What is inter-cultural and global awareness?

Inter-cultural awareness takes the similarities and differences between cultures and challenges us to explore how we can respond positively to these to enable mutual understanding and acceptance. Global awareness has its roots in the theory that the world is becoming smaller and more connected, something education practitioners are encouraged to consider more and more as they continue to deliver the curriculum.  

Who is this training package for?

For education practitioners who have experience of international partnerships work and are looking to expand their knowledge and expertise in this field. It is particularly suitable for those who have already attended a Building Effective Partnerships workshop.

To get the most out of this training package, we also recommend you complete the Sustainable Partnerships course which explores the practicalities of supporting or leading a long-term partnership. The two courses are complementary and may be completed in any order.

What will it cover?

As well as exploring inter-cultural and global awareness, this course is designed to help you reflect on your own experiences and professional competency, and analyse your school’s capacity to support overseas collaboration.

Split into modules that combine both theory and practical examples, learning will focus on:

• the concept of diversity and its complexities, including reflection on your own cultural sense of identity
• good inter-cultural practice – how to make it work between schools based on inter-cultural awareness theory
• global interdependence and the potential for powerful learning opportunities between schools
• exploring the practical similarities and differences between your school and your international partner

What will it teach me about inter-cultural and global awareness?

• the commonalities between teachers, learners and communities worldwide
• how to understand, respect and engage with differences between cultures
• the impact of historical and current global interdependencies on us all
• how to develop and analyse situations with an open-minded, reflective global outlook.

What will I take away?

This training package has been designed to deepen your understanding of the theories and ideas related to inter-cultural and global awareness. It is also to help you reflect on your own levels of awareness.

In order to deepen your own learning and make the ideas in the course available to others, all the activities have been designed for discussion with colleagues in mind. There are also opportunities for you to share your ideas and learning with other course participants via a dedicated forum.

Practical information

Before accessing this training package, please register with British Council Schools Online.

This package is designed to be used in a variety of ways, depending on how much time you have available. The course comprises of:

• key activities
• reflective activities
• additional activities.

Key activities

You must complete the key activities as part of this training course. These are flexible, done online and can be completed in less than five hours.

All work will be saved in an online workbook which may be printed at a later date. The activities have been designed to be used and discussed with colleagues and we would also recommend using them when working with an international partner.

Reflective activities

At the end of each module there is a reflective activity to help you bring together your learning. On successful completion of each of the reflective activities, you will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from Connecting Classrooms.

Additional activities

Additional activities are also available if you wish to look at this topic in more depth. These include prompts for discussion, ideas for further reading, case studies, additional classroom activities and suggestions for further online courses.