What shapes us and gives us our culture and subculture? With scientific backing on culture, interculturality, and internationalization, Eunice offers a digital course that concludes with a week of full-time studies. Jessica Ekberg and Hanna Räftegård, both lecturers in educational work, and Sylvie Vandermeuter, international coordinator at Karlstad University, participated.
The course "Intercultural relations and intercomprehension in mobility and in higher education institutions" was given as a BIP course, blended intensive programme, as part of the Eunice collaboration. After one and a half months of digital education, the course concluded with a week of full-time studies at The Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugal. The digital part of the course consisted of several modules with extensive material on culture, interculturality, and internationalization, including scientific articles, recorded lectures/films, and written assignments related to the content.
"There were also many personal reflections, for example, on what shapes us, says Jessica Ekberg. What gives us our culture and subculture? How do we work to ensure that all fellow humans fit into each other's worlds without compromising their own culture and background?"
Important to work with an international perspective
Once in Viseu, an intensive week of lectures and workshops awaited. Topics such as intercomprehension/language understanding, communication competence, and attitudes were interspersed with workshops on meeting one's own and others' cultures, how it feels not to know all the rules in a new country, and more.
"We were participants from different universities within Eunice from Germany, Poland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Sweden, says Hanna Räftegård. During the week, we also participated in job shadowing at Escola Superior de Educação de Viseu, where teacher training is provided. The program included half a day with the principal of the teacher training college and an afternoon visit to an elementary school and a preschool."
"It was a school area that previously had challenges with cultural clashes and poverty, says Jessica Ekberg. But with a lot of work, they have managed to turn the conditions around, and today the elementary school and preschool are well-functioning. We met with special educators, teachers, preschool teachers, childcare workers, and many happy children who were eager to show off their schoolwork."
"The course has contributed to our own development. It is also important for us as teacher educators to be able to work with international perspectives and develop students' intercultural competence. Our students need to develop these competencies so that they are equipped to meet and educate future world citizens in their profession, says Hanna Räftegård and Jessica Ekberg."
Rewarding week with new connections
Sylvie Vandermeuter, international coordinator at the international office, Karlstad University, also participated in the course and had the opportunity to job shadow.
"I met with Viseu's international office for job shadowing. I also had the opportunity to discuss with other international coordinators within Eunice to gain a better understanding of how they work, what is available for our students, and to build connections with colleagues that will facilitate communication around exchanges."
"It was a rewarding week, and the course from start to finish has been very interesting, all three agree. We hope that more people will have the chance to take part in Eunice's course offerings."
