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Introduction to Intercultural Understanding

Intercultural Understanding as a mindset

In this introduction to Intercultural Understanding, we consider how this theme can be a way of of thinking. This links very much to treating it as a lens with which to see the world and also to the theme of Thinking Processes. What goes hand in hand with this as a mindset is the IB principle of international-mindedness and developing the learner profile. Thus, this theme focuses just as much on personal development as the theme Personal Development!

Using Intercultural Understanding as a lens

                                                            Learning Outcomes

The aim here is to introduce one of the five key themes of Intercultural Understanding to students ....

However, it is worth considering from the start how intercultural understanding deepens the development of all the learning outcomes. For example, students can question and consider their backgrounds and attitudes in terms of international-mindedness (LO1), the role intercultural understanding plays in thinking processes in the workplace (LO2), as well as the importance of intercultural understanding plays in working as a team and collaborating (LO4). In addition to this, understanding ethics depends on being able to see choices and actions from multiple perspectives (LO5).

LO1:  Identify their own strengths and areas for growth
 
LO2: Demonstrate the ability to apply thinking processes to personal and professional situations

LO3: Recognize and be able to articulate the value of cultural understanding and appreciation for diversity
 

LO4: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of communicating effectively and working collaboratively

LO5: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

2.1 Social justice issues

How do we navigate modern social justice?It might be stating the obvious that being able to talk freely about social issues, whether they are deemed controversial or not, can be a tricky balancing act....

2.2 Language & Interpersonal Skills

Why does language learning matter so much?This page takes a step back for students to consider language development, language acquisition and linguistic skills in a broader more conceptual way that links...

2.3 Responding to change

Responding to change in the worldThe ongoing global pandemic has brought to the forefront of young people's minds that change on a mass scale can happen seemingly overnight. What can we learn from ways...

Intercultural Understanding and the Learner Profile

+  International-mindedness
This is at the heart of an IB education and has three key elements: intercultural understanding, multilingualism and global engagement. Whatever role you have in your IB community - be it educator, student, administrator or parent  - considering how these three factors link to the IB Learner Profile is really important. Not only that, considering how YOU stand within this is a critical part of recognising your role in the global community as a lifelong learner.
The Learner Profile
Balanced               Risk-taker           Reflective           Communicator          Open-mindedness
Caring              Knowledgeable          Principled           Inquirer                  Thinker  
  Consider the CP course
What opportunities are there to explore intercultural understanding, multilingualism and global engagement? And what role do the learner profile attributes play in each part of the CP?

A thinking routine to promote Intercultural Understanding

Harvard Project Zero: Same Different Connect Engage[1]

This is a great ice-breaker for a new class and fused with developing communication skills. However, it is really significant when you take quite a controversial figure or someone assumed to be very alienated from you and consider where the commonality lies. It's not easy - perhaps more of an experiment with empathy.

Same In what ways might this person and you be similar?
Different In what ways might the person and you be different?
Connect In what ways might the person and you be connected as human beings?
Engage What would you like to ask, say, or do with the person if you had the chance?

and The 3 Whys[2]

This routine is great for seeing how the personal, local and global play a part in the significance in a topic or situation and how they all connect together. A great tonic to 'but how does this affect me?' and the feeling of alienation that can happen with big topics. Equally good for considering how the personal has more wider significance. You can start with a prompt such as a picture or an actual event as they arise.

Why might this [topic, question] matter to me?
Why might it matter to people around me [family, friends, city, nation]?
Why might it matter to the world?
Also, don't forget that these processes are really helpful for developing understanding of criterion B in the reflective project as well.

Introducing Intercultural Understanding in context

   Let's try not to read about intercultural understanding - let's actively discuss it. The following exercises are an excellent way of establishing Intercultural Understanding in context. This introduction follows three steps: What do I understand about myself and my own culture? What do I understand about the global culture? What role can empathy play in creating intercultural understanding?
Intercultural Understanding in the 2020s
What is culture? And what is intercultural understanding?

 Who am I and what is my culture?

The most meaningful way to introduce the concept of intercultural understanding in PPS is to start with what the students understand about themselves. The following presentation takes students through a series of questions with access to well known personality and emotional intelligence tests. They may choose to record their response in a visual form as part of their portfolio. Allowing students to work individually and then come together to compare their results will also start them on the road to understanding the role empathy plays.

Presentation - Who am I and what is my culture?
Teachers' notes: Helping students access culture

Do not be alarmed or surprised if students find it very hard to relate the idea of culture to themselves. Sometimes it might seem easier for students from an international school background to identify their cultural influences but this is not true - it involves close scrutiny and introducing students to the notion that what they perceive as 'normal' and insignificant, might be a key identifier of what makes up their life and culture. Going hand in hand with the other themes, intercultural understanding can have a powerful impact on how the student sees their place in the world; only through understanding of ourselves and our reactions, preconceptions and knowledge about others cultures, can we truly develop lasting intercultural understanding. This page addresses ways of perceiving the self as well as the world we live in; how do we link the local to the global, ergo - the individual to the world in which they live. More importantly, it suggests the development of empathy as the 'way in' to intercultural understanding and strategies to approach that.

Translating the global into the local: Imagine the world as a village of 100 people
'Before we change our world for the better, we need to understand what our world is like today'

What does this video tell us about our perception of the world? This is an excellent exercise for students and teachers alike for a fruitful discussion. FYI, this particular video was made in 2018 so it is interesting to consider how this might have changed.

Before playing the video, ask your participants to consider the world as 100 people and the elements that make up their life: eg nationality, religion, gender, education, age, language... Who would be the main players and what percentages would they allocate?

Now play the video - Which parts surprised or did not surprise them? What did they anticipate or not anticipate as an influencing factor?

Transcript
 

Teacher Notes: Extending discussion

You can extend this discussion immediately or you can revisit this exercise later in the term and ask students to pay closer attention to some of the more alarming statistics in this video. Playing the video again from 2 minutes in, you can divide up the class into Education, Healthcare and Technology and ask them to record the statistics that accompany these topics. Then ask students to explore further about how that statistic relates to their own life and where in the world they think that might be a reality. Further scrutiny into the contributing factors that make that a reality leads to a rich ethical debate but also an opportunity to develop research skills.

text

Footnotes

  1. ^ Harvard Project Zero, https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Same%20Different%20Connect%20Engage_0.pdf
  2. ^ Harvard Project Zero, https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/The%203%20Whys_0.pdf
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