Intercultural Knowledge

Being an effective educator in todays classrooms demands intercultural competence, one dimension of which is cultural knowledge of your students and their backgrounds.

Take this 30 question survey in order to get a better understanding of your own intercultural knowledge as an educator. Final scores are given based on levels of agreement with the statements. The more honest you are, the more meaningful the results. However, the results are not meant to rank or to judge but rather to indicate your own areas of intercultural competence that are strong as well as those in need of further development.

Created by: Leanne Doiron
  1. What is your age?
  2. What is your gender?
  1. I know at least several important phrases in the first languages of my students, even if they are not my own
  2. I know about my students' relevant family background and influences through open communication with families
  3. I know the major holidays and celebrations of my students' cultures
  4. I know how to use gestures or body language to communicate respect in the cultures of my students
  5. I know about the influential figures and events affecting the cultures of my students
  6. I know the important gender related expectations and norms of students' cultures
  7. I know the resources that are available in my community to assist the needs of refugee or immigrant students
  8. I know about my students' level of academic performance and experience in their previous country/school
  9. I know how to respond to questions around the practices and beliefs of my own culture
  10. I know of the everyday instances of privilege which grant me unearned advantage as a member of the dominant culture, or which grant me disadvantage as a member of the minority culture
  11. I know that higher achievement levels of students might affect their level of cultural competence (studies have correlated achievement with higher stages of developmental sensitivity)
  12. I know that the gender of my students may be related to their development of intercultural sensitivity (studies have found that girls generally scored higher)
  13. I know of fundamental human rights and freedoms (such as in the conventions on the rights of the child or in the charter of rights and freedoms) and promote awareness among my students
  14. I know the effects of globalization and interdependence that are affecting my school and community
  15. I know differences between high context cultures privileging group identity/ compliance, and low context cultures privileging personal identity/assertiveness
  16. I know some of the basic values and traditions of an indigenous worldview such as storytelling tradition, harmony with nature, the medicine wheel, and community responsibility and motivation
  17. I know and acknowledge that students entering a new culture as a minority will experience an "affective filter" of anxious silence, and will need a safe and trusting space in order to contribute
  18. I know that there will be cultural differences between field independent learners who are more self-directed, and field dependent learners who rely more heavily on instructional support and validation
  19. I know that my religious and political beliefs will have a significant influence on my intercultural sensitivity (more liberal groups generally score higher in this area)
  20. I know that any event or occurrence can be viewed from multiple and conflicting perspectives
  21. I know of my student's social status and treatment in relation to their own culture, based on class and gender
  22. I know my students' preferred learning styles, modes, and intelligences
  23. I know my students' future goals and ambitions
  24. I know or can personally relate to the experience of being in a setting where I am the cultural minority
  25. I know the effect that my practices personally and as part of the school have on the natural environment
  26. I know that I have a great deal of power within the classroom and that I could be the sole difference between a positive or negative experience for my students
  27. I know of current global issues and developments
  28. I know of my students' prior experiences and contact with cultures that are not their own
  29. I know some of the key values and expectations around schooling, success, and motivation in the cultures of my students
  30. I know the support systems that are in place at my school in order to assist new immigrant/EAL students

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