Exploring interculturally competent teaching in social sciences classrooms

Abstract

This paper explores a grounded research-based framework for intercultural competence and discusses the implications of interculturally competent teaching in the classroom and beyond. Given the importance of teachers being interculturally competent in today’s diverse classrooms, a number of questions, based on the framework, are presented, which guide teachers in reflecting upon their own teaching practice and the ways in which they integrate aspects of intercultural competence into their classrooms. The paper also provides some examples from the USA of ways in which intercultural competence development is being addressed in teacher training.

Keywords:

• intercultural competence
• teaching
• cultural differences
• classroom

Biography

Darla K Deardorff is executive director of the Association of International Education Administrators, a national professional organisation based at Duke University, where she also teaches cross-cultural courses. In addition, she is an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and is on faculty of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication in Portland, Oregon. She has received numerous invitations from around the world to speak on her research on intercultural competence and assessment and is a noted expert on these topics. With nearly 20 years of experience in the international education field, she has published widely on topics in international education, including The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence (Sage, 2009) and serves as a consultant and trainer on intercultural competence development and assessment. Dr Deardorff holds a master’s and doctorate from NCSU, where she specialised in international education. Her dissertation, on the definition and assessment of intercultural competence, has drawn national and international attention, and her intercultural competence models developed through the research are being used by organisations and educational institutions worldwide.