Teachers’ competencies for working in an intercultural environment

BACKGROUND: Today, multiculturalism is present in all spheres of life. Teachers are at the forefront to first formally encounter children from different cultures, and as the first ones, children from different cultures will face it in their social life. Teachers are supposed to prepare students to meet and live with people from cultures different from their own. Hence, it is necessary to identify the competencies teachers need to work in an intercultural environment, given the globalising world where different cultures meet more often, coexist, and exchange values and ways of living. OBJECTIVE: This paper discusses the teachers’ competencies to work in an intercultural environment and presents the results from data collected within the RoMigSc project. These data are analysed to identify the competencies teachers need to work in a multicultural environment. METHODS: In the study, data from the RoMigSc survey were used, where information on the inclusion of migrant students was collected using the survey questionnaire method. All analyses in this paper are on a descriptive level with exploratory purpose. RESULTS: The results show that teachers don’t feel well prepared to support learning or teach human rights, emigration and immigration, shared values and discrimination. They also need more support in teaching in an intercultural and multicultural environment, especially out-of-school support. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers find their school and own practices inclusive for migrant and Roma students, but not in all aspects. None of the teachers has participated in a project to raise awareness of Roma issues.

The Global Scholar

In our rapidly globalising world, “the global scholar” is a key concept for reimagining the roles of academics at the nexus of the global and the local. This book critically explores the implications of the concept for understanding postgraduate studies and supervision. It uses three conceptual lenses – “horizon”, “currency” and “trajectory” – to organise the thirteen chapters, concluding with a reflection on the implications of Covid-19 for postgraduate studies and supervision. Authors bring their perspectives on the global scholar from a variety of contexts, including South Africa, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Germany, Cyprus, Kenya and Israel. They explore issues around policy, research and practice, sharing a concern with the relation between the local and the global, and a passion for advancing postgraduate studies and supervision.

Review of: Mayo, P. (2019). Higher Education in a Globalising World: Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning. Manchester University Press.

Book Review, no abstract

Developing Students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence through Online Learning

In a rapidly globalising world, every modern person needs a sufficient level of intercultural competence (IC). An increasing part of communication is carried out through the online environment, and it becomes more natural to acquire communication skills in it. However, representatives of non-linguistic specialities may not be aware of the importance of this phenomenon. The primary purpose of this research is to identify the attitude of representatives of a non-linguistic speciality to IC through online learning. To collect information, semi-structured interviews were conducted among students of medical and linguistic specialities, for which online learning is practiced. It is crucial to find out how diverse the attitude towards IC is among the representatives of various fields of activity. Bachelor students of state universities took part in the semi-structured interview. All the respondents are in the fourth year of study. The survey included 370 students aged 20-21. The difference in the specialities was one of the most important criteria for selecting respondents. As the results show, representatives of a non-linguistic speciality are indeed less aware and interested in increasing IC in online learning. Several solutions were proposed to solve this problem: increasing interest in interculturalism by spreading information in an educational institution's online environment; teachers’ help to students to develop such a competence; using the online environment; providing additional online materials; participation in international online events and exchange programmes.

Eastern Africa and the Early Indian Ocean: Understanding Mobility in a Globalising World

This paper situates Eastern Africa in the early maritime trade of the Indian Ocean, reviewing evidence for connections from Egypt and Red Sea, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia from prehistory to the Islamic Period. The region played a pivotal role in developing global networks, but we argue that it has become the “forgotten south” in an era of emerging empires. One reason for this is a lack of understanding of maritime mobility around the rim of the Indian Ocean, often undertaken by small scale or specialist groups, including sea nomads. These groups are characterised as marginalised and victimised during globalisation, yet dualising into categories—such as “exploiter” and “exploiting”—oversimplifies what was almost certainly in reality a complex array of roles and activities, both in the context of East Africa and elsewhere around the Indian Ocean. Through modern scientific-based excavation and analysis, we can now begin to more fully understand these interactions.