Chapter 8: Strategies for Enhancing Intercultural Competence Across the Teacher Education Curriculum

Teachers are critical in helping their young students gain knowledge about the diversity of people on the planet, the conditions under which they live, and to guide them to become more interculturally competent so they can solve problems both on the domestic front as well as those that increasingly cross international boundaries. Teacher educators, thus, are faced with three tasks—how to enhance their own intercultural competence; how to guide preservice teachers to develop this knowledge and skill; and at the same time, consider how to transfer this to the children who will be in their charge. This chapter addresses the enhancement of intercultural competence in a developmentally appropriate manner, recognizing where on a continuum most teacher education students are, and offers practical strategies that can be integrated across the teacher education curriculum.