Intercultural Competence in Teaching: A Reflective Essay

This essay critically reflects on the importance of intercultural competence for effectively working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families within the Australian schooling context. It emphasizes the historical discrimination faced by these communities and the necessity for teachers to develop intercultural competencies. The essay highlights the role of teachers in fostering tolerance, cultural sensitivity, and equal opportunities for all students. It discusses the Australian Professional Teaching Standards, service learning, and community engagement as methods to develop intercultural competence. The essay underscores the significance of self-awareness, bridging the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous communities, and addressing language barriers. It uses examples of discrimination and the importance of cultural identity to promote harmony and peace in the community. The essay concludes by reiterating the vital role of teachers in shaping students' mindsets and promoting respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. The essay also includes references and responses to module activities, demonstrating engagement with academic content and the application of theoretical frameworks.

Running head: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
Intercultural competence in teaching
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
The contemporary world of today has seen a significant rise in the integration of the
different communities of various ethnic back grounds. This has brought about new changes in
the society whereby now people are required to live in harmony with each other while ensuring
the adherence to tolerant behavior. In the context of teaching and learning this takes a precedence
as the students form the future generation of the world (Martin, 2015). Thus they need to be
taught about the importance of the aspects of diversity and culture. The main purpose of this
essay is to critically reflect on the importance of intercultural competence for effectively working
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families, in the context of schooling.
In the context of Australia, it can be observed that a particular section of the society has
been widely discriminated against and essentially has been segregated from the main stream
population as a result of their cultural back ground (Griffith et al. 2016). The Aboriginals and the
Torres Strait Islander population is this section of the community. The previous governmental
and official regulation of keeping the families of such Aboriginals separated from their families
have led to the growth of the yearlong hostility and suspicious on the part of such Aboriginals. In
this regard, it can be understood that there is a requirement for the development of certain
intercultural competencies on the part of the teachers involved in the schooling system
(Schwarzenthal et al., 2017). They have the important obligation of ensuring that the children are
provided with the correct belief system and traditional background so that they may grow up to
be tolerant towards the people of all ethnic background.
The main objective of the education service providers is to ensure that equal opportunity
is provided to the children of all cultural background as they grow up to become the contributing
citizens of the society (Baker, 2015). In this regard, it can be observed that the teachers are
required to undertake certain ore entrance level exams which would judge their intelligence level

2INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
and their emotional competence to take care of the future generation (Tomozeiu & Kumpulainen,
2016).
To this effect it can be observed that there are certain Australian Professional teaching
Standards which was formulated to provide essential guidance to the students. The teachers are
required to know the potential capability of the students and ensure that their emotional
intelligence level is development in an effective manner through the impartation of the necessary
knowledge to them (Holliday, 2016).
For the development of the children in a capable manner, the teachers can engage in an
activity known as service learning and community engagement (Deardorff, 2016). This is an
effective method of teaching which collates the community service and the academic instruction
as it lays focus on the reflective and critical thinking and civic responsibility. This in turn would
enable in the development of the intercultural competence among the Aboriginals and the Torres
Strait Islander population so that they could be effectively integrated in to the main stream
community.
The aspect of self-awareness assumes a distinctive field within the sector of learning and
teaching. The idea of intercultural competence is important. With the aid of intercultural
competence, the teachers are able to teach the students about the importance of the being tolerant
to the diverse cultural back ground of their fellow class mates. This in turn, enables such students
to become culturally sensitive and respect all ethnic back grounds.
Australia was primarily colonized by the Western European powers such as that of Great
Britain. The impact of colonization is seen to be still present in the modern contemporary world
whereby a serious gap was created between the indigenous teachers and the students and the

3INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
non-indigenous students and teachers. In order to bridge this gap, important remedial measures
are being taken in the form of such intercultural competence. In this regard, it can be observed
that the teachers are providing the much needed motivation to the students and appreciation in
the event that they are able to display tolerant behavior (Schwarzenthal et al., 2017). The
children are taught to be attentive regarding the history of the Aboriginals and the hard ships they
faced during such times. Furthermore, the method of service learning and community
engagement has proved to be beneficial to this extent as the students are made to be responsible
and develop the basic civic sense of the community.
The development of the cultural identity of the different groups in the society is
considered to be important so as to ensure the prevalence of harmony and peace in the
community. Intercultural competence is developed as a result of the growth of such cultural
identity (Henderson & Jarvis, 2016). It has been observed that the Aboriginals are at times afraid
of the people belonging to the main stream society as they fear that they would be judged for
their traditions and customs. In the schools even, they have been observed not to take part in any
activities as they are of the idea that they would be ridiculed for their way of behavior and their
accent. If a child does not feel welcomed within an educational institution. Then there is the
likelihood that they would not be able to develop their emotional intelligence in a competent
manner. As a consequence of this, this would further prevent them from understanding the
inherent differences they share with the other members of the society making them more
vulnerable to attempts of segregation.
In conclusion, it can be observed that the aspect of development of intercultural
competence is essential for the effectively working with the aboriginals and the Torres Strait
Islander student. In this context, the role of the teachers assumes a significant position as they are

4INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
the ones who needs to develop suitable teaching strategies so that the mindset of the students can
be shaped in that manner. Being tolerant towards the cultures of the Aboriginals and respecting
their differences needs to be imbibed within such Australian students.

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References:
Baker, W. (2015). Research into practice: Cultural and intercultural awareness. Language
Teaching, 48(1), 130-141.
Deardorff, D. K. (2016). How to assess intercultural competence. Research methods in
intercultural communication: A practical guide, 120-135.
Griffith, R. L., Wolfeld, L., Armon, B. K., Rios, J., & Liu, O. L. (2016). Assessing intercultural
competence in higher education: Existing research and future directions. ETS Research
Report Series, 2016(2), 1-44.
Henderson, L., & Jarvis, J. (2016). The Gifted Dimension of the Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers: Implications for Professional Learning. Australian Journal of
Teacher Education, 41(8), 60-83.
Holliday, A. (2016). Revisiting intercultural competence: Small culture formation on the go
through threads of experience. International Journal of Bias, Identity and Diversities in
Education (IJBIDE), 1(2), 1-14.
Martin, J. N. (2015). Revisiting intercultural communication competence: Where to go from
here. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 48, 6-8.
Schwarzenthal, M., Juang, L. P., Schachner, M. K., van de Vijver, F. J., & Handrick, A. (2017).
From tolerance to understanding: Exploring the development of intercultural competence
in multiethnic contexts from early to late adolescence. Journal of Community & Applied
Social Psychology, 27(5), 388-399.

6INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING
Tomozeiu, D., & Kumpulainen, M. (2016). Operationalising intercultural competence for
translation pedagogy. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 10(3), 268-284.

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Appendix
Module 2.1
1. The term ‘culture’ refers to the inherent values and beliefs that are held by an individual of the
society which are developed as a result of the external conditioning of the society. Such cultural
aspects refer to the manner by which as individual interacts with other members of the
community. The culture which is followed by me is a result of the long standing relationships
that I shared with my community members and the people of my family. We shared the rituals of
worship together, food and values. Furthermore, we were also accommodating to the cultural
differences of the other members of the society.
2. The aspect of self-awareness of my cultural identity is relevant to my prospect as a future
teacher because I am extremely curious about the different cultural backgrounds of the other
members of the society.
Module 2.2
The different service agencies can enable me to learn about the different necessary experiences
needed to work effectively with the staff members of the institutions, the students and their
parents. In this context, I will take in to consideration their cultural values and the kind of clothes
they wear, they behavior and mannerisms and the food they eat. All of these would enable me to
build a strong and positive relationship with such target groups. The training provided to me
during the time of induction would enable me to engage effectively with the students and resolve
their grievances.

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Module 2.3
Butin’s theory in the field of research discusses the importance of intercultural competence in the
context of Australian students teaching in Malaysian universities. The four lenses which have
been discussed by Butin are –
Technical
Cultural
Political
Postmodern
In the words of Tangen, Mercer Spooner-Lane & Heppe (2011), if a classroom setting is
observed through the four lenses then it would aid in the development of intercultural
competence. This requires the students of different cultural background to take the effort to come
out of their comfort zone and try to understand the teaching technique adopted by their teachers
to teach effectively.
Module 3.1
An aspect of the Aboriginal cultural identity that might have a significant impact on the
educational experiences of the children is that of their language barriers. With regards to the
educational institutions, it can be observed that they usually teach in the main stream language
which is spoken by majority of the people of the region. This in turn, means that the language of
the Aboriginals would greatly diminish in importance as the students would be compelled to
adhere to the language of the common public.

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Module 3.2
In the year of 2013, a student named Adam Goodes was humiliated by several other students.
The other member sof the community came out in support of Goodes. However, in 2015, Goodes
was again humiliated by the members of the opposing team but in this case, the media did not
portray this as an act of racialism. They considered to be an act of healthy competition.
Module 3.3
The critical race theory implies that the aspect of race is more of a social and political construct
of the society rather than biological in nature. In the article written by McDonald (2003), it has
been stated that the teachers are not competent enough to use the idea of intercultural
competence and as a result of this, the students are more inclined to discuss their problems with
the indigenous workers.
The problem of being radical is often ignored in the society but it has been observed that the
children of Aboriginals are often scared of undertaking certain tasks due to the fear of being
judged.
Module 4.1
The use of educational materials in the language of English often poses a challenge to the
Aboriginal students as they often find it difficult to comprehensively interpret such materials.
They are more comfortable to the materials of their native tongue.
Often time sit is observed that the characters in the books usually belong to the main stream
population. In this context, it poses a problem to the Aboriginal children as they do not find any
common ground with the characters in the book.

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It is an important obligation on the part of the teachers to understand the cultural differences of
the students. However, often times it can be observed that the teachers are unable to comprehend
the desires or the needs of the students since they cannot relate to such diversity in their cultural
and traditional perspectives.
Module 4.2
Freire’s theory is a process whereby a particular skill is physically taken in to consideration and
embodied within an individual. The students of aboriginal background often face the problem of
completing their work on time as they have certain other social obligations to fulfill. In this
context, it can be stated that the development of a new pedagogy is needed which adheres to the
mental development of all the students. As a result, adhering to the theory of Freire, the teachers
are needed to not only focus on the content but the manner in which they are being taught to the
students, especially the indigenous students.
Module 4.3
Two ways of engaging in cultural sustaining pedagogy are –
First, to develop an inclusive learning environment whereby all the students irrespective of their
cultural background would be motivated to participate actively within the class activities.
Second, the students would be made to interact with the other elderly members of the community
so that a feeling of belongingness is created among the students.

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