Reflections Of Morocco: A Pre-Departure Training For Student Soujouners Studying With SIT Study Abroad

This study abroad pre-departure training (PDT) design is a proposal created for SIT Study Abroad (SSA) to enhance students’ intercultural skills and outcomes. The pre-departure training focuses on two programs that operate in Rabat, Morocco, hosted by the Center for Cross Cultural Learning (CCCL): Morocco: Migration Studies (MOM), and Morocco: Culture & Society (MOR). The training design demonstrates the application of SIT Study Abroad’s current pre-departure materials restructured into an interactive training. The design focuses on discussions of cultural adjustment and intercultural sensitivity based on activities while provoking reflection upon ones own culture before arriving in the host country. Theoretical and practical frameworks are combined creating a sustainable design that is applicable to all SIT Study Abroad programs. The structure of the training remains consistent while the country specific information is the changing variable. The curriculum topics are derived from the needs assessments gathered from student evaluations, and interviews with participating students in country, Academic Directors (ADs), and the University Relations Mangers (URMs) for SIT Study Abroad (SSA). The curriculum includes activities that are facilitated by using the Experiential Learning Cycle and include: cultural adjustment, intercultural sensitivity models, women and street harassment, identity, language in context, application of henna, and a pre-training assignment The design will be used for intercultural training purposes as well as a tool for online recruitment and marketing via virtual online chats, and a video based pre-departure training. The result of the design will offer all students access to consistent pre-departure intercultural training