Cross-cultural knowledge and intercultural competence are highly valued qualities for 21st-century American college and university graduates, as these institutions endeavor to prepare students to live and work in an increasingly multicultural society. This task offers both a challenge and an opportunity for educators to design mechanisms to increase the global awareness and intercultural development of their student participants. The challenge is to create intentional learning experiences that avoid the pitfalls of perpetuating stereotypes and reproducing inequitable social relations. Faculty-led international travel courses provide an opportunity for program leaders to develop intercultural development curricula that are ethical, engaging, economically and environmentally sustainable, and pedagogically sound. This study examined how participants in a faculty-led short-term global service-learning course to Belize experienced and perceived cultural difference and how that professor attended to and sought to address cultural difference and issues of power, positionality, and privilege during that program. This study followed a convergent parallel mixed method design in which I collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data concurrently. This combination of methods yielded a more complete understanding of the learning process and intercultural learning outcomes of the student participants, as well as the pedagogical and programmatic features that encouraged the growth of intercultural competencies in each. The quantitative findings of this study indicated little change in the competency levels of the program's participants, whereas the qualitative data suggested that the Belize travel course students had experienced notable gains in cultural self-awareness and were better able to identify relevant cultural differences. Participants singled-out the immersive quality of the experience, the variety and multiple points of intercultural contact the program offered, relationships with the faculty leader, peers, and host community members, and the compassionate leadership of the faculty leader as critical factors in their intercultural growth. I found that emotions, cognitive dissonance, and critical reflection play key roles in the intercultural learning process. / Doctor of Philosophy / American society is becoming more diverse and ever more integrated with nations across the world. College graduates need to have the knowledge and skills to live and work with people from different backgrounds. Universities can prepare students better for this reality by helping them learn how to communicate and behave appropriately with people who are culturally different. One way to encourage this capacity, called intercultural competence, is for students to participate in courses that occur outside of the United States. To secure the possibility for personal and intellectual growth, it is important that professors who take students abroad carefully plan their courses. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether a group of students who went to Belize with a professor for a short service-oriented course returned with more knowledge about that country's culture and improved intercultural competence. I tested program participants before they left and after they returned to see if their intercultural competence improved. I also interviewed the students about what their experience was like and how their professor had prepared them and helped them to learn. I also talked with the program's faculty leader to determine why she had designed the course in the way that she did and whether she perceived that participating students had improved their intercultural competence. I learned several things from this research. First, the tests that students completed showed that there was not much difference in their before and after intercultural competence scores. Second, however, when I talked with participants, they did seem to have changed from going on this travel course even if the test did not show that they had experienced much growth. The students indicated they had learned a lot about themselves and about the people of the town in Belize they visited. Participants suggested that they spent a lot of time with local residents and that doing so had helped them to understand them better. Third, those experiences helped them to think about their own culture and what it means to be an American. Fourth, students bonded with each other and with their professor. As individuals and as a group, they reported experiencing a variety of emotions in reaction to the things they observed and experienced. All of these, difficult or not, helped participants to grow personally and to develop a more robust awareness of how residents of another culture view and navigate their everyday lives.

Multicultural literature can sometimes act as a window, a mirror or a sliding glass door that introduces people to different worlds that are real or unreal, familiar, or strange. Through these windows, the reader gets an insight into the lives of others, inviting readers to reflect on their views and environment. The purpose of this study is to understand how teachers include and work with multicultural literature for grades 4-6 in the Swedish subject, and how they describe and use multicultural literature in their teaching to endorse tolerance and critical consciousness. The study is based on a mixed-method approach, using a quantitative survey and a qualitative interview for indepth knowledge. The theoretical framework in this study is based on the intercultural perspective that includes central concepts such as interculturality, the intercultural pedagogical perspective, intercultural learning and intercultural competence. In summary, the result shows that there is a deficit of knowledge in how teachers can use multicultural literature in their teaching but also how they can work with intercultural learning. Based on the results from both the survey and the interviews, there is a good understanding among the respondents regarding the beneficial effect of including multicultural literature and the multicultural perspective in teaching, especially when choosing children's literature. However, there is a certain insecurity and inexperience of how to work with multicultural literature or intercultural learning, which reflects the scarcity of multicultural literature to students. Mainly because of poor access of what is classified as good quality multicultural books, but also because it is time-consuming to find the right books and activities, and a lack of a deeper intercultural pedagogical competence in the respondents.

National Agency for Education for the results of national sample results show that students with another mother tongue than Swedish have low results with a larger percentage than majority students. Research shows that this depends on their mother tongue and the importance of language in the subject to learn. The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers experience, plan and implement their teaching field of mathematics in the preparatory class. The focus is on two perspectives; an intercultural perspective and a social perspective. The newly arrived pupils in the preparatory class come from different parts of the world which leads to an intercultural classroom being formed. The aim of the social perspective is understand how students integrate into the social in the classroom.I use qualitative methods through interviews. The interviews were conducted with four practicing teachers in different schools in a given municipality. Each teacher has explained their attitude to the new arrival students, working, and what difficulties they face. The results show that the teachers teaching is based on students own ideas and previous knowledge. The teachers take into account students' background and knowledge to provide trends of the intercultural approach. This intercultural attitudes is seen even when the students come with their own methods they may use. The existing school takes into account that students have different backgrounds and skills that teachers try to assume as well as study. Students integrate into the social in small groups learning to communicate, solve problems and present their results together. The teachers try to apply different teaching styles, which is one of the intercultural learning´s important aspects. The teachers use different methods to become aware of their students’ knowledge. One disadvantage is though that some teachers, as a method, choose not to use a test in the beginning of their teaching of a class to become aware of the variety of their students’ knowledge. Instead they choose to become aware of their students’ knowledge as they are teaching, through the different classes. / Skolverkets resultat från nationella provet visar att elever med annat modersmål än svenska har sämre resultat än majoritetseleverna. Forskningen visar att detta resultat kan bero på modersmålets och det nya språkets betydelse för inlärningen i ämnet. Syftet med denna undersökning har varit att studera hur lärare, planerar och genomför och upplever sin undervisning inom ämnet matematik i förberedelseklasserna. Fokus ligger på två perspektiv vilket är interkulturella perspektivet och sociala perspektivet.  De nyanlända eleverna i förberedelseklasserna kommer från olika delar av världen, vilket leder till att ett interkulturellt klassrum bildas. Med det sociala perspektivet avses förståelse för hur eleverna integreras i det sociala i klassrummet. Jag har valt att använde mig av kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer.  Intervjuerna genomfördes med fyra verksamma lärare i olika skolor i en kommun. Respektive lärare har fått delge sin inställning om nyanlända elever, arbetssätt, samt vilka svårigheter de möter. Resultatet visar att lärarna utgår från elevernas egna idéer och tidigare kunskaper i undervisningen. Lärarna tar hänsyn till elevernas bakgrund och kunskaper, vilket ger tendenser av det interkulturella förhållningssättet. Detta interkulturella förhållningssätt ser man även när eleverna kommer med sina egen lösningsmetoder som de får använda.  I skolan tar man hänsyn till att elever har olika bakgrund och kunskaper som lärarna försöker utgå från och ta del av dessa erfarenheter.  Elever integreras i det sociala genom att vara i små grupper där lär de sig att kommunicera, lösa uppgifter och redovisa tillsammans. Lärarna försöker visa olika metoder inom ämnet vid undervisningen, vilket är en av interkulturella lärandets aspekt. De väljer kartlägga kunskaperna hos eleverna på olika sätt. Fast som en nackdel kan det vara att vissa av de  inte väljer att ha en form av test från början och föredrar att känna efter vid undervisningen.

Abstract The aim of this research is to provide more theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding on the process of teachers’ intercultural learning and the nature of intercultural competence in teachers’ work. It is a qualitative study based on various types of questionnaires and interviews collected from former ITE (Intercultural Teacher Education) students in the Department of Educational Sciences in the University of Oulu. The research consists of five articles and a summary part. The research falls with in the area of intercultural education. The theoretical framework of the research is based on critical pedagogy, various models of intercultural competence as well as various learning theories (transformative, experiential, sociocultural) which are seen as approaches that provide analytical and theoretical tools for understanding intercultural learning. Phenomenographical and narrative research approaches construct the methodological framework for the research. The data have been collected twice. The first data consist of open-ended questionnaires (15) and half-structured interviews (10). This set of data was analysed phenomenographically. The second data consist of 10 biographical interviews which are analysed narratively. The main results of the study suggest that, according to the conceptions of the research subjects, teachers’ intercultural competence is less related to specific skills and knowledge than it is comprised of a holistic approach to issues. It is perceived more as an ethical orientation to people, life and diversity, which guides a person’s thinking and behavior rather than an ability to perform something well in an intercultural environment. On the basis of the research, teachers’ intercultural learning processes differ, depending on the person’s background, living environment and other experiences. There does not seem to be only one theory that would comprehensively describe this varied process. Teachers’ intercultural learning is a process involving the combination of formal and informal learning. While it can be a gradual process affected by various life experiences, it sometimes occurs rather suddenly through crises and turning points as assumed in transformative theory. The significant roles of environment and other people for intercultural learning are obvious although individual self-reflection is needed as well. The research also highlights the importance of emotionally strong experiences for intercultural learning. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on tuoda lisää teoreettista ja käytännöllistä tietoa ja ymmärrystä opettajien interkulttuurisen oppimisen prosessista sekä interkulttuurisen kompetenssin luonteesta. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen, ja se perustuu erityyppisiin kyselylomakkeisiin ja haastatteluihin, joita olen kerännyt entisiltä Oulun Yliopiston Kasvatustieteellisen tiedekunnan ITE (Interkulttuurinen opettajankoulutus) -ohjelman opiskelijoilta. Tutkimus koostuu viidestä artikkelista ja yhteenveto-osasta. Tutkimus sijoittuu interkulttuurisen kasvatuksen alueelle. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys pohjautuu kriittiseen pedagogiikkaan, interkulttuurisen kompetenssin malleihin sekä erilaisiin oppimisteorioihin (transformatiivinen, kokemuksellinen ja sosiokulttuurinen). Näiden teorioiden katson tarjoavan analyyttisiä ja teoreettisia välineitä interkulttuurisen oppimisen ymmärtämiseen. Tutkimusmetodologiana olen soveltanut fenomenografista ja narratiivista lähestymistapaa. Aineistoa olen kerännyt kahdesti. Ensimmäinen aineisto koostuu avoimista kyselylomakkeista (15) ja puolistrukturoiduista haastatteluista (10). Tämän aineiston analysoin fenomenografisesti. Toinen aineisto koostuu 10 elämänkerrallisesta haastattelusta, jotka analysoin narratiivisesti. Tutkimuksen päätulosten mukaan opettajat eivät koe interkulttuurista kompetenssia niinkään erityisinä taitoina tai tietoina vaan enemmän kokonaisvaltaisena lähestymistapana. Opettajien mukaan interkulttuurinen kompetenssi on ennen kaikkea eettinen orientaatio ihmisiä, elämää ja moninaisuutta kohtaan. Sen katsotaan ohjaavan ihmisen ajattelua ja toimintaa kokonaisvaltaisesti, eikä sitä siis nähdä pelkästään kykynä suorittaa jotain taitavasti monikulttuurisessa ympäristössä. Tutkimuksen tulosten pohjalta voidaan sanoa, että opettajien interkulttuurisen oppimisen prosessit ovat moninaisia riippuen henkilön taustasta, elinympäristöstä ja muista kokemuksista. Mikään kuvatuista oppimisteorioista ei näytä kokonaisvaltaisesti selittävän ja kuvaavan tätä moninaista prosessia. Opettajien kulttuurienvälinen oppiminen sisältää formaalia, informaalia ja nonformaalia oppimista. Se voi olla vähittäinen prosessi, johon erilaiset elämänkokemukset vaikuttavat pikkuhiljaaa. Se voi joskus tapahtua myös yhtäkkisesti kriisien ja elämänmuutosten kautta, kuten transformatiivisen oppimisen teoriassa oletetaan. Merkittävillä toisilla sekä ympäristöllä on interkulttuurisessa oppimisessa suuri rooli, vaikka yksilöllistäkin reflektiota tarvitaan. Tutkimuksessa nousi keskeiseksi myös tunneperäisesti vahvojen kokemusten merkitys interkulttuurisessa oppimisessa.

Abstract The aim of the thesis was to examine how Finnish mission organization missionaries, re-entering Finland, produce meanings related to their re-entry and re-entry shock in research interview speech. Textual data consisted of ten interviews conducted and transcribed by the researcher. Five of the interviews were conducted as individual interviews and the interviewees were single female missionaries. The rest of the five interviews were carried out as pair interviews and the informants were married missionary couples. I examined the textual data as a unit, I have named as missionary speech, which I have attempted to reconstruct by using discourse analysis. The central concepts are discourse and interpretation repertoire, and the rule of interpretation that conveys the relation between the two. The discourse is constructed in the tension between the interpretation repertoires which were in an opposing interactional relationship with each other. In re-entry shock research, related to culture shock research, culture shock has been approached from three different angles: as a mental crisis, as a learning experience, and as a crisis related to multicultural identity. In this dissertation the crisis perspective was also the starting point of interpreting culture shock, which the first discourse analytical interpretation rule was based on. The series of other interpretation rules was derived from this rule. For interpretation of the results of the analysis, I have used Milton Bennett's concept of intercultural sensitivity and the model of multicultural identity, founded on the former. The model of multicultural identity contains a form of multicultural identity crisis called internal culture shock which is one of the theoretical bases for my research. The discourse called missionary speech, mentioned above, is interpreted in my research on the basis of the concepts of Milton Bennett's six stage developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In the model, intercultural sensitivity is understood as sensitivity towards cultural differences and difference in general. This sensitivity can be ethnocentric when cultural differences are seen as negative or ethnorelativistic when cultural differences are experienced in a positive way. The central foundation is Jane Bennett's interpretation of multicultural identity through the concepts of constructive and encapsulated marginality. As the result of my research, I have established eight discourses: 1) geographical discourse, 2) discourse of mode of speaking, 3) emotive and feeling-based discourse, 4) attitude, 5) value discourse, 6) competence discourse, 7) discourse of intercultural sensitivity and 8) identity discourse. Each discourse was construed by two interpretation repertoires controversial to each other. The result of my research suggests that the multicultural identities, described by Milton Bennett and Janet Bennett, could be interpreted as open possibilities or "options" dynamizing the identity negotiation. Identity could thus be seen as a dynamic process by nature. On the basis of the results, I suggest interpreting intercultural sensitivity in the identity theoretical framework by taking advantage of the concepts of the model of intercultural sensitivity in a more multidimensional way, detached from sequentiality of the value-bound developmental model and drawing attention to the complexity and diverse nuances of intercultural sensitivity. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassa tavoitteena oli tutkia, miten Suomeen palaavat suomalaisen lähetysorganisaation lähetystyöntekijät tuottavat paluutaan ja paluusokkiaan koskevia merkityksiä tutkimushaastattelupuheessa. Tekstimateriaali koostui kymmenestä tutkijan suorittamasta ja litteroimasta haastattelusta. Informanteista viisi oli yksilöhaastatteluissa haastateltuja naimattomia naislähettejä. Loput kymmenen informanttia olivat parihaastatteluissa haastateltuja lähettipuolisoita. Haastattelujen tekstimateriaalia tarkastelin lähettipuheeksi nimittämänäni kokonaisuutena, jota pyrin rekonstruoimaan käyttäen diskurssianalyysiä. Keskeistä diskurssianalyysin sovelluksessani on diskurssin ja tulkintarepertuaarin välinen suhde sekä sen määrittävä tulkintasääntö. Diskurssi rakentuu toisilleen vastakkaisessa vaikutussuhteessa olevien tulkintarepertuaarien jännitteessä. Paluusokkitutkimuksessa kulttuurisokkia on lähestytty kolmesta näkökulmasta: psyykkisenä kriisinä, oppimiskokemuksena ja monikulttuuriseen identiteettiin liittyvänä kriisinä. Kriisinäkökulma muodostui myös tässä väitöskirjassa kulttuurisokin tarkastelun lähtökohdaksi, jonka varassa rakentui ensimmäinen diskurssianalyyttinen tulkintasääntö. Tästä säännöstä edettiin seuraaviin diskursseihin ja repertuaareihin. Analyysin tulosten tulkintaan käytin Milton Bennettin kehittämää kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden käsitettä sekä sen varaan rakennettua monikulttuurisen identiteetin mallia, johon liittyvä 'sisäiseksi kulttuurisokiksi' kutsuttu monikulttuurinen identiteettikriisi on yksi tutkimukseni keskeinen teoreettinen lähtökohta. Lähettipuheeksi nimettyä diskurssia tulkitsen Milton Bennettin kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden kuusivaiheisen kehitysmallin pohjalta. Mallissa kulttuurienvälinen herkkyys ymmärretään herkkyydeksi kulttuurisille eroille ja erilaisuudelle. Tämä sensitiivisyys voi olla etnosentristä, jolloin kulttuurinen erilaisuus mielletään kielteiseksi, tai etnorelativistista, jolloin kulttuuriset erot koetaan myönteisiksi. Toinen tulkinnassa käytetty keskeinen teoreettinen viitekehys on Janet Bennettin kehittämä monikulttuurisen identiteetin tulkinta, jossa apuna ovat rakentavan ja eristyneen sivullisuuden käsitteet. Tutkimukseni tuloksena syntyi kahdeksan diskurssia: 1) maantieteellinen diskurssi, 2) puhetapadiskurssi, 3) tunne- ja tuntemusdiskurssi, 4) asennediskurssi, 5 arvodiskurssi, 6) kompetenssidiskurssi, 7) kulttuurienvälinen herkkyysdiskurssi sekä 8) identiteettidiskurssi. Kukin diskurssi rakentui kahdesta toisilleen vastakkaisesta repertuaarista. Tutkimuksen tulos viittaa siihen, että Milton Bennettin ja Janet Bennettin kuvaamat monikulttuuriset identiteetit voitaisiin tulkita identiteettineuvottelua dynamisoiviksi optioiksi ja identiteetti dynaamiseksi prosessiksi. Tutkimuksen tuloksen pohjalta ehdotan kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden tulkitsemista identiteettiteoreettisessa viitekehyksessä käyttämällä hyväksi ja kehittämällä kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden kehitysmallin käsitteistöä irrotettuna kehitysmallin arvosidonnaisesta peräkkäisyyteen kytketystä rakenteesta. Samalla tulisi kiinnittää huomiota herkkyyden eri osatekijöiden välisten suhteiden nyansseihin.

Abstract The goal of this research is to develop a research process that explores the role Inuit teachers play in the development of Inuit culture in the classroom. A participatory action research approach was used with the objectives of: (1) examining how Inuit teachers view their cultural role; and (2) exploring how Inuit teachers teach their culture. Research activities were grounded in Indigenous education, intercultural learning and postcolonial theories. From this frame of reference, two project activities were developed in partnership with the Kativik School Board in Nunavik, Canada: a teacher training course and a teacher survey. The teacher training course attempted to create a ‘third space’ in which decolonization could be discussed and teachers could reflect about cultural influences on their own practice. The teacher survey constructs a ‘snap-shot’ of Inuit teacher perspectives on the topic of Inuit culture in their classrooms. Analysis of data involved qualitative methodologies including content analysis for the course and a series of verification interviews with senior stakeholders. A quantitative approach was used for analysis of the teacher survey. Data suggest that Inuit culture is being taught in classrooms; however few opportunities exist for Inuit teachers to discuss the implications of their practice. Conclusions point to the need for further development of Inuit-specific and Inuit-led research spaces - third spaces - in which Inuit culture can be articulated, and reflected upon. Limiting factors exist, however, with regard to how these spaces can be developed including language used for dialogue, authority within the space and length of time for dialogue. Decolonizing cultural competency is introduced in concert with third space theory as a pathway toward articulating collaborative research spaces in which Inuit can work in their own language and construct Inuit-specific strategies and content to decolonize their educational systems. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tavoite on paneutua natiivi inuiittiopettajien rooliin inuiittikulttuurin kehittämiseksi kouluopetuksessa. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin osallistavaa toimintatutkimusta, jonka tavoitteena oli selvittää: (1) miten inuiittiopettajat näkevät oman kulttuuriroolinsa ja (2) miten inuiittiopettajat opettavat omaa kulttuuriaan. Tutkimuksen teoriaperustana käytettiin alkuperäiskansojen opetuksen, monikulttuurikasvatuksen ja postkolonialismin teorioita. Tutkimus toteutettiin kahtena osaprojektina; opettajien koulutuskurssi ja kyselytutkimus. Nämä tutkimusprojektit suunniteltiin ja toteutettiin yhteistyössä Kativikin opetuslautakunnan kanssa Nunavikissa Kanadassa. Tutkimuksessa toteutetulla opettajankoulutuskurssilla pyrittiin luomaan ”kolmas tila”, jossa opettajat voivat syventyä keskustelemaan dekolonisaation käsitteistöstä ja voivat pohtia oman työnsä kulttuurisia vaikutuksia. Opettajien parissa tehty kyselytutkimus puolestaan on ’pikakatselmus’ inuiittiopettajien näkemyksiin inuiittikulttuurin roolista heidän luokkahuoneissaan. Tutkimusaineisto analysoitiin kvalitatiivisin ja kvantitatiivisin menetelmin. Opettajankoulutuskurssin tutkimusaineiston analysointiin käytettiin kvantitatiivista sisällönanalyysia, jonka tuloksia validoitiin haastattelemalla kokeneita inuiittiasiantuntijoita. Opettajainkyselytutkimus puolestaan analysoitiin kvantitatiivisesti. Tutkimus osoittaa, että inuiittikulttuuria opetetaan luokkahuoneissa mutta inuiittiopettajilla on harvoin mahdollisuus yhdessä pohtia työnsä merkityksiä. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan tehdä johtopäätös, että olisi tarpeen kehittää inuiittikeskeisiä ja inuiittien johtamia tutkimusympäristöjä - kolmas tila – joissa inuiittikulttuuria voidaan artikuloida ja pohtia. Tätä pohdintaa rajoittavia tekijöitä ovat kuitenkin dialogissa käytettävä kieli, kolmannen tilan auktoriteettikysymykset ja dialogiin käytettävä aika. Kulttuurikompetenssin dekolonisaatio ja kolmas tila esitetään tutkimuksessa keinoina kuvata yhteistoiminnallisia tutkimustiloja, joissa inuiitit voivat toimia omalla kielellään sekä kehittää inuiittikeskeisiä strategioita ja sisältöjä inuiittiopetuksen rakenteiden dekoloniasoimiseksi.

<div>Scholars in the field of gifted education have identified that summer enrichment programs can have academic and socioemotional benefits for adolescents with gifts and talents. Although some studies have pointed to the intercultural benefits of such programs, few have focused directly on the intercultural benefits multicultural enrichment programs can provide.</div><div>This mixed-methods study had three purposes: (1) to identify and adapt an instrument capable of measuring cultural responsiveness in adolescents with gifts and talents, (2) to examine if adolescents with gifts and talents change in cultural responsiveness over the course of a multicultural, residential summer enrichment program, and (3) to explore effective pedagogical strategies for teaching multicultural groups of adolescents with gifts and talents.</div><div>The Miville-Guzman Universality Scale-Short (Fuertes et al., 2000) was selected as the instrument of focus. The instrument was piloted, and the data analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Cognitive interviews with participants were also used to revise the items. A combination of canonical function analysis and qualitative responses were used to analyze participants’ (n=308) growth in cultural responsiveness over the course of the summer enrichment program. Finally, interviews with teachers and open-response answers from students were used to find the most effective pedagogical strategies for educating multicultural students.</div><div>Findings include a revised M-GUDS-S instrument for adolescents with gifts and talents (AM-GUDS-S), evidence that multicultural enrichment programs can have a positive effect on student intercultural relations with profiles for how those relations develop over a two-week period, and a series of pedagogical strategies that can be used by educators to facilitate learning for groups of domestically, internationally, and linguistically diverse students.</div>

This study has aimed to contribute to the learning and understanding of how music teachers interpret and teach the concept of multiculturalism. Music teacher have the task of teaching to promote students’ understanding of different musical cultures, while their teaching is increasingly rooted in Western musical traditions. Through a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews, ten music teachers participated in the study. The material has been processed, coded, categorized, and linked to the concepts of intercultural learning, ethnocentrism and ethnomusicology. The study suggests that multiculturalism interpretation is based on the concepts ethnicity and identity. In this study, music teachers emphasize the value of working with multiculturalism and underline that the meeting between different cultures is central. However, the study shows that music teachers witness a lack of knowledge for more thorough teaching. Working with multiculturalism, can contribute to a greater understanding of different cultures and increased social cohesion. But this requires more learning, about how music teachers can interpret and work with multiculturalism in their teaching. One conclusion of the study is that music teachers know why they should teach about multiculturalism and what the teaching should include – but how they can teach multiculturalism is still uncertain. / Denna studie syftar till att bidra med ökad förståelse för hur musiklärare tolkar och implementerar begreppet mångkulturalitet i musikundervisningen. Musiklärare har till uppgift att undervisa för att främja elevers förståelse för olika musikkulturer, samtidigt som deras undervisning i allt högre grad är förankrad i västerländska musiktraditioner. Genom en kvalitativ ansats och med semistrukturerade intervjuer har tio musiklärare deltagit i studien. Materialet har bearbetats, kodats samt kategoriserats och sedan satts i relation till interkulturellt lärande, etnocentrism och musiketnologi. Studiens resultat visar på att mångkultur oftast tolkas utifrån etnicitet och identitet. I studien framhåller musiklärare värdet av att arbeta med mångkulturalitet samt betonar att mötet mellan olika kulturer är centralt. Dock upplever musiklärare bristande kunskap för en mer ingående undervisning. Arbete med mångkulturalitet kan bidra till större förståelse för olika kulturer och ökad social gemenskap. För detta krävs då mer lärdom om hur musiklärare ska tolka och arbeta med mångkulturalitet i sin undervisning. En slutsats i studien är därmed att musiklärare vet varför de bör undervisa om mångkulturalitet samt vad undervisningen bör innefatta – men hur undervisningen kan utformas för att omfatta multikulturalism är fortfarande ovisst.

<div> <div> <div> <p>In today’s global environment, agricultural students need the skills to thrive among a workforce made up of individuals with diverse experiences and perspectives. One promising way to prepare students is through the development of intercultural competence (IC). This thesis addresses several different methods of developing IC in undergraduate students. Chapter 2 addresses incorporation of intercultural interventions into a short-term study abroad program coupled with and a follow-up semester-long on-campus companion course to specifically target empathy development. The study found that overall students did not increase significantly on the IDI, but did show positive growth in empathy development throughout the semester. Chapter 3 describes differences in IC of students completing intercultural learning (ICL) assignments throughout a face-to-face introductory animal agriculture course compared with students not completing ICL assignments. The intervention group showed significant increase according to the IDI and increased on average 9.46 points. In addition, the intervention group increased significantly more than the control group (87.54 ± 2.09 vs. 94.76 ± 1.67) (p <0.004; df=1; f=13.23). </p> <p>Studies described in Chapter 4 build on those of methods followed a similar approach to the methods discussed in Chapter 3 but examine the impact of including reflection based ICL assignments using global animal agriculture as a medium. Notably, the course also occurred in an emergency remote learning setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from the study discussed in Chapter 4 showed that the intervention group increased significantly more than the control group (86.75 ± 2.11 vs. 95.29 ± 2.35; p < 0.004). In addition, the intervention group also showed positive results in developing the specific skill of empathy throughout the semester. </p> <p>The last study discussed in this thesis (Chapter 5) details the process of creating and validating a scale to specifically measure the competence levels in level of undergraduates’ essential skills in undergraduates. Cronbach’s alpha was reported for each skillset that was being evaluated and deemed acceptable.</p></div></div></div><div><div><div> <p>Each of the studies discussed was designed to fill gaps in the literature regarding skill development in animal science undergraduate students. The development of such skills, and IC in particular, is necessary for all students whether they pursue careers with as possible the opportunity to develop these skills, not just those who participate in international elements. As such, developing validate means to provide students opportunities to hone such skills is necessary to student future success. Toward this end, the studies described here seek to measure the efficacy embedding intercultural learning into undergraduate agricultural curriculum at providing such opportunities. </p> </div> </div> </div>

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