Abstract
Intercultural competence is essential for faculty working closely with students from diverse backgrounds. There is a need to bridge the gap between faculty and students from different cultures and enable them to effectively work in a diverse place and speak to a global audience. This chapter proposes a framework consisting of empathy and self-reflection, and virtual reality (VR) training is currently being developed by the author based on this framework. This chapter argues that the proposed framework and VR training will enable faculty to integrate cultural competency and provide them with the essential tools to play their roles as responsible members of our worldwide community, which is aligned with the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
TopIntroduction
Intercultural competence is an essential tool in the 21st century and an integral part of global readiness. The significance of cultural diversity in student communities was glaringly evident in the status report of the American Council on Education (Espinosa et al., 2019), which showed that 45% of students enrolled at degree-granting institutions in 2016 were non-White. Because of such diversity, 13 years ago, Spitzberg and Changnon (2009) predicted that “cultural diversity will manifest in the global marketplace, making intercultural competency an extremely important skill” (p. 337). Moreover, cultural diversity was on the trunk of the intercultural competence tree—a visual conceptualization of intercultural competence (UNESCO, 2013). Despite agreeing that the world is becoming more connected and increasingly diverse, and that intercultural competence is an important skill, cultural diversity does not lead to competency in serving non-white groups, which is evident in higher education. Although such rich diversity of cultural or ethnic groups in universities, intercultural competency is not always clearly inbuilt into the system serving these groups.
There is a need for training to develop and promote the cultural competence of faculty in higher education (Al-Asfour & Young, 2017; Devereaux et al., 2010; Nieto & Booth, 2010; Potthoff et al., 2001). Recently, virtual reality (VR) has been used to foster inclusion and minimize bias in education (Gallardo-Williams & Dunnagan, 2022). However, research has largely focused on using VR to enhance students’ intercultural competence (Shadiev et al., 2020; Watt et al., 2016) and not on the faculty. Intercultural competence is an essential tool to empower individuals with the skills needed to manage personal encounters and experiences with cultural others and engage in meaningful intercultural dialogue. There is a need to bridge the gap between faculty and students from different cultures and enable them to effectively work in a diverse place and speak to a global audience. Adopting VR empathy training in higher education will enable faculty to integrate cultural competency and provide them with the essential tools to play their roles more effectively as responsible members of the worldwide community, aligned with the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, n.d.) This chapter describes a framework to enhance faculty intercultural competence consisting of empathy and self-reflection, in addition to a VR training that the author is currently developing based on this framework.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Cognitive Empathy: It is having accurate knowledge and gaining better understanding of another person’s experience.
Immersive Technology: A digital environment that lets the users immerse in their surroundings and interact with simulated objects and environments. Immersive technologies range from 360° photography and video to virtual and augmented reality.
Virtual Reality: Virtual scenes, usually in 3D, with virtual objects that appear to be real. This experience is perceived through a head-mounted display known as a virtual reality headset or helmet.
Hidden Curriculum: It refers to the unwritten curriculum that is taught in schools and universities, which includes behaviors, perspectives, values, and attitudes.
Compassionate Empathy: It goes beyond simply understanding, taking others’ perspectives, or understanding their feelings. It actually moves people to change their attitudes and behavior, take a stance and action to help whenever they can.
Intercultural Competence: It is the ability to function effectively across cultures, to think and act appropriately, and to communicate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds–at home or abroad.
Higher Education: It refers to postsecondary education that includes undergraduate and graduate programs.
Empathy: It is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference.
Emotional Empathy: The ability to understand another person’s feelings, share their pains, and imagine to be in the other person’s situation.
Self-Reflection: It is the ability to identify, understand, and evaluate an individual’s own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes. Self-reflection includes self-observation, reflective awareness, and reflective consciousness.