A presentation from the Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Education Conference 2011.
Increasingly multicultural classrooms and the growing number of overseas exchange opportunities means that it is becoming the norm for students to interact with people from other cultures.
It is not surprising therefore that intercultural competence such as openness to others' perspectives and understanding the impact of cultural differences on decision-making and conflict management processes is gaining recognition as being a necessary skill not just for education but also for life.
However contact with people from other cultures learning about other cultures or even acquiring theoretical knowledge of cultural models and frameworks does not automatically lead to intercultural competence nor can it be achieved in a few training sessions. It is a developmental process that requires self-awareness and critical analysis of one's own cultural framework and how this influences one's behaviour as well as one's expectations and assumptions of others. Not many students have a deep understanding or opinions of their own culture and evaluating the norms values and beliefs that underpin their own culture is new to many of them. However without this critical cultural self-awareness the shift in cultural framework required for development of intercultural competence is not likely to take place. It is maintained that an experiential student-centred approach going beyond the traditional learning and teaching approaches and tools is required to develop the relevant competences.
This presentation is based on a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of learning teaching and assessment approaches and tools used in two courses at a New Zealand University to facilitate the development of intercultural competence. It describes a learning teaching and assessment model and the rationale for integrating technology including the trialling of Second Life a multi-user virtual environment and home ethnography. The challenges and opportunities for developing intercultural competence will be discussed with examples of student participation and engagement.
