Cross Cultural Concepts for Today
CROSS CULTURAL CONCEPTS FOR TODAY
By
Cody, Carson, Chen, Lei, Vadim, & Preethi
Tate (2013) states that “International education encompasses the promotion of international mindedness, or global awareness/understanding with respect to global engagement, world citizenship, intercultural understanding, respect for difference, tolerance, a commitment to peace, service, and adherence to the principles of the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Charter.
Preparing students for the 21st century has been a challenge that has been discussed by educators, policymakers and employers. How can one get a student ready for an environment that may not have been before? Today’s students need to be globally conscious, interculturally adaptable and internationally aware to deal with a future with a plethora of issues ranging from control of infectious diseases to human conflict.
With globalization being such a dominant force in the world today it is important to understand the terminology for the main cross cultural concepts that we use to distinguish the interactions and engagement of people around the world today. In this blog we will focus on International Mindedness, Intercultural Literacy, and Global Competence. We will examine each in-depth and give some insights into the similarities and differences between these concepts.
International Mindedness (IM)
According to Sriprakash, Singh, and Jing (2014) internationally-minded learners are knowledgeable about local /global issues, empathetic inquirers, critical thinkers, communicators, risk-takers as well as being caring, open-minded, balanced, reflective, and able to make responsible work/life decisions. International mindedness in the IB context is defined by its core components of multilingualism, international understanding and global engagement.
International mindedness is directed towards developing a person who is willing to give up their ethnocentric belief to build tolerance and respect for diverse cultures and communities. The encouragement of International mindedness promotes the achievement of peace and harmony.
Core elements of international mindedness
Multilingualism
Learning to communicate in a variety of ways in more than one language ... supports complex, dynamic learning through wide-ranging forms of expression.
Intercultural understanding
Recognizing and reflecting on one’s own perspective, as well as the perspectives of others.
Increasing intercultural understanding by learning how to appreciate critically many beliefs, values, experiences and ways of knowing.
Understanding the world’s rich cultural heritage by inviting the community to explore human commonality, diversity and interconnection.
Global engagement
A commitment to address humanity’s greatest challenges by critically considering power and privilege, recognizing that they hold the earth and its resources in trust for future generations;
Exploring global/local issues, including developmentally appropriate aspects of the environment, development, conflicts, rights and cooperation and governance;
Developing the awareness, perspectives and commitments necessary for local/global engagement;
Aspiring to empower people to be active learners who are committed to service with the community.
Benefits of International Mindedness
It is hard to criticize international mindedness, considering the broad definition and varying perspectives on what it actually means. However, parents at international schools have had a number of critiques about how international mindedness is implemented in the schools. These critiques are not necessarily an attack on international mindedness, but offer criticism that will be helpful towards better implementation of international mindedness in the curriculum.
Acknowledging these counter-arguments, it is important to recognize that international mindedness is multidimensional, and this criticism is groundless considering the clear and objective goals of programs like the International Baccalaureate Program that create an outline of what students are expected to achieve. While criticism can promote better implementation of international mindedness, the concept is overwhelmingly a positive one, where there are multifaceted benefits.
Cultural Capital
The first major benefit is described as “Western Cultural Capital”. Parents in China and India value exposure to Western culture as it will provide an advantage to their children if they were to study abroad, such as within the American university system. It exposes students to cultural norms abroad that will help them with interacting with Westerners in the educational and business world. While it was criticized by some for an attack on their own cultural heritage, the broader exposure has clear benefits, and students would otherwise be exposed to fewer ideas and perspectives, and at risk of living within a “bubble” restricted to their own culture.
Hyper-mobility
Hyper-mobility has created advantages for students as they are able to take school trips abroad As well as vacations. This exposes students to new languages and cultures. While this is criticized as being elitist, it is clearly beneficial for those who have the means or advantages to do so, helping students learn about new cultures firsthand.
Shared Understanding: Shared Understanding is a benefit of international mindedness and contributes to thoughtful productive students who are “informed so they can make knowledgeable contributions to the world in which they’re going to interact”. (Sriprakash, et al., 2014)
Interconnectedness
The focus “on ‘interconnections’ enables the development of a shared understanding that isn’t blind to difference, context and inequality or that doesn’t eschew issues of practice and change” (Sriprakash, et al., 2014).
Local-Global Connectedness: Students shared understanding of global issues committed to understanding connections and contingencies of their own actions, social positions, and conditions in terms of global issues of inequality
International mindedness can contribute to challenging social class and religious constructs through understanding (thinking); multilingualism (being); and service (doing).
Implementation of International mindedness
However, in order to better implement IM in curricula, it is wise to be aware of the criticisms that have been aimed at it:
Negative implications for the world’s cultural diversity;
Cosmopolitan or transnational elites remote from the concerns of ordinary people rooted in particular societies;
Reinforcement in some countries of the socio-economic position of local elites and of a widening gap between them and the rest of society;
Its effect in detaching some students from local allegiances and traditions, and the negative consequences that might flow from this.
Intercultural Literacy (IL)
Heyward defines intercultural literacy as the competencies, understandings, attitudes, language proficiencies, participation and identities necessary for effective cross-cultural engagement.
In today's 21st century globalised world, Heyward believes schools should be rechristened as intercultural schools rather than international.
A culturally literate student has the knowledge to understand intercultural cues and knows to manoeuver in a culturally diverse environment on a regular basis(Heyward 2002). Intercultural literacy enables students to hold multiple perspectives and reflect on issues from many vantage points. Developing intercultural literacy requires appropriate cultural support from educational and training interventions. Intercultural literacy is best learned through experience in a cross-cultural situation where immersing oneself in another culture helps understand one's own cultural identity and helps develop new intercultural literate attitudes. It is seen that intercultural literacy is developed more out of cross-cultural social interaction than the formal curriculum
Core elements of International Literacy
Understandings: Awareness of how culture feels and operates, from the standpoint of the insider. Understanding of the primary culture, metaculture and global interdependence
Competences: Advanced competencies include mindfulness, empathy, perspective-taking, tolerance and communication
Attitudes：Differentiated dynamic and realistic attitude；Respect for integrity of cultures
Language proficiencies：Bilingual or multilingual proficiencies
Participation: Well established transcultural friendships or working relationship, with an ability to act as a mediator for interactions between different cultures
Identities：Bicultural or transcultural identity
Main Ideas of the Heyward model
Assumes culture is constructed.
Defines groups within and between societies.
Culture is fluid and changing, and learned.
One becomes interculturally literate by confronting oneself in a cross-cultural situation.
A person is ignorant of primary culture and ethnocentric unless they have some intercultural literacy which is derived from subjective experience of engagement with a second culture.
Assumes constructivist theory of learning (learn by constructing new meaning by drawing on old meaning and reinterpreting it in light of new experiences).
Builds off of older models but adds more detail and more emphasis on cross cultural experience being an opportunity for learning and personal growth instead of viewing the experience mainly as a challenge of culture shock.
Benefits of International literacy
It creates the conditions for effective teaching and learning in a cross-cultural or pluralist setting; crucial for international students to be prepared in an international world or they are at risk of responding in negative ways to the cross-cultural experience which could be costly; Hold multiple perspectives. Allows people to see issues from more than one viewpoint, and helps to create a global community that is safer and more sustainable.
IL is defined in terms of successful cross-cultural engagement, requiring cross-cultural experience, without which the learning is only about another culture. The cross-cultural experience is necessary but not a sufficient condition for the development of IL. It is the social context within which it occurs that is likely to make the most difference. (Heyward, 2002) In a supportive social context, IL learning is facilitated. In a non-supportive context, distancing or identity confusion may result. Schools must facilitate IL in a structured way that promotes cross cultural cooperation rather than competition, providing opportunities for students to develop cross cultural friendships, which can be effectively done through pairing new students with a student from another culture.
Implementation of International Literacy
International schools must examine their curriculum, school based culture, and other school structures to develop strategies that support intercultural literacy, allowing equal-status engagement with local host cultures (Heyward, 2002). This can be facilitated through activities and projects that include local schools and collaboration between students and staff from each, as well as enrolling local students and integrating bilingual programs as well as mixed culture learning approaches. Schools should also provide transitional support for new students, including strategie like pairing students with a cultural mediator, i.e. a student mentor that is literate in both the host and the home cultures. It is also important for schools to provide professional development to teachers and other faculty members regarding intercultural literacy, as well as education programs for parents.
Global Competence (GC)
With the growth of global economies, human penchant for migration and the environment on the brink of breakdown, education is in need of transformation to meet the demands of the current world. As defined by Global Competence Task Force and the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning: Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.
As defined by Global Competence Task Force and the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011):
Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.
Globally competence is the deep engagement of inquiry into a topic that has local and global significance and requires examination from a disciplinary and interdisciplinary outlook.
It is the appreciation of one's own culture and that of others and finding ways to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and linguistic abilities. It prepares students to identify opportunities and develop well-informed plans which require students to take action.
Core elements of Global Competence
1. Investigate the world beyond their immediate environment, framing significant problems and conducting well-crafted and age-appropriate research.
2. Recognize perspectives, others’ and their own, articulating and explaining such perspectives thoughtfully and respectfully.
3. Communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences, bridging geographic, linguistic, ideological, and cultural barriers.
4. Take action to improve conditions, viewing themselves as players in the world and participating reflectively.
Globally competent Behaviors encompass
Exploring and applying the understanding of different perspectives to problem-solving and decision-making.
Forming opinions based on credible evidence and research
Committing to continuous learning and reflection
Taking responsibility and taking cooperative action
Facilitating respectful interactions in multicultural contexts
Approaching problem solving collaboratively
Globally competent Attitudes
Awareness of one's own culture and that of others, i.e. being culturally sensitive
Respectfulness of other perspectives
Openness to new ideas, opportunities and perspectives
Empathetic engagement with diverse cultures
Questioning existing assumptions
Benefits of Global Competence
Ability to become globally mobile workers, thereby accessing a broader range of employment opportunities
Increased ability to identify which areas of expertise will be necessary to succeed in the workplace
Ability to identify, and then take productive action towards solving global challenges and issues
Creates lifelong learners who understand and can navigate multiple spheres of participation and frame its problems and potential solutions e.g. local, national, global
Ability to manage complex cultural contexts in a manner that harnesses the benefits of diversity
Creates individuals prepared to address global issues by cooperating across borders, in both the public and private sphere, with the help of technology.
I believe that all three core concepts are significant in the construct of an international
school...some more than others. These concepts of international-mindedness, intercultural
literacy and global competency have significant areas of overlap and some differences in
their outlook. I see global competency as usage of big ideas, tools, methods and languages
through investigation, acknowledgment of diverse perspectives, communication across
multiple cultures, and action-taking, of global issues related to economy, migration and
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continue-conceptual-meetsapplied-david-hawley
Heyward, M. (2002). From international to intercultural: Redefining the international
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Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLwFwwvm0o
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