RECOGNIZING THE RAPIDLY CHANGING CULTURAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND RADICAL DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS EXPERIENCED ON THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL, A HIGHER ED MODEL FOR “INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION” (STUDY ABROAD) MUST USE ALL INSTITUTIONAL AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES, AND MUST DEMONSTRATE LOCAL IMPACT. THE MOST OBVIOUS CHALLENGE IS CULTURAL COMPETENCY.
This illustration presents four stages of cultural competency from Start to Impact, also described in terms of scale and geography from Local to Global to Local.
Although it seems obvious, the purpose of Study Abroad is to enhance the impact of an individual learner’s education, study, career, and community engagement, all of which by definition are local.
To illustrate the radical changes we see in the student population — cultural background, ethnicity orientation, etc. — I show the promotora or community health worker model in full. Many students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds have played the role of Natural Helper, competent in two or more cultures and languages, increasingly mobile due to technology and international in perspective. The Natural Helper is a nascent community activist. (The promotora model has been proven to be a cost effective, powerful vehicle for dramatically improving community health. Promotoras are the “force multipliers” of community-engaged health.)
Notice that several of the Bonner and other Guilford College students from refugee, immigrant and newcomer backgrounds are connected to the Bonner Community Engagement Model which accepts their cultural skills and enlarges upon them through community site-based work and other community engaged experiences working with — no surprise — refugee, immigrant and newcomer (ie, international) populations.
Notice that the currently proposed International Education Model's cultural competency goals exactly match the skills that most students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds have already mastered or that others acquire through training and community-engaged work at refugee, immigrant and other Bonner Center community sites.
Where to study? It should be obvious that a global perspective is essential for college students. More precisely, it should be in line with local demographics which increasingly resemble national trends if the link between local and global is to be made. Education abroad should also reflect immigration patterns to the US, hence more links to Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Africa, for examples.
Cultural competency is a practiced skill rather than a theoretical construct. Most Latino students can give ample examples of botched “acculturation” or “integration” efforts. Bonner and other Guilford students have been observing cultural differences (ethnography) and acquiring local cultural skills as part of their training and as an integral part of their community engagement work. Public health experts and school officials and teachers routinely confront these problems as the US experiences an increase in immigration that will culminate in a historic high a few decades away. While the US has significant problems, our long history as an immigrant country makes us among the leaders in cultural competency practice.
The relationship of cultural competency to Study Abroad and an International Education is made institutionally clearer when it is understood on the Guilford campus to be an extension of community engagement.
Although it seems obvious, the purpose of Study Abroad is to enhance the impact of an individual learner’s education, study, career, and community engagement, all of which by definition are local.
To illustrate the radical changes we see in the student population — cultural background, ethnicity orientation, etc. — I show the promotora or community health worker model in full. Many students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds have played the role of Natural Helper, competent in two or more cultures and languages, increasingly mobile due to technology and international in perspective. The Natural Helper is a nascent community activist. (The promotora model has been proven to be a cost effective, powerful vehicle for dramatically improving community health. Promotoras are the “force multipliers” of community-engaged health.)
Notice that several of the Bonner and other Guilford College students from refugee, immigrant and newcomer backgrounds are connected to the Bonner Community Engagement Model which accepts their cultural skills and enlarges upon them through community site-based work and other community engaged experiences working with — no surprise — refugee, immigrant and newcomer (ie, international) populations.
Notice that the currently proposed International Education Model's cultural competency goals exactly match the skills that most students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds have already mastered or that others acquire through training and community-engaged work at refugee, immigrant and other Bonner Center community sites.
Where to study? It should be obvious that a global perspective is essential for college students. More precisely, it should be in line with local demographics which increasingly resemble national trends if the link between local and global is to be made. Education abroad should also reflect immigration patterns to the US, hence more links to Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Africa, for examples.
Cultural competency is a practiced skill rather than a theoretical construct. Most Latino students can give ample examples of botched “acculturation” or “integration” efforts. Bonner and other Guilford students have been observing cultural differences (ethnography) and acquiring local cultural skills as part of their training and as an integral part of their community engagement work. Public health experts and school officials and teachers routinely confront these problems as the US experiences an increase in immigration that will culminate in a historic high a few decades away. While the US has significant problems, our long history as an immigrant country makes us among the leaders in cultural competency practice.
The relationship of cultural competency to Study Abroad and an International Education is made institutionally clearer when it is understood on the Guilford campus to be an extension of community engagement.
