Intercultural Competency
"People of different religions and cultures live side-by-side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us in very different groups.
We can love what we are, without hating what- and who we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings”
- Kofi Annan
My Vision
Intercultural competence is described as the ability and knowledge to communicate effectively through a diverse variety of cultures. The importance of the teacher providing an inclusive, respectful learning experience to diverse students of various nationalities, family structures, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, language, sexuality, and special needs is the focus of intercultural competency. As a teacher, it is critical to demonstrate value and acceptance of different points of view and to build a learning environment in which students feel free to express their views, recognize and respect different opinions, and reflect on their own personal identities and cultures.
Intercultural understanding is viewed as an essential part of being a citizen, and language competence is viewed as contributing to this understanding. The aims are to enable children to develop a better understanding of other people, their lives, traditions and cultures, and in so doing to identify similarities and differences and reflect on their own lives (Cremin & Burnett, 2018, p. 458).
Cultivating a global mindset, going beyond borders, observing and acknowledging commonalities, accepting differences, respecting one another and breaking down stereotypes (racial, religious, cultural, gender, special needs) are all essential attributes in an intercultural school.
In response to diversity, the instructor should encourage cultural interactions among students, provide fair opportunities for education and learning for all students, and use a variety of teaching methods, inclusive methods, and resources. "As a teacher, you are a role model for children, and your attitudes are fundamental to children's attitudes towards themselves and towards others." (Cremin & Burnett, 2018, p. 24). The teacher needs to be able to interact, listen, and engage in conversation with students, parents, and colleagues from various socio-cultural backgrounds. The teacher must consider his or her own cultural beliefs and identity, as well as learn about and challenge personal prejudices.
The educator should view each student's diverse life experiences as a resource. It is important that the teacher removes all forms of prejudice and shows the students how to think critically and be open-minded. The teacher must be interculturally sensitive, meaning he or she must be mindful of and understand diverse cultural dynamics and how they evolve over time, context and geography.
Nunez, C., Nunez Mahdi, R., & Popma, L. stated: "You are interculturally sensitive if you are able to look at different cultures from their cultural frame of reference, rather than from yours" (2017, p. 107).
The capacity to recognize global, international, cross-cultural origins and interconnections, to respect and accept other cultures as legitimate, to show open-mindedness and to respond effectively in situations where language and culture are not native is referred to as global consciousness. (Steger, 2020)
The concepts "high context" and "low context," relate to how people communicate in different cultures and thus should be familiar to an international school teacher. The degree of which meaning is conveyed through specific words used or implied by the context may determine differences between high and low-context communicators.
Knowing whether students are high context or low context would enable the teacher to adjust the conversation style and develop closer relationships with them. (Nunez, C., Nunez Mahdi, R., & Popma, L. 2018)
Self-evaluation
I have had the privilege to having been in the position to teach students with special needs during my year 2 teaching practice, to teach students in Peru, and teach in an international school. These circumstances do not qualify my intercultural competence, though they did contribute to it.
Teaching and interacting in these environments I always tried to identify the students’ individual strengths and needs in various areas and interests and engage with the students based on these attributes. I also tried to be aware of my own background culture and identity and those of my students when interacting with them.
I was also able to observe and question the different school cultures and visions of teaching, observing it and critically analyzing which aspects I personally see eye to eye with.
I feel stronger now about this competency because I was able to practice and include differentiation into teaching 8 students within a wide variety of autism spectrum disorder, preparing materials and communicating with each child in a very differentiated way to ensure all students are able to participate in and contribute to my lesson.
Working in and with groups for various projects for my studies, I was able to identify my own cultural ways of communicating and my culture of working compared to those of my international peers and use this information to help us understand each other better and use this as a resource to identify and apply everyone’s strengths.
Feedback:
"Julia is equally open-minded towards her students regardless of their individual characteristics.
She acts in a non-judgmental manner with all the children, is tolerant, and is considerate of the needs of each individual student. For example, she worked with the children on spring traditions of other countries, focusing on the children's countries of origin.
In this way, the children experienced their origins as something special of which they can be proud."
- Astrid Mitschka (Classroom mentor teacher Year 2)
"Your discussion of equity as being a precursor to equality was convincing. The combination of adult and child learning theories included in your proposal made it more powerful and provided solid justification for your potential solutions. The interviews you conducted demonstrated your understanding of the empathy phase of the design cycle as well as your desire to engage with the HEADS-UP framework. Your commitment to fully understanding the theory you are reading and to fully define your research problem is evident, as is your desire to make a difference with your solution." Feedback about Theoretical Proposal of the Gender Equality teachers tool.
- Robin Ulster (ITEps lecturer)
(Year 2)
Self-evaluation and Feedback
Personal Development Goal - Year 2
Evidence - Spring traditions
I taught a lesson series teaching children about different spring traditions celebrated in 7 countries including their own. The students either did a sports activity or created symbol or a traditional piece of decoration from each country. These art pieces were then put together into a vase to celebrating the uniqueness of each tradition but also to value the beauty each tradition brings to it and how when put together it becomes just like our classroom, one unison out of many diverse cultures.
At the end of this lesson series I asked the parents to each give their child a traditional dish so we can create a spring lunch with the kids. The children brought many new and delicious dishes with them and the children, under my supervision made two traditional bread spreds.
This shows my awareness of different traditions. Through additional research I was able to gain additional knowledge of different cultural traditions in spring.
It allowed me to celebrate cultural differences and to make children feel accepted in their different believes and proud of where they come from.
Year 2 (Students with ASD)
Evidence - Art project with refugees
Leading an art project for refugee children and Austrian children at the opening celebration of a refugee house.
Bringing different cultures closer through a nonverbal art activity.
This allowed the children to get to know each other and become aware of similarities and differences between the cultures through the art and body language of the children.
Children reacted to each others art, showed appreciation and created paintings together.
The children enjoyed each other’s company even though they did not understand each other’s words.
This allowed me to see the similarities between all children and that children can play and interact with each other and make friends even if they cannot talk to each other.
Evidence - Art activity
I created a well-thought-through lesson that took into consideration the needs of all the students. I provided the students with just enough instructions to feel safe enough to be creative and get out of their comfort zone to create their own robots. I provided 5 of my students with the measurements I used to create my robot and with that, they were able to use the same measurements while also adding their creativity and ideas and adding more shapes. I was able to observe that the students needed the checklist with step-by-step instructions and used the support and security to gain independence and allow themselves to get away from the guidelines.
I did have to reassure some students, especially in the beginning, that they are allowed to create their own shapes as well and I needed to let them know that their ideas were good.
Two students were not able to draw the shapes themselves, thus I pre-drew the shapes for them so that they only had to cut them and then glue their own robot and draw a copy of it.
One student was not able to cut by himself, thus I already cut the shapes and he only needed to create the robot and glue it to the page followed by drawing a copy of the robot.
The amount of time needed to work on their robot was just enough for the students' individual needs.
I was able to show my cultural awareness of students within a wide range of ASD. The students were respected in their differences and supported based on their individual needs to create equity.
Year 2 (Students with ASD)
My next step is to expand my understanding of various cultures and their customs and how to construct a respectful diverse classroom environment together with the children.
I hope my teaching practice in the Philippines next year allows me to experience and learn from the community culture the students' diverse background experience and needs and the classroom culture of my new placement.
Furthermore, I want to design and build a respectful classroom atmosphere through research, talking with my lecturers and new mentor teacher, and designing lessons to challenge this.
My elective arts and cultures will help me create a classroom that allows for expression, acceptance and differentiation through verbal and nonverbal strategies for all students.
Additionally, I will improve my comprehension of high and low context communication and how to communicate in a way that is considerate of these differences. I will research this, observe the different forms of communication amongst my international friends identify them and apply my knowledge during my next teaching practice.
Further Development
Bibliography
Cremin, T., & Burnett, C. (2018). Learning to teach in the primary school. London: Routledge.
Steger, M. B. (2020). Globalization: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Nunez, C. (2018). Intercultural sensitivity: From denial to intercultural competence. Assen: Koninklijke Van Gorcum.