to help stimulate and develop creative thinking.
Source 1 – Video: Creative Thinking Methods
TASK 4
Your next task is to use some of the creative techniques to improve your career plan.
You can use the following different creative techniques to create a better career plan, such as:
- Future Vision - this technique allows you to visualize your ideal future and then focus on how to get there. Start by imagining your goal and then ask yourself questions such as "How can I achieve my goal?", "What are my strengths that will help me achieve my goal?" or "What are the obstacles I have to overcome?"
- Mind mapping - this technique allows you to organize your thoughts around your career plan. Start by writing your goal in the center of the paper, then add any ideas, thoughts, or resources that will help you achieve that goal. Connect these ideas using arrows and notations, allowing you to better understand the relationships between them and potentially uncover new approaches to achieving your goal.
- SWOT analysis - this technique allows you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats that affect you in achieving your career goal. Focus on what sets you apart from others and what could help you achieve your goal. Then focus on obstacles and threats and think about how to overcome them.
- Creative writing - This technique allows you to write spontaneously and without any restrictions. Write down a question such as "What do I want to achieve in my career?" and then answer it in written form without worrying about form, grammar or correctness. You can use this technique to gain new ideas, insights, and inspiration that you might not have thought of otherwise.
- Case analysis - This technique allows you to analyze cases from the careers of other people who have achieved a similar goal as you. Choose a few cases of successful people who you find inspiring, and try to understand how they managed to achieve their goal. Try to draw insights from these cases that could help you in achieving your own goal.
Source 1 – Article: Personal SWOT Analysis
https://creately.com/blog/hr-planning/personal-swot-analysis/
Source 2 – Video about Mind Mapping
TASK 5
Your final task is to create a vision board of creative ideas to develop your work career quicker. You will list your career goals and creative ideas, which can help you reach these goals faster.
A vision board is a visual representation of one's goals, aspirations, and desires. It typically consists of a collection of images, words, and phrases that represent the things a person wants to achieve or manifest in their life. The purpose of creating a vision board is to help a person clarify their goals and focus their energy and attention on achieving them. By creating a tangible representation of their aspirations, a person can better visualize their desired outcome, which can help them stay motivated and committed to taking action towards their goals.
A vision board can be created using a variety of materials, including magazines, newspapers, photos, drawings, and quotes. It can be made on a physical board, a digital platform, or in a journal. The key is to create a visual representation of what you want to achieve, so you can see it and feel it every day.
You probably have a long-term career goal. What would you like to achieve in your career in 10 years? In what job position would you like to work in 10 years, in what field, and for what salary? Before this WebQuest, you probably already had an idea of what tasks you need to complete and what activities you need to do in order to achieve this long-term career goal. And what if there are faster paths to that goal? Ask your creativity a simple question:
- Can you think of any ways to accelerate my journey to my long-term career goal?
Choose one of the creative techniques we mentioned in this WebQuest and generate at least 4 creative ideas to accelerate your career path. Include these ideas on your vision board.
Here are some links on how you can create a vision board:
Source 1 – Article: How to create a vision board
https://www.canva.com/create/vision-boards/
Source 2 – Article: Here's How to Make a Vision Board for Manifestation
https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a29959841/how-to-make-a-vision-board/
Source 3 – Article: How Vision Boards Work & How To Make A Powerful One For Yourself
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-make-a-vision-board
You have successfully completed several tasks in this WebQuest. Try to answer the following questions to see how much you have learned:
- Which knowledge from this WebQuest was just a repetition for you because you already knew it?
- What knowledge was new to you?
- Why should people have the knowledge contained in this WebQuest?
- How would you define creativity?
- What is creative thinking and how to improve it?
- Can you briefly describe the following techniques: Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, Reverse Thinking, Storyboarding?
- What is your long-term career goal and what steps do you need to take to achieve it?
You have just successfully completed this WebQuest on creativity and curiosity. If you have completed all the tasks, you can rightly consider yourself an expert on this topic because you now have much more knowledge about this topic than the average person in your country. You can explain the terms creativity and curiosity and their importance for work and personal life. You have improved your creative thinking skills and you know how to develop them further. You have explored specific creative thinking techniques and tried some of them in practice. You have a clear career plan that includes a long-term career goal and a path to achieving it. You have learned how to use a vision board.
Congratulations, your knowledge of creativity and curiosity is excellent now!
Expanding My Horizons
Open-mindedness is not just about tolerance and respect for others. Open-mindedness can also play an important role in your future career development. Taking opportunities as they arise, as well as being open-minded about new opportunities and developments as they occur is one of the best and most creative ways to develop your career to be fulfilling! The aim of this WebQuest is to increase your understanding of the importance of curiosity and creativity in a career, and when planning for the future.
In this WebQuest, you will have the opportunity to learn more about curiosity and how it relates to different aspects of our lives. You will learn more about creative thinking. We will also discuss our future career goals! Let's start! 🙂
For this WebQuest, work in groups of 3. To begin, you will carry out some research on the impact that creativity and curiosity have on career progression.
Then you will have a group discussion about what skills, knowledge and interests you already have to progress you in a career journey.
Afterwards, you will begin to explore different career paths by comparing your skills, interests, and knowledge to different careers and jobs available.
Once you have completed that, you will complete a skills and capabilities test to assess your current strengths and weaknesses.
Next you will have a brainstorm as a group to the different barriers that could be present to stop someone from taking potential career opportunities.
Finally, you will create a career vision board where you will set out the different skills you want to work on, reasons you should be open-minded about career opportunities, and being creative and curious while working!
Step 1: Creativity & Curiosity!
Your first step is to carry out a little research. You need to find out some information about how creativity and curiosity can have an impact on planning for the future!
Here are some links to get you started:
- Creativity – It’s What’s Missing from Career Development (JulieWg): https://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/leadership-matters/creativity-its-whats-missing-from-career-development/
- Why Creativity Skills are Important and How to Develop Them (Indeed): https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/creativity-skills
- Why Curiosity Matters for Career Success and 3 Ways to Cultivate and Apply It (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/career-success-tips/why-curiosity-matters-for-career-success-3-ways-to-cultivate-and-apply-it
- The Secrets to Designing a Curiosity-Driven Career (FirstRoundReview): https://review.firstround.com/the-secrets-to-designing-a-curiosity-driven-career
Can you find any other skills or attitudes can have an impact on career advancement?
Step 2: My Dream Career
Now that you have completed a little bit of research, it's time for a discussion. Thinking about your own experiences, consider the different knowledge and skills that you could bring to the table for career opportunities:
- What is the most important thing to me when I think about my future?
- What is the most interesting thing in the world to me?
- What are my existing skills?
- What skills can I improve with a little effort?
- What skills can I improve with time, effort, and money?
- What was my dream career as a child?
After your group discussion, take the time to see if the other members of your group have any suggestions for opportunities or careers that could suit you based on what you spoke about!
Step 3: Exploring the Career Jungle
Once your group discussion has ended, it's time to start your career exploration journey!
Carry out some research on jobs or careers that may suit you based on your skills, interests, and knowledge!
Here are some helpful links to get you started:
- Careers Portal: https://careersportal.ie/
- Algonquin College: https://algonquincollege.libguides.com/studyskills/exploring-career-options
- Explore Career Paths from Indeed: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/careers
Remember to stay open-minded about the results of your search! Choose two or three of the career paths that interest you, and consider what each would require to progress to that point.
Step 4: Cultivating Creativity and Curiosity
Now that you have chosen 2-3 potential career paths, it's time to assess your current performance!
To assess your current skills and capabilities, take a skills assessment quiz to identify your strengths and weaknesses: https://www.123test.com/competency-test/
Can you find any information on how you would improve these skills?
Step 5: Being Open-Minded About Opportunities
With the newfound knowledge you have on career opportunities and the impact of creativity and curiosity on job searching, it's time to brainstorm!
Consider the 2-3 career pathways that you selected in Task 3 and think: What skills do I need to get there?
Choosing one of the career pathways in particular, consider the different skills, attitudes, knowledge, and interests that would motivate you to enter that job! Note them down for later.
Sometimes the hardest part about career development is taking the plunge for opportunities that we are given. In your group, have a brainstorm of the different values or attachments that could impact somebody’s ability to take opportunities up as they come.
After your brainstorm has ended, discuss as a group, the ways that creativity and curiosity in your job can help to overcome these barriers.
Step 6: My Career Vision Board
Now it’s time to put all of your research and planning to work! Using the materials and information you gathered in steps 1-5, begin to assemble your career planning board using Canva!
It’s important that you track the development of important steps such as skill-building and personal development.
Here are some links on how you can create a vision board:
- Vision Boards (Canva): https://www.canva.com/create/vision-boards/
- Here’s How to Make a Vision Board for Manifestation (Oprah): https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a29959841/how-to-make-a-vision-board/
- How Vision Boards Work & How To Make a Powerful One for Yourself (MBG Mindfulness): https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-make-a-vision-board
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Congratulations, you now have completed this WebQuest about open-mindedness in employment! You learned about the impact that creativity and curiosity can have on your ability to progress when working. You also explored a few career paths, and you assessed your skills to find out your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to career progression. You chose an ultimate career pathway to assess, and created a vision board for what skills, knowledge, interests, and attitudes you would need to cultivate to follow this path! Now that you have completed this WebQuest, you are equipped with the proper open-minded attitude to participate in an open and creative workplace!
Creativity, Curiosity
What is a WebQuest? By conducting research activities on the internet and combining these with additional activities, you will become familiar with new things concerning a specific topic. This allows you to expand your knowledge and create new skills for you.
In the introductory WebQuest you learnt about the difference meaning between “values”, “beliefs” and “customs”. Furthermore, about the importance of diversity in the workplace and the dangers of cultural intolerance. You also found strategies to raise awareness of diversity.
In this advanced WebQuest you will learn how to explore topics inquisitively and about the value of curiosity. You will also gain creative thinking techniques and a practical knowledge of how to learn from failure and experience. Last but not least you will gain practical knowledge of applying vision to developing career plans.
Ready?
The following tasks will guide you through this topic:
Task 1:
Your first step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to discuss the value of curiosity and the love of learning for personal and career development.
Task 2:
Your second step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to identify topics that provoke your curiosity.
Task 3:
Your third step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to conduct research into curiosity topics and reflect on the learning experience.
Task 4:
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to design your “dream career” and to identify the skills and training required for it.
Task 5:
Your fifth step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to practice creative thinking techniques and develop a career plan.
Task 6:
Your sixth and last step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to reflect on experiences and failures from your past to reframe this experience by using creative writing techniques.
Have fun!
Task 1:
Your first step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to discuss the value of curiosity and the love of learning for personal and career development.
But what is curiosity? Read through the articles and find out:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/curiosity
https://gostrengths.com/what-is-curiosity/
https://curiosity.britannica.com/science-of-curiosity.html
Now that you know more about curiosity, it is time to think about the value of curiosity and the love of learning for personal and career development.
Read through the articles and watch a TED talk about the value of curiosity.
https://collegemarker.com/blogs/importance-of-curiosity-in-education-and-tips-to-spark-curiosity/
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/4-reasons-why-curiosity-is-important-and-how-to-develop-it.html https://www.ted.com/talks/darrick_wood_what_is_the_value_of_curiosity
What value has curiosity for you?
Why should you keep a love of learning for personal and career development?
How can curiosity help you with your personal and career development?
Think about these questions and discuss with your peer group.
Task 2:
Your second step is to identify topics that provoke your curiosity.
What curiosity type are you? Read through the different types, take the test and discuss the outcome with your peers:
https://curiosity.britannica.com/curiosity-types.html
https://curiosity.britannica.com/curiosity-personality-quiz.html
There are many things you can do to provoke your curiosity. Here are some examples:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201407/seven-ways-be-more-curious
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/5-ways-develop-curiosity.html
When finished reading, try out at least two ways to spark your curiosity.
Then write down a list of topics, at least 5, that provoke your curiosity.
Share and compare with your peers.
Task 3:
For becoming an expert on, your third step is to conduct research into curiosity topics and reflect on the learning experience.
Use your local library or search engines such as:
https://scholar.google.com/
Reflect:
Was your learning experience enjoyable?
Did you learn something new?
Will you keep on reading and learning about the topics of your choice?
If yes, why? And if no, why not?
Does your curiosity feel satisfied, or do you want to learn more?
Did you find new or different topics during your learning experience?
Task 4:
Your fourth step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to design your “dream career” and to identify the skills and training required for it.
In task 2 you were asked to find 5 topics that spark your curiosity. In task 3 you explored those topics. Now choose one of your five topics you are curios about and try to find a career from it.
Find your “dream career”.
If you struggle to find your “dream career”, here are some tips to find out what career you want. Watch the video and read through the article:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/i-don't-know-what-career-i-want
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhpcgpqWc1Q
Design your “dream career”
Read through the articles to gain tips on how to design your “dream career” and answer the questions bellow.
https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/design-your-dream-career-with-4-steps-and-it-is-fun-too-140582425f2e
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9VdqvYDSc
- What would be your “dream career”?
- What skills and training would be required for your dream career?
- How can you gain these skills and training?
Create a poster for your “dream career” including your five topics you are curious about and link them to your “dream career”. How do these topics relate to your “dream career”? What skills do you already bring with you to your career choice, and on which do you need more training? Can your skills, topics and career go together?
Share your poster to your friends and family and ask them for their opinions on it.
Task 5:
On your fifth step you will practice creative thinking techniques and develop a career plan.
Creative thinking is a way to look at things differently. This could mean that creative thinking offers you a creative solution to a problem or helps you finding a path that is just right for you.
Learn more about creative thinking by watching the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhgIlTy4yY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO2LdDpx-Tc
Improve creative thinking:
“Everybody is creative”, said Tony Buzan a leading expert on the brain and learning and inventor of the mind mapping technique. But you might feel that others are more creative than you. Well, you can easily train your brain into more creative thinking by trying these exercises:
https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/7-fun-exercises-to-quickly-improve-creative-thinking
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/creativity-exercise
Creative thinking techniques:
https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/creative-thinking/#what-are-creative-thinking-skills
Try at least 3 creative thinking techniques. After that, take your “dream career”-poster and develop a career plan.
Start with your career goal.
What is your career goal? How can achieve it? What are the next steps?
Come up with a creative career plan and share it with your peers.
Task 6:
Your sixth and last step for becoming an expert on open-mindedness is to reflect on experiences and failures from your past to reframe this experience by using creative writing techniques.
Before you start with creative writing, take a moment to reflect on your experience of developing a career plan through creative means.
How easy was it for you to come up with a career goal, a “dream career” and the plan itself?
How do you feel now, with your plan?
How likely are you going to follow your plan?
Write it all down.
When following a new path it is important to take a short look back and to think about: “how did I got here”?
Especially the situations that didn’t go as planned, or failures are really good teachers.
Reflect on a failure from your past.
https://theaosa.org/reflections-on-failure-and-what-to-do-about-it/
https://www.selfimprovementdailytips.com/podcast/reflect-on-failures
To reframe and learn from this experience you can use creative writing techniques.
Learn more about creative writing from these articles:
https://www.twinkl.at/teaching-wiki/creative-writing-techniques
https://whenyouwrite.com/creative-writing-tips-and-techniques/
https://www.method-writing.com/creative-writing-techniques/
Use one of these creative writing techniques and reflect on your failure from the past. By doing so you reframe your experience and can use this learning outcome to help you following your new path.
Read the story to your peers and listen to their stories.
That’s it! Well done.
Topics | Level | Knowledge | Skills | Attitudes |
Open-Mindedness | Advanced:
Sub-topics:
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Practical knowledge of applying vision to developing career plans |
Reflect on a failure from one’s past, and use creative writing to re-frame this experience |
Willingness to be curios, even just for a short time |
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Very well done! You now know what curiosity means and why it has such big value for your personal and professional life. You also learned how to find your “dream career”, your career goal and how to develop a career plan. Furthermore, you gained creative thinking techniques and learnt more about creative writing. Finally, you were facing your failures and reframed this experience with creative writing. Now you can call yourself a true expert on open-mindedness.
Expanding My Horizons
Fostering curiosity in the work environment can lead to greater innovation, continuous learning, better problem solving, effective collaboration, and increased employee motivation and engagement. Therefore, it is important for companies to encourage curiosity.
We will start the session with theoretical content on why it is important to foster creativity in the workplace. Also about the different forms of creativity that exist. Afterwards we will apply in a practical way some techniques that we can use to promote creativity in the work team.
We will start the session by explaining to the group the 5 types of curiosity that exist according to a study led by Todd Kashdan, professor at George Mason University (Virginia, USA):
• Joyful exploration. This is the classic curious person, who feels joy and fun in learning new things, from the most mundane to the most complex.
• Necessity curiosity. It differs from the previous one because the need to know - curiosity - generates anxiety or tension.
• Stress tolerance. It appears when anxiety is accepted in cases similar to the previous ones, but which generate changes. This type of curiosity reduces resistance to novelty and allows us to wonder what the situation will be like afterwards.
• Social curiosity. This is the most typical type of "gossip", although it is not always the case: it is wanting to know why people act in one way or another or what they think out of a feeling of empathy.
• Thrill-seeking. It is taking risks for new experiences. Parachuting, booking a flight at the last minute, or going on an unexpected adventure are other examples.
There are different ways to foster curiosity in the workplace. We will display them on a paddle board and give the participants the opportunity to express which of these ways are already being applied in their group:
1. Celebrate questions: Encourage employees to ask questions about the company, processes, products, and services, and demonstrate that questions are welcome and valued.
2. Promote continuous learning: Provide training and development opportunities for employees to further develop their skills and knowledge.
3. Encourage experimentation: Allow employees to try new things and experiment with different ways of doing things.
4. Create a safe environment: It is important to create a safe environment where employees can express their curiosity without fear of making mistakes or being judged.
5. Recognise and reward curiosity: This can include recognising employees who ask important questions, implement new solutions and approaches, and constantly seek to improve.
After analysing the reflections of the participants, we will move on to the next part of the session. We will now put into practice different techniques that we can use in our day-today work to foster creativity in the team.
Brainstorming: This is a common technique to foster creativity. You can organise a brainstorming session for your team to generate ideas for solving a specific problem or creating some material.
We will put it into practice by giving the group a goal to work on and brainstorm ideas for, here are some examples of situations:
• Improve or create a didactic material.
• Find possible solutions to a communication problem in the team.
• Identify training needs in the team.
The five-word game: This exercise involves selecting five random words and asking each team member to think of an idea or solution involving those five words. You can use this as a warm-up exercise to encourage creativity before a meeting or working session.
User stories: This dynamic consists of creating a fictitious user story that represents a specific user or customer. You should then ask your team to generate ideas and solutions that address the needs of this specific user. By focusing on the needs of a real user, your team can foster creativity and generate innovative ideas.
Brainwriting: In this exercise, each team member writes their ideas on a piece of paper and then passes it to another team member to add their own ideas. This technique can foster creativity by allowing all team members to generate ideas without being influenced by others.
We will close the session with a video explaining how to encourage creativity in the workplace and we will answer any questions they may have.
Encouraging creativity at work is critical to the sustainability and success of companies, as it helps to find innovative solutions to business challenges, maintain competitiveness in the marketplace, generate a more positive and stimulating work environment, foster the development of valuable business skills, encourage teamwork and collaboration, and attract creative and innovative talent. In addition, creativity also contributes to developing new products or services and solving problems more effectively, which translates into benefits for the company and its employees.
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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number : 2019-1-PL01-KA204-065089
