What is an Intercultural approach?

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Fri, 01/03/2013 - 10:41
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robinsclafani
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What is an Intercultural approach?

From the Self-Assessment process we noticed that people have very different understandings about what is an "intercultural" approach. For many it is intuitive, for others it is a focus on communication skills across a "cultural" difference, and for others it is part of a body of theoretical and methodological approach to teaching/learning.

What does it mean to you?

Do you have resources to share?

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Thu, 07/03/2013 - 09:49
kevinhaddad
kevinhaddad's picture
Dear all,
In response to Robin's post, I can share with you an extract from an article I had written for the European year of intercultural dialogue in 2008 (for the Erasmus Student Network/No Racism brochure,). It's just a "global" definition of intercultural dialogue, but it may inspire us for the work we're doing also in Belieforama: 

 

 

"First, intercultural dialogue is not a state of fact but a process, often complex and long, which requires time and patience for listening and understanding. 
It is not a result but an instrument: it may favour social change but it is not the change itself! 
Last but not least, its practical success depends on a series of factors. In the context of social intervention, research has shown that intercultural dialogue requires at least five conditions to succeed:
- to break taboos and make underlying conflicts emerge;
- to alternate intergroup and intragroup dialogues;
- to integrate dialogue of memories into dialogue of cultures;
- to manage interferences between local and global levels and to overcome them with federative interests;
- to involve and bet on mediators and multiplicators." 
 
There is a document from the UNESCO which is full og insights about intercultural education, you can download it here: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001478/147878e.pdf
 
But these are global, "meta"-reflections. For a more (inter-)individual approach, here is an interesting model from Milton Bennett about inetrcultural sensivity: 

Please share other resources you have!

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Mon, 11/03/2013 - 15:26
oananestian
oananestian's picture

In my view intercultural learning is an educational approach, which has a series of underlying principles and makes use of specific methodologies. One of the main aspects is the fact that it is transversal. It is not just an activity we do at the end of the programme, or a workshop that we introduce just because our other funding body likes to use this term. And it is not something that happens by itself, just because we have in the group people who are culturally different.

Intercultural learning brings together different perspectives aiming at empowering learners to situate themselves in relationship to the others, to have diverse references and to self-define and affirm their identities in private and public sphere. It prepares them to act against discrimination and social injustice, by developing their intercultural competence, specific knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Here you can find an interesting resource from the Council of Europe, entitled Intercultural Learning in European Youth Work - Which Ways Forwad? And you will see, that is valid also beyond youth work. It presents initially the results of a seminar, a then, a series of article dicuss current approaches and challenges in intercultural learning.

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/Resources/Publications/2010_ICL_in_European_Youth_Work_en.pdf

Enjoy!

Oana

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