Convergencia educativa y diversidad cultural en el EEES : desde las aulas universitarias multiculturales de segundas lenguas (e/le) hacia la competencia intercultural

Hereby we present the results of our Doctorate research, in the frame of European university convergence towards the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), whose implementation means unifying educational criteria, approaches, methodologies, programmes, credit systems and degrees in the 47 participant countries, giving at the same time a positive appreciation to the cultural diversity involved and to its adequate treatment as essential factors for quality. An educational system at the same time reflects and helps to conserve and transmit the culture of a particular country. In all cases, members of a cultural and academic community share a number of fundamental values that people from other cultures have to discover, recognize, identify, get to know, understand, accept, learn, assume and develop in order to feel fully integrated and be able to interact on equal terms/conditions and therefore achieve the results and success desired. What does it mean to be a good Higher Education professor in increasingly international, multilingual and multicultural learning environments? What perceptions do international students have on this profile, considering that they come from different learning traditions and previous educational experiences, and have got diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and characteristics? What quality expectations in this respect do they bring with them to the multicultural classroom? How can professors meet these expectations and thereby improve their teaching? From a systemic perspective on education, in terms of education quality and effectiveness our research considers, inter alia, a number of different variables such as input: professor, students with diverse cultural origins/profiles, traditions/previous experiences of university education; context: multicultural learning environments in Higher Education, climate and culture of the classroom; process: teaching and learning techniques/strategies, teaching and learning styles, intercultural approach; product: Intercultural Competence. As it can be seen in detail in the analysis of the results obtained in our research, statistically significant differences directly reflect cultural factors described in the various respondent student profiles, as well as in their different traditional university models. It has been therefore proved/verified that the culture of the classroom or the academic culture (teaching and learning culture) is a true reflection of the culture or the cultural profile of those societies in which the university sits as an integral part/member.

Hereby we present the results of our Doctorate research, in the frame of European university convergence towards the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), whose implementation means unifying educational criteria, approaches, methodologies, programmes, credit systems and degrees in the 47 participant countries, giving at the same time a positive appreciation to the cultural diversity involved and to its adequate treatment as essential factors for quality. An educational system at the same time reflects and helps to conserve and transmit the culture of a particular country. In all cases, members of a cultural and academic community share a number of fundamental values that people from other cultures have to discover, recognize, identify, get to know, understand, accept, learn, assume and develop in order to feel fully integrated and be able to interact on equal terms/conditions and therefore achieve the results and success desired.