Intercultural understanding and professional learning through critical engagement

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Author(s)
Diaz, Adriana
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Intercultural understanding (IU) is one of the seven General Capabilities identified by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in the national curricular reform underway. Conceiving languages education as 'an endeavour focused on the development of intercultural understanding' (Liddicoat & Kholer, 2012, p. 73), requires teachers to identify and challenge their own beliefs and conceptualisations of the very nature of their task as educators. This paper presents the outcomes of a small-scale Professional Development program designed to help languages teachers engage with this re-envisioned task. ...
View more >Intercultural understanding (IU) is one of the seven General Capabilities identified by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in the national curricular reform underway. Conceiving languages education as 'an endeavour focused on the development of intercultural understanding' (Liddicoat & Kholer, 2012, p. 73), requires teachers to identify and challenge their own beliefs and conceptualisations of the very nature of their task as educators. This paper presents the outcomes of a small-scale Professional Development program designed to help languages teachers engage with this re-envisioned task. The program aimed to provide an opportunity for teachers - in primary and secondary language classrooms - to critically explore the links between language and culture and how these can be translated into classroom practices to foster learners' IU. This paper examines the insights yielded by this program and considers them in relation to the field of languages education and teachers' professional learning. In addition, it also identifies the main implications for current policies supporting the development of IU.
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View more >Intercultural understanding (IU) is one of the seven General Capabilities identified by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in the national curricular reform underway. Conceiving languages education as 'an endeavour focused on the development of intercultural understanding' (Liddicoat & Kholer, 2012, p. 73), requires teachers to identify and challenge their own beliefs and conceptualisations of the very nature of their task as educators. This paper presents the outcomes of a small-scale Professional Development program designed to help languages teachers engage with this re-envisioned task. The program aimed to provide an opportunity for teachers - in primary and secondary language classrooms - to critically explore the links between language and culture and how these can be translated into classroom practices to foster learners' IU. This paper examines the insights yielded by this program and considers them in relation to the field of languages education and teachers' professional learning. In addition, it also identifies the main implications for current policies supporting the development of IU.
View less >
Journal Title
Babel
Volume
48
Issue
1
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2013. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. For information about this journal please refer to the journal’s website or contact the author.
Subject
Language Studies not elsewhere classified
Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Language Studies
Linguistics