Cross-Cultural Education

Due to globalization and the advance of transportation and technology, the frequency and magnitude of interaction among people around the globe has increased substantially. In the field of education, this translates to increasing diversity in classrooms and increased necessity of learning about cultures other than one's own for better communication and understanding. Although the importance of cross-cultural education has increased, the area is not well-defined, nor has it been extensively studied compared with other closely related areas, such as comparative education, international education, and multicultural education. The term cross-cultural education also is often used interchangeably with intercultural education.

A definition of cross-cultural education is that it involves a mixture of cultures in which a student is made aware of his or her own and other cultures that comprise his or her education. This approach involves experiential education.

Experiential education is one of the major approaches to cross-cultural education that provides actual experiences of visiting or living in a culture other than one's own and gaining educational experiences and knowledge through personal experiences. One of the popular examples of an experiential approach is the study abroad program. Through either short-term or long-term study abroad programs, students who participate are expected to develop a renewed sense of respect, appreciation, and apprehension about their host cultures that goes beyond acquisition of factual knowledge.

Another popular example of cross-cultural education can be seen in migrant education and English as a second language education. However, many migrant education programs are often limited to the education of language and culture of the migrants' host country. This approach positions migrant students as “problematic” and is largely based on the “deficiency” model of education. Cross-cultural education should be presented to the whole class rather than just to the migrant students to facilitate respect and tolerance toward cultural diversity and forming solidarity among students with diverse cultures. Cross-cultural education at the institutional level advocates integration of students with diverse cultures, rather than assimilation.

Cross-cultural education involves not only learning at different cultural institutions but also learning about different cultures. A student does not need to be in another place or culture other than his or her own to receive cross-cultural education. Cross-cultural education is commonly found in many foreign-language classes. Language influences the possibility of intracultural or intercultural understanding, and language [Page 242]learning requires proper understanding of context and culture where the language is being used. Many secondor foreign-language classes strive to bring cross-cultural education into the classroom to be able to enhance student language learning.

Cross-cultural education can also be found in geography or history classes, but it should not be limited to a single subject area. If it is treated as a single subject matter, method, or structure, cross-cultural education can become static. One of the most important emphases of cross-cultural education is interaction among people from different cultures. Thus, cross-cultural education is an ideological approach or strategy to education rather than content in a single subject matter. In this vein, cross-cultural education should be incorporated not only into subject areas such as geography, history, or language classes but also into everyday class activities and practices.

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