September 2009 — Volume 3, Issue 5

The business of embedding intercultural competence

As the student population becomes more culturally diverse so is the demand for effective learning processes to improve communication and interaction across different cultural groups.

Nowhere is this more evident than in business education which is a big drawcard for international students and where the domestic student population is growing in diversity. Many of those graduates will move into professions where globalisation is having a profound impact on management practices and where understanding cultural diversity will be core business.

To promote greater interaction across different cultural groups and to embed ongoing change in the business
curriculum, a group of researchers has developed a framework for what it describes as intercultural competence.

“The development of intercultural competence is a dynamic, ongoing, interactive self-reflective learning process that transforms attitudes, skills and knowledge for effective communication and interaction
across cultures and context,’’ the report says.

The ALTC-funded study, ‘Embedding the Development of Intercultural Competence in Business Education’, was led by Sydney University’s Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the Faculty of Economics and Business, Associate Professor Mark Freeman.

Other participating institutions were the University of NSW, the University of South Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Curtin University of Technology and the University of Wollongong.

“The presence in classrooms of culturally diverse local and international students, and indeed staff, creates
opportunities to develop new pedagogies but also provides challenges for all involved – academic staff, professional development staff who work with them and the international and domestic students themselves,” the final report says.

Indeed, it notes that some of the resources to meet these challenges already exist but are not being used: “Resources in themselves, without accompanying embedding processes, seem ineffective.” The study therefore develops a framework that focuses on three domains for embedding intercultural competence – strategies relating to leadership and communities of practice, curriculum policies and procedures and resources.

But it stresses that there is no “one-size-fits-all” model. Change is embedded in sustainable ways if it starts with “winning the hearts and minds of leaders at various levels distributed across the organisation”. Those leaders can then influence engagement in their various communities of practice and lead changes to curriculum policies and procedures along with support through resources.

Associate Professor Freeman said the project wanted to go beyond developing good tools that people
could use to embed good practice: “We wanted to ask ‘why are we still facing these issues when this is not a new phenomenon?’ It’s not just about developing something that teachers can use; we need programs directors (and others) to recognise this. Then the decision-makers need to invest in this and require it as part of the curriculum.” In essence, it was about the dissemination of good practice.
As well as an “embedding framework” the project includes an easy-to-use taxonomy to guide curriculum planning across programs, a series of 20 learning activities that can be used to raise awareness of intercultural competence and promote understanding of it, the ALTC Exchange, several templates, and a set of indicators that can be applied to gauge the project’s success or otherwise.