Abstract
This article aims to identify and characterise the critical incidents (CI) that occur most frequently at university level in highly diverse sociocultural contexts. Intercultural relations will be analysed within the framework of hegemony and resistance between Western culture, which is inherent to university settings, and the non-Western mixed traits present in the student body. The relationship between different CIs will be examined, as will be the various issues associated with them according to teachers’ perceptions. For this qualitative study, 23 teachers from two Bolivian universities were interviewed. The teachers reported 9 types of CIs linked to sociocultural diversity. The results indicate that CIs are usually the outcome of cultural clashes between the institutional and teachers’ culture and the students’ culture, with the three most frequent CIs related to the use of the vehicular language, expression and communication; different thinking processes and the relationship between students. As a result, we propose a typology and a scheme for classification and interpretation of CIs linked to cultural diversity with the objective of advancing university teacher training.
Highlights
We propose a typology and a scheme for classification and interpretation of critical incidents (CI) linked to cultural diversity with the objective of advancing university teacher training
For each type of CI we only presented examples that were illustrative of the typology each refers to and that achieved a clear consensus among the judges
The incidents that the interviewees cited more frequently were those related to language, expression and communication (1) and those related to attainment (2). 11 out of the 25 interviewees mentioned this latter type of CI and this was clearly seen as an important factor in all the interviews
Summary
Cultural diversity is highly relevant today both in Western countries and in Latin America, admittedly for different reasons and with different nuances. Linked to the immigration issue faced in Europe, intercultural projects there are usually questioned. Many people are quick to announce the failure of integration policies; whilst others revive extremist, and even racist, discourses. Educational settings witness increasing diversity in their classrooms and the debate rages on about what aspects of immigrant cultures should be respected and which ones should be rejected
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