Teaching About Other Cultures - A list of activities that enchance intercultural understanding

Abstract

Amongst the different discussions on what it means to ‘be international’, Hayden et al. (2000) conducted a research to investigate the perceptions of students and teachers of international schools on this matter. The statement “In order to be international it is necessary to be informed about people from other cultures” was ranked as most important. Multicultural education, though, is not restricted to international schools, but often also required by regular national schools. The international mindedness resulting from this kind of education is an increasingly demanded competence. The question answered in this research is how information about people from other cultures can be incorporated in the daily teaching practice. For this, teachers at two international schools, the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, and Trondheim International School in Norway, were interviewed. A list of examples of activities was made to inspire teachers from any kind of school who wish to enhance multicultural teaching. Additionally, some recommendations were made of how to incorporate teaching about people from other cultures in science classes, since ideas seem to be lacking in this subject area.