Sophia SCHLEICHER
Sophia Schleicher is pursuing a Master’s in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Class of 2024.
In the era of global interconnectivity we currently experience, the terms “international”, “intercultural”, and “globally competent” have become part of the educational lexicon, although sometimes reduced to loosely interpreted signifiers and detached from the real-world experiences they aim to capture. However, for those who have lived and studied across cultures, these words represent much more than any surface-level rhetoric. They also resonate deeply in my heart as recapturing lived experiences, impactful encounters, and insightful research.
Whether framed by the UN as a target of the fourth Sustainable Development Goal 1 or embedded within the renowned framework of global competence developed by Asia
Society 2 ,the call to deepen one’s understanding of the world beyond own borders has never been more urgent. This imperative, in fact, reflects a broader need to communicate and collaborate across cultural and national divides in both professional and personal settings. It should be mentioned that while the discourse on global competence may seem particularly timely, its conceptual foundation is not new. It has its roots in earlier historical developments, notably gaining prominence as a response to the worldwide tensions of the late 1950s and aiming to reform education beyond national boundaries 3.
At work, at home, and in the community, people need a broad understanding of how others live, with different cultures and traditions and how others think, whether as scientists or as artists. The foundations for this do not all come naturally. From an early age, we instinctively develop “bonding social capital”—a sense of belonging to our families and communities. However, developing the “bridging social capital” that allows us to connect with those beyond our immediate circles, requires deliberate and continuous efforts. Among the key drivers of such efforts, education plays a central role in building the skills that support inter-personal bonds and that ultimately guide the development of an authentic intercultural sophistication.
On a personal level, the multilingual and multicultural environment I grew up in, which blended Italian, German and French origins, shaped my initial understanding of our multifaceted world and nurtured my curiosity for inter-personal nuances. It notably propelled my decision to undertake a gap year in China as a freshly graduated 17-year-old, and to fully immerse myself in the culture by living with locals, teaching ballet in a primary school, and learning Mandarin. The cross-cultural vision, sensitivity and friendships I forged through this experience later became the core driving forces of my professional aspirations that materialized at Harvard. On the other side of the coin, if I were to describe this multiculturalism from a less ‘résumé-friendly’ perspective, I would also say that it makes my connection to one single cultural identity feel a bit more elusive and complicates the feeling of having one “home”.
I must also admit that while focusing part of my work on the dismantlement of uninformed stereotypes in my journey as a researcher and learning designer, I can’t resist deploying some of them when it helps me justify my boring respect for rules as a trait attributable to my “German genes”, my unnecessary pitch variations linked to my “Italian genes” and my frustrating spirit of contradiction to my “French side”. The brain is in fact wired to yield to all kinds of heuristics and cognitive biases that help us navigate a world imbued with ambiguities. But probably due to the fact that I also associate these countries with family, friends and a certain feeling of home, the partial picture I depict with those stereotyped traits is overridden by a deep respect and sincere attachment that ultimately fosters empathy and the awareness of interpersonal nuances within a same culture.
Could this feeling of attachment, belonging and relatedness that sustains the personal connections we feel with a country and its inhabitants be the starting point of our “bridging social capital”? And if so, how can the social emotional learning that lies behind the creation of intercultural bridges be nurtured within educational settings?
When looking at the literature published on the theme of global competence, several definitions, constructs and frameworks seem to co-exist. Viewed optimistically, this multiplicity reveals the variety of educational contexts and learning spaces in which ‘global’ is seen as purposeful and necessary theme to address. More realistically, when looking beyond the school’s mission statements and more closely at the actual classroom practices, the competing priorities at all levels of the educational ecosystem seem to be limiting more tangible initiatives and leaving global education as one more ‘add-on’ to the curricula. Finally, when interpreted through a more reflective lens, the wide array of terminologies associated with global education discloses the diverse interpretations of its purpose, notably depending on the sociopolitical contexts in which it is applied. This puts under the spotlight one of the main pushbacks to the implementation of global education, which is its interference with political views. While educating, in itself, is in many instances debated to be a political act, terminology can become a true inhibiting factor in cases where the additional connotation of global citizenship, connection or openness to broader landscapes is debated in the political sphere.
As I was reflecting on these aspects during my time at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, I came to consider the importance of cultivating learner’s awareness, curiosity and empathy, before exposing them to facts about foreign cultures, customs and habits. One construct seems to be the arrival point of these dispositions: active open mindedness, defined as the willingness to seek out and reflect on contrary evidence 4. As this trait relies on the ability to put one’s own beliefs in the background and postpone closure, active open-minded thinking is in my view also very much dependent on an individual’s level of curiosity and humility. Thus, an education aimed at developing humility, curiosity, and openness becomes essential—not as a mere precursor to intercultural knowledge, but as the foundation for recognizing the lenses through which we perceive the world, and for fostering a genuine, thoughtful engagement with difference.
A practical example of intercultural competence in action can be seen during moments of study-abroad between France and the United States students. Without wanting to overgeneralize, it is not uncommon to observe that American students in France often adjust to a more hierarchical and formal classroom structure, while French students in the U.S. experience a more interactive and flexible learning environment. And adjustments also exist in aspects as subtle as humor (as I quickly experienced upon arriving in the US…), when a typically French ironic remark — one I believed carried a smile between the lines and had an unmistakably warm undertone— lands instead as rudeness, greeted by silence, slight confusion, and a shortened conversation. This would remain an anecdotal fun fact if these environments weren’t also mirrored in professional settings where teams collaborating at an international scale are confronted with nuances that require adjustments of sensitivities for fruitful cooperation.
Recognizing this, it becomes all the more essential to consider how we prepare individuals to navigate such complexity. If consensus is found on the importance of equipping individuals with the cognitive and emotional dispositions allowing them to successfully cooperate in workplaces and broader societies, we need to prioritize global education and its related social-emotional learning. Whether through virtual exchange, cross-national case studies or opportunities to study abroad, giving learners the opportunity to experience cultural nuances firsthand represents a transformative catalyst that can help them thrive in our interconnected world, with an open heart and an open mind.
- United Nations, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, United Nations General Assembly, 25 September 2015. ↩︎
- Asia Society and OECD, “Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World”, 23 January 2018. ↩︎
- Alex Standish, “What Is Global Education and Where Is It Taking Us?”, Curriculum Journal, vol. 25, (no 2), 2014, pp. 166–186 ↩︎
- Ellen Peters and Brittany Shoots-Reinhard, “Chapter One – Better Decision Making Through Objective Numeracy and Numeric Self-Efficacy”, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 68, ed. Bertram Gawronski, Academic Press, 2023, p. 40 ↩︎