In this section, the aim is
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This section proceeds in the order shown in the figure, from the core outwards. It starts with what happens between the ears: the values and attitudes which guide how you react to matters of everyday life, such as opinions, behaviour, and languages. What knowledge, attitudes, and values is your identity built on? What are the issues related to the diversity of languages, cultures, people, and circumstances – to living in the midst of diverse internationalism?
We then move on to look at communities, such as family or friends from school or hobbies. Communities can also be virtual: what groups or communities can you join or follow on social media?
What are the skills needed to become a part of different communities, what do you do well, what do you need to know more of? What language skills do you need? What kinds of situations are likely to give rise to what you might call cultural differences? The diversity of people, communities, languages, and perceptions becomes apparent at the very latest when people do not understand each other or are not being understood.
The outermost layer focuses on internationalisation from the perspective of global cooperation. The aim is to reflect on one’s own responsibility and opportunities to make a difference. Here, we discuss global citizenship, that is, the efforts taken to develop the world in a more just, responsible and sustainable direction. Various ways of making a difference are taught as early as in primary school, such as participating in school sustainability projects or by taking part in different kinds of voluntary work. Global citizenship skills can also be acquired through activities at school, such as during an exchange programme or international projects.Global citizenship skills can also be learned in everyday life, with friends or at work, with people from different cultures and linguistic backgrounds.
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For example, if you have
How did you use the languages you know? Did you learn something new? Did you end up correcting your own understandings of different cultures?
There are many ways to develop global competence. Internationalisation is often associated with international activities or exchange studies (mobility), even though there are a variety of ways to develop international competence. In general upper secondary school, participating in international cooperation may entail, for example, volunteering in various international organisations in Finland, participating in the school’s international cooperation projects from your home computer, or applying for a job in an international company in Finland.
At the heart of international competence, however, is an understanding of the kind of knowledge that international activities – such as learning to work with people or travelling – bring with them. For example, does travelling provide insight into how culture manifests itself in everyday activities and interaction? Are there circumstances in which travelling offers only a superficial picture of the culture of a given host country?
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Communities (e.g., school, family, friends, and hobbies) are increasingly diverse, with no member of the community representing just one culture. Cultural identity is built from pieces of many different cultures, which are adopted through interaction with different people and communities.
Understanding the meaning and value of diversity requires curiosity and open-mindedness towards what is new or alien to one’s own community, that is, perceived otherness. Understanding diversity also requires being able to recognise cultural stereotypes and simplifications and the ability to break free from them. Culturally responsible citizenship not only requires the acknowledgment of diversity, but active inclusion in order to do our part in creating a just world.
Furthermore, global citizenship does not lead to accepting any kind of behaviour on the basis of respecting differences in worldviews. Global citizenship is rooted in respecting human rights and equality, and taking action to ensure that the human rights and freedoms of everyone are protected.
This section aims to foster an understanding of how language can encourage or restrict one’s own or others’ opportunities to participate and contribute to society. It will also highlight ways of interacting even when there is no common language.
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Plurilingual and pluricultural competences support mediation. Mediation is the ability to communicate between different parties even when they are unable, for one reason or another, to convey messages (ideas, text, any given message) directly to each other. Mediation refers to means of constructive interaction that can be used to facilitate encounters and interaction between different parties.
Mediation is needed when communication breaks down for reasons such as:
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Successful and effective interaction in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts is built on plurilingual and pluricultural competence.
Descriptors of plurilingual and pluricultural competence provide you with tools to assess your competence in relation to your proficiency in different languages, in combining them, and in using them jointly. Plurilingual and pluricultural competence may refer to the ability to use one’s own cultural or plurilingual competence to produce and interpret information, as well as the ability to make use of plurilingualism in interaction. Mediation is also part of plurilingual and pluricultural competence.
The picture below includes descriptors that will help you to understand the skills needed to operate in linguistically and culturally diverse communities.
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