| Faculty members involved in transnational education are required to work and live in unfamiliar cultural environments, which necessitate a level of intercultural awareness and adaptation. The effectiveness of strategies employed by American transnational educators for developing intercultural competence, as well as how these strategies affect student satisfaction with the teaching, was investigated. Intercultural training and support offered by home and host institutions were described. Faculty participants' perception of the support they received, and of the effectiveness of strategies they used, were also described. Students enrolled in courses taught by transnational educators were surveyed, to determine how their perspective of faculty members' intercultural preparedness affected their level of satisfaction with the teaching provided. The Bennett's model of intercultural sensitivity, the Byram's model of intercultural communicative competence, and Badley's characteristics of a globally competent teacher, were used to develop the research instruments and analyze the data. A mixed methods approach was implemented, which consisted of Web-based surveys and in-depth interviews. The majority of faculty participants had had previous international teaching experience, which affected how they rated the effectiveness of their intercultural preparedness. Faculty participants who had taught international students on their home campus, and/or who had had prior international teaching experience, did not automatically display intercultural competence. In addition, culture shock occurred among faculty participants who had previously traveled to foreign countries. A certain level of formal and/or informal intercultural training was provided by most of the entities that sponsored the faculty participants' teaching assignments; some of the host institutions were also involved in providing mentoring and intercultural training. On the other hand, very limited information was provided concerning how cultural differences affect pedagogical issues. The students' perception of faculty participants' intercultural preparedness was in agreement with faculty participants' level of intercultural competence. The majority of the students were very satisfied with the course, and their expectations of the course had been exceeded. Key components for an effective professional development program for transnational faculty members were recommended, based on the findings of this study. Future studies related to developing intercultural competence of transnational educators were also suggested. |
