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Chapter Four
Intercultural
Development
Considering the Growth of
Self and Students
Developmental Models
 What does it mean to change over time,
to see the world from a new and different
perspective, often as a result of direct
experience and maturation?
 Developmental models provide a schema
within which to consider such changes.
Developmental Models in the
Study of Culture
 Have recently begun to emerge, particularly
with respect to
 Ethnic identity: generally defined on the basis
of cultural criteria (customs, language)
 Racial identity: generally defined on the basis
of physical criteria (skin color, facial features)
 One may identify oneself using one, the other,
or both identities.
Models of Racial/Immigrant
Identity Development
 Cross/Spring five-stage model:
Pre-encounter: internalization of negative
stereotypes by mainstream society
Encounter: confrontation by a incident that
forces questioning, e.g., racial profiling
Immersion/Emersion: assumption of a new
ethnic identity, loss of self-hatred
Continued…
Immersion: total involvement in the
ethnic culture—active in discussion,
organizations; highly enthnocentric
Internalization: recognition of and
comfort in living in two worlds;
becoming bicultural, or multicultural;
can be both accepting and critical of
mainstream culture
James Banks’s Model of
Ethnic Development
 Ethnic psychological captivity
 Ethnic encapsulation
 Similar to
Cross’s model
 Ethnic identify clarification
 Biethnicity: individuals have a strong sense of
their own ethnic identity as well as a healthy
understanding and respect for others
Continued…
 Multiethnicity: individuals have a healthy
understanding and appreciation of many groups;
the ideal for an ethnically pluralistic society like the
United States
 Globalism and Global Competency: individuals
reflect positive ethnic, national, and global
identities while demonstrating the knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and abilities to function effectively
in ethnic cultures from a variety of contexts
Progress Toward This Ideal in
the United States
 If we are to become culturally competent
on a national and a global scale, there is
much to be done.
 Schools are important places where this
work can proceed.
 Over time we have become more
inclusive, but we are not “there” yet.
Historical Perspectives on
Multicultural Education: Two
Approaches
 Anglo-Conformity, or
the Assimilationist
Ideology:
The role of the
school is to
assimilate all
immigrants into the
dominant society;
ethnic identity should
be short-lived; the
“melting pot”
 Multiculturalism, or
the Pluralist Ideology:
Since the “melting
pot” didn’t work, the
role of the school is
to assist students in
becoming bi- or
multicultural; society
is considered richer
for its diversity; the
“salad bowl”
Contemporary Multicultural
Education Programs: They Are
Not All the Same
 Sleeter and Grant’s Typology categorizes five
kinds of multicultural education programs:
 Teaching the Culturally Different
 Human Relations
 Single-Group Studies
 Inclusive Multicultural Education
 Education That is Multicultural and Socially
Reconstructionist
Continued…
 Teaching the Culturally Different:
these programs attempt to help
individuals develop competence in the
dominant culture while maintaining
their own cultural identity; focus tends
to be on culture and language of target
groups
Human Relations: programs that focus
on communication and self-esteem
Single-Group Studies: programs that
focus on a specific group—its heritage,
contributions, and perspectives
Continued…
Inclusive Multicultural Education:
programs that focus on linking the
experiences of ethnic groups while
developing a conceptual core
Education That is Multicultural and
Socially Reconstructionist: programs
that focus on the power relations
among cultural groups and enable
students to shape their own destinies
while reconstructing society in more
equitable patterns
 The Mitchell Typology categorizes
programs by purposes and practices in
three ways:
Models of Cultural Understanding
Models of Cultural Competence
Models of Cultural Emancipation and
Social Reconstruction
Continued…
 Models of Cultural Understanding
Focus on improving communication
Assume that all social and ethnic
groups be perceived as “equal”
Posit that ethnic identity is a matter of
individual choice
Continued…
Models of Cultural Competence
 Promote appreciation of other
cultural groups
 Focus on understanding one’s
own cultural identity
 Assert that all students should be
“at home” in more than one
cultural system
 Insist that members of minority
groups become fluent in the
dominant culture
Continued…
Models of Cultural Emancipation and
Social Reconstruction
Believe that cultural diversity in
the U.S. is a positive force
Focus on attitudes and behavior
of teachers as central to
redressing past patterns of
discrimination and increasing
educational and job opportunities
for minority students
Intercultural Competence
 Early studies of people who work effectively
across cultures suggest that:
 They are able to manage psychological
stress.
 They are able to communicate effectively, both
verbally and non-verbally.
 They are able to develop and maintain new
and essential interpersonal relationships.
Interculturally Competent Skills
 The ability to respond to others non-judgmentally
 The ability to propose more than one cultural interpretation of
behavior
 The ability to mediate conflicts and solve problems in culturally
appropriate ways
 The ability to motivate others in the context of their cultural
values
 The ability to promote effective intercultural interaction
 The ability to model culturally sensitive behaviors and
attitudes
 The ability to seek out new learning about cultural differences
 The ability to institutionalize an intercultural perspective in
personal and professional practice
Developing Intercultural
Sensitivity
 Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) provides a
framework for understanding individual
development and awareness along a
continuum, from a highly ethnocentric
perspective to a highly ethnorelative
perspective.
Stages in Bennett’s Model
 Ethnocentric side
 Denial: inability to see
cultural differences
 Defense: recognition of
cultural differences, but
negative evaluations of
most
 Minimization:
acceptance of
superficial cultural
differences, but belief
that all human beings
are essentially the same
 Ethnorelative side
 Acceptance: ability to
recognize and
appreciate cultural
differences on their own
terms
 Adaptation: ability to see
cultural categories as
more flexible, become
more competent in
ability to communicate
 Integration: (rarely
achieved) ability to
move easily among
multiple perspectives
Something to Think About
One of the higher callings for young
people in the coming century will be
working to increase intercultural
understanding. Such people will be
the missionaries of the age,
spreading light among groups. . .by
giving them a modern vision of the
new global community.
--Carl Coon