Personal, Professional, Higher Education, and more
In today’s interconnected world, intercultural competence (IC) isn’t just an aspirational goal—it’s a critical skill for professional success. However, integrating IC into teaching practices remains a challenge. Too often, our lessons focus solely on the core theme, e.g., in English that would be knowledge and grammar. They overlook the transformative power of cultural awareness, empathy, and reflective leadership.
When I revisited Lesson 72: Growth Mindset for Professional Success (OL72), it was clear the lesson met its functional English objectives. But could it do more? Could it foster deeper intercultural understanding while retaining its core focus on professional development? The answer lies in a new approach: Integrated Lesson 72 (ICL72).
The Context: Beyond Functional Lessons
The original lesson (OL72) for an English class emphasized:
- Understanding the concept of a growth mindset.
- Identifying its key characteristics.
- Exploring real-life examples.
While effective for English learning, these objectives lacked the depth to promote intercultural competence. Maybe it’s ok for knowledge and understanding. The vocabulary, reading activities, and role-play exercises were functional. However, they didn’t address how cultural dynamics influence professional success. This could be true for any type of lesson, not just English. The original objectives in the original lesson also did not encourage students to reflect on their own cultural biases.
The revised lesson (ICL72) introduced a critical shift, the American Association of College and Universities (AAC&U) 16 learning outcomes for undergraduate education and UNESCO goals. The UNESCO Global Citizenship Education Goal Objectives include:
- Cognitive: Encouraging students to apply growth mindset principles in culturally diverse contexts.
- Socio-Emotional: Fostering empathy through intercultural scenarios.
- Behavioral: Facilitating reflective leadership using self-assessment tools.
The Challenge: Bridging the Gaps
Three key gaps stood out in old lesson:
- Surface-Level Content: Vocabulary and examples lacked sufficient relevance to intercultural settings.
- One-Dimensional Objectives: Activities focused on grammar and fluency (a core theme along with the subject) without promoting cultural awareness or leadership in global citizenship.
- Missed Opportunities: No integration of frameworks like the Hamilton (2023) IC Frameworks, AAC&U VALUE Rubrics, or UNESCO GCED Goals.
The integrated lesson aimed to bridge these gaps by embedding IC principles into every section of the lesson plan, sections 1 through 8.
Hamilton, W. E. (2023). English as a foreign language: Teachers’ use of intercultural tests to inform teaching practice (Publication Number 30691891) University of Arizona Global Campus ]. https://www.proquest.com/openview/cea13551328a69bf83d2378b24e25658/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
The Innovative Idea: Intercultural Competence Integration
What makes the integrated lesson (ICL72) different? It aligns teaching practices with IC goals through:
- Purposeful Vocabulary: Words like empathy, cultural agility, and global citizenship were introduced with meaningful, IC-relevant examples. Each term was evaluated on a Likert scale with other frameworks, ensuring alignment with IC outcomes (AAC&U learning outcomes and UNESCO Global Citizenship Education Goals (GCED). The Hamilton (2023) framework rubric (new) checks intercultural teaching practices. Together, correlations, assessments, and evaluations are possible and can be tracked and reflected upon.
- Reflective Reading Activities: Articles explored leadership in multicultural contexts, emphasizing cultural agility (ability to adapt to new experiences, cultural differences, and values) and the role of self-awareness. A rubric using the frameworks was also created. The exact numbers and metrics have been removed here.
- Enhanced Role-Play Scenarios: Real-world intercultural conflicts were modeled to promote active problem-solving and reflective leadership.
- Interactive Gap-Fill Exercises: Focused on grammar while reinforcing key IC concepts like inclusivity and adaptability.
Sample of a Multidimensional Intercultural Competence Rubric
Note: Numbers, Likert scale, totals, and percentages have been removed for display purposes. HFCR represents the Hamilton (2023) frameworks and is new. AAC&U stands for The American Association of Colleges and Universities. They have 16 proposed learning outcomes for higher education undergraduates. Intercultural Knowledge is one of the outcomes. This outcome comes with a VALUE rubric. This rubric is used with the teaching practices rubric and UNESCO goals and a Likert score devised.
The Concept: A Multi-Dimensional Framework
The lesson leveraged three guiding frameworks:
- Hamilton IC Frameworks: Structured teaching practices to integrate foundational and advanced intercultural competence (Hamilton, 2023). This rubric is
- AAC&U VALUE Rubrics: Ensured student outcomes met high standards of cultural self-awareness, empathy, and communication.
- UNESCO GCED Goals: Addressed cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral aspects of global citizenship education.
Sample of the Hamilton Framework Integrating Intercultural Competence into Lessons and Curricula
Note: Category numbers, totals, and percentages for evaluation have been removed. The shortened sample is proof of concept and based on the Hamilton (2023) dissertation. There are about 11 foundation and advanced dimensions.
The Implementation: A Course Makeover
Transforming old lessons or curricula into new integrated lessons with intercultural competence for global citizenship doesn’t require overhauling the curriculum, course, or lesson per se—it requires rethinking its focus beyond the core theme:
- Vocabulary exercises were revised to emphasize cultural awareness.
- Reading and role-play activities promoted empathy and reflective leadership.
- A Likert-scale evaluation ensured activities aligned with IC goals, averaging scores above 4.0.
- Scored rubrics indicate needed work, tracking, and meeting standards.
Each lesson section supported the core theme, in this case growth mindset, while also addressing sub-themes of promoting, developing, and reflecting on intercultural competence. The UNESCO goals of cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavior might also be used as a dimension or aspect.
Sample of How a Role Play with Rubric and a Likert Scale Might be Used to Evaluate Intercultural Competence Integrated into a Lesson
A Glimpse Into the Future
Imagine a classroom where students don’t just learn the core theme. They learn higher-order behaviors and levels in critical thinking (cognitive) and problem-solving of real-world issues. They also learn at higher affective and emotional levels. They value and share experiences and beliefs to communicate, interact, and connect better. They adapt to cultural complexities and environments because of practice. They reflect on their growth as global citizens. The transformation from old lessons, courses, and curricula to integrated ones featuring intercultural competence demonstrates that:
- Intercultural competence can be seamlessly integrated into existing lessons, courses, and curricula.
- Purposeful design, beyond core themes, fosters deeper engagement and meaningful outcomes.
- Teaching practices featuring intercultural competence can be assessed to facilitate supporting students’ learning outcomes in achieving global citizenship education goals and AAC&U learning outcomes.
- This also means the assessment of intercultural competence by teachers and students is necessary. Individual development plans (IDPs) must also be developed.
This isn’t just a lesson makeover—it’s a paradigm shift and transformative for how we teach, develop, evaluate, and promote intercultural competence in education.
The Challenge to Educators
Are you ready to embrace this transformation in your classroom? Take intercultural competence assessments. Rethink lesson objectives. Integrate IC principles. You can create a learning environment that prepares students to succeed in a complex, interconnected world.
Let’s start the conversation about transforming your curriculum, course, or lesson. The future of intercultural education is waiting—are you ready to lead the charge?
Next Steps
If you’re curious about the details, let’s connect and talk about it. We can discuss how its framework can elevate your teaching practices. Together, we can redefine education to foster intercultural competence and global citizenship/leadership.