This article reviews professional development efforts that aim to improve intercultural competences of in-service and pre-service teachers working in primary and early childhood education. A specific ...purpose was to evaluate the impact of the wider context and the use of reflection and enactment as facilitators of change. An analysis of 23 in-service and 22 pre-service papers shows that an embedded and contextual approach to professional development, in which reflection is guided and enactment is fostered, is most likely to effectively increase teachers’ intercultural competences. However, such an approach is still uncommon in the field of teacher preparation and support.
•Intercultural competences of in-service and pre-service teachers need to improve.•We conducted a review of professional development targeting intercultural competences.•Guided reflection and enactment are important facilitators of change.•An embedded, contextual approach is necessary to improve intercultural competences.
EMOTIONS AND INTERPERSONAL CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Understanding one’s own emotional states as well as the emotional states present in the partner of an intercultural interaction seems to be ...something essential for the success of the encounter. However, emotions remain ephemeral, eluding rational discernment and control, as well as there is a lack of scientific agreement about their nature. Emotional competence, including the regulation of emotions during intercultural interaction, seems especially important from the point of view of reducing negative consequences of such interactions. It’s also a basis for the adaptation process, but also an element of a person’s psychological development.
The study explores intercultural competences in the field of international cooperation. The substantive research question was whether Italian operators who have gained experience abroad, think they ...have developed intercultural competences and what competences they think they possess. This study involved a total of 20 representatives of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from Lombardy (Italy), 16 operators working for NGOs in developing countries and 10 Italian international professionals from the UNDP and WHO agencies based in Geneva (Switzerland). In this empirical research project, a semi-structured interview was administered to NGO leaders, a questionnaire to NGO co-operators and UN international operators and a narrative interview to the latter. Qualitative methods of textual analysis were used. The author has created a dynamic model of intercultural competences consisting of fifteen recurrent competences. In this article, the author presents her model and how to assess intercultural competences. The empirical study involving professionals of Italian nationality. The topic of intercultural competences raises a substantial question about their deep, inner workings in the individual. Key issues for future developments in intercultural competences training are made explicit.
The article focuses on how international social work education can enable students to become culturally competent social workers. It follows the idea that the vital aspect of internationalizing ...social work education is not about structural prerequisites. Rather, it is in the specific role of intercultural perspectives and how these perspectives can be integrated into structural frameworks for internationalizing social work education. It is highlighted that the acceptance of not-knowing and not-understanding provides the basis of cultural awareness or global mindedness. Therefore, a model for the development of intercultural competence in social work is presented.
Although various aspects of intercultural communication have been examined in the works of various authors, there is still a lack of more in-depth research to analyse effective intercultural ...interaction in the context of combining intercultural competences and creativity competences. A number of works on intercultural communication identify only the barriers to effective communication and provide ways to overcome them; they insufficiently focus on the importance of competence development, in particular the role of creativity in ensuring effective intercultural communication. Meanwhile, the role of creativity as a process of generating new ideas and solving problems in intercultural communication is undeniable. There is no doubt that in order to ensure effective intercultural communication, it is necessary to combine intercultural competences with creativity competences. The object of this study is the development of intercultural competencies and creativity competencies in the context of intercultural interaction. The aim of this article is to examine the development of intercultural competencies and creativity as a basis for successful intercultural communication. Through the works of various scholars, the article describes the aspects of intercultural competences and creativity competence development in the context of intercultural interaction, and emphasises the importance of combining these competencies in order to achieve effective intercultural communication. The following methods are applied in the work: analysis and synthesis of scientific literature.
Making up and consuming stories is not only a human imperative, as Jonathan Gottschall affirms, but a real formative condition for each people. First of all, indeed, the sheer understanding of ...stories is a human experience of relationality, as well as a necessary and privileged opportunity for full human formation. In line with these premises, this contribution intends to stimulate reflection on reading and narration, starting from early childhood. In this sense, the narration is an elective opportunities that allow children to think of themselves as «cultural beings» in the relationship. In other words, this pedagogical reflection defines children as beings capable of dialogue and intercultural understanding, and explores the ability of reading, individual and shared, to encourage the development of empathic and relational skills. Finally, this work explores the action of narrating as a key experience for the acquisition of intercultural skills and the promotion of inclusive processes, analyzing the most recent pedagogical studies, as well as the contributions of cognitive criticism and neuroscience.
The article deals with the subject of supervision carried out by probation offi cers over convicted foreigners in Poland. The author, after reviewing the literature on the subject, legal acts and ...statistics, assumes that the issue requires further scientifi c exploration. The refore, the author presents a proposal of her own research on the role of the probation offi cer over foreigners. In the absence of statistical data, the starting point is to acquire and analyze statistical data in order to diagnose the size of the problem. The problem undoubtedly exists, as evidenced by the data provided by the author regarding convicted foreigners staying in penitentiary units. The author also points to the issue of intercultural competence of probation offi cers. The development in this respect should go hand in hand with the increase of convicted foreigners. Finally, there is a need to optimize practical solutions related to probation offi cers dealing with the supervised foreigners.
Collective monograph contains the results of scientific research devoted to some problems of continuous education. The proposed models and methods make it possible to form new views and proposals ...that can contribute to increasing the efficiency of the educational process. Chapter 1 highlights the results of a pedagogical experiment on the formation of organizational competence among future specialists in physical culture and sports of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The dynamics of the formation of organizational competence is determined and it is shown that the application of the obtained results makes it possible to find out the formation of value-motivational, knowledge, managerial, managerial, control-corrective and reflective-evaluative components of organizational competence of cadets. Chapter 2 focuses on the current problems of adult education in Ukraine and Sweden, which acquire special significance through the prism of the "value rearmament" of a person of the 21st century. The features of trends in adult education at the global and local levels are clarified, and the author's interactive intensive course is offered. Chapter 3 presents the development of innovative models of effectiveness for communication in a foreign language with an emphasis on lifelong learning and multiculturalism. Integration of "inverted classroom" models, models based on tasks of immersion in the concept of technology application for improving language learning is proposed. It is shown that the introduction of technologies in language learning can improve access to resources and increase the effectiveness of education. Chapter 4 is devoted to the management of professional development of professional staff of Ukrainian universities in the context of the expansion of institutional autonomy. The obtained results can be considered as part of the integration processes of higher education of Ukraine in the European educational space In Chapter 5, the means of developing individual and group receptivity to the new are disclosed. It is shown that corporate training through active methods, modern management models and technologies, coaching training technologies acquires special importance. The monograph is intended for educators, theoreticians and practitioners who study the problems of the continuous educational process in order to increase its effectiveness.
The Background: The globalization of the business world and the ongoing internationalization of many organizations have profound consequences for societies and economies. National economies, the ...Austrian and Swedish being the examples in this study, are globally intertwined and export dependent. When businesses search for opportunities outside national borders, employees will engage with diverse groups of stakeholders while conducting daily business and pursuing organizational goals. Additionally, due to migrations, the available workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Business schools have an obligation to educate graduates who are "ready for life." To stay relevant, business programs, specifically in marketing and sales, need to deliver not just subject-specific knowledge but also give students the chance to increase their intercultural competence.Purpose: This study contributes to the discussion on business schools' role in improving students' intercultural competences and the necessity to align learning outcomes with future market needs. Study design/methodology/approach: The content analysis of 240 qualified recruitment advertisements was conducted to investigate, in line with signalling theory, how employers' express their requirements and expectations in recruitment advertising. Findings/conclusions: The empirical study shows that ads frequently describe work environments as culturally diverse. Most reviewed advertisements contain references to interactions with partners and customers across national borders. However, there is a weak connection between the work situation described in the ads and the skills required to tackle diversity. While foreign language and communication skills are frequently listed as requirements in those ads, intercultural competence is seldom a requirement. Even if not vocalized, evidence suggests that future graduates will increasingly need intercultural competence.Limitations/future research: The study was conducted based on a limited number of recruitment advertisements. Future research could include a wider coverage of recruitment advertisements. The qualitative research would complement findings on the need for interculturally competent graduates.
Enhancing students’ intercultural competences through international higher education requires a thorough understanding of the way in which these competences develop over time, how they relate to ...outcomes, and which factors predict their growth. To answer these questions, a three-wave longitudinal study was conducted among a sample of first-year students in an international university program (
n
= 425). Intercultural competences were operationalized through the five dimensions of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ): Cultural Empathy, Openmindedness, Flexibility, Social Initiative and Emotional Stability. We examined development of these traits across one year, as well as their relationship with stress, life satisfaction, and academic performance (GPA). Cultural background (local vs. international student) and prior international experience (yes/no) were included as predictors. Results show that MPQ scores at the beginning of the year negatively relate to change across semester 1, which in turn is negatively related to change across semester 2. These findings suggest the presence of ceiling effects in MPQ development. In semester 1, emotional stability acts as a buffer against stress. In semester 2, stress is lower among students with higher scores on cultural empathy, and lower scores on flexibility. Cultural empathy and social initiative relate positively to academic performance. No significant main effects were found for cultural background, or prior international experience. However, these predictors interact on openmindedness and social initiative: local students with no prior international experience show a significant increase in these dimensions across the first semester, whereas the others do not.
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