How U.S. students’ geo-cultural knowledge and intercultural receptiveness is impacted through contact with international teachers

• In Event: Higher education evaluation

Proposal

INTRODUCTION
Since 2011 a California university has hosted a professional development (PD) program for a cohort of K-12 teachers (called Fellows) from around the world.

The specific objectives of the PD program: to enhance the Fellows’ teaching skills and knowledge of the USA. The broader aim: to promote intercultural competence, global goodwill, diplomacy, and peace.

Paik et al (2015) studied the impact of this PD program on the intercultural competence of the participating Fellows and found that the program enhanced the teachers’ intercultural competence and increased their sensitivity, awareness, and knowledge of other countries/cultures.

This current study addressed the impact of the program’s field experiences on the geo-cultural knowledge and intercultural receptiveness of the U.S. K-12 students who interacted with the Fellows in the Fall of 2016. Specifically, the study addressed two specific questions: How does contact with an international teacher correlate with U.S. students having increased 1) geo-cultural knowledge and 2) increased receptiveness or interest in non-USA countries, peoples, and/or cultures?

LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature suggests that although the world is becoming increasingly globalized, U.S. educational institutions do not help students develop global, international or intercultural competencies and that the intercultural competence of U.S. students is typically poor (Bednarz et al., 2014; Halvorsen, 2017; NAEP, 2014; Shettle et al., 2007; Soria & Troisi, 2014; Suarez-Orozco & Qin-Hillard, 2004; Vanneman et al., 2009).

Most research into the intercultural competency of U.S. students focuses on higher education students (e.g., Chen & Starosta, 1996; Deardorff, 2006; Deardorff & Jones, 2009; Jon, 2013; Root & Ngampornchai, 2013; Soria & Troisi, 2014; Spitzberg, 1989; Wiseman, Hammer, & Nishida, 1989) or on teacher education programs, with a focus on enhancing teachers’ intercultural competence (Brendel, Aksit, Aksit, & Schrüfer, 2016; Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002; Leutwyler & Meierhans, 2016; Levy, 2013; Paik et al., 2015; Shyyan, Dunn, & Cammarata, 2013).

Much rarer are studies that address the intercultural competencies of U.S. K-12 students. The few studies that involve K-12 students typically focus on foreign language coursework, as the inclusion of cultural components in these courses has become increasingly embedded in national and state standards (Bott Van Houten, Couet, & Fulkerson, 2014; Byram et al., 2002; Lo Bianco, Liddicoat, & Crozet, 1999; The National Standards Collaborative Board, 2015).

Outside of foreign language coursework, seldom has research touched upon opportunities within K-12 schools to engage students in international and/or intercultural activities designed to enhance the global/international and intercultural competency of K-12 students. The scarcity of this research in large part stems from the rarity of these activities in primary and secondary schools (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2014).

Accordingly, programs such as this one that involve structured opportunities for intercultural contact provide a unique and needed opportunity for investigation into the outcomes for the student participants.

Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework undergirding this study is Deardorff’s (2006) Intercultural Competence Theory (see Figure 1 below).

In this current study, the first and second levels of intercultural competence were the main foci. In terms of the first-level construct, we considered attitudes that overlap with the constructs of openness—specifically, the receptiveness toward diversity—and curiosity—or an interest in or proclivity to seek out future experiences with individuals from other cultures. We termed these attitudes “receptiveness.” The second-level construct that we considered was geo-cultural knowledge.


Figure 1. Pyramid model of intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2006)

METHODOLOGY & FINDINGS
This study collected pre- and post-contact data from 1,082 elementary, middle, and high school U.S. students attending public schools in Southern California who had contact with one to three Fellows who participated in the aforementioned PD Program in 2016. Pre- and post-contact data were used to measure changes in the students’ geo-cultural knowledge and receptiveness.

Analysis of the data showed that the students’ geographic and cultural knowledge did increase after having contact with the Fellows. This is to say, that when a student had contact with a Fellow from Country A that his/her geographical knowledge of Country A typically improved as did his/her understanding of the language and religion of Country A.

Likewise, analysis showed that contact with international teachers correlated with increased receptiveness towards and interest in non-USA countries, peoples, and culture among elementary and middle school students but not so much among high school students.

IMPLICATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH
The study has a number of limitations:
• There was an underrepresentation of middle school students.
• There was uncertainty regarding the fidelity to which the U.S. teachers followed the survey-administering protocol. There is a likelihood the surveys were administered in slightly different ways and under different conditions.
• The surveys were lengthy; there could have been response fatigue that impacted validity.
• Although the general parameters of the contact were static/structured, there was still great variety regarding the contact due to the personality and language differences of the Fellows. The personalities and situations of the U.S. teachers also differed, resulting in variation regarding how much time and freedom the Fellows had to interact with the students.

This study sheds light on further lines of inquiry:
• What type of interaction/contact with an international teacher is most impactful on K-12 students? What is the optimal kind and duration of contact…and the ideal student age for interaction? Are there certain periods of times when students are particularly “ripe” for this type of influence?
• Could longitudinal studies address how the receptiveness lasts over time and whether it correlates to future behaviors, like studying or living abroad, marrying a non-USA person, views on foreign policy, political leanings, etc.?
• Are certain personal/familiar characteristics associated with a proclivity to receptiveness?
• Do different classroom experiences or teacher characteristics correlate with varying student receptiveness?
• How might a qualitative lens offer a different perspective of the students’ sense of culture and their openness to diversity?
• How are U.S. teachers impacted by international teachers?
• Would the students’ receptiveness equally correlate with non-teacher international guests?
• To what degree is the lack of increased receptiveness in high school students reflective of their developmental age/characteristics?
• How might controlling for specific Fellow and/or host teacher characteristics change the findings?

Authors

• DeLacy Ganley, Claremont Graduate University

• Stacy Kula, Azusa Pacifc University

• David Kallemeyn, Claremont Graduate University