3.1. Intercultural Engagement. Readings

What is Intercultural Engagement?

It involves openness to develop skills, knowledge and attitudes to effectively communicate, cooperate, and build relations in intercultural contexts. In other words, intercultural competence describes one’s effective and appropriate engagement with cultural differences.

What are the benefits of intercultural engagement in education?

In 2006, UNESCO published “Guidelines on Intercultural Education”. These guidelines should be seen as a valuable practical resource for lecturers and learners, curriculum developers, policy makers and community members alike, and all those who wish to promote Intercultural Education in interests of peace and understanding. The publication is essentially based on three principles:

Principle I: Intercultural Education respects the cultural identity of the learner through the provision of culturally appropriate and responsive quality education for all.

Principle II: Intercultural Education provides every learner with the cultural knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to achieve active and full participation in society.

Principle III: Intercultural Education provides all learners with cultural knowledge, attitudes and skills that enable them to contribute to respect, understanding and solidarity among individuals, ethnic, social, cultural and religious groups and nations.

In higher education, research has shown that intercultural encounters do not automatically increase intercultural competence. Cultural diversity among students does not necessarily lead to intercultural contact and intercultural learning experiences of students. Lecturers are entrusted with fostering students to reflect about individual and collective social experiences with people from other cultures. In other words, lecturers today need to be able to introduce the principles of intercultural pedagogy into the teaching and learning process, which in turn means that they have developed intercultural and global competence themselves.

Furthermore, higher education institutions are becoming increasingly aware that all students, not just those who are studying in their own country in a multicultural environment, but those who will participate in mobility programs or who are studying abroad, should be expected to acquire intercultural competence. Developing possibilities for intercultural learning that are beneficial to all students should be the first item to be thought about. This is important because all graduates will need to be prepared to function in a worldwide society as professionals and global citizens, whether they choose to pursue work domestically or overseas. The main idea is to globalize the conventional curriculum and learning goals. The internationalization of the curriculum provides a framework to help all students - both those who are mobile and those who are not - transform their exposure to an international education into intercultural competence.

Indeed, researchers confirm that stereotypes and prejudice may get reinforced if the experience of critical incidents in intercultural contexts are not effectively evaluated, on cognitive, affective and behavioural levels. This reflection may lead to intercultural competence, “a long-term change of a person’s knowledge, attitudes, and skills to enable positive and effective interaction with members of other cultures” (Otten, 2003, p.15).

Intercultural training seeks to expand people’s knowledge about their own and other cultures, influence their attitudes concerning foreign cultures, and develop their skills to interact effectively with people of other cultural backgrounds, as well as strategies that support the development of a critical mindset for assigning meaning to these experiences. 

What is expected of lecturers regarding intercultural engagement?

In an academic context, lecturers cannot fail to use diversity as a resource in their lectures at the same time they aim to create an inclusive education environment. For example, they should integrate various perspectives, authors, and historical events into their lessons, ensuring that students see themselves reflected in the material used in the lectures. Lecturers are supposed to be trained for intercultural interactions and be able to integrate students' experiences into their professional development. The promotion of a future teacher's intercultural competence within pedagogical interaction represents an innovative approach aimed at enhancing professional competence among university graduates.

This approach emphasizes shared values in intercultural dialogues and underscores tolerance as fundamental for human social interaction. It equips lecturers to navigate diverse cultural contexts effectively, transcending their own cultural boundaries to engage constructively where values, attitudes, and norms differ. Central to this competence is the lecturer's ability to understand and respect cultural diversity, interpreting information contextually and fostering dialogue based on personal meaning. Intercultural competence encompasses perceiving, comprehending, appropriating, and analysing events through cultural lenses. It involves motivational aspects, sustaining interest in learning foreign languages and cultures, cognitive dimensions in acquiring professional knowledge for intercultural interactions, operational skills in practical intercultural contexts, reflexive capacities for self-reflection and personal growth, and integrative-personal qualities that cultivate a secondary linguistic persona. It also contributes to the preparation of students for community life, their development as democratic citizens and their ability to engage.

How can lecturers be trained for intercultural competences?

A report from the JRC’s INNO4DIV project, financed by the European Commission, was published in 2022 and defines good practices to inspire educators in intercultural settings. After analysing 21 innovative cases, the report outlines nine key enabling components for Intercultural and Democratic Competence development in lecturers’ education:

1. Common understanding of Intercultural and Democratic Competence, interculturality, cultural diversity, European values, and ethics of human dignity: The first of these components is centred on the common understanding of what intercultural and democratic competence means.

2. Supporting educational policies contributing to the development of sustainable partnerships among different stakeholders: The second key enabling component refers to the partnerships that educational stakeholders set up among themselves, leading to the emergence of professional networks and communities of practice.

3. Effective initial teacher education based on experiential knowledge, critical thinking and meaningful learning: This component is about making sure that lecturers come into contact with diversity already during their education.

4. Lecturers’ continuing professional development with high quality Intercultural and Democratic Competence programmes and projects that incorporate cultural diversity as a resource for learning and teaching, which is the lecturers’ direct experience with interculturality.

5. Culturally responsive, transversal and flexible curriculum model based on multi-perceptivity and on a holistic approach: This component focuses on triggering intercultural thinking by a culturally responsive curriculum.