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    Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts and theories
    Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts and theories
    Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts and theories
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts and theories

    By Martyn Barrett and Michael Byram

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    About this ebook

    A tool for developing intercultural competence and facilitating the emergence of intercultural citizenship in those who use it.

    In the contemporary world, encounters with people from other cultural backgrounds have become part of our everyday lives. These intercultural encounters may be used as an opportunity to learn about other cultures, to develop our capacities for effective and respectful communication, to think about our own cultural affiliations and to reflect on ways in which we might take action for the common good.

    The Autobiography of intercultural encounters (AIE) is an educational resource that can be used by learners to achieve all of these outcomes. It supports learners in thinking about and learning from intercultural encounters that they have experienced either face to face, through visual media (such as television, films, magazines) or through the internet.

    Revised and updated editions of the various versions of the AIE that have been developed can be found in three separate volumes which accompany the present volume. The present volume contains two accompanying papers, “Context, concepts and theories” and “Concepts for discussion”. The former discusses the policy context and conceptual and theoretical issues relating to intercultural encounters and is intended for readers who wish to understand the ideas that underlie the design of the AIE. The latter provides less technical discussions of key concepts related to culture, identity and intercultural encounters and can be used with learners in upper secondary education or the early years of higher education and in non-formal and informal education.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCouncil of Europe
    Release dateNov 30, 2022
    ISBN9789287193223
    Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts and theories

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      Book preview

      Autobiography of intercultural encounters - Martyn Barrett

      The first edition of the Autobiography of intercultural encounters (AIE) was published by the Education Department of the Council of Europe in 2009. It was a concrete response to the recommendation made by the Council of Europe’s White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue Living together as equals in dignity, which recommended that new educational tools should be developed to encourage learners to reflect critically on their own responses and attitudes to experiences of other cultures.

      The reference for the first edition is:

      Byram M., Barrett M., Ipgrave J., Jackson R. and Méndez García M.C. (2009), Autobiography of intercultural encounters, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, France.

      The AIE has since been complemented by two further tools, the Autobiography of intercultural encounters through visual media (AIEVM) and the Autobiography of intercultural encounters through the internet (AIETI).

      The current volume contains updated and revised versions of two supporting documents which accompanied the original AIE. The scope of these documents has been broadened to encompass all three autobiographies and to align them with the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (www.coe.int/competences) which was published in 2018.

      The first edition of the AIE and its supporting documents were developed for the Council of Europe by:

      Michael Byram, Martyn Barrett, Julia Ipgrave, Robert Jackson and María del Carmen Méndez García,

      with contributions from:

      Eithne Buchanan-Barrow, Leah Davcheva, Peter Krapf, Jean-Michel Leclercq.

      This second edition of the Autobiography of intercultural encounters: context, concepts and theories (incorporating Concepts for discussion) was prepared by:

      Martyn Barrett and Michael Byram,

      with additional contributions from:

      Luisa de Bivar Black, Gustavo Gomez Mejia, Elizabeth Milovidov and Aude Seurrat.

      Introduction

      The AIE is a set of resources designed to encourage people to think about and learn from intercultural encounters they have had either face to face, through visual media such as television, magazines and films, or through the internet.

      There are three separate but parallel tools:

      the Autobiography of intercultural encounters (AIE);

      the Autobiography of Intercultural encounters through visual media (AIEVM);

      the Autobiography of intercultural encounters through the internet (AIETI).

      All three tools come in two versions:

      a Standard version – for use by older learners and adults;

      a Version for younger learners– for use by children who need help from an adult in reading and writing and in thinking back over their encounter.

      The focus of all three autobiographies is on intercultural encounters that have made a strong impression or had a long-lasting effect on the people who use them. In discovering what underlies these encounters, users become more aware of their experiences and reflect on their reactions, thereby developing their intercultural competences.

      Revised and updated editions of all three autobiographies can be found in three separate volumes which accompany the present volume. The present volume instead contains two accompanying papers, entitled Context, concepts and theories and Concepts for discussion.

      Context, concepts and theories discusses the policy context and the theoretical and conceptual background to the three autobiographies. It is intended for readers who wish to understand the ideas that underlie the design of the autobiographies.

      Concepts for discussion provides less technical discussions of some of the key concepts underlying the autobiographies. It is intended for use with young people in the final years of school education or the early years of higher education, to enable them to engage with key concepts related to culture, identity and cultural interaction.

      Context, concepts and theories

      1. The policy context of the Autobiography of intercultural encounters

      Education policy is an integral element of social policy, not least because of its contribution to social inclusion. Education policy is also central to economic policy, due to the fact that education systems enhance human capital. These views have been expressed at state level in many parts of the world and at supra-national level by the Council of Europe and the European Union, although by its very nature the Council of Europe pays more attention to social than to economic policy, for example in the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue (2008), which is a fundamental document for the construction of the AIE.

      A particular focus in the White Paper is on promoting social cohesion through interculturality and intercultural dialogue. Social cohesion is defined as follows.

      Social cohesion, as understood by the Council of Europe, denotes the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation. A cohesive society is a mutually supportive community of free individuals pursuing these common goals by democratic means. (Council of Europe 2008: paragraph 24)

      The role of intercultural dialogue is considered fundamental in creating and maintaining social cohesion, andintercultural competence is its practical foundation.

      The learning and teaching of intercultural competence is essential for democratic culture and social cohesion. (Ibid: paragraph 151)

      The AIE is one instrument for promoting and enhancing intercultural competence.

      The need to promote social cohesion within a society is not a new concern, but the increase in migration and mobility in recent years has created new minority social groups within states which hitherto considered themselves to be homogeneous, albeit with only limited justification since minorities are not a new phenomenon. Both old and new minority social groups are often vulnerable because they lack social status, and the Council of Europe is particularly concerned to ensure the social inclusion of vulnerable groups of all kinds in contemporary societies including, in particular, migrant or immigrant groups.

      The Council of Europe’s Warsaw Declaration of 2005 – entitled Building a more humane and inclusive Europe – anticipated the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue and listed some examples of activities which could be used to enhance social cohesion. These include:

      co-operation and networking in the field of education and student exchanges at all levels;

      relevant intercultural programmes and exchanges at secondary school level, both within Europe and with neighbouring countries;

      empowering young people to participate actively in democratic processes so that they can contribute to the promotion of core values.

      The first edition of the AIE, which was published in 2009, was designed for use in all of these types of activities. It was constructed specifically to help participants analyse and reflect on their participation in intercultural encounters of any kind, and to foster relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes in the process.

      The White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue had noted the importance of learners’ knowledge, skills and attitudes and put particular emphasis on the capacity for reflection and the self-critical disposition necessary for life in culturally diverse societies (see paragraph 94). The inclusion of reflection on personal development through an intercultural experience and, secondly, on the values, beliefs and behaviours of all involved, is a crucial element of the AIE.

      The AIE was also designed to promote the development of the competences and identities of intercultural citizens in a multilingual and multicultural world, in accordance with the vision laid out in the White Paper. An intercultural citizen has, firstly, the competences of active citizenship needed in a community, whether local, regional, national, continental (for example European or Asian) or global. An intercultural citizen also has the values, attitudes, knowledge, critical understanding and skills of intercultural competence which enable them to participate in multilingual and multicultural communities. Such communities exist within states, and increasingly so, due to mobility and migration. They also exist when citizens of different states participate together in any form of joint activity. Thus, the AIE was designed to promote not only intercultural competence but also intercultural citizenship in its users.

      The White Paper noted that the competences necessary for intercultural dialogue are not automatically acquired. They need to be learned, and practised and maintained throughout life, and all providers of education – working in all institutional contexts and at all levels of education – can play a crucial role here (section 4.3). The White Paper identified democratic citizenship, language and history as key disciplinary or subject areas where intercultural competences can be promoted. Education about diversity in religious and other beliefs – to be distinguished from religious education – can also contribute to intercultural competence and citizenship. Indeed, interreligious dialogue is recognised in the White Paper as an important dimension of intercultural dialogue.

      A new policy initiative

      The Council of Europe has pursued the enhancement of teaching and learning in the four areas of democratic citizenship, language, history

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