Intercultural Fluency

Inter­cul­tur­al flu­en­cy is the abil­i­ty to com­mu­ni­cate, col­lab­o­rate, and build rela­tion­ships effec­tive­ly across cul­tures by demon­strat­ing curios­i­ty, empa­thy, adapt­abil­i­ty, and respect for diverse per­spec­tives. It involves more than just cul­tur­al aware­ness — it’s about flex­i­bly nav­i­gat­ing dif­fer­ence, rec­og­niz­ing one’s own cul­tur­al lens, and respond­ing with open­ness and sen­si­tiv­i­ty to oth­ers in ways that fos­ter mutu­al under­stand­ing and inclu­sion.

Devel­op­ing Our Inter­cul­tur­al Flu­en­cy Mat­ters Because:

Lan­guage and cul­ture are dialec­ti­cal­ly linked, and we can’t teach with­out using lan­guage. Inter­cul­tur­al flu­en­cy is nec­es­sary for ensur­ing inclu­sive learn­ing spaces.

We encounter diver­si­ty in every class we teach.

Teach­ing and learn­ing are cul­tur­al prac­tices that embody the val­ues and beliefs of the con­text in which we teach, along with those we’ve absorbed through our teach­ing and learn­ing auto­bi­ogra­phies.

Devel­op­ing inter­cul­tur­al flu­en­cy is a life­long jour­ney. Know­ing who we are as edu­ca­tors sup­ports us in our efforts to ensure we pro­vide a diverse and inclu­sive learn­ing expe­ri­ence for our stu­dents. We do not always know why we have the beliefs and prac­tices that we do, around teach­ing and learn­ing. This sec­tion pro­vides a cou­ple of resources for instruc­tors who are curi­ous to explore teach­ing as a cul­tur­al prac­tice and how uncon­scious bias­es – which are part of ‘being human – may influ­ence how we teach.

 

Teaching as a Cultural Practice

Whether to pre­pare stu­dents for a study abroad expe­ri­ence or for teach­ing in a diverse class­room, as fac­ul­ty, we all can ben­e­fit from learn­ing how our cul­ture informs our teach­ing, our val­ues, and our reac­tion to dif­fer­ence. Becom­ing aware of the influ­ences that forged what we believe is true and impor­tant is an asset in all types of inter­cul­tur­al inter­ac­tions. It helps us put our views and val­ues in per­spec­tive; i.e., see them as part of many oth­er ways of think­ing, and not a basic human truth. This sec­tion offers resources on:

  • Under­stand­ing how cul­ture impacts teach­ing and learn­ing.
  • Under­stand­ing cul­tur­al intro­spec­tion and how this approach can help us enhance our inter­cul­tur­al flu­en­cy as edu­ca­tors.

Inter­cul­tur­al Teach­ing Com­pe­tence in the Dis­ci­plines: Teach­ing Strate­gies for Inter­cul­tur­al Learn­ing – This arti­cle is, “based on focus group inter­views with instruc­tors in eigh­teen dis­ci­plines. It pro­vides var­ied and con­crete exam­ples of how instruc­tors mobi­lize inter­cul­tur­al teach­ing com­pe­tence to nav­i­gate diverse class­rooms, pro­mote per­spec­tive-tak­ing and glob­al learn­ing goals among stu­dents, prac­tice cul­tur­al­ly rel­e­vant teach­ing, and val­i­date dif­fer­ent ways of know­ing and com­mu­ni­cat­ing among stu­dents through assess­ment prac­tices” (p. 1).

The authors of this arti­cle, Dim­itrov and Haque, iden­ti­fy three com­po­nents of Inter­cul­tur­al Teach­ing Com­pe­tence (ITC): Foun­da­tion­al, Facil­i­ta­tion, and Cur­ricu­lum Design. A quick sum­ma­ry of each com­pe­tence with sug­ges­tions for devel­op­ing each one is pro­vid­ed by The Cen­tre for Teach­ing and Learn­ing West­ern Uni­ver­si­ty

Part of Teach­ing as a Cul­tur­al Prac­tice is the idea of teach­ing across cul­tur­al strengths.

In the video to the right, Chávez and Longer­beam dis­cuss Teach­ing Across Cul­tur­al Strengths in an online class­room.

Deardorff’s (2020) Man­u­al for devel­op­ing inter­cul­tur­al com­pe­ten­cies: Sto­ry cir­cles (UNESCO). This ‘man­u­al’ out­lines how Sto­ry Cir­cles can be used to pro­mote inter­cul­tur­al dia­logue, “through the strength­en­ing of inter­ac­tion and dia­logue across dif­fer­ences” (x).

Cul­tur­al intro­spec­tion involves look­ing inside one­self, at how our cul­ture has shaped every aspect of us; our val­ues, beliefs, behav­iours, assump­tions, and our inter­ac­tions with oth­ers.

Specif­i­cal­ly, cul­tur­al intro­spec­tion facil­i­tates:

  • learn­ing to under­stand our reac­tions to the Oth­er
  • an appre­ci­a­tion that an “inter­na­tion­al expe­ri­ence” (whether going to study abroad, an inter­na­tion­al exchange, or engag­ing with diverse oth­ers in a class­room), can be more than trav­el­ling or work­ing with peo­ple from anoth­er coun­try. It can be an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn more about who we are, where we come from, and ways to under­stand and respect oth­ers who are dif­fer­ent from our­selves
  • under­stand­ing our own lens of the world when prepar­ing stu­dents for inter­na­tion­al expe­ri­ences

In Teach­ing across cul­tur­al strengths: A guide to bal­anc­ing inte­grat­ed and indi­vid­u­at­ed cul­tur­al frame­works in col­lege teach­ing (2016, Vir­ginia: Sty­lus Pub­lish­ing), Chávez and Longer­beam (avail­able through Ama­zon) explore how cul­ture influ­ences col­lege teach­ing and learn­ing. It, “offers a com­pre­hen­sive set of guide­lines based on a sound the­o­ret­i­cal foun­da­tion, as well as empir­i­cal research that will enable col­lege teach­ers to nar­row the gap in cross-cul­tur­al teach­ing and stu­dent learn­ing and assist teach­ers in trans­form­ing learn­ing for all stu­dents across the many cul­tures that exist in the class­room. By fol­low­ing the steps out­lined in this book, teach­ers can pro­gres­sive­ly learn about the role of cul­ture in learn­ing while trans­form­ing their teach­ing through intro­spec­tion, reflec­tion, prac­tice, and the appli­ca­tion of new teach­ing ped­a­go­gies that deep­en stu­dent learn­ing” (p. xi).

Inter­cul­tur­al Teach­ing Com­pe­tence Enables Edu­ca­tors to:

  • bridge cul­tur­al, lin­guis­tic, and many oth­er forms of gaps in the class­room to enable learn­ing
  • estab­lish mean­ing­ful rela­tion­ships with and amongst stu­dents to pro­mote engage­ment
  • facil­i­tate dia­logues about crit­i­cal glob­al issues in a respect­ful, inclu­sive, and appro­pri­ate man­ner
  • pro­mote mul­ti­ple per­spec­tives when select­ing con­tent, read­ings, and learn­ing activ­i­ties

The Three Inter­re­lat­ed com­po­nents of Inter­cul­tur­al Teach­ing Com­pe­tence (Adapt­ed from Dim­itrov et al.1 and Dim­itrov & Haque3 ) include:

Foun­da­tion­al Com­pe­tence

  • knowl­edge of one’s own posi­tion­al­i­ty as an edu­ca­tor (see Mod­ule 1 — our teach­ing auto­bi­ogra­phies)
  • abil­i­ty to respond effec­tive­ly to diver­si­ty in the class­room

Facil­i­ta­tion Com­pe­tence

  • abil­i­ty to cre­ate a safe, inclu­sive learn­ing envi­ron­ment and pro­mote dia­logue in the class­room

Cur­ricu­lum Design Com­pe­tence

  • abil­i­ty to enrich the cur­ricu­lum with diverse per­spec­tives, par­a­digms, and/or approach­es

(Adapt­ed from Queen’s Uni­ver­si­ty Cen­tre for Teach­ing and Learn­ing)

Inter­cul­tur­al­ly flu­ent (com­pe­tent) facil­i­ta­tion includes the fol­low­ing:

  1. Mod­el­ing and encour­ag­ing per­spec­tive tak­ing
  2. Mod­el­ing and encour­ag­ing non-judg­men­tal approach­es to dis­cussing cul­tur­al, social, or oth­er types of dif­fer­ence
  3. Facil­i­tat­ing dis­cus­sion among stu­dents with a vari­ety of com­mu­ni­ca­tion styles
  4. Mod­el­ing tol­er­ance for ambi­gu­i­ty
  5. Cre­at­ing an inclu­sive learn­ing envi­ron­ment that rec­og­nizes the bar­ri­ers stu­dents face in par­tic­i­pat­ing
  6. Expect­ing and accept­ing dif­fer­ences, and appre­ci­at­ing dif­fer­ences in the rela­tion­ships between teach­ers and learn­ers across cul­tures
  7. Pro­vid­ing feed­back across cul­tures in a vari­ety of ways
  8. Tai­lor­ing mes­sages to audi­ences with dif­fer­ent lev­els of lin­guis­tic abil­i­ty
  9. Explain­ing unspo­ken assump­tions of one’s own cul­ture and dis­ci­pline
  10. Design­ing assess­ments that rec­og­nize and val­i­date diverse stu­dent expe­ri­ences
  11. Iden­ti­fy­ing risk fac­tors for par­tic­u­lar types of learn­ers
  12. Cre­at­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for inter­ac­tion among learn­ers
  13. Clear­ly artic­u­lat­ing the mean­ing of aca­d­e­m­ic integri­ty
  14. Devel­op­ing an aware­ness of one’s own cul­ture and cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty

(Dim­itrov, Daw­son, Olsen, & Mead­ows, 2014)

Exam­ples include:

  • mak­ing explic­it the ‘unspo­ken’ rules and norms of the con­text in which you’re teach­ing
  • sup­port­ing stu­dents in devel­op­ing their inter­cul­tur­al flu­en­cy
  • includ­ing diverse per­spec­tives on a giv­en issue
  • explor­ing var­ied cul­tur­al inter­pre­ta­tions of gen­der roles or busi­ness norms
  • mak­ing vis­i­ble dif­fer­ences in turn-tak­ing, polite ways of inter­rupt­ing, direct ver­sus indi­rect com­mu­ni­ca­tion styles
  • acknowl­edg­ing poten­tial bar­ri­ers to feel­ing includ­ed, some stu­dents may feel
  • help­ing learn­ers get com­fort­able with uncer­tain­ty and ambi­gu­i­ty
  • using dif­fer­ent ways of pro­vid­ing feed­back, along with a vari­ety of ways for stu­dents to con­tribute, includ­ing through assess­ments
  • lim­it­ing or explain­ing jar­gon, metaphors, and local cul­tur­al ref­er­ences

Unconscious Bias

“Uncon­scious (or implic­it, hid­den) bias­es are men­tal process­es that oper­ate out­side of our con­scious­ness, inten­tion­al aware­ness, or con­trol” (UBC Equi­ty & Diver­si­ty Glos­sary of Terms).

Uncon­scious bias is:

  • based on auto­mat­ic asso­ci­a­tions
  • beyond con­scious­ness
  • a pre­dic­tor of behav­iour

All humans have bias­es. While we can work hard to reduce them, our bias­es are some­times increased by feel­ing stressed, ambigu­ous sit­u­a­tions, or when we lack time / are doing too many tasks at once. In these instances, we may inad­ver­tent­ly ‘fall back on’ stored asso­ci­a­tions to help us nav­i­gate a sit­u­a­tion. Lack of data or exam­ples to counter the stereo­typed images we may have absorbed may also increase our bias.

This sec­tion pro­vides resources that explore the nature of bias and its impact, how we an reduce our bias­es, and what we can do to sup­port stu­dents in exam­in­ing their uncon­scious bias­es.

Exploring Our Unconscious Biases

In this 18-minute Ted Talk Ver­na Myers explores How to over­come our bias­es? Walk bold­ly toward them. “Our bias­es can be dan­ger­ous, even dead­ly — as we’ve seen in the cas­es of Michael Brown in Fer­gu­son, Mis­souri, and Eric Gar­ner, in Stat­en Island, New York. Diver­si­ty advo­cate Vernā Myers looks close­ly at some of the sub­con­scious atti­tudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all peo­ple: Acknowl­edge your bias­es. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncom­fort­able. In a fun­ny, impas­sioned, impor­tant talk, she shows us how.”

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Vic­to­ria has var­i­ous use­ful resources and links that explore uncon­scious bias — UVic Uncon­scious Bias

The Uni­ver­si­ty of British Colum­bia has sev­er­al use­ful resources, includ­ing:

  • Equi­ty & Inclu­sion Glos­sary of Terms – mak­ing sure every­one is ‘on the same page’ when dis­cussing con­cepts, is impor­tant. This list pro­vides brief def­i­n­i­tions of key terms such as ‘uncon­scious bias,’ ‘cul­tur­al safe­ty’ and IBPOC
  • Resources for Respect­ful Debate – This is a list of guide­lines that can be used with stu­dents to sup­port dis­cus­sion of uncon­scious bias, where it is like­ly dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ences and opin­ions will be expressed

This 3‑minute video can be used as an intro­duc­tion to a dis­cus­sion on bias­es, prej­u­dice and what we might do to explore our com­mon human­i­ty.

This 3 ½ minute ani­mat­ed video pro­vides a brief def­i­n­i­tion of uncon­scious bias, where it comes from and how it can trip us up.

TedX Talk: The human brain is a remark­able achieve­ment in evo­lu­tion. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the brain activ­i­ty that kept the human species alive for mil­lions of years is the same brain activ­i­ty that keeps us from achiev­ing equal­i­ty today. Author, speak­er and CEO, Valerie Alexan­der, explains how the human brain instinc­tive­ly reacts when encoun­ter­ing the unex­pect­ed, like saber-toothed tigers or female tech execs, and pro­pos­es that if we have the courage to exam­ine our own behav­ior when faced with the unfa­mil­iar, we can take con­trol of our expec­ta­tions, and by doing so, change the world.

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