How to tackle war-related topics in non-formal learning with Michael Kimming, season 3, episode 3

Hello dear listeners,

This time our conversation was with Michael Kimming, an intercultural trainer, coach, online instructor and facilitator. Michael and other colleagues published an eBook called “How to Talk About War – Facilitating Learning in the Face of Crisis”, which became the topic of our conversation.

Michael was facilitating a workshop when the war in Ukraine began. Some of the participants were from the involved countries, so there was a real need to address the situation. Michael explained how he felt and how there were no tools to deal with this topic initially.

His advice for you if you ever face a similar situation is to simply stay there and feel what you feel in this moment of uncertainty. Don’t worry about not having any tools. The tools come a little later. First, look inside yourself and start from there. And then help participants express their own emotions in a clear and helpful way.

Although some people feel the urge to act, Michael suggests that action can come afterwards, first its important to address the emotions and the needs of participants, which will help create the safe space needed for effective action.

This was a fantastic, deep and rich conversation that left us wanting a round two with Michael to explore more of this fascinating topic. 

Links:

Ebook: How to talk about war. Facilitating learning in the face of crisis by Dagna Gmitrowicz, Marta Brzezińska-Hubert and Michael Kimming. Self-published, Berlin, Poznań, Warsaw, March 2022

SALTO Toolbox: https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toolbox/tool/how-to-talk-about-war-facilitating-learning-in-the-face-of-crisis.3219/ 

Blog: http://michaelkimmig.eu/how-to-talk-about-war-facilitating-learning-in-the-face-of-crisis/

Online Course: Talking about war and peace. Facilitating learning in times of crisis. Course authors: Marta Brzezińska-Hubert and Michael Kimmig : https://hop.salto-youth.net/courses/talkingaboutwar