Intercultural Sensitivity of Teachers in a Culturally Heterogeneous Context in Serbia: Accepting Cultural Differences or Overrating One’s Intercultural Sensitivity?
Journal Title: Nastava i vaspitanje/ Studies in Teaching and Education - Year 2024, Vol 73, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper looks at the intercultural sensitivity of teachers in a culturally heterogeneous context in Serbia, defined in accordance with Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. The main objective of this research was to determine the following: a) the average developmental orientation and perceived orientation scores of the teachers; b) the frequency of participants in different stages of developmental orientation; c) whether there are significant differences between the developmental and the perceived orientation of teachers; d) whether the gap between the perceived and the developmental orientation varies across the developmental continuum in line with the supposition of the Dunning–Kruger effect. The sample consisted of 76 primary school teachers from Vojvodina and South Serbia. Furthermore, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®), used in this research, is based on the theoretical foundations of the selected model of intercultural sensitivity. The results indicate that the mean developmental orientation of teachers is in the range of minimization, while they perceive themselves as more interculturally sensitive, in alignment with the ethno-relativistic orientation of acceptance. The differences between the perceived and the developmental orientations are significant. The gap between the perceived and the developmental orientations decreases with higher intercultural sensitivity, meaning that those teachers who are interculturally sensitive are more objective in assessing their own intercultural sensitivity in comparison with those who are less interculturally sensitive. The implications of the obtained results, when it comes to the professional roles of teachers and their development as reflexive practitioners, are further discussed in this article.
Authors and Affiliations
Dimitrijević Bojanaa , Petrović Danijelab, Zlatković Blagicac, Starčević Jelena
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP753443
- DOI 10.5937/nasvas2403283D
- Views 2
- Downloads 1
Who is Lying and Who is Telling the Truth? The Role of Education in the Development of Understanding of Lies
Lying is a common phenomenon that becomes a part of human life from a certain point in individual development. In many cases, it is through poorly chosen educational methods that children learn to lie. When family or s...
Stavovi učenika osnovne škole prema inkluziji u nastavi fizičkog vaspitanja
Polazeći od značaja pozitivnih stavova učenika bez teškoća u razvoju prema uključivanju učenika sa teškoćama u nastavu fizičkog vaspitanja (FV), kao i specifičnosti nastave FV, cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se ispitaj...
Some questions about creativity in digital age
The subject of interest in this paper relates to the expression of creativity from childhood to adolescence in the society today, which many mirror as the digital age. Firstly, the paper presents a Developmental model...
Inkluzija u obrazovanju kao cilj i sadržaj reformi savremenih školskih sistema
Inkluzija u obrazovanju kao teorijsko-praktični koncept široko je prihvaćena i predstavlja zajedničku odliku prakse funkcionisanja savremenih školskih sistema, kao i sadržaj globalne politike i nacionalnih obrazovnih pol...
Lexical knowledge of Serbian L1 English L2 learners: reception vs. production
The acquisition of lexical knowledge in a second/foreign language is often investigated by means of vocabulary size tests which assess two aspects of the learners’ competence: reception and production. Estimates of these...