Intercultural Communication: assumptions and practices

• Reflect on the dynamics of linguistic, socio-interactional, cultural and ethical interactions in communication in today's plural societies;
• Characterise the plural social fabric and linguistic diversity in Portugal and in Europe;
• Develop conceptual frameworks of reference on educational policies that promote multilingualism and cultural dialogue;
• Question the role of the university as an intercultural space for socialisation and education for national, European and global citizenship;
• Acquire knowledge about the characteristics, processes and strategies of intercultural communication, as well as the individual and collective mechanisms and factors that influence intercultural relations.
• Understand the principles and assumptions inherent in education and the development of attitudes and skills that promote appropriate intercultural relations between individuals and groups from different cultures, as well as the management of identities, conflicts and intercultural communication;
• Develop theoretical, conceptual, methodological and instrumental skills for further research and for more competent and innovative intervention in the field of intercultural communication in different areas;
• Design and implement intervention plans and strategies that promote intercultural communication, particularly in contexts characterised by cultural diversity, conflict, complexity or emergency situations, including pedagogical proposals in the field of higher education and in the trainee's area of specialisation.

Topics:

1. Intercultural communication and contemporary society
   -Socio-interactional, cultural and ethical dimensions of communication
   -Issues of communication and intercultural relations in today's plural societies
   -Languages and cultures interacting in the national and European space
2. Training and educating in heterogeneous contexts
   -Scope, actors and contexts of training for intercultural dialogue
   -Educating in a context of diversity: new challenges for schools, new skills for educational agents
   -Role of European institutions in promoting multilingual and intercultural education for citizens
3. Linguistic and intercultural education: principles and practices
   -Intercultural skills, intercultural communication and contexts of intervention
   -Intervention and research methodologies in the field of intercultural communication
4. Final self-reflection

The course has been designed and organised to be delivered in a blended learning format, through face-to-face and online sessions. As such, it is divided into modules and complies with e-learning specifications and standards. All course modules are available on the e-learning platform of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation.

Through plenary sessions, communication and practical workshops with a clear focus on problematising the theories underlying intercultural education, an analysis of practices and experiences in the field of intercultural and multilingual communication will be carried out, using case studies, and intervention strategies that promote understanding and intercultural rapprochement with otherness will be highlighted.

Given that the aim is for trainees, who are higher education teachers, to be able to reflect on their teaching professionalism, the focus will be on: a) self-diagnosis of the practices they use, both in terms of the strategies employed and the resources mobilised; b) proposals for self-reformulation or redirection of actions developed in relation to intercultural education and communication; c) final self-reflection on the productivity and relevance of the paths traced throughout the training course. In addition to face-to-face sessions, the use of e-learning technological solutions allows training to be carried out:

• synchronously, through the Zoom videoconferencing tool;
  asynchronously,
• through the e-learning platform of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation.

Assessment is based on three components: a) diagnostic assessment, which will be carried out at the beginning of the course; b) formative assessment (to be developed during the course); and c) summative assessment, which will take place at the end of the course.

The final grade for the course will be calculated as the weighted average, on a scale of 20 points, of the partial grades, taking into account the following weightings:

• e-Portfolio reflecting the training path of each trainee: 50%
• Quality participation in synchronous and asynchronous sessions: 20%
• Final self-reflection: 30%

All trainees who achieve the defined objectives will obtain a Certificate issued by the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto.