1. Intercultural Development
Chapter Four
Intercultural Development
Considering the Growth of
Self and Students

2. Developmental Models
What does it mean to change over time, to see the world from a new and different perspective, often as a result of direct experience and maturation?
Developmental models provide a schema within which to consider such changes.

3. Developmental Models in the Study of Culture
Have recently begun to emerge, particularly with respect to
Ethnic identity: generally defined on the basis of cultural criteria (customs, language)
Racial identity: generally defined on the basis of physical criteria (skin color, facial features)
One may identify oneself using one, the other, or both identities.

4. Models of Racial/Immigrant Identity Development
Cross/Spring five-stage model:
Pre-encounter: internalization of negative stereotypes by mainstream society
Encounter: confrontation by a incident that forces questioning, e.g., racial profiling
Immersion/Emersion: assumption of a new ethnic identity, loss of self-hatred
Continued…

5. Immersion: total involvement in the ethnic culture—active in discussion, organizations; highly enthnocentric
Internalization: recognition of and comfort in living in two worlds; becoming bicultural, or multicultural; can be both accepting and critical of mainstream culture

6. James Banks’s Model of Ethnic Development
Ethnic psychological captivity
Ethnic encapsulation
Ethnic identify clarification
Biethnicity: individuals have a strong sense of their own ethnic identity as well as a healthy understanding and respect for others
 Similar to Cross’s model
Continued…

7. Multiethnicity: individuals have a healthy understanding and appreciation of many groups; the ideal for an ethnically pluralistic society like the United States
Globalism and Global Competency: individuals reflect positive ethnic, national, and global identities while demonstrating the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities to function effectively in ethnic cultures from a variety of contexts

8. Progress Toward This Ideal in the United States
If we are to become culturally competent on a national and a global scale, there is much to be done.
Schools are important places where this work can proceed.
Over time we have become more inclusive, but we are not “there” yet.

9. Historical Perspectives on Multicultural Education: Two Approaches
Anglo-Conformity, or the Assimilationist Ideology:
The role of the school is to assimilate all immigrants into the dominant society; ethnic identity should be short-lived; the “melting pot”
Multiculturalism, or the Pluralist Ideology:
Since the “melting pot” didn’t work, the role of the school is to assist students in becoming bi- or multicultural; society is considered richer for its diversity; the “salad bowl”

10. Contemporary Multicultural Education Programs: They Are Not All the Same
Sleeter and Grant’s Typology categorizes five kinds of multicultural education programs:
Teaching the Culturally Different
Human Relations
Single-Group Studies
Inclusive Multicultural Education
Education That is Multicultural and Socially Reconstructionist
Continued…

11. Human Relations: programs that focus on communication and self-esteem
Teaching the Culturally Different: these programs attempt to help individuals develop competence in the dominant culture while maintaining their own cultural identity; focus tends to be on culture and language of target groups
Human Relations: programs that focus on communication and self-esteem
Single-Group Studies: programs that focus on a specific group—its heritage, contributions, and perspectives
Continued…

12. Inclusive Multicultural Education: programs that focus on linking the experiences of ethnic groups while developing a conceptual core
Education That is Multicultural and Socially Reconstructionist: programs that focus on the power relations among cultural groups and enable students to shape their own destinies while reconstructing society in more equitable patterns

13. Models of Cultural Understanding Models of Cultural Competence
The Mitchell Typology categorizes programs by purposes and practices in three ways:
Models of Cultural Understanding
Models of Cultural Competence
Models of Cultural Emancipation and Social Reconstruction
Continued…

14. Models of Cultural Understanding Focus on improving communication
Assume that all social and ethnic groups be perceived as “equal”
Posit that ethnic identity is a matter of individual choice
Continued…

15. Models of Cultural Competence
Promote appreciation of other cultural groups
Focus on understanding one’s own cultural identity
Assert that all students should be “at home” in more than one cultural system
Insist that members of minority groups become fluent in the dominant culture
Continued…

16. Models of Cultural Emancipation and Social Reconstruction
Believe that cultural diversity in the U.S. is a positive force
Focus on attitudes and behavior of teachers as central to redressing past patterns of discrimination and increasing educational and job opportunities for minority students

17. Intercultural Competence
Early studies of people who work effectively across cultures suggest that:
They are able to manage psychological stress.
They are able to communicate effectively, both verbally and non-verbally.
They are able to develop and maintain new and essential interpersonal relationships.

18. Interculturally Competent Skills
The ability to respond to others non-judgmentally
The ability to propose more than one cultural interpretation of behavior
The ability to mediate conflicts and solve problems in culturally appropriate ways
The ability to motivate others in the context of their cultural values
The ability to promote effective intercultural interaction
The ability to model culturally sensitive behaviors and attitudes
The ability to seek out new learning about cultural differences
The ability to institutionalize an intercultural perspective in personal and professional practice

19. Developing Intercultural Sensitivity
Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) provides a framework for understanding individual development and awareness along a continuum, from a highly ethnocentric perspective to a highly ethnorelative perspective.

20. Stages in Bennett’s Model
Ethnorelative side
Acceptance: ability to recognize and appreciate cultural differences on their own terms
Adaptation: ability to see cultural categories as more flexible, become more competent in ability to communicate
Integration: (rarely achieved) ability to move easily among multiple perspectives
Ethnocentric side
Denial: inability to see cultural differences
Defense: recognition of cultural differences, but negative evaluations of most
Minimization: acceptance of superficial cultural differences, but belief that all human beings are essentially the same

21. Something to Think About
One of the higher callings for young people in the coming century will be working to increase intercultural understanding. Such people will be the missionaries of the age, spreading light among groups. . .by giving them a modern vision of the new global community.
--Carl Coon