Abstract

This study provides results of a study aimed at assessing cultural competence and cultural safety in study abroad programs. A postcolonial theoretical approach is used to inform the study. Postcolonialism is located within a historical realist paradigm that acknowledges that knowledge is historically and socially constructed. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, data were collected to answer the following research questions: How do international educational experiences abroad facilitate or hinder the development of cultural competency and cultural safety? and How do international experiences deconstruct or maintain a priori racial and ethnic stereotypes? The sample includes fifteen to twenty students who participated in an international educational experiences. The type of experiences abroad may vary with disciplines but they all include exposure to cultural diversity and an adaptation to cultural differences. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Individual and focus group interviews were audio-taped. Informed consent was sought prior to data collection. Thematic analysis represents a “method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting (themes) within data” (p. 79). Constant comparison was used to analyze the transcripts of individual interviews and focus groups. Using constant comparison, similarities, and differences between and across all individual interviews were conducted. This research has educational and societal significance. For students to become global citizens, it is necessary that issue of power relations within education abroad settings be understood, otherwise educators run the risk of training (educating) culturally incompetent and unsafe students. Culturally unsafe behaviors maintain colonial stereotypes and affect health and social inequities. Results indicate that cultural competency and safety are sustainable and transferable skills of global citizenship.

Presenters

Louise Racine
Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Susan Fowler-Kerry
Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada

Linda Wason-Ellam

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Education and Learning in a World of Difference

KEYWORDS

"Study Abroad Immersion Programs", " Cultural Safety and Cultural Risk", " Poscolonialism"

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