Research Article

An Essay about Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence in Higher Education

Jonathan van Melle
Avans University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Marco Maia Ferreira
University of Lisbon, Portugal
* Corresponding author
DOI icon 10.24018/ejedu.2023.4.2.624

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Submitted 2023-03-08
Published 2023-03-31

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Article Main Content

Intercultural sensitivity is one of the more influential fields of intercultural communication, engagement, equity, and inclusion. It describes the standard ways in which people experience, interpret, and interact across cultural differences. Intercultural sensitivity starts with the awareness that there are genuine differences between cultures and that these variations are commonly mirrored in the approaches by which people communicate and relate to one another. By recognizing how one experiences cultural predictions about one’s effectiveness of intercultural communication can be made. Educational interventions can be tailored to facilitate intercultural sensitivity development. Generally, this development signifies a move from an ethnocentric view to an ethnorelative view. Researchers have undertaken several approaches, not only to understand ethnocentrism but also to attempt to reduce it in Higher Education Institutions. In this essay, we first discuss the concepts of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence and how these are connected. Then, we present several studies focused on internationalisation practices to develop students’ intercultural sensitivity and/or competence, finalising with an alternative pedagogical approach to intercultural sensitivity development -The Creative Action Methodology (CAM).

Keywords: creative action methodology essay higher education intercultural competence intercultural sensitivity

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