Abstract
The world is becoming increasingly interdependent with nation states struggling to work together and share limited resources. There is a growing demand for individuals who are interculturally competent, those who can work and live effectively with others in different cultures. Most of the research on intercultural competency over the last 25 years has focused on prediction, by identifying characteristics of sojourners indicative of successful intercultural experiences. Little if any research has taken a learning perspective-how it is that sojourners learn to become interculturally competent. Understanding the learning process is essential to developing more effective education programs and identifying factors that can aid the sojourner during his or her intercultural experience. The field of adult education offers transformative learning theory that could act as a model for this process. This essay illustrates a significant link between intercultural competency and the theory of transformative learning, in an effort to shed light on the learning process of becoming interculturally competent.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 389-408 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | International Journal of Intercultural Relations |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1994 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Business and International Management
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science