Abstract
Over recent years, globalisation occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future”. Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage. This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed-methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence (IC) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring IC and EI in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design (n = 14), the General Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Moreover, it conducted in-depth post-experience qualitative interviews (n = 7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences can effectively support the formation of IC and EI in high school students and may thereby play a contributing role in redressing ignorance, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policymakers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.
Highlights
Until recently, students were living in the most diverse, multicultural, interconnected, and rapidly changing time in human history
This research aims to answer the following question: What impacts do short-term cross-cultural experiences have on the formation and development of intercultural competence (IC) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Australian high school students? The remainder of this paper is organised as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of the study’s literary setting; Section 3 elaborates its methodology, including strategy, design, data collection and analysis; Section 4 reports results and key findings, which are critically discussed in Section 5 in relation to the study’s contribution, limitations and arising opportunities for future research; the conclusion presented in Section 6 synthesises prospects for interracial understanding
This section will first give an overview of the quantitative data (Section 4.1) from the two questionnaires, the General Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), and summarise the semi-structured interviews and report the coding phase of the qualitative data analysis (Section 4.2)
Summary
Students were living in the most diverse, multicultural, interconnected, and rapidly changing time in human history This global interconnectedness was significantly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020 (OECD 2018; Nelson et al 2019; Leal Filho et al 2020; Ducharme 2020; WHO 2020). Global interconnectedness has raised transnational issues across the areas of business, trade, diplomacy, human rights, and environmental sustainability, among others. These issues include encouraging multiculturism; addressing xenophobia, racism and intolerance; and sustainable development. These issues, both nationally and internationally, require a coordinated global response (Epprecht and Tiessen 2012). The challenge that this presents is addressed in the following quotation:
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