International & Intercultual Communication Research Papers (original) (raw)

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... more

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.
Within this context, the main purpose of this deliverable is to provide an updated list of key enabling components
(KECs) for the development of teachers’ intercultural and democratic competence and the barriers that hinder
such development.
The Literature review confirms prior research, which served as a departure point for the present study, and
identified the following 8 KECs:
1. a common understanding of the knowledge skills and attitudes related to IC;
2. supporting policies;
3. effective initial teacher education curricula, including mandatory IC and related assessment methods,
naming specific learning objectives and competences, and how to foster them with respective tools,
methods and teaching approaches in classroom education as well as in extracurricular activities;
4. availability of high-quality professional IC courses for teachers’ continuous professional development;
5. integrated IC across the school curriculum;
6. the application of effective teaching methods, based on adapted pedagogical approaches such as:
Peer-learning, IC networks, IC working groups in school, IC connections within and beyond teacher
training, Experiential Learning Collaboration, Challenging assumptions, and Communities of Practice;
7. the availability of supporting tools; and,
8. a whole school approach to intercultural learning, framing, accompanying and supporting teachers IC
learning and teaching activities, which needs to be promoted by policy makers and has to be put into
practice by the respective educators and school administrators.
In addition, the review detected a new essential KEC: Teacher educators with experiential knowledge about
interculturality and diversity