This element involves students developing the skills to relate to and move between cultures through engaging with different cultural groups, giving an experiential dimension to intercultural learning in contexts that may be face-to-face, virtual or vicarious.
Students think about familiar concepts in new ways. This encourages flexibility, adaptability and a willingness to try new cultural experiences. Empathy assists students to develop a sense of solidarity with others through imagining the perspectives and experiences of others as if they were their own. Empathy involves imagining what it might be like to ‘walk in another’s shoes’ and identifying with others’ feelings, situations and motivations. In developing and acting with intercultural understanding, students:
- communicate across cultures
- consider and develop multiple perspectives
- empathise with others.
Level 1
Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:
Communicate across cultures
recognise that people use different languages to communicate
Consider and develop multiple perspectives
express their opinions and listen to the opinions of others in given situations
Empathise with others
imagine and describe their own feelings if they were put in someone else’s place
Level 2
Typically by the end of Year 2, students:
Communicate across cultures
describe how the use of words and body language in interactions may have different meanings for various cultural groups
Consider and develop multiple perspectives
express their own perspectives on familiar topics and texts, and identify the perspectives of others
Empathise with others
imagine and describe the feelings of others in familiar situations
Level 3
Typically by the end of Year 4, students:
Communicate across cultures
recognise there are similarities and differences in the ways people communicate, both within and across cultural groups
Consider and develop multiple perspectives
identify and describe shared perspectives within and across various cultural groups
Empathise with others
imagine and describe the feelings of others in a range of contexts