CO Knowledge Exchange Workshops

A group of cultural orientation providers collaborating together during a COKE workshop

In February and March, 2018, CORE conducted a series of one-day workshops for domestic CO providers and other resettlement staff who deliver CO at their offices. In total, 157 people from 47 different resettlement offices were able to attend the workshops at one of four locations: Denver, Seattle, Cleveland, and Buffalo.

The objectives of the workshops were:

  • to increase participant awareness of CORE’s technical assistance and CO resources;
  • to collaboratively identify and address common CO concerns and challenging instructional situations;
  • and to exchange knowledge with participants from other networks to enhance CO delivery.

During the morning session, participants explored CORE’s websites, online learning portal, and new refugee-facing resources. After the session, participants noted that they would like to incorporate many of the resources into their CO classes and in training staff.

The afternoon session focused on adult learning concepts and their application to enhance CO delivery. After the session, participants reported that, in the future, they plan to use more role plays and interactive games, and provide more opportunities for refugees to share their knowledge and experience during CO classes.

The high registration and positive feedback indicated that these workshops are an effective way for CORE to build the teaching capacity of resettlement staff who deliver CO. CORE will offer more domestic CO workshops in other locations later in the year.