"THE MULTISENORY SPACE" - A NEW METHOD FOR MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND SUPPORT OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

Herein I outline the experiences of a pedagogical development project at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The idea was to incorporate the concept of a multisensory space into our multicultural studies course which is part of our Social Services Degree Programme. The basis of the project is "The Multisensory Space", which means an easily-modified space, where visitors can experience landscape, sounds and objects of a different cultural environment. Landscapes are not authentic; they are mostly suggestive, evoking memories and feelings. The space provides immigrants with an opportunity to "return momentarily" into the familiar home environment as well as to be able to invite others into their "home space". It is during the process of creating and building the multisensory cultural environments together that the Finnish students and immigrants have the opportunity to learn about each other's cultural values. Included in this paper are excerpts from the feedback and self assessments of 74 first-year students in Social Services, with comments about their experiences and insights concerning intercultural communication. On the whole, students were happy to participate actively in the project and to have meaningful interaction with immigrants. However, there were also challenges when attempting to coordinate the needs and schedules of the students and the cooperating institutions.