In a world where discomfort is often the status quo, citizens of the world often resort to comfort zones to hide from it all. This sometimes gets reflected in our educational sessions–we try to remove any distractions so that the student can focus on the material at hand.
Yet how can one think “outside the box” if one is still inside it?
Removing the distractions of discomfort is a nice idea, but it goes against some theories of how we learn. Discomfort often comes with change in general, and learning is change as well. Discomfort and learning are at least second cousins if not first, and one often does not happen without the other thanks to their common friend, change.
Hence the title of this blog. If you have been entrusted with planning an educational conference, an offshore destination is one way to bring the students in with minds already beginning to open due to the unfamiliar surroundings. When their feet touch the ground of the new place, their brains start asking, “What?” This is especially true if it is a place where their native language is not frequently spoken and they need interpreters to get around.
This is not to suggest that the heart of the Gobi desert is a great conference spot. It’s more that you could use destinations with varying levels of cultural disparity to our own depending on what your client needs and can afford. For example, if your client doesn’t have a lot to spend or is perhaps holding a conference that is more technology sharing in a meeting format, a destination like the Caribbean might be sufficient. Sure, they speak English, but the culture is different from most places in the U.S.
On the other hand, if it’s a neurophysiology conference and participants earn continuing education credits, it’s more important that you provide a better atmosphere for learning. Start prying their minds open with a trip to a foreign country, even if it’s close by. If the client doesn’t have available funds in this case, you can try destinations within the U.S. that are culturally unique, but it may not have the same effect as Mexico, French speaking Canadian destinations, and even the exotic places like Iceland.
As with everything else you do, a little research on your client’s behalf can go a long way.
