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Finnish teachers’ and students’ intercultural sensitivity

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Abstract

This article examines intercultural sensitivity of Finnish teachers (N = 1008) and students (N = 1000) with a 23-item Intercultural Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (ICSSQ). The questionnaire is based on Bennett’s (Education for the intercultural experience, Intercultural Press, Yarmouth, 1993) Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, which consists of three ethnocentric and three ethnorelative stages that reflect reactions to cultural differences. Items on the ICSSQ are based on authentic statements by 12- to16-year-old Finnish students in lower secondary school. The purpose was twofold: firstly, to test ICSSQ with adult respondents, i.e. teachers, and secondly, to investigate how teachers and students differ in intercultural sensitivity. The results indicate three orientations of intercultural sensitivity: ethnocentric, transitional and ethnorelative. Moreover, the data illustrate variance between teachers and students in intercultural sensitivity, with the teachers assessing their intercultural sensitivity higher than the students assessed theirs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 3), 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    E. Kuusisto

  2. Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 10), 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    A. Kuusisto

  3. University of Tampere, Kuminakatu 1 B 6, 33710, Tampere, Finland

    I. Rissanen

  4. Helsinki normaalilyseo, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 38 (Ratakatu 6), 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    K. Holm

  5. Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    K. Tirri

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  1. E. Kuusisto
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  2. A. Kuusisto
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  3. I. Rissanen
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  4. K. Holm
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  5. K. Tirri
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Correspondence to E. Kuusisto.

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Kuusisto, E., Kuusisto, A., Rissanen, I. et al. Finnish teachers’ and students’ intercultural sensitivity. j. relig. educ. 63, 65–77 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-016-0018-0

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