Cultural Confluence: Challenges for a Christian College Desiring to Work Cross-Culturally

Abstract

Within the complexities of a multicultural society, it is both important and challenging for Christian institutions of higher education to understand the institutional culture, the impact of that culture on staff, students, and external stakeholders, and the cohesion of programmatic elements within the broader cultural picture. This article reports on one aspect of a New Zealand Christian institution's self-reflection on its attitudes and practices in relation to cultural diversity. The particular element used for this study was an immersion experience undertaken by teacher education students during the final year of their program. Using a phenomenological approach, two consecutive year groups of students, together with the teachers in centers and schools that hosted them, were interviewed either singly or as groups. Questions focused on hearing the experiences of participants as well as the insights and learning gleaned from the visits. The findings are reported and discussed using the principles of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, as an analytical framework. The significance of connection, the attitudes that create a sense of engagement, and the realization that connection, while intangible to some degree, is nevertheless the result of intentional activity, are central to the findings. Although the data are specific to one institution, the findings are relevant to any Christian provider of higher education seeking to live out unity in diversity within the educational context.