Intercultural Understanding and Pedagogy of Empathy: A Cultural Experiential Learning from an Interdisciplinary Dialogue Project

ABSTRACT

This paper is grounded on Manassis’ four steps of the pedagogy of empathy. These empathic steps are coupled with Killick’s Critical Intercultural Practice as analytical lenses for my teaching notes and students’ reflective writings. My paper is a pedagogical reflection on the development of intercultural understanding in the context of a Bachelor of Social Work course called Intercultural Practice in Social Work. Social workers who are informed by intercultural learning, knowledge, and skills are well-equipped to work with individuals, families, and community to consider cultural differences and identities. MacEwan University’s Interdisciplinary Dialogue Project is used to enhance experiential learning stimuli in the Intercultural Practice course content, design, and delivery. The discussions and lessons learned illustrate the development of students’ intercultural understanding as participants in the interdisciplinary dialogues.

KEYWORDS:

• Intercultural learning
• pedagogy of empathy
• culture
• dialogue
• interdisciplinary
• social work
• education
• practice

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all of the students for their engagement in the interdisciplinary Dialogue Project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported in 2017 by the Faculty of Health and Community Studies under the New Initiative Funding, MacEwan University.

Notes on contributors

Somnoma Valerie Ouedraogo

Somnoma Valerie Ouedraogo holds a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Kassel (Germany). She has focused on the pedagogy of social work education and analytical inquiry. She is member of MacEwan Black History Month Planning Committee and Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advocacy group. Her research activities focus on culturally grounded social work, sustainability, international social work, immigration/integration, and qualitative methodologies.