Schimböck, F., & Seppänen, J. (2020). A Descriptive Comparison of Three Virtual Journal Club Formats to Promote Evidence-Based and Intercultural Learning in Nursing Education: A Pilot Study.

Traditional journal club formats based on a presentation session followed by a group discussion are well-known in healthcare education but have many limitations. To overcome some of these, virtual journal club (VJC) formats using the learning management system (LMS) Moodle were developed. Aim: The aim of the study was to offer and compare three VJC formats (via forum, chat and videoconference) for nursing students of two universities in Germany and Finland and to report students’ satisfaction regarding structure, organisation, procedure and intercultural learning.

Bailey, A., & Gruber, A. (2020). Challenges and other feedback: Integrating intercultural learning in the Digital Age. The EuroCALL Review, 28(1), 3-14. doi:https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2020.11982

This mixed method case study explored globalization and complex relationships through a virtual exchange project between students from Germany and Colombia in upper intermediate level English classes. We believed by providing a space for online conversation, written collaboration and discussion, students would enhance their plurilingual and pluricultural competence as well as their communicative competences through the medium of English as an international language (EIL).  The aim was also to enable students to investigate cultural complexity and to develop cultural curiosity. 

Shadiev, R., Wang, X. & Huang, Y. (2020). Promoting Intercultural Competence in a Learning Activity Supported by Virtual Reality Technology. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(3), 157–174. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i3.4752

 

Virtual reality (VR) technology makes it possible to create an authentic virtual environment that benefits immersive learning. The authors designed an intercultural learning activity and applied VR technology to support it. Then, they investigated students’ perceptions of the learning activity, VR technology, and intercultural competence (IC) development during learning. Students from China and Uzbekistan participated in the activity, in which a pragmatic mixed-methods approach was used. The data were collected through student reports, three questionnaires, and interviews, and then analyzed. Three main findings were obtained.

 

This course introduces basic concepts and principals in intercultural communication and examines the intersections of culture, communication, and language learning. The course explores the many ways in which culture interacts with and influences second language acquisition. The course is designed to encourage students to synthesize theoretical concepts in intercultural communication and apply them to language pedagogy in critical and creative ways.

This activity presents a method to encourage participants to study up on each other’s names, and gives them an excuse to ask and clarify about their names when given a few minutes at the start of the game to check in with each other and review names together.

This blog post suggests that icebreakers are often uncomfortable or awkward. As an alternative to the traditional icebreaker, Stanchfield  recommends beginning with rapport building and reflective dialogue with a partner or small group sharing activities and starting with simple, non-threatening — but relevant, context setting– questions or an object/picture/quote to use as a talking point. This allows participants an opportunity to warm up by interacting with just one or two others at a time before sharing with the larger group.

This article stresses the importance of using language carefully and adapting an attitude of openness and curiosity rather than anger or distrust. "People want to feel heard," the article advises. The article eschews an us-against-them approach in controversial topics such as gun control, abortion and healthcare, and espouses a larger, more unified perception of self and others to enhance intercultural communication. 

This activity covers the five stages of intercultural competence as codified in Bennett & Hammer's Intercultural Development Continuum (IDC). Students use color-coded cues to compare the feelings, strengths & challenges of each stage, as well as the stage-appropriate skill which needs to be developed in order to move forward.

In this community-building activity, participants study each other’s names and remind each other about the correct pronunciations of their names. 

As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to: 1. Define intercultural learning. 2. Compare analogies for culture. 3. Identify domains from the AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge & Competence VALUE Rubric and apply them as learning outcomes for experiential activities. 

As a result of this activity, participants will be able to: 1. Learn the basic presentation structure and components in American academic presentation. 2. Articulate the similarities and differences in presentation styles between American academic culture and their home cultures. 3. Acquire incidental knowledge about the presentation styles in the home cultures of their peers. 4. Analyze the structure of American presentations independently and in groupwork. 5. Apply their new knowledge of American presentation styles to their own presentations

As a result of using this media resource, participants will: 1. Improve their intercultural communication skills. 2. Develop their ability to bridge difference. 3. Increase their cultural competency.

Learners articulate their own cultural norms and biases that they bring with them to their teaching in undergraduate biology courses; practice reflective awareness of how students' own cultural identities may be different from their own and how that could affect their participation and learning in courses; and identify and practice teaching and interaction strategies to employ to engage ALL learners in their classrooms

Citation: Banat, H., Sims, R., Tran, P., Panahi, P., & Dilger, B. (2021). Developing intercultural competence through a linked course model curriculum: Mainstream and L2-specific first-year writing. TESOL Journal, 00, 1– 16. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.613

Institutions of higher education in the United States continue to witness a dramatic shift in the spectrum of diversity in their student populations. Multiple variables of difference that mixed student demographics bring to university campuses make internationalization work necessary both inside and outside the classroom. Internationalization of higher education is a collaborative responsibility academic and nonacademic programs should share to facilitate the integration of various student populations within the broader culture of the university. However, there are few, if any, models for internationalizing introductory courses required of a large percentage of the student body, such as first-year writing (FYW). In this article, the authors propose and argue for an intercultural competence–oriented approach to internationalizing writing programs through a linked course model curriculum that pairs international and domestic students in separate second language–specific and mainstream FYW classes. The linked course model curriculum develops and assesses students’ intercultural learning and writing skills as core learning outcomes. This article presents the curricular design and interventions, the research design of the study conducted across three semesters of curriculum implementation, and the reflective writing results from the pilot semester to communicate the preliminary effectiveness of this curricular model.

What's on family dinner tables around the globe? Photographs by Peter Menzel from the book "Hungry Planet."

Filmmaker Thomas Balmès criss-crosses the globe to observe and record the first two years in the lives of four infants and their families. Ponijao is the youngest of nine children and lives in a village in Namibia. Bayarjargal's family lives in Mongolia. Hattie is a San Francisco couple's first child, and Mari is the first child of a couple living in Tokyo.

Being the new kid in a Southern California town, 14-year-old Daniel becomes a red-hot target of a group of bullies who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo. At school, Daniel grows close with Ali Mills, an attractive cheerleader, which grabs the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence, who is also a skilled practitioner of the unethical and dangerous form of karate. Johnny and his gang torment Daniel and continuously beat him up, until Kesuke Miyagi, the handyman at Daniel’s apartment, intervenes and single-handedly defeats all five bullies in the famous Halloween fight scene.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/films-that-address-bullying-ddec43ba70514de0

The story of widower Atticus Finch, who makes the difficult decision to defend an African American man accused of raping a white woman, and his children teaches older kids important lessons about prejudice, and the themes of empathy, compassion and justice are universal and timeless.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/films-that-address-bullying-ddec43ba70514de0

This gripping documentary tells the story of Owen Suskind, a young man with autism who uses his passion for Disney movies to help him understand the world and communicate more effectively with the people in his life. By tackling the issues of disability, adult children with special needs, learning differences and what it means to be independent.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/family-movies-that-celebrate-diversity-446eb171be8f4216

"Loving” is a powerful drama inspired by the true story of an interracial couple’s historic fight. Richard and Mildred Loving (played by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, respectively) got married in Virginia in 1958, even though it was illegal at the time, and as a result, they are arrested and kicked out of their home.

At the heart of this movie is a message of hope: It’s possible for love and compassion to defeat hatred and prejudice, and real love survives even the harshest of social and cultural constraints.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/family-movies-that-celebrate-diversity-446eb171be8f4216

This compelling, moving film follows 11-year-olds from around the world (Australia, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, India, Morocco, Japan, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States). The youngsters share their beliefs, challenges, passions and triumphs, showing that issues like bullying and discrimination are experienced by everyone, regardless of where you come from and what you look like.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/family-movies-that-celebrate-diversity-446eb171be8f4216

The movie is about a true story of three brilliant African American women who worked at NASA during the early 1960s. At this time, both women and people of color were widely and openly discriminated against, particularly in segregationist Virginia.

Source: https://www.familyminded.com/s/family-movies-that-celebrate-diversity-446eb171be8f4216

The Titans have to learn to overcome their own personal differences and play together as a team despite their town’s racial tensions, which are highlighted by racial slurs, riots and public segregation.

“On the Way to School” features four children on their way to school, each of them overcoming their own personal obstacles to get there. Samuel is pushed 2.5 miles in a homemade wheelchair by his younger brothers; Jackson has to avoid wild animals on the African savannah; Zahira navigates the Atlas Mountains weekly to get to boarding school; and Carlito has a 90-minute horseback ride across the pampas.

"This international hodgepodge strikes many shoppers and food purveyors as antiquated. But [according to reporters at The New York Times] doing away with it isn’t as easy as it might sound."