The University of SydneyPage 1 Assessing and giving feedback on students’ cultural competence Presented by Catherine Smyth The Faculty of Education & Social Work

The University of SydneyPage 2 Overview –Part 1: Motivation, assumptions and definitions –Part 2: Framework –Part 3: Student work- assessment task and feedback –Part 4: Issues and future directions

The University of SydneyPage 3 Part 1: Motivation, assumptions and definitions –Teaching intercultural competence requires the development of critical cultural awareness (Talkington, Lengel, & Byram 2004). –Teaching ‘culture’ (e.g. the institutional, historical and political aspects of culture) is not enough, and that the development of intercultural competence requires the teaching of subjective culture, in which the focus turns to exploring alternative worldviews and cultural self awareness (Bennett, 2009). –Some form of challenge is necessary for education in intercultural competence (Paige 1993; Talkington, Lengel, & Byram 2004).

The University of SydneyPage 4 Untangling the terminology Intercultural communication, intercultural competence, intercultural understanding, culture, intercultural sensitivity –Intercultural competence is the most commonly used term in the literature. –Intercultural understanding encompasses both cognitive and affective domains (Hill 2006). –Intercultural communication: the ability to effectively and appropriately communicate with people from different cultures (Arasaratnam, 2009)

The University of SydneyPage 5 Part 2 Framework Epistemological resources (Hammer and Elby, 2002) Individuals hold a range of epistemological resources Epistemological resources change, or are activated, within specific contexts

The University of SydneyPage 6 Individual Sense Making = Originates in one’s personal experiences and activated and combined in different ways in interaction with various contexts

The University of SydneyPage 7 4 ideas about sense making (Harbon & Smyth, In Press) 1.Sense making is situated in a physical AND social context 2.Sense making is situated in contexts of beliefs and understandings about cognition that differ between individuals and social groups (Greeno, 1989) 3.Students have the capacity to generate new knowledge 4.Sense making as “knowledge- in-pieces” not cohesive (diSessa, 1988, 2000)

The University of SydneyPage 8 Part 3: Assessment –Short Term International Exchange ignited ideas and research of students’ sense making –Adapted for assessment task in EDUP2009 “Intercultural Understanding in HSIE K-6”

The University of SydneyPage 9 Making sense of China –10 students for 10 days –Asiabound funding –Primary & secondary preservice teachers –Minzu University –School visits -pre-service teachers worked with teachers and students in those schools –Inner Mongolia and China –Negotiated individualised sense making task –“How will you make sense of China?”

The University of SydneyPage 10 Place is profoundly pedagogical

The University of SydneyPage 11 This semester- Making sense of a cultural practice Intercultural inquiry- documentation and reflection on the intercultural communication process –120 students for 12 weeks –2 nd year preservice primary teachers –Intercultural site visit & reflection –Students prepared and conducted their inquiry following ‘Intercultural communication process’ –“How will you make sense of a cultural practice that is not your own?”

The University of SydneyPage Prepares 2. Observes 3. Compares 4. Reflects 5. Inquires 6. Emphasises 7. Respects 8. Takes risks Intercultural communication process for site visit

The University of SydneyPage 13 Intercultural communication process –Step 1: Select an authentic cultural practice that is of interest, but is unfamiliar to you –Step 2: Identify an appropriate and relevant site –Step 3: Use questions on Prepares card as a guide, to write a ½ page response –Step 4: Make arrangements to visit site. Conduct and document your visit by following suggested activities in the Observes card. Take 3-5 digital photographs (abide by cultural guidelines for taking photographs). Write ½ page reflection. –Step 5: Following your site visit. Use compares card to compare and contrast home and target culture. Write ½ page reflection. –Steps 6-9: Begin to reflect on your sense making (reflects, inquires, empathises, respects and takes risks).

The University of SydneyPage 14 Giving feedback –Identified criteria (analysis of home and target culture, documentation of process, reflection on the impact of the experience on personal intercultural understanding, reflection on how the process could be used in teaching) –Examined rubrics from other universities –Designed EDUP2009 rubric –Negotiated rubric with students

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The University of SydneyPage 18 Part 4: Issues and future directions –Sense making requires that students “elaborate and reorganise” their knowledge and understanding, rather than simply “applying and acquiring” new ideas. (Greeno, 1989, p.135) –Plan assessment tasks around experiences –Make the intercultural communication process explicit –Study abroad has been shown to enhance intercultural understanding among university students (Kitsantas and Meyers 2001; Medina-Lopez-Portillo 2004; Olson and Kroeger 2001). –Researchers agree that intercultural competence can and should be measured, and that both qualitative and quantitative methods are appropriate (Deardorff 2006b).

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The University of SydneyPage 20 References –Association of American Colleges and Universities (2015). Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from –Arasaratnam, L.A. (2009). The development of a new instrument of intercultural communication competence. –Bachner, D. & Zeutschel, U. (2009). Long-term effects of international youth exchange. Intercultural Education, 20 (sup1), S45 – S58. DOI: 10/1080/ –Bennett, M.J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensi- tivity. In Education for the intercultural experience., ed. M.R. Paige, 21–71. Yarmouth: Intercultural Press. –Bennett, M.J. (2009). Defining, measuring, and facilitating intercultural learning: A conceptual introduction to the intercultural education double supplement. Intercultural Education 20, no. 4: 1–13. –Bennett, J. M. (2008). Transformative training: Designing programs for culture learning. In Contemporary leadership and intercultural competence: Understanding and utilizing cultural diversity to build successful organizations, ed. M. A. Moodian, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. –Greeno, J.G. (1989). A perspective on thinking. American Psychology, 44 (2), 134 – 141. –Greeno, J.G., & Nokes-Malach, T.J. (2014, March 4). Situative cognition. Presented at the NAPLeS Conference, University of Pittsburgh, USA. –Hammer, D., & Elby, A. (2002). On the form of a personal epistemology. In B. K. –Hammer, D. M., & Elby, A. (2003 ). Tapping epistemological resources for learning physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12, 53–90. –Harbon, L. & Smyth, C.L. (In Press). Creating an ecology of conceptual blending: Australian pre-service teachers getting to know and make sense of China. In Margaret Robertson and Po Keung Eric Tsang (Eds.). Everyday knowledge, education and sustainable futures: Transdisciplinary approaches/research in the Asia/Pacific Region. Springer –Hill, I. (2006). Student types, school types and their combined influence on the development of intercultural understanding. Journal of Research in International Education 5, no. 1: 5–33. –Paige, M.R. (1993). On the nature of intercultural experiences and intercultural education. In Education for the intercultural experience, ed. M.R. Paige, 1–20. Yarmouth: Intercultural Press. –Paige, R.M., Fry, G.W., Stallman, E.M., Josic, J., & Jon, J. (2009). Study abroad for global engagement: the long-term impact of mobility experiences. Intercultural Education, 20 (sup1), S29 – S44. DOI: –Perry, L.B. & Southwell, L. (2011) Developing intercultural understanding and skills: models and approaches, Intercultural Education, 22:6, , DOI: / –Talkington, B., L. Lengel, and M. Byram. (2004). Setting the context, highlighting the impor- tance: Reflections on interculturality and pedagogy. resourceid=2048 –Thomlison, T.D. (1991). Effects of a study-abroad program on university students: Toward a predictive theory of intercultural contact. Paper presented at the 8th Annual Intercultural and Communication Conference, Miami, USA. Eric Document: ED