Review of studies applying Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory in international and intercultural education research

The Russian-born American psychologist Bronfenbrenner's bioecological perspective on human development is an ideal framework for understanding how individuals negotiate the dynamic environment and their own identities in international and intercultural education settings. However, a review of the current literature shows that most studies either adopted the earlier version of the theory (i.e., the ecological systems theory) or inadequately presented the most recent developments of the bioecological model (i.e., the process-person-context-time model). The construct of proximal processes-the primary mechanisms producing human development according to Bronfenbrenner-has seldom been explored in depth, which means the true value of bioecological theory is largely underrepresented in international and intercultural education research. This article first presents a review of studies that adopt Bronfenbrenner's theory and then offers future directions for the scope and design of international and intercultural education research.

Validation of an Abbreviated Scale of the CENVI Questionnaire to Evaluate the Perception of School Violence and Coexistence Management of Chilean Students: Differences between Pandemic and Post-Pandemic

The objective of the study was to specify an abbreviated model of the school coexistence questionnaire for non-violence (CENVI) for students from 5th to 8th grade (9 to 14 years old), in order to determine the perception of violence and management of school coexistence, and the differences between Mapuche and non-Mapuche students. A total of 1870 students from schools in the city of Temuco (Chile) responded to the CENVI questionnaire. There were two samples: (1) Pandemic, with online, face-to-face and hybrid classes; and (2) Post-pandemic, with face-to-face classes. Sample 1 consisted of 848 students aged 9 to 15 years (M = 11.90; SD = 1.27). Sample 2 consisted of 1022 students aged 9 to 14 years (M = 11.46; SD = 1.14). The questionnaire was validated using expert inter-judgment and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. A good fit of the proposed model to the data and good internal consistency measured according to the composite reliability were found, and convergent validity was demonstrated. Mapuche students perceived more physical violence and social exclusion. Cut-off points were proposed for the interpretation of the results. In the data, the effect of Coexistence Management on School Violence was null. The discussion approaches the findings from the literature on education in spaces of socio-cultural diversity in a Mapuche context.

Channelling discomfort through the arts: A Covid-19 case study through an intercultural telecollaboration project

In this article we argue, in the context of the current dominance of the performative and instrumental drives characterizing the accountable university, that language and intercultural communication education in universities should also be humanistic, addressing ‘discomforting themes’ to sensitize students to issues of human suffering and engage them in constructive and creative responses to that suffering. We suggest that arts-based methods can be used and illustrate this with an intercultural telecollaboration project created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. In this way language and intercultural communication education can become a site of personal and social transformation albeit modest and piecemeal as part of a longer process. Through arts-based methodologies and pedagogies of discomfort, Argentinian and US undergraduates explored how the theme of the Covid-19 crisis has been expressed artistically in their countries, and then communicated online, using English as their lingua franca, to design in mixed international groups artistic multimodal creations collaboratively to channel their suffering and trauma associated with the pandemic. This article analyses and evaluates the project. Data comprise the students’ artistic multimodal creations, their written statements describing their creations, and pre and post online surveys. Our findings indicate that students began a process of transformation of disturbing affective responses by creating artwork and engaging in therapeutic social and civic participation transnationally, sharing their artistic creations using social media. We highlight the powerful humanistic role of education involving artistic expression, movement, performativity, and community engagement in order to channel discomforting feelings productively at personal and social levels.

Developing intercultural competence through a cultural metacognition-featured instructional design in English as a foreign language classrooms

The soaring demand for intercultural competence (IC) in the globalized world has made it a key concern in foreign language education. Most existing training on IC has often focused on providing immersive intercultural experiences, equipping learners with cultural knowledge, and simulating intercultural situations. However, some of these approaches may not be feasible in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms, nor are they effective to prepare learners to cope with the complexities and uncertainties in novel intercultural situations unless there specifically involves higher-order thinking. Thus, this study took a perspective of cultural metacognition and examined whether and how could an instructional design that highlighted cultural metacognition facilitate learners' IC development in an EFL classroom at the tertiary level in Chinese mainland. Fifty-eight undergraduate students enrolled in an English Listening, Viewing, and Speaking course were involved in the instruction, and questionnaires and focus groups were employed for the data collection. A paired sample t-test revealed that there was a significant enhancement in students' intercultural competence in terms of affective, metacognitive, and behavioral dimensions, but not in the knowledge dimension. Thematic analysis indicated that the instructional design was effective in supporting students' intentional knowledge acquiring, developing positive intercultural attitudes, and promoting the translation of cognition into actions. The findings thus confirmed that the instructional design featuring cultural metacognition can be used in domestic EFL contexts, such as College English classrooms at the tertiary level in Chinese mainland, as an effective way of enhancing learners' IC. This study also offered additional evidence of how students' IC development was achieved through a range of metacognitive processes, which may provide implications for teachers to design their IC instructions in similar EFL educational settings.

[Public policies for an intercultural approach to the health of Pu Mapuce Zomo]

This article will address the considerations that must be examined in the design of public policies and government programs to achieve an intercultural approach to the health of the Pu Mapuce Zomo (Mapuce women). In this sense, the proposed objective is to formulate three essential aspects that serve as a basis to promote adequate frameworks for public health policies oriented towards an intercultural approach. For this, methodologically, from a qualitative approach, the ethical, gender(s) and epistemic aspects that must be considered in the configuration of health programs that favor the health care of indigenous women will be investigated. With this purpose, it begins by delimiting the unavoidable ethical-normative and gender approach to highlight the basic needs of Mapuce women. This approach seeks to establish a parameter about the obligations that States have in relation to the development of human capabilities. Finally, three aspects will be presented that the State must replicate in its health proposals to guarantee the construction of an intercultural approach to health, appropriate to the basic needs of Mapuce women in Argentina.

Perception of School Violence: Indicators of Normalization in Mapuche and Non-Mapuche Students

The current social and political scenario in Chile has opened up the debate on two centuries of usurpation and discrimination towards the Mapuche people. Educational centers are not oblivious to the social exclusion faced by indigenous children and young people, and this forms part of the phenomenon of school violence. This study explores the differences in perception between Mapuche and non-Mapuche students regarding school violence. The issue is the lack of knowledge regarding cultural variations in the perception of school violence in spaces of social and cultural diversity in the Mapuche context. This study describes the characteristics of school violence perceived by students in relation to differences based on ancestry and characterizes the variations in perception. A total of 1404 students participated from urban schools in the city of Temuco, Chile, aged 10 to 13 (M = 11.4; SD = 1.1) who completed the CENVI questionnaire. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the total sample and categories provides indexes that fit the proposed model. The omega coefficients provide internal reliability guarantees. This study tests configural, metric and scalar invariance for all the categories explored, and statistically significant differences are found between Mapuche and non-Mapuche students in the perception of physical and verbal violence, where the Mapuche student perceives more violence. Results are discussed based on existing research on education in spaces of social and cultural diversity in the Mapuche context, with research into elements that can help explain the findings.

Improving forensic mental health care to Indigenous Australians: theorizing the intercultural space

This paper uses the 'intercultural space' as an educational strategy to prepare nurses to work respectfully with Indigenous patients in a forensic mental health context; offers an educational approach that introduces nurses to Indigenous knowledge, beliefs and values, examines power relations in colonized countries between the dominant white cultural group and the Indigenous population and encourages nurses to critically reflect on their health care practice; and explores the intercultural space as a shared space between cultures fostering open and robust inquiry where neither culture dominates and new positions, representations and understandings can emerge. Given the disproportionately high number of Indigenous people imprisoned in colonized countries, this paper responds to research from Western Australia on the need to prepare forensic mental health nurses to deliver care to Indigenous patients with mental health disorders. The paper highlights the nexus between theory, research and education that can inform the design and implementation of programmes to help nurses navigate the complex, layered and contested 'intercultural space' and deliver culturally safe care to Indigenous patients. Nurses are encouraged to critically reflect on how beliefs and values underpinning their cultural positioning impact on health care to Indigenous patients. The paper draws on intercultural theory to offer a pedagogical framework that acknowledges the negative impacts of colonization on Indigenous health and well-being, repositions and revalues Indigenous cultures and knowledges and fosters open and robust inquiry. This approach is seen as a step towards working more effectively in the intercultural space where ultimately binary oppositions that privilege one culture over another and inhibit robust inquiry are avoided, paving the way for new, more inclusive positions, representations and understandings to emerge. While the intercultural space can be a place of struggle, tension and ambiguity, it also offers deep potential for change.