Transformative Training in Soft Skills for Peacekeepers
Citation:
Anne Holohan, Transformative Training in Soft Skills for Peacekeepers, International Peacekeeping, 2019Abstract:
Personnel in peacekeeping missions come from diverse organizations and nations, yet must coordinate together in each
peacekeeping mission. Diversity in organizations (militaries, police forces, civil organizations), gender and culture (national,
ethnicity, religion) make communication and cooperation difficult yet vital in order to achieve peacekeeping missions’ goals.
Current training puts few resources into training personnel in the critical soft skills of communication, gender awareness and
cultural awareness that facilitate working together. Experiential learning through role-play is recognized as the best way to
improve soft skills but is expensive and logistically difficult. Role-playing in a digital environment, specifically a Serious Game,
can provide experiential learning that is low cost and accessible to all. Training peacekeepers in soft skills digitally requires deep
knowledge of soft skills in peacekeeping. Yet we know little about the experiences of soft skills by peacekeeping personnel on
peacekeeping. This article draws on in-depth interviews with 177 experienced military, police and civilian peacekeeping
personnel around Europe. The research demonstrates the limited and uneven nature of training in soft skills, identifies the soft
skills needed by the interviewees on missions, and demonstrates that the majority of the interviewees want more training and
practice in soft skills relevant for peacekeeping.
Sponsor
Grant Number
European Commission
700670
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/aholohanDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: Holohan, Anne
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
International PeacekeepingAvailability:
Full text availableKeywords:
PeacekeepingMetadata
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