Abstract
Cultural humility is a critical skill for effective intercultural interactions. While common in other scholarly fields, the concept is seldom found in the literature of global learning and international education. Utilizing grounded theory, this study explores the development of cultural humility through qualitative data analysis of in-class assignments and reflection journals from a university course in the United States (n=18). Throughout the semester students worked in teams to write grant proposals for agricultural development projects in Kenya. Examining student work and reflections sheds light on differing avenues of global learning, which has traditionally prioritized international travel as the core means of learning. This article proposes a pedagogy of cultural humility to promote global learning through a variety of educational interventions. Prioritizing cultural humility can yield enhanced respect for others, providing a focus on lifelong learning, more meaningful global understanding and more fruitful intercultural relationships. In an increasingly interconnected globe, cultural humility offers a meaningful framework to support substantive interactions between individuals across the globe or down the street.
Highlights
The field of global learning has come to encompass a diverse range of practices, modalities and purposes
Rather, drawing upon the experiences of a group of students enrolled in a global learning course, we propose an approach to teaching cultural humility that represents a shift in thinking about the purpose and practice of global education
At the beginning of this article, we articulated the value of various methods of promoting global learning among university students, some that involved travel and others that did not
Summary
The field of global learning has come to encompass a diverse range of practices, modalities and purposes. If the concept is defined experientially, it began when the first ancient peoples wandered in search of new people and places, or perhaps its origins coincided with the overseas exploration that occurred around the sixteenth century, whether in the Pacific or the Atlantic. These early encounters may have expanded our collective knowledge of the world, but they constitute the first of many lessons to be learned about how (and how not) to engage with people and places that may be different from your own. In the context of this study we use the definition advanced by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U, n.d.: n.p.), which defines the global learning outcome as ‘a critical analysis of and an engagement with complex, interdependent global systems and legacies (such as natural, physical, social, cultural, economic and political) and their implications for people’s lives and the earth’s sustainability’
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