Enhancing teachers’ intercultural skills and practices to foster global citizens and to fulfill the contribution of higher education to society. The growth of human mobility together with globalization are shaping the demography of many societies and of many interactive contexts, including new ways of learning and of working modalities. Thus, the possibility to face intercultural relationships, even without moving, is today very frequent. And in the academic contexts, the internationalization of higher education makes the issue of teaching and learning in multicultural contexts, in presence or online, relevant and essential to be learnt and managed effectively.
This MOOC is composed of six weeks. It is addressed mainly to university’s teachers, with the aim to enhance their intercultural and global citizens skills and practices, thus that they can consciously foster their students’ same skills. This MOOC is also open to anyone who is willing to understand cultural diversity, thus to better co-live together and collaborate in multicultural contexts.
The course is structured in 6 Weeks:
Week 1 – Teaching and Learning in Multicultural Contexts
Week 2 – The need for Intercultural and Global Citizens Skills Development
Week 3 – Developing Intercultural and Global Citizens Skills: Teachers first
Week 4 – Understanding Cultural Diversity
Week 5 – Valorise Classrooms' Cultural Diversity
Week 6 – Practices and Tools for an Intercultural Pedagogy
By actively participating in this MOOC, you will achieve different intended learning outcomes (ILOs).
Week 1
Define what a multicultural teaching and learning context is
Recognise some of the main challenges that a teacher can face in multicultural classroom
Describe how layers of cultural identity can influence interactions in multicultural contexts
Recognise how the use of English as lingua franca can impact on classroom interactions and on reciprocal perception in multicultural contexts and deal with them
Identify and deal with conflicts and challenges caused by stereotyping and discrimination in multicultural classroom
Week 2
Explain what global citizens skills are and why they are needed
Engage with intercultural and global skills development
Explain what intercultural competence is and what are its components
Analyze your intercultural competence development, through a practical exercise
Develop intercultural and global skills
Week 3
Recognize the value of international exposure and explain how it can help teachers to develop the competence useful to teach in multicultural classroom
Explain the most common reasons for teacher’s lack of international exposure
Indicate possible solutions for teachers to internationalize their own career
Explain how you, as a teacher, can go out from your comfort zone and search for diverse contexts even at home, thus to exercise and develop your intercultural and global skills
Week 4
Describe the impact culture can have on your and other people’s perceptions, feelings and behaviors
Explain how to use the DIE model to suspend judgements about diverse people and to take in consideration different cultural perspectives
Describe the differences between your and other people’s diversity experience
Indicate possible ways to become more interculturally sensitive and therefore interculturally competent
Week 5
Recognise and describe how cultural value differences can impact on teaching and learning style
Develop a positive attitude towards these differences in order to accept and value them without condemning or penalizing them
Describe cross-cultural dimensions frameworks with their strength and weaknesses and their applications in education contexts across cultures
Identify and approach ethical dilemmas that can arise in multicultural teaching environments
Week 6
Select and implement intercultural pedagogical practices and tools (including ethical game design, content, and dynamics) into classroom’s didactic
Explain how these can support the students’ learning process and the development of their intercultural and global citizens’ skills
Describe how to leverage classroom diversity for developing intercultural competences
Use activities aimed at helping students to learn from each other how our culture influences our worldviews and how we can bridge those differences through intercultural dialogue
