Manual “Intercultural Dialogue – Intercultural Learning”

Free practice-oriented handbook for teachers* with concrete, easily implemented projects and teaching units on intercultural learning.

Tools & Papers
Schools
Education, Intercultural Competences, School, Youth
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Development

2008

prepared by IZ on behalf of Zentrum Polis

Contribution to the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the Days of Action for Political Education

Intercultural dialogue for cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is a fact in all European
companies. Several enlargements of the European Union, the increased mobility in the internal market, past and present migration flows as well as the extensive exchange with non-European countries lead to more and more interactions between cultures, religions, ethnic groups and languages within and outside Europe. If these diverse contacts are to lead to rapprochement and mutual understanding, a conscious dialogue between cultures and a desire to learn from each other must be encouraged.

The teaching principle of intercultural learning

In Austria, intercultural learning is anchored in the school through a separate teaching principle. In this context it is not limited to getting to know other cultures. Rather, it is about learning together and understanding, experiencing and shaping cultural values. But it is also about arousing interest and curiosity about cultural differences in order to make cultural diversity a valuable experience. And the diversity in one’s own country should also be taken into account in this context: through the examination of the cultural assets of the ethnic groups living in Austria and through a positive approach to bi- or multilingualism.

Authors

Mari Steindl, Barbara Helm, Gertraud Steininger, Andrea Fiala, Brigitte Venus

“Integration is not a one-way street: It requires all of us to be willing to be curious about the foreign within us and around us.”

Gertraud Steininger