Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies? Intercultural Competencies! Dr. Irmy SCHWEIGER, University of Göttingen German-Chinese Institute for Intercultural German Studies and Comparative Culture

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009

Experiences and Recommendations for Joint Programms Experiences -Personal -Social -Professional -Communicative Joint Programme -Planing -Preparation -Implementation

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Every Journey Starts with a First Step 千里之行，是从第一步开始的

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Planing Personal and professional contacts -Alumni, summer academy -joint reseach projects -Joint publications -General or research interest -Internationalization -…

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Planing Official and inofficial visits -bottom-up initiative (slow but sustainable) -Top-down initiative (faster but…)

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Planing / Preparations Formal structure:  establishment of „German-Chinese Institute for Intercultural German Studies and Comparative Culture“

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Planing / Preparations Formal structure:  Application: Establishment of an innovative European- Chinese MA Double Degree in Intercultural Studies

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Preparations: The Asia-Link Project LEAD - Georg-August-University PARTNERS -Nanjing University -Beijing Foreign Studies University -Anhui University -The University of Edinburgh

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Preparations Definition of aims (1):  Establishment of an Master programme Intercultural German Studies: Germany – China with double degree Dep. of German Studies Department of Intercultural German Studies

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Preparations Definition of aims (2):  Interdisciplinary intercultural modules for flexible integration  Chinese-British joint study programme for students and teachers English and European Studies English and Media Studies Cultural Studies

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Preparations Definition of aims (3):  Establishment of a German Department and German Studies programme at Anhui University Department of Intercultural German Studies School of Foreign Languages Dep. of German Studies

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation Aims achieved:  implementation of double degree (Nan – Bei – Goe)  establishment of joint study programme (Ed – Nan – Bei)  establishment of department and study programme of German Studies (An) by way of networking:  political  institutional  academic/ professional  economic  public  personal

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation: Political Networking  Federal Ministry of Education and Research  Chinese Ministry of Education  Lower Saxonian Ministry of Science and Culture  Chinese Ambassy in Germany  German Research Council (special library)  DAAD (Joint degree Programme)  China Scholarship Council (scholarships) = PROFESSIONAL Inter- and intracultural communication

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation: Institutional Communication 1.External Joint Institute Center for European Studies, Nanjing Cooperating with further tertiary Institutions … 2. Internal Lecture series „Intercultural Dialogue“ permanent flow of information with decision-makers visibility of project progress by official openings and ceremonies = PROFESSIONAL Communication

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation: Professional Communication  Conferences and workshops  Publications  Train the trainer – Alumni Summer schools

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation: Economy networking joint projects to secure practice or job placement joint projects with companies to get informed on demand of the labor and job market to assure financial support (e.g. scholarships, guest lectures)

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Implementation: Public communication Marketing – PR for information and visibility participation in the „German Culture Weeks“ (Nanjing 2007) European Higher Education Fairs (Beijing, 2007) German-Chinese Education Week (Hamburg, 2007)… Public lecture series „Year of Intercultural Dialogue – EU“ „Artists in Residence“ exchange programme Nan - Goe

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies INTERCULTURALITY (theory & working method)  joint planning and development of core curricula

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies INTERCULTURALITY (theory & working method)  joint development and evaluation of modules and course materials

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies INTERCULTURALITY (theory & working method)  intensive communication and regular meeting with partners  Inclusion of all staff members

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies … Words and gestures of respect

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies Language competence  Interpreters  Translations (Chinese and German versions)  to avoid misunderstandings  to show your appreciation and respect

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural competencies Have fun together  You get to know each other even better…  Stress management = PERSONAL communication

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Competencies … Respect holidays and „taboo times“

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Experiences self conception of all participants as a group with common objectives but different means and ways to reach them confidence into the project partners, esp. into their competence to solve occuring problems and difficulties willingness to reflect oneself in different cultural contexts to be open for conflicts and problems arising during the project

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Experiences positive experience willingness and openness of all participants to work and reflect in an intercultural context successful networking and general interest in the project from various sides additional projects arising from the project (joint publication, international research group …) constraints project is unique and without model > pilot project > no clear guidelines for implementation heavy load of administration and budget management

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Happy End: Intercultural Study programme Master Programme Intercultural German Studies: Germany – China with double degree 1 year in Goettingen 1 year in Beijing/ Nanjing Internship in guest country Joint courses Languages: German, Chinese, English

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Classroom Competence Values diversity Fosters mutual understanding Respects diverse needs  do not homogenise  do not focus on difference rather be aware of diversity (no stereotypes...)

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Intercultural Classroom Collaborative learning  Learn about own cultural encoding  Learn about cultural pre- programming of others = different didactic approach (from 教书 to 育人 ) = cross-cultural teaching styles

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Conclusions Trust and respect your partners!  达到目的的途径很多  There are more ways of killing a dog than by hanging Intercultural competencies are relevant for ALL students not a special course for international students…

Intercultural Competencies 31 March 2009 Thank You! 谢谢