Category 1: intercultural competence course (RGGIED1006)

Course Name

Developing Intercultural Competence

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• identify the impact of culture on communication and interactions between people
• describe the common cultural dimensions (continuums)
• identify their own cultural values and preferences
• demonstrate curiosity about another culture
• shift perspectives when analysing an event
• formulate and implement an action plan for developing their intercultural competence

Description
Self-awareness is the foundational competency in many models of intercultural competence. However, it usually goes hand-in-hand with other-cultural awareness, as only when it is in contrast to another culture are we able to begin to see that we have a culture and what our culture is. This knowledge building about cultures forms a core part of the course.

While we are in the process of building cultural knowledge through contact and interactions with people from other cultures, we face challenges, such as not knowing what to do, feeling uncomfortable, trying to avoid social faux pas, or inadvertently offending another. The requisite attitudes and skills to handle these challenges, and to learn how to adjust or adapt your behaviours, are also addressed in this course.

As this is the beginning of an entire programme designed to develop these knowledge, skills and attitudes, the focus in this course is on how to learn from and actualize the potential of the rest of the programme, that is, becoming aware of what to expect, and how to process and learn from experiences, so that you are equipped to work in any intercultural or international situation.

In order to identify where you are at in your own development of intercultural competence and how you are progressing, we cover the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) in this course and you take a related assessment. In addition, you will take the Intercultural Effectiveness Survey, which identifies your strengths in six fundamental intercultural competencies. These provide two different models of developing intercultural competence and address different ways of thinking and learning styles. The DMIS is a progressional model that measures against a desired end state. The IES measures the levels of six separate competencies that work together to enable a person to achieve intercultural effectiveness.

This course is the beginning of the Global and Intercultural Engagement Distinction. It lays a foundation for growth in intercultural competencies - growth that will take place during the course itself, as well as during the other programme elements - and for successful engagement in the other programme elements. Attendance and participation is critical because much of the learning is done through an experience - self-reflection loop. Class time consists of highly interactive activities, simulations, and discussions combined with some lecturettes.

Remarks

Four of the course credits will be completed during the scheduled block. One of the credits will be completed by participation in an online learning community throughout the whole programme. The last credit will be completed at the end of the programme through a group discussion (one scheduled meeting) and self-reflection paper.

Attendance is compulsory for this course!

Literature
To be announced

Number of hours
Varies per week

How to enrol
Once you have decided to participate in GIED, you can enrol in the workshop (category 1) in Progress. The workshop is offered each block and can be found under the course enrolments; it will be named 'GIED block X'. Please make sure to enrol in time, because there is only limited capacity each block.

Also check out the Rules and Regulations for this category.