Last year, I was invited to speak on “the psychological impact of culture on emerging leaders of africa” in a seminar organized by ABLI, in E-swatini, the former swaziland.Kids cognitive learning to prepare my presentation, I used the agenda 2063 frame whereby the african leaders aspiredabout the africa they would like to see in the coming 50 years.Kids cognitive learning the fifth aspiration states, “an africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics” and the sixth is:“an africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of african people, especially its women and youth, and caring for childrenthat talked both about culture and the youth”.Kids cognitive learning

I bombarded myself with lots of questions: what is an “african” culture? Do the 54 african countries have a common cultural heritages and ethics that can be summarized as “african” culture?Kids cognitive learning are all african cultures worthy to be kept? Isn’t culture a dynamic phenomenon and may change over a period of time? Would not the culture we desire go out of style?Kids cognitive learning if our sets of values are not compatible to that of the young generation, how should we live and transfer?

Africans are collectivist rather than individualist.Kids cognitive learning we prioritize our family, our neighbors, our group, instead of our personal interest. In collectivistic society, systems are designed to promote and respond to the needs of society as a whole for common good rather than individuals’ needs.Kids cognitive learning group allegiance and values are given priority rather than individual rights. The trick here comes when one group fights over the other group.Kids cognitive learning one homogeneousgroup or community may have prejudice over the other group; creating the “we-they” attitude and one group may have more privilege to exercise power over the other.Kids cognitive learning in severe cases this results in racism, ethnic cleansing, religious wars, terrorism, and segregation that go against humanity or certain basic human rights.Kids cognitive learning yes, there are social and cultural rights but one should not exercise those by violating the other. The “we-they” attitude may run rampant throughout every collectivist society.Kids cognitive learning therefore, even within our collectivist values, we need to be cautious how we exercise them by developing cultural intelligence.

The second shared value that is found amongst africans is the fact that we are interrelated.Kids cognitive learning pan africanism principles are intended for a union between the independent african states upon recognition of their commonality. Though the definition for pan africanism has been evolving, I would like to stick to the historical links between different countries on the continent, and the benefits of cooperation to bring about the best of the continent.Kids cognitive learning africans are interrelated. Political, economic, geographic, cultural, historical interrelatedness make us inseparable and the fact that we can thrive when we can come as one power force to deal with common agenda is a heritage we can give to the next generation.Kids cognitive learning individuals are interdependent and part of a larger group. One’s pain should be felt by the others. Coming together as one force is what we can transfer to generation for them to see the power of interrelatedness, unity within diversity, and exercising multicultural sensitivity.Kids cognitive learning

The third african value I choose to deliberate on is people-centeredness, not technology-centered ormaterial-centered. This is not to say that africans do not need these valuable resources; rather all resources need to revolve around developing the greatest capital africa has – its human resources.Kids cognitive learning africans ability to understand and connect with one another, at a societal level, community level, and the interest to understand others better is an asset we should capitalize on.Kids cognitive learning there is an outward orientation towards a group forming group identity, and cohesion. This requires that we need to capitalize on inter-cultural sensitivity and focus on improving local communities’ self-reliance, social justice, and participatory decision-making.Kids cognitive learning

The last but not least value I would want to hang on as the african value is african’s spirituality. Most africans believe in supernatural power which created the universe.Kids cognitive learning the practice of spiritual activities could be different but most of us believe that we aremade in the image of god and therefore humanity is worthy of dignity and honor.Kids cognitive learning this is something that will help us to transcend and treat each other with respect. Believing in transcending god also requires that there is accountability in not only how we manage relationships but also natural resources god gave us to use properly.Kids cognitive learning our morality also emanates from this exercise that will help us to be considerate of humans, nature and all other resources.

In order to transfer african’s culture to the incoming generations, we need to specify the culture expressed in arts (music, sculpture, clothing, cuisine, languages)that are tangibleones and can easily be transferred to the next generations; and alsothe intangible cultures such as norms, values, spiritual connections, which may be relatively more difficult to keep.Kids cognitive learning

Brooks peterson in cultural intelligence defines culture as the “relative stable set of inner values and beliefs held by groups of people in countries or regions and the noticeable impact these values and beliefs have on peoples’ outward behaviors and environment.Richard bucher in his book on building cultural intelligence (CQ) states that the competencies that make up CQ are:first, constant awareness of our ability always to be mindful or cognizant of one‘s self, others and the cultural context.Kids cognitive learning cultural identity is very complex and not easy to read, intuit or know. Dealing with collective unconsciousand making extra efforts to know one’s own and others cultural context that could be manifested in their values, beliefs, way of life is essential.Kids cognitive learning

Second, cultural understanding– exposing oneself to information about cultural differences and similarities and grasping what this information means as well as its significance will help us develop cultural intelligence.Kids cognitive learning after cognitive awareness, the second level is prompting oneself for deeper understanding of the why and how of the cultural contexts. In identifying our culture the following elements contribute to our self-identity and our place in the larger culture: country of origin, race and ethnicity, religion, parenting, generation, abilities and disabilities, political affiliation, thinking style, values and beliefs, life style and tastes.Kids cognitive learning most clashes arise due to lack of deeper understanding of others’ make up and shoving one’s culture on others throat.Diversity and pluralism best describe most communities in the world today.Kids cognitive learning however, one of the greatest tensions is over the lack of looking at things from multicultural perspectives and learning to be okay with the differences.Kids cognitive learning

Third, cultural behaviors or skills–this is about our ability to do something and do it well as aresult of training, experience, and practice.Kids cognitive learning one of the skills that we need to develop to be culturally savvy is asking critical questions and holding spaces for crucial conversations.After being aware of our and others cultural contexts and have deeper understanding of the different perspectives, we need to learn to respect differences and live in harmony with others.Kids cognitive learning of course harmony is not consenting over everything. However, since we are not living in isolation, and others should not be forced to live like us, nor we should be forced to live like them, we need to learn to respect differences, exhibit our life without disrespecting others, treat others the way we want to be treated, and allow each to represent them fairly.Kids cognitive learning

We are hardwired for relationships and we are social by nature. One thing we need to add to our fabric is developing the skill of holdingan open communication and the ethics of conversation, how and when to disagree without negating, and being civil towards one another.Kids cognitive learning because we all may have different political, social, economic, educational, system… opinion, the ethics of communication is very crucial to uphold in order not to step on each other’s toes quite often.Kids cognitive learning differences may cause clashes, and we may rub up against each other. Developing cultural intelligence requires that we sit down and hold crucial conversations with open-mindedness for there is no substitute for communication.Kids cognitive learning

Peterson defines cultural intelligence as, “the ability to engage in a set of behaviors that use skills (I.E., languages and interpersonal skills) and qualities (e.G., tolerance for ambiguity, flexibility) that are turned appropriately to the culture-based values and attitudes of the people with whom one interacts.” cultural intelligence is a fast growing movement in the west where multicultural society tries to live together in harmony.Kids cognitive learning

If africa would like to see “an africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics,” we need to define what we are, what we are for, how we transfer our intangible and tangible cultural values and moreover exercise those so that the young generation believe that our life is consistent with our aspirations and belief system and they will be willing to emulate us.Kids cognitive learning

ABOUT usone of awib’s core attributes is in the provision of a networking platform for its members and fans. Not only does awib bring prominent people to engage with the audience in a highly accessible environment, but awib is also committed to profiling and introducing to its audience up and coming women and women whose work and contribution to society in their respective industries have not been exposed.Kids cognitive learning awib believes in the power of creating and expanding networks for success, moving culturally imposed notions of reservation out of the equation.Kids cognitive learning by promoting the value in building relationships, awib espouses the idea that a vision shared is a vision realized. During networking sessions audience members are encouraged to leave their safety zones and engage in conversation with women they have not discovered yet.Kids cognitive learning awib also affords its members an online forum platform where discussions on various topics can be continued at the comforts of their homes or offices.Kids cognitive learning all it takes to start a conversation is to log-in.