Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Why I Wrote this Book
- A Getting Started
- B Core Skills
- C Classroom Management
- D Lesson Planning
- E Learning how to Learn
- F Storytelling
- G Playing Games
- H Values Education
- I Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Raps
- J Working with Projects
- K Intercultural Competence
- L Content-Based Learning (CLIL)
- M Thinking Skills
- N Vocabulary
- O Life Skills
- P Art, Craft and Design
- Q Mime and Drama
- R Inclusion and Diversity
- S Creativity
- T Adapting or Writing Materials
- U Listening and Speaking
- V Reading and Writing
- W Multiliteracies
- X Grammar
- Y Assessment
- Z The Last Word
- Glossary
- Selected Further Reading
- Index
K - Intercultural Competence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Why I Wrote this Book
- A Getting Started
- B Core Skills
- C Classroom Management
- D Lesson Planning
- E Learning how to Learn
- F Storytelling
- G Playing Games
- H Values Education
- I Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Raps
- J Working with Projects
- K Intercultural Competence
- L Content-Based Learning (CLIL)
- M Thinking Skills
- N Vocabulary
- O Life Skills
- P Art, Craft and Design
- Q Mime and Drama
- R Inclusion and Diversity
- S Creativity
- T Adapting or Writing Materials
- U Listening and Speaking
- V Reading and Writing
- W Multiliteracies
- X Grammar
- Y Assessment
- Z The Last Word
- Glossary
- Selected Further Reading
- Index
Summary
The aim of intercultural competence is to prepare children to become curious, open-minded citizens who can live their lives positively with cultural diversity as the norm.
Intercultural competence is made up of knowledge, skills, attitudes and awareness. Knowledge includes facts about a culture and knowing how to behave in a culturally appropriate way. Skills include the ability to interact with people respectfully, and to find out things about another culture. Attitudes include a willingness to see things from another point of view. Awareness includes having a sense of your own identity and being able to relate another culture to your own.
In lower primary your approach needs to focus on getting children to participate in pleasurable cultural activities such as songs and games that may be similar to ones they know in their home language(s). As children develop, intercultural competence includes comparing and contrasting aspects of culture from the English-speaking world with their own. It also extends to learning about diverse cultures in the wider world and opportunities to interact in an intercultural communicative context.
In my experience, the starting point for developing intercultural competence is often in children's own classrooms where pupils from different ethnic, cultural, social and language backgrounds work and play together.
My key tips for intercultural competence are:
41 Integrate culture appropriately
42 Compare and contrast cultures
43 Explore culture in the wider world
44 Value children's multilingual identities
41 Integrate culture appropriately
Traditional children's culture offers a rich resource for learning and encourages pleasure in participation. However, as children get older, contemporary and pop culture is likely to be more appropriate.
In lower primary, the integration of traditional songs, rhymes, games and stories encourages children to join in activities that may be familiar from their home languages. Traditional counting songs, which exist in many languages, such as Five little ducks, are examples of this, where holding up fingers to count and acting out the songs, promotes engagement as well as gives exposure to meaningful language.
Traditional rhymes, such as Incy Wincy Spider, provide exposure to different sounds, rhythm and stress patterns, and contribute to children's pronunciation and literacy development.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Carol Read’s 101 Tips for Teaching Primary Children , pp. 51 - 55Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020