This article presents the results of the first phase of the project "Design, development and evaluation of an App to promote the development of Intercultural Competence and ICT Competence in teachers ...of Higher Education" that was carried out in the Department of Antioquia in Colombia. The main objective of the first phase of the study was to analyze the perceptions of higher education teachers about their Intercultural Competence "Culturally Appropriate Pedagogical Strategies" in Virtual Learning Environments. The study has a quantitative approach, with a descriptive and non-experimental design that allows observing and analyzing the phenomena of the study. To identify participants' perceptions, a survey was conducted in which 69 teachers from various educational institutions in the Department of Antioquia in Colombia participated voluntarily.
This article aims at sharing an experience in which an Intercultural Competences based course was taught to university level students in a Colombian higher education institution. Topics such as ...minority groups, national identity and racism were included in the course syllabus in order to raise students´ awareness regarding the importance of interculturality. Students´ posts and survey responses are shared in order to portray their perceptions regarding the course and its influence on the development of intercultural competences.
In the context of learning a second language, the passing on of cultural information as a means to further the development of intercultural competences is primarily viewed as being unidirectional—the ...“native‐speaking culture” passing on information to the language learning student. However, in EFL (English as a foreign language) environments, the most relatable cultural norms available to the learners tend to be those associated with their homeland—the place they presently reside. As such, teaching language learning students using a unidirectional cultural frame ignores the wealth of cultural knowledge that such language learners possess. Offering cultural exchanges between groups of different language learners is one way to facilitate cultural learning in a bidirectional manner. In this study, 11 university students, six Japanese and five Taiwanese, took part in a cultural exchange project using the videoconferencing application Zoom. Findings from the data suggest that such telecollaborative video activities are mutually beneficial for exchanging local cultural information. We conclude that such exchanges develop intercultural competences via increased verbosity, the application of polite language, and of the utmost importance, by building interpersonal relationships. For language teachers who ascribe to a belief in the value of intercultural exchanges, applications like Zoom open up avenues for student interactions that are real, meaningful, and culturally rich.
The Challenge
During challenging times, restrictions on movement close some opportunities but may open up other avenues of research with the help of telecollaborative tools. Could such tools be a global key for language learning students to further the development of their intercultural competences? In this small project, we used Zoom as a tool to connect Taiwanese and Japanese students in the hopes of fostering a mutually beneficial intercultural exchange. The study examines the students' telecollaborative discourses for clues as to how intercultural competences might develop when students are given the opportunity to share their own local cultural knowledge with one another.
Based on need for intercultural approach to cultural and linguistic diversity in primary school students, this article shows racist attitudes and discrimination against rural, Andean and Quechua ...context in culturally different social groups. This situation raises the following question: how do the intercultural competences of primary school teachers manifest themselves in urban context of Huaraz city, Peru? Methodology used is educational ethnography with interpretative, sociocritical and humanistic features, whose design and development are summarized in three moments: pre-configuration, configuration and reconfiguration of reality. Also, theoretical, and empirical methods such as the participant observation and the in-depth interview applied to teachers were used. Findings refer presence of rural students who speak Quechua in the school; shortcomings in the approach to intercultural diversity; and shortcomings in intercultural competences of urban teachers. Finally, we conclude there is a need to develop intercultural competences in teachers to ensure an education and intercultural society.
The aim of this paper is to focus on new trends for languages as far as assessment and evaluation are concerned. After analysing some important elements referring to evaluation and stressing the ...necessity for teachers to be trained in order to assess and evaluate according to specific criteria, the attention is focused on three aspects: CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), intercultural competence and the use of technologies. They are considered above all when thinking of new fields and new instruments for assessment and evaluation, especially when teachers are supposed to make choices about what and how to evaluate learners.
The ethical dimension of dialogue represents a major concern in the context of current research in intercultural responsibility. In this paper, I discuss the modalities in which the notion of ...competence is used to conceptualise responsibility and the relationship between self and other in intercultural research, in order to critique the Cartesian presuppositions of intercultural communication theory. I argue that models of competence and responsibility that are employed to design intercultural training operate within the paradigm of the autonomous rational agent that informs Kantian ethical thinking. I contrast the model of the competent intercultural speaker that emerges in intercultural research with the distinction proposed by Levinas between the saying and the said (le dire and le dit, meaning the event of speech and the content of speech), to suggest two scenarios of intercultural interaction that show two different approaches to responsibility, one operating in the dimension of the said and the other in the dimension of the saying. Thus, in this paper, I discuss the implications of Levinas's reflection on the nature of language for the development of an ethical framework that addresses the limitations of current conceptualisations in intercultural communication theory of competence and responsibility.
The scope of the Special Issue Volume is to explore innovative aspects of intercultural theology in relation to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. The efforts made by scholars in their thirteen ...contributions can help overcome the confessional or sectarian view of intercultural theology and find its full significance and rightful place in close association with ecumenism, interreligiousity and interdisciplinarity. The contributions of the authors, in fact, bring into dialogue various religious traditions (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, African religion, Confucianism), various Christian denominations (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic and Independent churches) and diverse socio-cultural linguistic contexts (Russian, Greek, South African, Asian, Indian, Chinese, post-colonial) and interdisciplinary perspectives (theological, philosophical, practical/pastoral, spiritual, catechetical and educational). In this way, the present volume adds to the existing literature on intercultural theology and seeks to enhance cosmotheandric communion and well-being.
The training of professionals for a global world remains a challenge for Higher Education. From an intercultural educational approach, this study describes and analyses two educational proposals in ...Italy and Spain, which have helped to develop students' intercultural competences, thanks to a teaching framework based on participatory strategies. A multiple case study with a qualitative approach is elaborated to analyse the data on the situation in order to describe and recognise the relevance of examining participation, collaborative culture and social transformation in two Master's Degrees. Findings show that the synergy between participatory strategies and intercultural competences enhances dialogue and renegotiation of meanings, reconceptualisation of diversity, critical thinking and agency for change. The conclusions point to the need to generate collaborative networks to further mobilise the knowledge generated in training for intercultural professionals.
•Global citizenship requires a capacity to navigate the plurality of cultures but also the plurality of futures.•Participatory foresight methodologies have a strong potential to reinforce the ...acquisition of intercultural competences•Learning to live together should be understood as entailing a future-oriented capacity to learn together
The view of the authors is that, in response to challenges created in many countries by the coexistence of communities of different origins and cultures, living together in peace requires a capacity to learn together and to navigate a plurality of cultures but also a plurality of futures.
To explore this idea, a research has been conducted to identify future-oriented methodologies that can sustain activities in such fields as the culture of peace and global citizenship education. Such methodologies as Causal Layered Analysis, the Sarkar game, Transformative Scenario Planning and the framework of Futures Literacy are examined in relation to their added value for intercultural competences. The paper finishes on the presentation and analysis of a case study on a foresight participative workshop held with young people in Africa.
The four methodologies and the case study presented in this paper provide, in our view, a strong impetus to further explore spaces where intercultural competences and the discipline of anticipation can be hybridized. Such hybridity seems to correspond to what is required of citizens in a globalizing world where solutions must not only be based on long term perspectives but also be shared across national, cultural, ethnic or religious boundaries.
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