Yes, you can!: A Critical Questions Approach for Developing and Incorporating Intercultural Sensitivity Efforts into ANY classroom

Abstract

The educational literature has blossomed with information on becoming interculturally competent (e.g., Bennett, 2004; 2009) discussions on theory and practice for intercultural education (e.g., Bleszynska, 2008), or how to identify and assess intercultural awareness as a learning outcome (e.g., Deardorff, 2006). Much of this work provides information on why an emphasis on intercultural education is important, and guidance on how to incorporate such an emphasis into particular courses. The difficulty, then, is not in locating a myriad of resources on the topic but how to simplify the concept of intercultural education so that it can be incorporated into the flow of any classroom. In other words, what would intercultural awareness or sensitivity “look like” in students as a result of what we DO in the classroom? The present article deconstructs the literature in an attempt to demonstrate how a “hands on” approach to intercultural sensitivity was gleaned from the literature and put into practice in a course on Prejudice, Discrimination and Hate.