Introduction
The effect that globalization has on various spheres of human existence could not but change the field of education and the ways it functions since this field is considered a formative element for a specific society. Every day each person faces the results of these processes that pose themselves as new achievements of human civilization. Consequently, this co-dependency among the world population has an immense influence on the formation of educational policies and their implementation by appropriate governmental structures. In this way, globalization manifests itself in the internationalization of educational institutions – a process that leads to specific changes in the curriculums and programs on different levels of all stages of formal education.
Main body
The current ever-changing socio-political, cultural, and economic situations stimulate educational institutions to change accordingly to be able to prepare individuals capable of adapting to specific global living conditions. Nowadays, a change in the way schools build their programs can be observed, seemingly, in a considerable number of occidental cultures. European Union actively promotes the installation of an intercultural element in programs of educational structures that are expressed in several forms, which is a well-known fact. These forms may be the introduction of humanitarian subjects focused on getting to know different cultures, learning foreign languages, and extra-curriculum activities that aim to broaden the cultural horizon of a student (Hajisoteriou & Angelides, 2018).
Learning a foreign language needs distinguished attention in this aspect as it may be one of the most popular in this day and age methods of instructing intercultural communication. Since it helps students to acquaint themselves with a different culture in a rather direct manner, it may seem like a useful tool to establish rapport with a different culture. Moreover, each country provides an individual with specific circumstances, norms, and behaviors (Wittenkamp, 2018). This practice, seemingly, is common in the European Union, and it brings additional practical value in a multilingual community.
Education plays a crucial role in constructing a peaceful society that resides on the grounds of high intercultural understanding, even if it sounds like a utopian idea. Multicultural societies are in particular need of educative programs aimed to develop the competence of intercultural communication. Cyprus, as an example of a country with high cultural diversity, has a long history of using education to promote peaceful coexistence among its various ethnic and religious groups.
The Cypriot education system is marked by a period of division and tension among its population. Psaltis et al. (2017) state, “in the last decade, as part of steps taken for peacebuilding and reconciliation, there have been efforts to renew some of the textbooks and curricula” (p. 125). The efforts to use education to improve intercultural communication in Cyprus were initiated after a period of tension between Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot groups (Hajisoteriou et al., 2018). In this case, teaching intercultural communication can help to create a global mindset and combine the best of these cultures (Riccardi, 2014). Nowadays, with globalization fast expanding, the programs of educational institutions adapt to this new process, putting aside local conflicts, as can be observed in Cyprus.
The educational system in Cyprus is relatively compact because of its population number, which allows it to build and implement policies more effectively. As a result of it and historical background, some forms of the ideological curriculum were inserted into the country’s educational system during its development (Hajisoteriou et al., 2018). Nevertheless, learning languages as one of the most effective tools of intercultural communication instruction, from what can be observed, is widely present in Cypriot schools: English, French, and German are taught with a focus on multiculturalism in individual schools.
For instance, St John’s school has in its French-language curriculum, the next speaking topic, “immigration and the French multicultural society including the positive influences and challenges of immigration, society’s reaction to immigration and the rise of the extreme right” (Hajisoteriou & Angelides, 2018, p. 359). It may be that St John’s school is not representative of state-funded typical Cypriot school; nevertheless, it still showcases the general trend of combining intercultural communication instruction with teaching foreign languages.
Several strategies exist that can help to enhance the intercultural communication component of education in the Cypriot context. Hajisoteriou et al. (2018) state that, “key school actors such as headteachers, teachers, parents, and students have to be allowed to collaboratively explore their answers of improvement and to initiate and manage change inside their own culturally diverse schools” (p. 19). Moreover, the changes inside the school structure might be combined with adapting the curriculum. It should be considered that the structure of the intercultural communication component depends on the peculiarities of a school subject in which it is implemented.
Conclusion
One of the aims of intercultural education is to prepare individuals ready to function in a world that is more and more connected. This type of education should not be limited only to school subjects since more direct contact with other cultures is crucial. Nevertheless, the internationalization of educational institutions already caused changes in the way the educational process is organized at all stages of formal education.
References
Hajisoteriou, C., & Angelides, P. (2018). Developing and implementing policies of intercultural education in Cyprus in the context of globalisation. Cyprus Review, 30(1), 353–368.
Hajisoteriou, C., Karousiou, C., & Angelides, P. (2018). Successful components of school improvement in culturally diverse schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 29(1), 91–112.
Psaltis, I., Anastasiou, N., Faustmann, H., Hadjipavlou, M., Karahasan, H., & Zackheos M. (Eds.). (2017). Education in a multicultural Cyprus. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Riccardi, P. (2014). Cross Cultural Communication. TED. Web.
Wittenkamp, C. (2018). Building bridges across cultural differences: Why don’t I follow cultural norms (2nd ed.). Bookboon Publishing.