Developing an Intercultural Vision

There is an intrinsic tension between vision development and intercultural competence as traditionally defined. In some respects, they may actually be antithetical. Competence suggests a specified destination—a set of skills that can be identified and acquired. Vision suggests an expanding horizon, an active engagement with a constantly changing destination that will always remain somewhat out of reach. Ironically, that horizon inevitably expands as people develop an ever-deepening understanding of the diversity-related complexities and perplexing challenges of the intercultural world.

Basic to this tension is the idea of learning. Competence connotes something that can be learned. Vision demands that you must continuously keep on learning. Achieving a defined competence in a world of continual change ensures rapid obsolescence. Vision embraces the recognition of the inherent inadequacy of ...