A Study On Intercultural Education: Theories And Practices

Because of the further development of globalization, culture diversity has been a major issue of most country in the world. In order to promote respect, understanding and communication among different groups and individuals, intercultural education is rising in western countries, especially in Western Europe. Being a multi-ethnic country China has faced this challenge for a long time, it has big significance for theory and practice to clarify the connotation of intercultural education.Introduction points out the background of the topic, the significance and method of this research. Based on literate review, this thesis come up with research questions, they are the reason of the rising of intercultural education, the theoretical connotation of intercultural education and the practical implication of intercultural education.The first chapter explains the rising and debates of intercultural education. Culture diversity as rights and culture diversity as resource are two perspectives to culture diversity. Recently multiculturalism has been retreated, international organizations and lots of countries are advocating interculturalism. Because of this trend, intercultural education is rising. But there is confusion with intercultural education. In order to clarify this confusion, it is necessary to re-examine the basic concepts-cultural difference and identity.The second chapter analyzes cultural difference from perspectives of anthropology, sociology and psychology. These three disciplines slightly different understanding of culture. Anthropology treats culture as a representative characterization of Other, it’s implication to intercultural education is to develop learners’ attitude, cultural critical awareness of learners, and learn other’s culture knowledge. Sociology discusses the dual character of culture based on the relationship between structure and action, so intercultural education needs to promote learners to get culture capital, develop learners’ intercultural skills, and instruction and evaluation of intercultural education must be closely connected with everyday life experience. From the perspective of psychological interpretation of cultural differences, intercultural education needs to promote learners master the knowledge framework of cultural differences, and to develop the learner’s psychological adaptability.The third chapter discusses "identity" in society of culture diversity from psychoanalysis, social psychology and sociology perspectives. Psychoanalysis perspective on identity points out that the significance of cultural diversity to the building of ego-identity, so intercultural education should construct equal school environment, and promote the integration of students’ ego-identity. Social psychology reveals the multiplicity and dynamic nature of individual social identity, so intercultural education should not overemphasizes the membership of the minority to avoid weakening their national identity. Theories in sociology points out that the individualizing of society enhanced the dynamics of individual’s identity, so individual often suffers from uncertainty and insecurity, intercultural education needs to emphasize universal values and individual’s uniqueness, to promote learners to develop intercultural identity.Based on the clarification of cultural difference and identity, the forth chapter interprets intercultural competence. As the basic aim of intercultural education, intercultural competence builds from different approaches including communicating and adjusting approach, foreign language education approach and integrative approach. Intercultural training always based on the frameworks of communicating and adjusting approach, intercultural school education applies the frameworks of foreign language education. The integrative approach tries to develop a general framework. On the basis of the existing researches on intercultural competence, this thesis preliminarily explored intercultural competence in school education.The fifth chapter discusses the implementation of intercultural education in school. The curriculum development of intercultural competence can be divided into 2 approaches:integrating into subject curriculum and cross-subject curriculum. Subject curriculum needs to reorganize the existing curriculum content or add the content of intercultural competence, and cross-subject curriculum is designed specially to develop intercultural competence. Instruction of intercultural education includes group discussion and activities instruction; the assessment should uses performance assessment.On the basis of previous chapters the conclusion chapter points out that, the rising of intercultural education is a remedy of multiculturalism’s discontents. Intercultural education is not only the indicator of western political developments, but also is the reflection of multidisciplinary developments. Based on the dynamic and non-essentialism perspectives of culture and identity, the essential conation of intercultural education is to develop learners’ intercultural competence. It is new interpretations of "learn to live together". Inspirations for ours’ culture diversity education includes understanding cultural difference and identity from dynamic and non-essentialism perspective; promoting intercultural communication during school education; emphasizing the development of learners’ universal values; Taking intercultural competence as the object of general education; developing teachers’ intercultural competence.