Exploring intercultural competence through the lens of self-authorship

Abstract

Intercultural competence among educators has long been recognised as important, especially in contexts characterised by growing and shifting cultural diversity such as Australia. However, the capacity to be interculturally competent has only recently been enshrined in teacher standards in Australia, and research into this field among early childhood educators is fledgling. Through the theoretical lens of self-authorship, this case study integrated a developmental model of intercultural maturity with a compositional model of intercultural competence. Combining these two models allowed for a holistic exploration of the complexities of intercultural experiences in an early childhood educational setting. This new integrated framework is applied to a case study that focuses on Heidi, an early childhood educator in a culturally diverse kindergarten. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations and analysis of philosophy, policy and observational documents. The findings indicated the importance of critical reflection and internal meaning making, as part of a self-authored identity, in relation to intercultural competence. Implications are discussed with a focus on the potential significance of the integrated framework to explore as well as enhance educators’ critical reflection about their intercultural experiences.

Keywords:

• Early childhood education
• case study
• intercultural maturity
• intercultural competence
• personal epistemology
• self-authorship

Notes

1. Queensland teachers working in Government-approved kindergartens are required to be registered and hold an approved four year early childhood teaching qualification. There is an emphasis on specific early childhood training, with degree qualified primary teachers required to participate in the Early Childhood Bridging Program to meet the qualification requirements.

2. To protect the privacy of participants and ensure the location of the early childhood service remains anonymous, general Australian Bureau of Statistics citations have been included rather than identifiable URLs