Intercultural Competence Development: Exploring International Graduate Student Leaders' Journeys through Contemplation and Mindfulness-Based Inquiry

Given the globalization of education, intercultural competence (IC) is a pivotal learning outcome in student mobility and internationalization. While scholars conceptualize IC as the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in cross-cultural contexts, few studies have explored international graduate student leaders’ IC development and how they perceive IC in their transitional journeys, and most research demonstrates IC development mainly through Western-centric frameworks. This study thus explored, through a non-dominant cultural lens, the IC development of international graduate student leaders to deepen the understanding of their lived experiences. Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s philosophy of Engaged Buddhism, the study scaffolded an innovative contemplation and mindfulness-based inquiry and developed the Lotus theoretical framework combining Mezirow’s (1978) transformative learning theory and Drake’s (2010) story model to explore participants’ lived experiences. Eight international graduate student leaders from two Ontario institutions attended the semi-structured interview and two focus groups in the form of a Story Circle (Deardorff, 2020c). Findings depicted new narratives that challenged a deficit view about international students and revealed (a) participants’ perceptions about IC, (b) their journeys of perspective transformation, (c) their engagement in the meaning-making processes, and (d) the role of IC in leadership development. The study’s results offer insight into life in transition and how these students make meaning of their lives through leadership engagement and IC development. Such insights could raise awareness among different stakeholders about the meaning and importance of IC and may enable institutional leaders and practitioners to develop more effective programs and a more inclusive environment for all.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. Educational Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education

Grantor

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Bùi, Trâm-Anh

• intercultural competence, student mobility, internationalization, international student leadership, contemplation and mindfulness based-inquiry

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10464/17988

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/17988