Online intercultural education and study abroad: theory into practice

Abstract

Globally, there were more than 5.3 million international students in 2018, up from 2 million in 2000 (UNESCO, 2019). In 2018, China, as one of the prominent countries recognized for the active promotion of international education, sent more than 660, 210 students overseas for advanced studies. The increasing focus on education internationalization and studying abroad draws more and more attention to scholarships on intercultural education. In this book, the author Dr. Jane Jackson, explicitly putting theory into practice, addresses the problem of how overseas students improve their intercultural competence during their studies in the host environment through the intervention of online intercultural education to enrich their sojourn learning experience and its influence after they return to the motherland. She suggests that the practice-inspired online intercultural education could also promote global citizenship and meaningful intercultural dialogues. For overseas exchange program administrators, routine practitioners, novice and experienced intercultural education researchers, this book provides valuable guidance on how to conduct an empirical study on intercultural education, especially through the use of online digital technologies. Online Intercultural Education and Study Abroad: Theory into Practice consists of three parts. The first part (Chapter 1 to Chapter 3), covers the literature review, the design and development of the online course titled “Intercultural Communication and Engagement Abroad” as well as the rationale for conducting the ethnographic investigation of the online course. The second part (Chapter 4 to Chapter 7) focuses on the four major participants from her university, the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the ethnographic study. The last part, (Chapters 8 and 9) concludes with the findings and implications of the research. Then, some of the internal and external elements especially relevant to sojourn learning, such as the personality of the students and the environment of the host countries, are presented. The author says: “It is essential for intercultural educators to have some knowledge of these dimensions when designing and implementing a pedagogical intervention in a study abroad context” (p. 10). She argues that without understanding the nature of the cultural environment and some form of pedagogical intervention, overseas students may not fully benefit from their study abroad. The intercultural intervention should be a much closer connection between research and practice in the study abroad program to optimize the overseas experience with mentorship or coaching guidance (p. 14). Specifically, in Chapters 2 and 3, Professor Jackson presents the theoretical frameworks and methodology of the study. The theoretical frameworks are based on Hammer’s (2012) intercultural development continuum theory, Mezirow’s (2000) transformative learning theory, and Kolb’s (2015) experiential learning theory. The intercultural competence development process may be viewed as a continuous learning process with deep reflections (p. 32). After the introduction of the rationale of the study, the author unfolds the details of the course design, including the learning goals, course content, weekly themes, learning materials, activities, the eLearning platform and assessment. In Chapter 3, following the