Intercultural competence development through civic engagement

Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2016 Intercultural Competence Development through Civic Engagement Ruta Shah-Gordon Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: http://aura.edu/etds Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Leadership Studies Commons Recommended Citation Shah-Gordon, Ruta, "Intercultural Competence Development through Civic Engagement" (2016).edu/etds/273 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact dpenrose@antioch.edu, wmcgrath@antioch. INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RUTA SHAH-GORDON A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.

in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June, 2016 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT prepared by Ruta Shah-Gordon is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: Alan Guskin, Ph., Chair May 14, 2016 Jon Wergin, Ph., Committee Member May 14, 2016 Janet Bennett, Ph., Committee Member May 14, 2016 Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar, Ph., External Reader May 14, 2016 Copyright 2016 Ruta Shah-Gordon All rights reserved Acknowledgments It is often remarked that it takes a village to raise a child and so it does, but it also takes a village to complete a dissertation. I have benefitted from having such a strong village that includes wonderful, supportive family, friends, colleagues, faculty, mentors, and cohort members. I would like to thank my dissertation committee for their encouragement, constructive feedback, and mentoring.

Throughout my time in the program, my chair, Dr. Alan Guskin provided unwavering support, communication, and ideas; Dr. Jon Wergin, was continuously available to think through concepts, methods and possibilities, and Dr. Janet Bennett, from my individual learning achievements to dissertation, was a source of inspiration and insight.

I would also like to thank Deb Baldwin, librarian extraordinaire for her assistance with copyrights as well as a whole myriad of questions. And of course, appreciation to all the faculty and staff at the Antioch Leadership and Change program for the conversations, learning, and support throughout my time. Wagner College played a huge role in the completion of this dissertation from my colleagues who encouraged, listened, and gave feedback to the professors and students who participated in my study and helped me think through the results, thank you. You helped to deepen my learning and pushed me to think outside of the box.

To my Antioch family, who checked in and encouraged me, thank you. It was a privilege to be part of Cohort 11! To my mom and dad and my family, thank you for believing in me and giving me the confidence to pursue my education. To our friends, thanks for pitching in with the kids or understanding when we couldn’t do something because we were “dissertating!” i And last, but not least, enormous gratitude and love to my husband, David, and our girls, Anjali and Kavita, for making the process attainable with their patience, feedback, and assistance. Your involvement along the way; the family study time, talking stats, laughing at awkward sentences and writing together made the journey a sustainable, memorable one.

Thank you to my village! ii Abstract Today, the field of intercultural communication is becoming even more important. People are increasingly interacting more with others from around the globe, whether for work or recreation. Globalization is creating an increased interdependency between nations; it is critical that institutions of higher education develop leaders who are competent in cross-cultural awareness and practice, have a solid understanding of cultural differences and their effects on leadership performance, and are culturally sensitive to different perspectives (Northouse, 2010). Since many studies of intercultural competence development focus on study abroad experiences, this dissertation focuses on developing intercultural competence in college-aged students through civic engagement experiences.

Through a mixed methods approach using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and action research in collaboration with Wagner College students and faculty, this study examined four learning communities as well as a group of mentors over the course of a semester to determine the salient aspects of an intervention. The findings indicate that with the right amount of challenge and support, sustained and meaningful interaction, reflection, content knowledge, and mentoring, interventions allow for more pronounced development of intercultural competence. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.edu/etd Keywords: intercultural competence, civic engagement, Intercultural development inventory (IDI), mentoring, reflection, training. iii Table of Contents Abstract.

iii List of Tables. vii List of Figures. viii Chapter I: Introduction.1 Background of the Problem .1 Theoretical Conceptual Framework .4 Rational for Study .7 Statement of Purpose .9 Definition of Terms .12 Summary of Introduction .13 Summary of Subsequent Chapters .14 Chapter II: Literature Review .15 History and Underpinnings of Intercultural Communication .16 Models of Intercultural Competence/Sensitivity .17 Synthesis of Intercultural Models With College Students Development Theory.27 Definition of Intercultural Competence .28 Study Abroad and Intercultural Competence .30 Civic Engagement and Intercultural Competence .33 Experiential Learning and Intercultural Competence .39 iv Relationship Between Intercultural Competence, Experiential Learning, Study Abroad and Civic Engagement.47 Chapter III: Methods .49 Reasoning for Mixed Methods .49 Instruments and Research Questions .72 Limitations and Delimitations .74 Chapter IV: Results .96 Interpretation of Findings .97 Praxis of Support and Challenge .101 Learning Practices for Intercultural Development and Civic Engagement Growth .103 Reflection on Improving Practice .113 Implications for Future Action and Research .121 Appendix A: Copyright Permisions .129 vi List of Tables Table 2.1 Faces/Phases of Citizenship .1 Action Research Methods and Frequency Utilized to Build Intercultural Competence.1 Number of Students Who Completed the Intercultural Development Inventory .2 Difference Scores of Averages of Developmental Orientation Prior to Course and After Course .3 Correlated T-Test results for Pre and Post Course Developmental Orientations .82 vii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Experiential Learning Cycle .1 Deardorff Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence .2 Bennett’s Model of Intercultural Sensitivity .3 Aspects of Learning Needed for Intercultural Competence .4 Cycle of Experiential Learning .1 Methods of Assessment of Intercultural Competence Used by Institutions.2 Necessary Components for Action Research .3 Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) .4 Intercultural Development Continuum .1 Action Research Diagram.2 Students’ Gains and Losses in Developmental Stages .3 Number of Students in Each Developmental Stage Pre- and Post-Intervention .4 Students’ Open-Ended Comments for Most Important to My Learning Categorized Into Themes .5 Students’ Open-Ended Comments for Least Important to My Learning Categorized Into Themes .88 viii 1 Chapter I: Introduction Background of the Problem The formal study of intercultural communication in the United States began with the 1946 Foreign Service Act, which provided cultural and language training for foreign diplomats. Hall’s The Silent Language (1959) is associated with the beginning of the field of intercultural communication.

Today, the field of intercultural communication is becoming even more important. People are increasingly interacting more with others from around the globe, whether for work or recreation. Globalization is creating an increased interdependency between nations; it is critical that institutions of higher education develop leaders who are competent in cross-cultural awareness and practice, have a solid understanding of cultural differences and their effects on leadership performance, and are culturally sensitive to different perspectives (Northouse, 2010). In 2002, 175 million people were living in countries other than where they were born, more than double the number in 1975 (Deardorff, 2009).

The United States has experienced a huge influx of immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, and from Asia and is becoming a nation of ethnic minorities, where no one group, including Whites, will be able to claim a majority of the population (Deardorff, 2009). Higher education institutions have the ability to play a key role in the preparation of future leaders who are equipped to interact with those who are different from themselves in a way that is respectful, honoring, and based on understanding. The higher education literature asserts that campuses that foster an inclusive climate and bring interracial and intercultural communication into the co-curriculum and the academic curriculum will graduate students who have an enhanced appreciation of diversity and additional 2 skills for success in their professional and personal environments (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2009). In addition, according to Musil (2006): The Association of American Colleges and Universities Greater Expectations Project on Accreditation and Assessment reported that global knowledge and engagement, along with intercultural knowledge and competence, have been identified as essential learning outcomes for all fields of concentration and for all majors.

1) Higher education is largely responsible for producing the next generation of leaders who will manage people and ideas in diverse workplaces. Therefore, it is the responsibility of college educators to assist in the development of leaders who possess the values, skills, and knowledge to devise creative solutions to social problems, widening social and economic gaps, and reduce social inequality (Hurtado, 2005). As someone who is responsible for student development at a small, private, liberal arts college, my role can influence the types of conversations and skills that 18–25 year-old-students engage in around intercultural and cross-cultural communication and leadership practices. The field of intercultural communication developed in an international context, but with the changing demographics and technology it is applicable in many local contexts (Cornwell & Stoddard, 1999).

Internationalization, as well as multiculturalism/multiracialism, are fostered through learning about cultures different from one’s own and learning about one’s own culture Both the United States and world’s demographics are changing at a rapid pace and becoming more multicultural. In 2004, one in 40 persons in the United States self-identified as multiracial. By the year 2050, it is projected that as many as one in five Americans will claim a multiracial/biracial background or identity (Lee & Bean, 2004). With racial lines becoming more blurred, it is increasingly important for practitioners in higher education to address how to prepare today’s college students for a more diverse and global society.

Moreover, since educators will be faced with increasing cultural diversity, they will have more frequent 3 interactions from those students who are different from themselves. Clearly, learning can no longer be categorized as domestic or international, rather that there is much overlap between the two in which the importance of effective intercultural communication becomes evident. What are the faces of citizenship in a changing demography of the United States? The historian Diane Ravitch (2000), in “A Crucible Moment” stated: “A society that is racially and ethnically diverse requires, more than other societies, a conscious effort to build shared values and ideals among its citizenry” (p. Professionals in higher education face not only changing student demographics, but also of those communities that surround colleges and universities.

Many schools have a commitment and history based in their mission to help others and to serve their surrounding communities, to create a better community and teach students values of critical thinking, working, and personal and social responsibility. Thus the term of civic engagement comes into play. Although internationalization and multiculturalism have different motives and strategies, a major premise for both is the importance of learning about cultures different from one’s own. Civic engagement requires people to work collaboratively with those who may be different from themselves to address common issues and to achieve a common purpose (Dunlap & Webster, 2009).

Intercultural competence encompasses awareness of differences and commonalities, understanding of issues when working across differences, and skills that build capacity for shared goals (Dunlap & Webster 2009). The field of intercultural communication is positioned to provide a bridge between domestic and global perspectives by concentrating on the interactions between individuals and groups who have different learned and shared values, beliefs, and behaviors (J.