Competencies for Intercultural Education: Conceptualization and Empirical Findings (original) (raw)
Related papers
Intercultural competence of teachers: the case of teaching Roma students
JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, 2016
The authors first present the concepts of intercultural learning and intercultural competence. Following this, a theoretical model of intercultural competence development, as formulated by Deardorff (2006, 2009), is employed to explore the intercultural competence of teachers who teach Roma pupils in Slovene schools. Drawing on an analysis of reflective diaries written by 21 teachers, the authors conclude that the majority of the participating teachers demonstrate a lack of knowledge and understanding of cultural differences and often do not go beyond the ethno-centric perspective. In the absence of critical reflection on their values, expectations, thoughts and behaviour, the teachers often implicitly (and unconsciously) contribute to the preservation of the existing unequal social relations between majority and minority groups. However, to raise awareness of such behaviour and to overcome the status quo, broader systemic changes aimed at supporting the development of teachers’ intercultural competence and the implementation of the principle of interculturalism in education will be needed.
Teachers’ Intercultural Competence and Teacher Education – a Case of Poland
European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 2013
While speaking of getting the young generation ready for active participation in a global society, the competence of teachers and their activities cannot be passed over. The intercultural competent teacher is able to understand, evaluate and relate to ambiguous and uncertain intercultural situations, realizing the relative validity of the own frame of reference and able to select and use communication styles and behavior that fit a specific local and intercultural context. The level of intercultural competence of teachers, their activity or passivity in the broadly understood area of culture, have an undeniable impact on students' attitudes towards multicultural issues. Equipping teacher candidates with essential intercultural competence during the period of university studies is a precondition of rising to constantly changing new challenges of the contemporary world. In the article the realities and opportunities of forming the intercultural competence of Polish teachers are being discussed. Polish teachers and teacher candidates may acquire skills and competences necessary for satisfactory functioning in a multicultural society through university programs or in-service trainings organized mostly by NGOs.
Intercultural Competence as a Component of the Teachers' Competence Profile
Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 2017
The intercultural dimension of the human of the third millennium is determined by multiculturalism and has become a necessity in terms of a new attitude towards the others belonging to the worldwide and coming closer and closer to each individual. This dimension is most necessary in the case of teachers of nowadays who have the responsible mission to form personalities for the future. This paper work presents a synthesis of the theoretical fundaments of a complex research centred on intercultural education (IE) on academic level, followed by a brief presentation of an ameliorative research as one of the sequences of the investigative approach. Based on a previously ascertaining research done, this sequence involved the design and the implementation of a curriculum explicitly aiming to develop the components of the intercultural competence (IC). It represents the independent variable that is assumed as being a possible responsible of an obvious development of the intercultural compet...
Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies
The focus of the present paper is on the importance and significance of interculturality in teacher education. The paper analyzes the intercultural content of the curricula to develop the intercultural competencies of future teachers in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sample analyzed was the curricula of the universities of these two countries for the academic year 2018-2019. The analysis of the chosen documents examined the areas of teaching, content, as well as other elements that represent possible opportunities for developing the intercultural competencies of the students. The analyzed curricula do not offer an insight into the results of the teaching practice, which is one of the limitations of this study. The findings on the poor ratio of intercultural elements in the curricula and the need for their revision, as well a necessity of introducing systematic intercultural education to teacher colleges and universities of education are a valuable contribution. Competent te...
Teachers ’ Intercultural Competence : Effects of Intercultural Training and Experience
2008
The present study focuses on teachers’ intercultural competence, and potential effects of intercultural training and experience. The sample included eighty-seven Romanian elementary and secondary school teachers, divided in four subgroups according to studied variables. Intercultural competence has been investigated using a questionnaire for intercultural competence development, previously constructed and analyzed. Results reveal main effects of specific training on some dimensions of intercultural competence (minimization, acceptance-behavioral adaptation, and encapsulated marginality), but no main effects of intercultural experience, or interaction effects of the two variables have been computed. Results are discussed against available research data, and further research ideas are suggested. Key-Words: intercultural competence, intercultural sensitivity, intercultural training, intercultural experience
THE ROLE OF TEACHERS TRAINING IN INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
This paper focuses on the role of teachers training in intercultural competence. The main goal of this research was to highlight teacher's intercultural competence and readiness who teach to multicultural students in Elementary Schools in Greece. The specific research took the permission of Greek Ministry of Education. According to the results of the research the majority of teachers who teach in multicultural schools have many years of previous experience. However, the teachers have an incomplete specialization on issues of intercultural readiness and competence concerning the level of study and training programs. The research showed that teachers with Doctoral, Master and Postgraduate Titles in Intercultural Education have better self-confidence for their intercultural competence comparatively with those that do not have the same academic studies. The basic reason for the teachers to choose a multicultural school is to contribute in the integration of students with different cultural background. The teachers also consider very useful to participate in future training programs that concern subjects of teaching in a multicultural classroom. Finally as the most important form of training they consider the advisory services and the support in their instructive work.
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCIES OF TEACHERS AS A PREDICTOR OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION
Intercultural Education, 2021
Nowadays, the Republic of Croatia, as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN), in accordance with international agreements, sends members of its Armed Forces to crisis areas around the world as part of peace support operations. Our soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers participate in the conduct of international military operations in various duties from contingent commanders, staff, and executive officers to soldiers in patrols and checkpoints, so they are expected to possess different competencies in order to carry out the task. Military teachers who conduct training at the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy to the only higher education institution in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia are most responsible for the education of officers and the acquisition of the necessary competencies. The connection between intercultural competence (through skills, attitudes, awareness, and knowledge) of military teachers and teachers' responsibility towards multiculturalism. The survey was conducted among military teachers of the Croatian Military Academy (N = 60) 51 teachers and 9 female teachers. Research within the paper starts from the hypothesis that knowledge as a part of intercultural competence is the most significant predictor of teachers' responsibility towards interculturalism. The paper uses data from the preparation of the doctoral dissertation "Intercultural Curriculum of Military Schools", which was defended on December 18, 2018, at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. The analysis of the obtained results clearly showed that the knowledge of interculturalism, of all other predictors, has the greatest impact on the responsibility of military teachers towards interculturalism.
Intercultural Sensitivity of Future Primary School Teachers
Future teachers are expected to be interculturally sensitive and competent in order to be able to meet the needs of students from different ethnic backgrounds, as well as to teach students for living and working in a modern multicultural community. The overall goal of this research was to determine the level of intercultural sensitivity with university students, future teachers. The specific goal of the research was to determine variables that could be considered as predictors of intercultural sensitivity. We tried to realise these goals through regressive analysis, where the intercultural sensitivity index was a criterion variable, and the sequence of 12 variables had the status of predictor variables. The research encompassed 192 students of the Teachers College (79.7% girls and 20.3% boys). The obtained results show that the general level of intercultural sensitivity of future teachers in Serbia is satisfactory. The majority of students attending the Teachers College show high (58.7%) or very high (36%) level of intercultural sensitivity. It was established that important predictors of intercultural sensitivity were the year of study, contacts with people from other cultures and gender. The finding that the final year students of the Teachers College have higher level of intercultural sensitivity is encouraging, since it indirectly points to the quality of pre-service education of teachers in Serbia. Furthermore, the research results confirm the fact that residing in multiethnic and multicultural communities is a necessary but not a sufficient precondition for the development of intercultural sensitivity. Interaction and contacts between members of different cultures are necessary for developing intercultural sensitivity.
Teacher’s intercultural competence – new professional identity
2018
Young people in contemporary societies, more than previous generations, face a life in which they will work and live with individuals belonging to other cultural backgrounds. The idea of cultural pluralism that is introduced in the programs of intercultural education is increasingly accepted, which results in development of awareness for the multiculturalism as a social wealth. In this context the intercultural competent teacher is able to understand, evaluate and relate to ambiguous and uncertain intercultural situations, realizing the relative validity of the own frame of reference and able to select and use communication styles and behavior that fit a specific local and intercultural context. Thus, teacher's competence in this important aspect of the educational process, together with their proactive or static approach to diverse aspects and issues concerning the broader area of culture, represent unquestionable impact factors on students’ approach towards multicultural issue...
2020
In spite of policy impetus, research shows that teachers struggle to address the increasing diversity in classrooms, among others, due to the lack of competences to deal with it. The acquisition of Intercultural Competence (IC), which could be defined as “the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant attitudes, skills, knowledge and values in order to interact effectively and appropriately in different intercultural situations”, is a crucial need for teachers to deal with diversity and to be successful in their teaching. In this context, in 2019 the JRC launched the INNO4DIV project with the aim to support polices in the field of IC of teachers, through the analysis of literature and innovative good practices which have successfully addressed the existing barriers for teacher´s IC development. The conceptual framework presented in this report aims at providing, for the purpose of the research project, a model of reference for the development of IC in teacher’s education in Europe. It offers an overview of international frameworks elaborated during the last decade in order to provide teachers with competences for addressing cultural diversity in the classroom, including the UNESCO Intercultural Competence, OECD Global Competence and Council of Europe (CoE) Competence for Democratic Culture frameworks, analysed within the perspective of the EU 2018 European Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. The first part concludes by posing the CoE Reference Framework on Competences for Democratic Culture as the most suitable framework model for the research purpose, for its comprehensiveness and policy endorsement at EU level. The report also elaborates on the additional requirements for developing IC among teachers, such as institutional support, pedagogical approaches, assessment methods and tools, as well as personal and professional transformation.