Intercultural Communication and Education

Communication and processes like education can only be understood by considering people and events within their sociocultural context. Particularly challenging is communicating with people from different ethnic, racial, religious, socioeconomic, language, and national backgrounds. Communication plays an important role in passing on cultural values from one generation to the next and in our understanding of culture and cultural influences on behaviour. Chapter 9 examines communication in terms of verbal language as well as having personal space and distance when talking, a degree of physical touching, discussing appropriate and inappropriate topics, use of media, and nonverbal communication (tone of voice, facial expressions, body movements, and eye contact). This chapter also discusses practices and models of teaching and learning across cultures, diverse forms of learning, multicultural education, and cultural competence in education. The ‘And So Forth’ section explores indigenous knowing from various non-Western perspectives including Confucianism, Hinduism, Maori, Islam, and the African ubuntu tradition.