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Fostering Intercultural Competence and Neighbourliness in Multicultural Online Classrooms: Tools, Strategies, and Implications for 21st Century Education

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Muhammet Demirbilek at T.C. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi
Muhammet Demirbilek
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Abstract

This chapter is to introduce online tools that enable the advancement of intercultural competence and neighbourness in multicultural classrooms. The tools presented are specifically designed for online environments, such as remote lectures and online workshops. A neighbourness learning tool refers to a method or approach to promote and develop the learner's neighbourness competences. The intended target group for the tools are primarily students. The intended users of the toolkit are teachers and administrators. The motivation of this chapter was to raise awareness about the importance of intercultural and neighbourness skills in a global world and to promote neighbourliness in diverse educational institutions. Living and learning together with people from all around the world represents an urgent need.
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Chapter 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-8795-2.ch016
ABSTRACT
This chapter is to introduce online tools that enable the advancement of intercultural competence and
neighbourness in multicultural classrooms. The tools presented are specifically designed for online
environments, such as remote lectures and online workshops. A neighbourness learning tool refers to
a method or approach to promote and develop the learner’s neighbourness competences. The intended
target group for the tools are primarily students. The intended users of the toolkit are teachers and ad-
ministrators. The motivation of this chapter was to raise awareness about the importance of intercultural
and neighbourness skills in a global world and to promote neighbourliness in diverse educational insti-
tutions. Living and learning together with people from all around the world represents an urgent need.
INTRODUCTION
The globalization of education, linked to the increased freedom of students’ and teachers’ movement,
plays here an important role. Indeed, it co-causes the increase of students’ national and cultural diversity,
consequently raising the need to face challenges linked to these differences (e.g., with respect to dialogue,
trust, effective collaboration) (Rattan & Ambady, 2013). Educational institutions are therefore called to
design and adopt tools that help academics and administrative staff to promote the development of digital
Fostering Intercultural
Competence and
Neighbourliness in Multicultural
Online Classrooms:
Tools, Strategies, and Implications
for 21st Century Education
Muhammet Demirbilek
Faculty of Education, Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey
401
Fostering Intercultural Competence and Neighbourliness
neighbourness competences, for instance through innovative intercultural pedagogy practices and tools
accompanied by adequate institution’s internationalization strategies and practices.
Neighbourness refers indeed to the ability of living and learning together, and represents today an
urgent need, due to the increase of human mobility on one hand, and of the technological hyper con-
nectivity on the other hand (Lögdlund & de Kaminski, 2011). Neighbourness is an important set of
competences in present disruptive, fluid and complex times, where citizens (and particularly younger
generations) increasingly look at global horizons, while being at risk of losing interest for local roots
and sense of belonging.
Neighbourness is rarely either understood by students or educators as a means of developing a condu-
cive learning environment. International students often face problems when encountering a new learning
environment abroad (e.g., slow pace of adaptation to the pedagogical approach; cultural shock and in-
ability to effectively adapt to cultural differences, teaching and learning styles differences). Sometimes,
cultural barriers inhibit the interaction with local students, causing monocultural exclusive interactions.
In most cases, local educators are not equipped on how to handle these challenges, and thus are not able
to help students to overcome cultural barriers. Therefore, neighbourness― being empathetic, respect-
ing others, offering help if needed, showing curiosity and learning from others and cooperating―not
necessarily occurs or becomes visible in most of university contexts, if not appropriately guided as a
learning process (Lögdlund & de Kaminski, 2011). This is an important gap to notice and to solve, be-
cause university graduates are then becoming leaders in societies, industries and nations; yet, many of
them might be deprived of neighbourness and dialogue competences, having a negative impact on their
personal, business and community experiences (Lögdlund & de Kaminski, 2011).
Neighbourness generally seems to not be understood by higher education students or educators as a
means of developing a conducive learning environment (Demirbilek, et al., 2021). Often international
students have problems in novel learning environments abroad. These problems include such as slower
paces of adaptation to the pedagogical approaches, cultural shocks, and inabilities to effectively adapt
to cultural, and teaching/learning style differences. Cultural barriers often inhibit interaction with local
students, causing mono-cultural exclusive interactions (Chapdelaine & Alexitch, 2004; Searle & Ward,
1990). Too often local academics seem to not be equipped to handle such problems, and thus students
don’t receive the support they need.
Educators in higher education institutions increasingly use online solutions. This is largely due to
advancements in information technology. Global circumstances, including the Covid-19 pandemic that
emerged in the spring of 2020, have enforced the use of remote learning solutions. While online solutions
have evolved to a stage in which they offer a wide variety of options for online teaching and learning, the
online environment still differs from the traditional setting where teachers and students would physically
meet. Nevertheless, it seems likely that the future of higher education institutions teaching lies in the
increasing use of online possibilities. Therefore, the objective of advancing intercultural competence
and neighbourness in multicultural classrooms should consider this likely evolution (Barrett, 2018;
Borghetti, 2017).
In classrooms, there generally are two main types of interactions: teacher-student interactions and
student-student interactions. In multicultural classrooms, these interactions will include the mixing of
individuals with different cultural backgrounds. The concept of cultural background may be seen to
incorporate a myriad of aspects, such as language, beliefs, stereotypes, rules and more, characterizing
the members of a society and differentiating it from other societies (Kafka, 2021). For instance, there
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