In the first article of this new series, Martyna Elerian gives an overview of the theory behind international mindedness
In this series of articles, I want to talk about the concept of international mindedness and attempt to answer the following questions:
- What is international mindedness?
- What are the platforms for teaching and learning international mindedness within the formal and informal curriculum?
- How can we incorporate and practically teach international mindedness?
- Why is it important to pay attention to international mindedness in our school?
What is international mindedness?
Working in an international school usually implies a familiarity with terms such as multicultural education, intercultural education, global education, and education for international mindedness. In everyday school settings and casual discussions, these terms are often used interchangeably. International education and international mindedness are conceptually close to the related fields of multicultural and intercultural education. All promote an understanding of cultural diversity, tolerance, and dialogue beyond national borders.
However, there are some important differences.
Multicultural and intercultural education focuses on national curricula, and often, groups that are socio-economically deprived. International mindedness (IM), on the other hand, is a relatively new concept that was first mentioned as a term in 1951 at the Conference of Internationally Minded Schools under the auspices of UNESCO and relates mostly to the field of international schools and a small, practice-oriented community.
When theorising IM, scholars commonly refer to a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Haywood (2015, 47) described IM as: “a collection of knowledge, skills and understandings that predispose to living and working in a global multicultural society, alongside a strong value component that leads to beliefs about individual responsibility and action.”
There are a few available frameworks for IM development. Based on research literature and international teaching experience, Harwood and Bailey (2012) produced a framework titled Me and My World. Their framework consists of five strands: global issues, world views, culture, human society and language. All strands can be applied at individual and school levels. At an individual level, this framework is designed to monitor students’ personal development; at a school level, it gives a basis for the school’s self-evaluation and improvement.
Three key ingredients
Internationally-minded language curricula should consider interpersonal skills, especially in relation to cultural sensitivity
A framework proposed by Singh and Qi (2013) dissects the concept of IM into three comprehensive and manageable elements, making IM quite easily applicable to school practice. Singh and Qi named Multilingualism, Global Engagement (GE) and Intercultural Understanding (IU) as central elements of IM.
Multilingualism refers to learning and speaking different languages. It supports continuous learning of the native (home) language, host language and other languages. It also refers to internationally-minded communication skills. Spoken language cannot be separated from the speaker, the purpose and the context of the speech; therefore, internationally-minded language curricula should consider interpersonal skills, especially in relation to cultural sensitivity.
The Global Engagement (GE) dimension of IM refers to issues that cross national borders such as environment, power and privilege, conflict resolution, human rights, sustainability, world cultures and awareness of the work of international organisations such as the UN or the EU. A globally-engaged learner will be knowledgeable about local and global issues across disciplines and will also be globally conscious.
Finally, Intercultural Understanding (IU) is the dominant and the most important component of IM. It informs curriculum development and subject content through its integrated focus on multilingualism and global engagement and pedagogies of critical reflection, dialogue and active inquiry.
IU refers to, in Singh & Qi’s words, “developing students’ critical appreciation and reflection on similarities and differences across human communities, their diversity and interconnections”.
Students need to develop knowledge (cognition), attitudes (emotions), and skills (behaviour) to be able to build positive and effective relationships with members of other cultures both abroad and at home. They need to have a positive disposition to other cultures demonstrated by openness, curiosity, empathy, and respect.
This article presented a short theoretical overview of international mindedness, but in the next articles we will dive into more practical domains of IM and its application to international school settings.
References and further reading
Harwood, R., & Bailey, K. (2012). Defining and evaluating international mindedness in a school context. International Schools Journal, 31(2), 77-86. Harwood, R., & Bailey, K. (2013). Evaluating and fostering international-mindedness. International School, 15(2), 18-20
Haywood, T. (2015). International mindedness and its enemies. In M. Hayden, J. Levy, & J. Thompson (Eds.), The Sage handbook of international education (2nd ed., pp. 45–58). London, UK: Sage
Singh, M., & Qui, J. (2013). 21st century international mindedness: An exploratory study of its conceptualisation and assessment. Sydney, Australia: University of Western Sydney.
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