Significant determinants of contribution to the development of higher levels of intercultural sensitivity

Abstract

In the so-called global village of the 21st century, interactions between people of different cultural heritages are becoming more frequent as a result of technological development and mobility, which is reflected in business, travel and leisure. The task of intercultural education (ICE) is to develop intercultural sensitivity (IS) as an affective component and at the same time the foundation and prerequisite for intercultural communication competence (ICC). IS is developed through the curriculum of the cross-curricular theme of civic education and through the curricula of a number of school subjects/faculty courses (especially social studies, linguistics and art), by holistically affecting all aspects of student development. Educational institutions (which, according to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, are part of the microsystem of the child/student) play an important role in the development of IS. However, research shows that teachers in many countries, including the Republic of Croatia, are still not sufficiently prepared for the challenges of IS. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of key predictors, or determinants, that contribute to the development of IS, present relevant empirical findings and offer a critical review. According to the research results, these determinants can be divided into: a) indirect: multicultural experiences (more frequent contacts with members and friendships with people from other cultures, volunteer work, student exchanges, education with members of other cultures, etc.) and b) direct: following news and events outside one’s own country, following media and art from other cultures, learning about other cultures, knowledge of foreign languages, a number of psychological determinants (such as ethnocultural empathy, social-emotional competence, self-confidence in interactions, personality traits - primarily Agreeableness, Extraversion and Openness, behavioral flexibility, self-control), and sociodemographic (individual education, educational status of parents, years of experience of educational staff, graduate level of study, urbanity of residence, type of secondary school, etc.). Based on the analysis of the aforementioned predictors and insights from empirical research, the final part of the paper formulates recommendations for more effective development of IOiO in accordance with the constructivist learning paradigm.