Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles on K-12 intercultural education and paying close attention to the phrasing schools and organizations use related to “intercultural stuff.” Here are some of the terms I’ve come across:
- intercultural competence
- intercultural communicative competence
- cultural competence
- cross-cultural competence
- global competence
- global learning
- global literacy
- global mindedness
- international mindedness
- culture learning
- cultural learning
- intercultural learning
- cross-cultural learning
- interculturality
- multicultural
I know that the International Baccalaureate uses international-mindedness, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills folks in the U.S. use global awareness. It seems that some terms are favored in the U.S., while others are preferred in Europe (what about other parts of the world?). I wonder if some are used more frequently in K-12 education and others in higher ed?
Does your school have a specific term that it uses?
I’m interested in how various individuals and groups define these terms, how they articulate outcomes, and what they suggest one do to realize these outcomes.
I’m thinking about creating a document that highlights these various terms, their definitions, and who created/uses them. Or maybe something like this already exists?
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{ 4 comments }
Thanks for the great post! I really enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading future comments. I sent a link to your blog to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators’ “Intercultural Communication and Training” and “Research/Scholarship” networks!
I would add ‘cosmopolitanism’ to your list. Kwame Anthony Appiah uses this term to describe the notion of having global obligations, cultural sensitivity and insight, and local attachments. Others would call this ‘global citizenship’ but Appiah brings it down to a philosophical concept of shared values, conversation, and reflexive engagement.
What is ‘global competence’ or ‘global learning’? In the straight semantics of the terms they seem rather large and ambiguous. ‘International’ or ‘intercultural’ offer specificity ‘global’ does not, but these also are infused with hyperbole and as with most of these terms, have political and social implications. ‘Culture’ with all its prefixes and suffixes remains a huge black hole with no static interpretation. And what do we mean by indicators like ‘international mindedness’ or ‘interculturality’? Like the words themselves, are we just making up what we think is important – or is it implicitly important – and how do we know this? Lots of questions. Food for thought.
Thanks for the great comments! I’ve been away on vacation and am still getting caught up…
@David – Thanks for sending a link to CulturallyTeaching to NAFSA! I’ve been reading your blog and also enjoying your tweets.
@Hilary – I’ll add cosmopolitanism to the list, thanks for reminding me about that term. BTW, I noticed you’re at IU – I spent 3 three years in Bloomington in the late ’90s!
@Chris – There are definitely lots of questions when it comes to all of these terms and how they’re defined and used in the U.S. and elsewhere. It drives me crazy at times but it’s a fascinating discussion, isn’t it? Which term does your institution favor?
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