Running head: DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE 1

ESSAY

Depth of Knowledge Essay

Developing the Intercultural Competence of Teachers and Students:

A Demand of the Age (Bangladesh Context)

Portfolio 2, Section 4

December 5, 2019

Tareque Mehdi

George Mason University

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Developing the Intercultural Competence of Teachers and Students:

A Demand of the Age (Bangladesh Context)

There have been a lot of progress and advances in the world technologies, international

cooperation for centuries; as a result, more and more people in the world are getting connected

through avenues of media, transportation, and communication resources (Zhao, 2010).

"Globalization" is the word that has been used to describe the growing interdependence of the

world’s education, economies, cultures, and populations which are brought about by cross-

border, cross cultural exchanges of resources and services, education, technology, and

information. For this, in the field of education too, the call for preparing teachers and students as

interculturally competent for the globalized world is considered at the forefront of the agenda

(Shaklee & Baily, 2012). I have first come across the concept of intercultural competence (IC)

and sort of had the call for this topic when I took the "EDUC 853: World Perspectives of

Teacher Education" course in the fall 2018 session. Imagining myself coming to the table not

knowing anything about IC - the readings and discussions were intriguing and successful in

planting a seed of interest in me about this topic. Reflecting on my own experience as an

international student and thinking about the making of myself through a multifaceted education

system in Bangladesh was a small seed of interest which grew to a big plant over time. I wanted

to explore more about the status of IC in Education in Bangladesh moreover, how different

education stakeholders perceive IC. I found out, defining IC is incredibly difficult but identifying

it in someone is not. IC is a multidimensional discipline that is still young in developing

countries like Bangladesh despite the sixty years of exploration behind it. In this knowledge

discussion essay, I therefore tried to map my learnings and thoughts by conceptualizing and

discussing the development of IC, how IC is seen within the teacher education, teachers'
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professional development opportunities in Bangladesh through the course assignments, readings

and literature reviews I have done since my Portfolio 1 evaluation.

Conceptualizing Intercultural Competence

At first, I had a different perception about IC that, only when people of different national

or culture meet, then an intercultural situation occurs, and in order to deal with that situation IC

is required. Afterwards, I realized "every" situation is intercultural when we encounter a person

who comes from a different context than us and who does not share much of our understanding. I

viewed IC the skills and ability that enables us to communicate and interact effectively in a

diverse and unfamiliar situation by enabling confidence and appropriate interactions among us.

However, I realized I was thinking about IC through a very narrow and limiting lens. IC is very

complex and multi-dimensional process and it has many elements involved that makes it not easy

to define. Researchers of education also use a lineup of terms (e.g., intercultural understanding,

intercultural sensitivity, global mindedness) to explore this concept due to its scope and teachers,

students and all others related to education requires IC to be successful in today’s diverse

classroom and beyond (Levy & Fox, 2015). There is also no single definition agreed upon for IC

yet (Deardorff, 2006). Spizberg & Chagnon pointed out that most of the IC models have five

components in common: motivation, knowledge, skills, context, and outcomes (p. 44). In my

perception of conceptualizing IC, I would put "self" in the middle as I feel it will help a person

think and reflect on "oneself" and how that "self" prepares that person to interact with personal

self and the outside world. So, reflecting on self is very powerful. IC is an ever-evolving,

amorphous, fluid process that is difficult to define exactly though. I was very taken by Hunter,

White, and Godbey (2006) explanation that one must know one's own culture first before

understanding another. Initially I disagreed, remembering I felt- I had learned substantially about
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my own culture by serving the United Nations Children's Fund and the British Council in

Bangladesh in assimilating to another culture (as part of my deliverable). However, I refined my

understanding upon reading about Byram (2003) who states it is the understanding about the

relationship between cultures (culture of origin and host culture). So, developing IC takes time

and constant reflexivity and this process is not linear as well. Growing up in multiracial society

in Bangladesh, I was exposed to living with and learning about other races and religion very

early in my life (Acceptance). However, it got complicated when ethnic policies, historical

contexts, and colonial legacies were included in the learning materials. For example, we may be

integrated in daily life but there are still pockets of "defenses" among the different ethnic races in

Bangladesh as we strive to maintain and uphold individual culture and religion. There are also

elements of "denial" where some would think their culture is superior over the others even

despite many years of living together. Deardorff (2009) wrote about the concept of "teachable

moments" and suggests two ways to learn from these teachable moments. First, to suspend

assumptions and judgment in order to consider other perspectives and second, to increase our

tolerance for ambiguity (p.128).

IC in the Context of Teacher Education and Professional Development

After reviewing the salient literature on teacher preparation and the development

of teachers’ intercultural competence in the context of Bangladesh, I found almost nothing

except six or seven research of IC related to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) or English as

Foreign Language (EFL) domain. But there is a call for developing IC for teachers in other

content areas outside of foreign language education (Sercu, 2005). I also identified several gaps

and further investigations can extend research on IC. The primary gaps that I found in the

literature about Bangladeshi teachers and their development of intercultural competence include
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a lack of cross-cultural knowledge in teacher preparation programs and the inclusion of teachers’

development of IC within their curricula, assignments, and evaluation methods. It was also one

of the findings in my mini study in the EDUC 853 final paper. I also assume the use of terms

other than intercultural competence (Byram, 1997; Deardorff, 2006) as I could not find any

alternative term in Bengali that has been used in the literature.

Future directions for teacher education and development should place IC at the

foundation of this work. Broadening teachers' understanding and ability to think, communicate

and interact in culturally sensitive ways is not an easy task moreover, this is an aspect which can

no longer be ignored (Deardorff, 2009). After taking the EDUC 803: Teacher Preparation and

Professional Development and EDUC 851: Research on Teacher Education courses on teacher

education, research and their professional development, I figured out that there are specific

contextual differences in IC among countries and regions. In Bangladesh, there is no exact

blueprint for building IC of teachers and very few teachers get the opportunity or exposure to

professional development opportunities. In most jobs, professional development is "box-

checkers." We know the reality that professional development is often offered simply because it

fills a bureaucratic requirement or covers someone or some department in some way. As a result,

teachers are ill prepared to adequately address intercultural concepts (Cushner & Mahon, 2009).

DeJaeghere & Cao (2009) suggest that there is a significant change in teachers’ IDI overall

development score when a school districts in the USA implemented an intercultural training

initiative. The magnitude of change suggests that an ongoing DMIS/IDI guided professional

development initiative can considerably increase educators’ intercultural competence. When I

used to work in the corporate, I have seen them following the organizational values and goals

statement very strictly especially they must evaluate performance based on those values. But in
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an educational setting, I do not see this practice often. According to Mahon’s research, teachers’

ages, ethnicities, and travel experiences to other countries were statistically significant for ethno-

relative attitudes (Mahon, 2006). I like the idea of exchange teachers. Teachers have a great

opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and learn from other teachers from different

backgrounds. But I also have one question - how long or how short is enough for an exchange

teacher to stay in another school in another country as well as how viable is it to ensure all

teachers get this exchange opportunity? A key aspect to teacher education and development can

be empathy building. As Bennett and Castiglioni (2004) argued, “The intentional use of empathy

is key to developing intercultural competence. We can use empathy to apprehend experience

that is inaccessible to us in our own cultural worlds (p. 260). When I first came to the USA as an

international student, I felt that students who adapt well to American cultures are more likely to

be successful. I felt this was a strong sense of ethnocentrism.

Using the commonality of the definitions of intercultural competency, involving "the

ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from other cultures " (p. 455), it

becomes apparent that qualitative methods must be at least a part of researching the concept

because of the need to document interactions. Interviews and observations seem to be the best

way to study effective intercultural competence because these methods better focus on actions

undertaken by the participant. I also see, however, the need to have a standardization in order to

evaluate programs and learning processes against each other- so the DMIS (IDI) and other

standardized assessments come into play. I don't think one size fits all works well therefore, field

experts in IC asked to involve both quantitative and qualitative methods, but again, it depends on

the outcome and the desired data. From the very beginning when I started exploring more about

IC and teacher education in Bangladesh, little information was found about in-service teachers'
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skills, knowledge, values, attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions (Goodwin et al., 2014) and to what

extent they see they implement their beliefs and values about IC into their daily instructional

practice (Loughran, 2014). Therefore, as part of my course papers and assignments I have done

some mini studies (EDUC 878 Final Paper) and literature reviews aiming to contribute to the

foundational knowledge about IC and what does in service teachers think about IC in

Bangladesh. I think, findings will inform future research as well as education stakeholders to see

where Bangladesh in terms is of preparing their teachers and future generation as interculturally

competent. It will also contribute to improved practice in the classroom addressing diversity.

Concluding Thoughts

Many have related IC with an iceberg floating on the water. I agree with that as we

cannot see the bigger and hidden portion of the ice (intercultural competence) that is under water,

however, developing IC is also like walking in the fog. We have a sense of what is around us, but

we cannot see it clearly and must move ahead slowly. As time passes, we begin to realize that

moving carefully will keep us safe. So, time plays a big factor in development of IC because

understanding of IC increases eventually. Trimble, Pedersen, and Rodela (2009) indicate that to

get true IC and develop intercultural sensibility is a process full of complexity, and it is even

more complicated to put the theoretical concepts into practice, considering the complex context.

Therefore, to be motivated is a very important mindset. On the other hand, IC training and

education is also indispensable. As mentioned earlier, the development of IC is a process, where

it should not lead to a result of "swim or die". As a researcher or educator, we are obligated to

provide appropriate educational resources to equip the teachers and students with knowledge and

skills to be interculturally competent. Without IC education and development, an individual is

likely to misunderstand or make inappropriate decisions due to lack of enough adaptability and
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will not be able to keep pace with the modern world. Looking ahead, I wish to pursue my future

research on the programs in Bangladesh that aim to prepare teachers and the perspectives of this

group of teachers toward teaching for intercultural competence. By conceptualizing the topic and

identifying these gaps of IC in the context of Bangladesh, the potential areas of future research

have become more visible to me and I believe it will direct me toward my research interest

within the field of teacher education.

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