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MONASH EDUCATION

Transcultural Capability and the PYP: Final Report

Associate Professor Lucas Walsh & Dr Niranjan Casinader

January 2018

Walsh/Casinader: International Baccalaureate Final Report 2 of 94

TableofContents

A ExecutiveSummary.....................................................................................................................4

B Background..................................................................................................................................6

C ResearchDesignandMethodology.............................................................................................9

EthicalConsiderations.................................................................................................................12ResearchAims.............................................................................................................................12Methodology...............................................................................................................................12

D ResearchFindings......................................................................................................................17

1.Theculturalcompositionofthefourparticipatingschools....................................................172.Backgroundsofparticipants....................................................................................................193.ResearchAims1and2:TodeterminetheindividualculturaldispositionofthinkingteacherswithinthefourIBschools;andtoanalysethepatternsofteacherculturaldispositionsofthinking,bothwithineachschool,andcomparatively,intermsofthedegreeandnatureoftransculturalcapability...............................................................................................................214.ResearchAims3and4:TodeterminetheindividualandcollectivepersonalandprofessionalprofileofteacherswithinthefourIBschools;andtoevaluatereasonsforthepatternsoftransculturalcapabilityusingtheseteacherprofiles..................................................................265.ResearchAim5:ToassesstheimplicationsofthesepatternsfortheeffectiveteachingandlearningoftherelevantaspectsoftheIBLearnerProfile(beingathinkerandopen-minded)intheschoolcasestudies,bothindividuallyandcollectively.........................................................33

E Recommendations.....................................................................................................................51

6.ResearchAim6:RecommendationsforthefuturedevelopmentofteachertransculturalcapacitiesinIBschoolsthatofferthePYP..................................................................................51

F Conclusion:AFuturePerspective..............................................................................................66

G References.................................................................................................................................69

H Appendices................................................................................................................................72

Appendix1:Survey..........................................................................................................................72

Appendix2:TeacherSemi-structuredInterview.............................................................................93


SupplierName: MonashUniversity,FacultyofEducation

Address: FacultyofEducation,MonashUniversity,VictoriaAustralia3800

Co-Investigator1: AssociateProfessorLucasWalsh(DeputyDean,Acting)

Email: [email protected]

Co-Investigator2: DrNiranjanCasinader(SeniorLecturerinCurriculum&Assessment)

Email: [email protected]

ResearchAssistant: JoanneGleeson

Acknowledgement: ThankstoEmmaRujevicforhereditorialfeedbackandBradleyShrimptonforhisassistanceduringtheschoolrecruitmentprocess.

Date: December2017


A ExecutiveSummary

Rapid increases in the flowsofpeoplearound theworld,both temporaryandpermanent,havemeantthatnationalpopulations–andwithinthemcohortsofschool-agedstudents–havebecomemoreculturallydiverse,creatingbothchallengesandopportunitiesforpeoplenavigatingthisdiversity.TheInternationalBaccalaureate(IB)seekstoaddressthistrendbydeveloping"the intellectual,personal,emotionalandsocialskillsneededto live, learnandwork ina rapidlyglobalisingworld" (IB,2017a).Within this, thePrimaryYearsProgramme(PYP)aimsspecificallytoprepare“studentstobecomeactive,caring, lifelonglearnerswhodemonstraterespectforthemselvesandothersandhavethecapacitytoparticipateintheworldaroundthem”.Thisisachievedthroughtheteachingoffiveessentialelements,oneofwhich is “attitudes, which contribute to international-mindedness and the wellbeing ofindividualsandlearningcommunities”(IB,2017b).

Toachieve thesegoals, it isnecessary forPYP teachers topossess thecultural capacity tocaterforsuchdiversityasaprofessionalattribute.However,currentteachingapproachesofmulti-and inter-culturalismwereconceivedbeforecontemporaryglobalisation;patternsofglobal mobility were less complex and interactions between people of different cultureswerelessfrequent.

In today’sworld, advanced communications and transport technologies haveincreased the fluidity of demographic movement and societies around theworld are nowmore culturally complex than before. Consequently, teachersarguablynowneedtopossessadifferentformofculturalexpertisetomeettheneeds of students, that of transculturalism, which is inclusive of the IB PYPglobally constructed mindsets. Transculturalism sees cultural variation as apositive rather than a negative or issue to be addressed in some way(Casinader, 2016), and as the norm rather than the exception (Rizvi, 2011),which,inIBterms,translatestoopen-mindedness.

This project sought to understand how well transcultural skills are being developed andutilised by teachers in schools offering the IB PYP in Canada and Australia. Specifically, itdetermined and measured the degree of transcultural capability in teachers in four PYPschools (three Canadian, one Australian), enabling an evaluation of their transculturalcapability,aswellasifandhowitimpactsupontheirteachingofthePYPwithreferencetotheLearnerProfileandintendedstudentoutcomes.Therewerefivemainconclusions:

• All38teacherswhoparticipatedinthestudydemonstratedsomedegreeoftransculturalcapability, with 50 per cent being designated as fully transcultural. These teachersshowed a high degree of personal and professional commitment to the PYP coreprinciples,aswellasahighdegreeofglobalandculturalknowledgeandawareness.

• There was a significant minority (23 per cent) of teachers who were distinctly lesstransculturalthantherestofthecohort.Althoughthisgroupdemonstratedprofessionalcommitment to the PYP and its principles, therewas less personal commitment to itsideas and attitudes, predominantly because of their lower exposure to globalisingexperiencesthatimmersedtheminculturaldifference.Thiswasassociatedwithalowerdegreeofglobalawareness,culturalknowledgeandculturalawareness.

• Transcultural teachers tended to have experienced a range of cultural environmentsthroughout their lives for both personal and professional reasons, whether theyexperiencedthesewithintheirowncountry,ormostoften,internationally.Professionaldevelopment for transcultural capability therefore needs to focus on long-termstrategiesthatexposeteacherstoexperiencesofpurposefulculturaldislocation;thatis,


being immersed in cultural environments that are vastly different to those in theirlocationsoforiginorcustom.

• The length of teaching experience, direct PYP experience and age tended to haverelativelylittleinfluenceonthedegreeoftransculturalcapability.

• Inthecourseofthestudy,itemergedthatthevastmajorityofteacherswerecriticalofthesix-topicstructureoftheannualPYP.Theysawthemandatingofsomanyareasasdelimiting opportunities for deep understandings of students and the PYP principle ofstudent-centredinquirylearning.Theyrecommendedareductionto4-5topicsperyear.Thiscouldfreeuptimeforgreaterdepthof investigationofculturaldifferenceinwayssuggestedbybothparticipantsandresearchers.

CulturalDispositionsofthinking CDT

CollectiveAction,IndividualFocused CI

DiplomaProgramme DP

IndependentAction,CommunityFocused IC

InformationandCommunicationTechnology ICT

MiddleYearsProgramme MYP

PrimaryYearsProgramme PYP

School1(BC,Canada) S1

School2(QC,Canada) S2

School3(Victoria,Australia) S3

School4(BC,Canada) S4

Transcultural (Independent + CollectiveAction/Individual+CommunityFocus) TC

TABLE1:Acronymsusedinthisreport


B Background

ContextandKeyConcepts

Globalisation has intensified encounters with cultural difference throughout the world.Rapid increases inthe internationalflowsofpeople,bothtemporaryandpermanent,havemeantthatnationalpopulations–andwithinthem,cohortsofschool-agedstudents–areincreasingly culturally diverse, creating both challenges and opportunities for teachers innavigatingthisdiversity.

Thisheightenedawarenessofdifferencegeneratesaneedtodevelopcapabilitiestoengagedifference.ItisparticularlypronouncedwhenlookingatacountrysuchasAustralia,whichisoneofthe locationsofthisstudy. It issituatedadjacenttoSouthandEastAsia,regions inwhichapproximately3.6billionoftheworld’s7.1billionpeoplereside(Dewey,2013).Theeconomic and geopolitical axis of power is shifting towards countries such as China andIndia,withprofoundimplicationsfortheregion(White,2012).Australiahasoneofthemostethnically diverse populations in theworld. As the proportion of those born in Australia,NewZealandortheUK-Irelanddecreases,theproportionofthosebornoverseashasrisentobeing over a quarter of Australia’s population (Hugo, 2012). Over one in 10 identifies asbeing Asian, which is twice the percentage from the preceding decade (Beech, 2013). InCanada–theothercountryinwhichthisresearchtookplace–immigrantsmakeupoverafifthofthetotalpopulation,withthemajorityofCanada’sforeign-bornpopulationresidingin Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta. More than 200 ethnic origins wereidentifiedinthe2011NationalHouseholdSurvey,with13ofthemsurpassingonemillioninpopulation (Evans, 2013). Australia and Canada therefore present to culturally diversecontextsshapedbycontemporaryglobalisationandhavebeenusedasthemainsettingsofthisresearch.

In the longer term, conventional educational responses to these challenges surroundingcultural difference have been limited for three reasons. Firstly, the nature of culturaleducationhashistoricallyreliedontheidentificationofculturaldifferenceasaproblemtobe addressed, rather than a variationwithin a normative societal state (Casinader, 2016;2017).Inthe1960s,thefirstculturaleducationalinitiativeswere–andoftencontinuetobe– perceived in terms of learning about the nature of other cultures andmulticulturalism(Hassim,2013).Ashifttookplaceduringthe1970sand1980s–mainlyinEurope–towardsthe notion of “intercultural education”, duringwhich affirmative actionwas promoted toaddress negative attitudes towards difference, which was seen to be as important asknowingaboutthem.Bothoftheseapproaches,however,ultimatelysetupculturaldiversityasaclashof‘others’.

Secondly,regardlessoftheconstructoftheculturaleducation,thepotentialinfluenceofthebackground attitudes of school educators on such cultural diversity programmes withinschools has not featured significantly in scholarly research to date. This project seeks tocommence redressing this imbalance. The monocultural Anglo-European nature of theAustralianschoolteachingworkforce,forexample,wasnotedasbeingapotentialbarriertoeffectivemulticulturalorinterculturaleducationinthelate1990s(see,forexample,Troyna& Rizvi, 1997). Nevertheless, despite the increasing cultural diversity of the studentpopulationspreviouslyisalludedto,andtheconcomitantgrowingculturalmixwithinschoolstudents, there has been a distinct reluctance on the part of the profession to eitheracknowledge or address this imbalance. Studies of theAustralian teaching profession (forexample, Dempster, Sim, Beere, & Logan, 2000; McKenzie, Kos, Walker, & Hong, 2008;McKenzie, Rowley,Weldon,&Murphy, 2011) invariably containdataon thebirthplaceof


teachers, but never on their self-identified cultural or ethnic background, beyond that ofIndigeneity.

Despite this lack of engagement with the composition of the existing teacher workforce,thereisgrowingevidencethat,toadegree,teachereducationisbeginningtorecognisetheimportanceofbuildingsuchculturalcapacitywithinteachergraduatesbeforetheyentertheschool setting as service professionals, particularly outside Australia (see, for example,GutiérrezAlmarza,DuránMartínez,&BeltránLlavador,2015;Holmes,Bavieri,&Ganassin,2015;Messelink,VanMaele,&Spencer-Oatey,2015).

Thirdly, the ability of school educators to address the challenges and opportunities ofcultural diversity may be hindered by the approaches adopted by school leaders andadministrators,whohavetendedtoadoptreactivepoliciesinresponsetoculturaldivisions,ratherthanbeingpro-active.Itcouldbearguedthatthispropensitytore-actionasopposedto pro-action is in line with the limited foundations of multicultural education andinterculturaleducation,asitreflectsabeliefthatculturaldiversityissolelyidentifiedbytheexistence of divisions that can only be resolved by an institutional response. Typicalapproachesinresponsetoincidents,itcanbeargued,tendtobeframedontheassumptionthatculturaldiversityhasemergedasaproblemtobeaddressed,ratherthananacceptancethatculturaldifference is thereality.StudiessuchasWaltonetal (2014),which lookedatthe attitudinal approaches of school leaders to racist student behaviour in schools, havesupportedthisattitudinaldichotomy.Ofthethreeapproachesidentified,twowerebasedoneither avoidance of the issue’s existence (“procedural colour-blind”) or a deliberateminimisationofitssignificance(“colorimeter”).

Understandingtheattitudesofteachersisalsooftenabsentfromtheresearch.Educationalresearchers have tended to lack investigation of adult attitudes to cultural education,especiallysincethe late1990sandearly2000s(forexample,seeHalse&Baumgart,2000;Perry&Southwell,2011;Sahin,2008;Yong,2007;Yuen,2010;Halse,1999;Santoro,Reid&Kamler,2001;Santoro,Kamler&Reid,2001).Schoolsoftenfocusoninstitutionalresponsestostudentattitudestoculturaldifference,ratherthanengagingthe issuemoredirectlybyunderstanding the behaviour and attitudes of their teachers and administrators. Thereappears tobeanunwrittenassumption thatall teachersarebothwillingandable todealwith matters of cultural conflict. An educational body will inevitably reflect the samediversityofopinionsandattitudestowardsculturaldifferencethatcanbefoundinitswidercommunity;theissue,however,asisalwaysthecaseofissuesofmoralandethicalimport,isthedegreetowhichteacherscanrespondtotheneedsofthecommunityasawhole,ratherthan to their own personal approach. In consequence, it is hardly surprising that there isevidencethattheeffectivenessofculturaleducationprogrammesdependsupontheculturalmessages that are either explicitly or implicitly communicated to the student body byteachers, and that a school policy that utilises a “distributive-justice, colour-blind”orientation, which promotes and acknowledges “individual racial, ethnic and culturaldifferences” istheonlyonethathasbeenproventohavean impactonculturaleducation(Waltonetal,2014).

Theroleofteachersinmitigating“Othering”andnurturingthebenefitsofculturaldiversityis a complex, yet pivotal one in the school environment. It is our contention thatimplementationofschool-basedprogrammesandcurriculumisnotjustdependentuponthenatureandqualityofthelearningprogrammesthemselves,orthereceptivenessofstudentsto the learning that is being offered, but also upon the implicit and explicit messagesconveyed to the students by teachers in the delivery of those programmes and curricula.


Schools are the ideal location for teachers to address the challenges andopportunitiesofdiversity, as educators are the main interface between student lives and the humanenvironment surrounding them (Mansouri, Leach, Jenkins &Walsh, 2009). The long-termimpact of educational programmes that are designed to enrich learning and school lifethroughengagementwithdiversity,ortoreducethedemonisationofculturaldifferenceinschoolstudents,canpotentiallyplayapowerfulroleinthedevelopmentofamorecohesivesociety.

It is increasingly important for teachers to possess the cultural capability to cater for thisdiversity as a professional attribute. However, current teaching approaches of multi-andinter-culturalism were conceived before contemporary globalisation; patterns of globalmobilitywerelesscomplexandinteractionsbetweenpeopleofdifferentcultureswerelessfrequent. In today’s world, advanced communications and transport technologies haveincreased the fluidity of demographicmovement and societies around theworld are nowmore culturally complex than before. Consequently, teachers now need to possess adifferentformofculturalexpertisetomeettheneedsofstudents.

Therelativelynewareaoftransculturaleducation,whichfeaturesareversedperspectiveofculturaldifferenceastheprimestateofglobalsocietyratherthanbeingonesetinculturalcontrasts that need to be brought together, potentially provides a more fruitful path tomovingbeyondthesehistoricaltrajectories(Casinader,2016;2017).Thedifferencebetweenan intercultural and transcultural approach is essentially attitudinal, featuring a dualacknowledgement that trueculturalunderstandingatadeeper leveldoesnotexistunlessthere is change within the teacher workforce along with that within the student body.Developing transcultural mindsets within students requires teachers with transculturalcapability(Casinader,2014;2016;2017;Casinader&Walsh,2015). Itassumesthatdiverseclassroomsaretobeexpected.Differenceisnotaproblemtobeovercome,butanexpectedrealitytobedrawnproductivelyintoteachingandlearning(Rizvi,2011).

Transculturalism,therefore, isacapabilitythat incorporatesachange inastateofmind intheteacher; it isnot justa learnedcompetencythatcanbeacquired,butanattitudethatdevelopsover time. Thebuildingof this capacity is enhancedby thepossessionof criticalthinkingandproblem-solvingskills,whichenablepeopletobemoreopentodifferenceandtobeabletorespondtoit.Itisimbuedwithapro-activeperspective(Aveling,2007).Itisourcontention that developing a more transcultural disposition of thinking within teachersthemselvesmayincreasetheircapacitytodeliverprogrammesandenactcurriculainculturaldiversityinamoreeffectivemannerthatisconsistentwiththeobjectivesoftheIB.

Thereisapaucityofempiricalresearchontransculturaldispositionsofthinkinginscholarlyresearch.TheIBpresentsafertilecontextinwhichthesegapsinresearchcanbeexplored.TheIBseeksto"developtheintellectual,personal,emotionalandsocialskillsneededtolive,learn and work in a rapidly globalising world" (IB, 2017a). Within this, the PYP aimsspecifically to prepare “students to become active, caring, lifelong learners whodemonstraterespectforthemselvesandothersandhavethecapacitytoparticipateintheworldaroundthem”.Thisisachievedthroughtheteachingoffiveessentialelements,oneofwhich is “attitudes, which contribute to international-mindedness and the wellbeing ofindividuals and learning communities” (IB, 2017b). These globally constructed mindsetsincorporateatransculturalcapability(Casinader2014;2016),asopposedtoearlierpervasiveconcepts of cultural education such as multi-and inter-culturalism. As suggested above,transculturalismseesculturalvariationasapositive,notanegativeorissuetobeaddressed


in some way (Casinader 2016), and as the norm rather than the exception (Rizvi, 2011),which,inIBterms,translatestoopen-mindedness.

It shouldbenotedherethat there isongoingdebateaboutthenuancesof terminology inrespect of the assessment of cultural understanding. Where notions such as globalcompetence (seeZhao,2009) intersecttransculturalism,weseetheterm“competence”asimplyingafinitelevelofunderstandingthatcanbeacquiredbymerelydoingaqualificationor an equivalent. Cultural understanding is an eternally developing attribute that can behighlyvariable;apersonmaybehighly‘competent’inonepartoftheworld,butthereversein another. For example, an individual may have a good affinity with the variations in‘Western’cultureacrossEuropeandNorthAmerica,butmaynotbeawareoftheshifts inculturalperspectivethroughoutAsia.Consequently,therehasbeenanargumentthatatermthat incorporates potential for individual growth in cultural understanding is moreappropriate. Reference has beenmade to transcultural capacity (Casinader, 2016; 2017),whereasothersarearguingfortheuseofcapability.Inthisreport,wehavechosentoadoptthe term transcultural capability in reference to an individual’s level of ability to live andworkwithin and across different cultures because of it ismore representative of amind-centreddispositiontoseetheexistenceofculturalvariationasasocietalnorm,andnotanaberration.

Consequently, this report seeks to understand how well transcultural skills are beingdevelopedandutilisedwithinteachersinschoolsofferingthePYPinCanadaandAustralia.Specifically, it seeks to determine and measure the degree of transcultural capability inteachers inPYPschools,enablinganevaluationof their transculturalattributes,and ifandhow it impacts upon their teaching of the PYPwith reference to the Learner Profile andintendedstudentoutcomes,specifically“…understandingoftheworldandhowtofunctioneffectivelywithinit”(IB,2017b).

ResearchingthedevelopmentoftransculturalcapacitiesinanappliedcontextisanewareaofresearchthatseekstoinformtheconstructionofpersonalandprofessionaldevelopmentprogrammesforpotentialandexistingPYPeducators.Itaimstoimprovetheprobabilityofall students emerging from their IB education with consistent achievement across twoaspects of the Learner Profile; that is, the attributes of being a “thinker” who is '”open-minded”.

TheprojectfindingspotentiallyhaverelevancetoallIBprogrammes.

C ResearchDesignandMethodology

Thisstudyhassoughtto:

a) Identifythecomparativetransculturalcapabilitieswithinteachersinschoolsataninternationalscale;

b) Furtherdevelopameasurementtooltocomprehensivelyevaluatethetransculturalcapabilityofanindividual;and

c) Toassessifandhowthistransculturalcapabilityimpactsupontheteachingofacommonlearningprogramme(theIBPYP)intermsofkeyaspectsoftheIBLearnerProfile,andtheintendedIBPYPstudentoutcomes,especiallyinrespectofan“…understandingoftheworldandhowtofunctioneffectivelywithinit”(IB,2017b).

Theresearchdesignadoptedinthisprojectexploredteachers’interpretationsoffourareasinadeterminationoftheleveloftheirtransculturalcapacities:

a) theirunderstandingofthinkingandthinkingskills;


b) thewaysinwhichtheycommunicatetheseknowledgesandunderstandings;c) theirknowledgeandutilisationofpedagogicaltheoryandpractice;andd) theirexperiencesofmulti-,inter-andtrans-culturalengagement.

Inparticular,thestudyusedindividualteacherdata(n=38)pertainingtotheseattributestoanalysetheculturaldispositionsofthinking(CDTs)exemplifiedandpracticedbytheteachercommunitiesineachoffourschoolcasestudies.CDTs(Casinader,2014)arestatesofmindthatreflectaparticularculturalapproachtospecifictypesofthinkingskills.WithineachCDT,peoplefromthesameculturedisplaysomeconsistencyintheirconceptionand/orenactionof a thinking skill, separated by differing degrees in the combination of independent(individualistic) and interdependent (collective) elements of thinking. They reflect adifference in how people from different cultures conceptualise and communicate theactuality of thinking. The concept of CDTs is also based on the view that “culture” is notnecessarily an ethnographic construct based on values, traditions, language and artefactsheld in common by a group of people. Instead, it is primarily a mind-centred concept,defined more by commonalities in how people perceive their identity (Casinader, 2014;Geertz,1973).

AsshowninFigure1below,therearefivemainCDTs,whicharenotfixedanddonothaveclearboundaries;individualsmaywellshiftbetweentheminthecourseofalifetime.Ratherthanbeingorganisedinasequentialprogression,theCDTsequenceisbestconsideredasaconvergingspectrum,commencingfrompolarisedperspectivesateitherend.Atoneendarethemore individualistic cultural thinkers (IS, IC); from the other, themore collectively orgroup-minded (CC, CI). In themiddle is the transcultural group (TC), thosewho can shiftbetweenindividual-andcommunity-focusedwaysofthinkingastheoccasiondemands,andmost importantly, donot seeeitheroneasbeingnaturallymore superior than theother.Thedegreeofoverlapbetweenneighbouringdispositionsinthemodel(Figure1)reflectsthecomplexityoffactorsthatcaninfluenceaperson’sculturaldispositionofthinking.However,a key differentiator between the more individualistic thinkers (IS, IC) and the morecommunity- or group-centred thinkers (CC, CI) is the way in which they approach thethinkingskillsof individualandcommunityproblemsolving.The ISand ICthinkerstendtodefine these as referring to the location of the problem; that is, in the individual or thecommunity.TheCCandCIthinkersseethemasreferringtowhoisundertakingtheproblemsolving; the individual or the community. Transcultural (TC) thinkers are able to see theprocess from both perspectives, integrating the two, or emphasising one or the otheraccordingtothedetailandcontextofthesituationathand.


FIGURE1:CulturalDispositionsofThinking(Casinader,2014)

Through this determination of CDT, an assessment can bemade as to the degree of theteachers’ transcultural capacities, both individually and as part of their school cohort,togetherwithanevaluationoftheimplicationsofthesepatternsforeffectiveteachingandlearningwithinthePYPateachschool.Thecloseranindividual’sCDTistowardsthecentreof the converging spectrum, the more transcultural their outlook and the greater theirtranscultural capability. In the context of this research, “effective” teaching and learningreferstostudentacquisitionoftherelevantaspectsoftheidealLearnerProfile;specifically,theattributesofbeinga“thinker”whois“open-minded”.

Consequently, thefindingspresentanassessmentofthedegree inwhichthecapacitiesoftheteacherswithinaschoolarealignedwiththeculturalexpectationssituatedwithintheIBLearnerProfile.ThesefindingsprovideabaseonwhichIBPYPschoolscanconstructfutureshortand long-termstrategiestoensurethattheir teachingworkforcesareequippedwiththecapacitiesandskillstoachievethelearnergoalsofthePYP,aswellaspotentiallytheIB’sotherlearningprogrammes.

Four IB PYP schools from Canada (n = 3) and Australia (n = 1) were the case studiesinvestigatedforthisresearch.Participatingschoolswere:

1. School1(BC,Canada)2. School2(QC,Canada)3. School3(Victoria,Australia)4. School4(BC,Canada)

This selection included considerationof the uniqueCanadian constitutional feature in theprovinceofQuebec,andcomparabilityintermsofco-educationalprovision.Wearegratefulto the IB for supporting the recruitment of schools in the Vancouver area. Due to theoverwhelmingly positive response to our call for participants in the study, a decisionwasmadeby the researchers to includeanadditional fourthschool todeepenandextend theresearchwhileremainingwithintheexistingbudget.

SINGULAR

Independent Action

Individual (self) focused

Collective Action

Individual (self) focused

Independent Action

Community-focused

Collective Action

Community-focused

RELATIONAL

Cultural Dispositions of Thinking

TCIC CI CCIS

transition through globalization transition through globalization


EthicalConsiderations

This projectwas conducted in a sensitive and ethicalway.MonashUniversity,where theresearchers are based, adheres to the highest standards of secure, ethical and culturallyrespectfulresearchandevaluation.TheStandingCommitteeonEthicsinResearchInvolvingHumans (SCERH) reviews all research involving human participants at the University andprimarilyconsidersissuesthatconstituteintegrity,respectforpersons,beneficence,justice,consent, research merit and safety. All research at Monash University is designed andconductedinaccordancewiththeAustralianCodefortheResponsibleConductofResearch2007;andethicallyreviewedandmonitoredinaccordancewiththeNationalStatementonEthical Conduct in Human Research 2007. Research ethics approvalwas approved by theuniversity’sStandingCommitteeonEthicsinResearchwithHumans,underguidelinesfromtheFederalGovernmentpriortothecommencementofanydatacollectioninvolvinghumanparticipants.

ResearchAims

1. TodeterminetheindividualculturaldispositionofthinkingteacherswithinthefourIBschools;

2. Toanalysethepatternsofteacherculturaldispositionsofthinking,bothwithineachschool,andcomparatively,intermsofthedegreeandnatureoftransculturalcapability;

3. TodeterminetheindividualandcollectivepersonalandprofessionalprofileofteacherswithinthefourIBschoolcase-studies;

4. Toevaluatereasonsforthepatternsoftransculturalcapabilityusingtheseteacherprofiles;

5. ToassesstheimplicationsofthesepatternsfortheeffectiveteachingandlearningoftherelevantaspectsoftheIBLearnerProfile(beingathinkerandopen-minded)intheschoolcasestudies,bothindividuallyandcollectively;and

6. ToconstructasetofrecommendationsforthefuturedevelopmentofteachertransculturalcapacitiesandcompetenciesinIBschoolsthatofferthePYP.

Methodology

Schools and communities are complex environments where the relationship betweenprofessional knowledge, attitudes and behaviour are difficult to assess. Consequently, amulti-methodapproachwasusedtodrawonavarietyofexistingandnewdatasourcessuchasonlinesurveys,individualface-to-faceinterviews,observationofschoolenvironmentsandpractices,andanalysisofschoolpolicydocumentation.Themethodologicalprinciplesfollowtheprocessestablishedthroughthefoundationalresearchundertakenindevisingthemodelof cultural dispositions of thinking (Casinader, 2014), modified to address the specificcontextofIBschoolsandthePYP.Therichnessanddepthofdatarequiredtoascertainthetranscultural capability of an individual teachermeant that a comprehensive study of theentire teacher cohort in each school was not possible within the constraints of theparametersofthisstudy.Therefore,eachschoolwasaskedtoprovideasamplecohortofupto10staffthat:

Ø hadaratioof1:2:7intermsofseniormanagement/middlemanagement/classroomteacher;and


Ø broadly represented all the curriculum areas taughtwithin the structure of the IBPYP.

Themethodologyconsistedofthefollowingkeyelements:

1. Pre-visitonlinesurvey2. Visitbyresearchteamtoschool

a. individualinterviewswithsamplecohortb. observationoftheschoolenvironmentandeducationalpractices,bothwithin

andoutsideofclassroomsettingsc. studyofschoolpolicydocumentationrelatingtolearnerattributesofbeinga

thinker,reflectiveandopen-minded.3. DataAnalysis

a. mixedmethodsanalysisofonlinesurveydatausingQualtricsb. mixedmethodanalysisofinterviewandonlinesurveydatausingDedoose

onlinesoftware.4. Constructionofthisfinalreportandotherfuturepublications.

Amoredetailedsummaryisprovidedbelow.

Sample

Survey and interview data were collected between January and June 2017. The studyadoptedagenericpurposivesamplingapproach,wherebythreeschoolsinCanadaandoneschoolinAustraliawereidentified,withthesupportofIB,andsentanexpressionofinteresttoparticipate.Fourschools,oneinVictoria,Australia,twointheBritishColumbiaprovinceofCanada,andone inQuebec,Canada,were selected fromschoolsexpressing interest toparticipate. Selectionwas based partly on case differentiation. The Victorian school is anindependent,co-educationalP-12school,withIBasacorecurriculumintheprimaryyears,aswellasanoptionaldiplomaeducationprogrammeinYears11and12.TheparticipatingCanadianschoolsinclude:oneindependent,co-educationalK-12schoolwiththeIBasacorecurriculum across primary, middle and diploma years; and two public, co-educationalelementaryschools,withtheIBasthecorecurriculum.ThethreeCanadianschoolsteachintheEnglishlanguageprimarily,withFrenchtaughtandspokenasasecondlanguageinoneofthem.

Thesamplingframeinitiallycomprised39educators(sixschoolleadersand32primaryyearteachers) who provided consent to participate in the research by completing the onlinesurveyinstrument;however,oneCanadian-basedteacherdidnotcompletethesurveyand,therefore,didnotparticipatefurtherintheresearchstudy.

Thefinalsamplecomprised30femalesandeightmales,ranginginagefrom30to63years.Nineparticipants teach in theVictorian school, representing the totalnumberof teachersinvolvedwiththeprimaryyearsIBprogrammeinthatschool.Theremaining29participantsteachacrossthethreedifferentCanadianschools.Allpossesstertiaryteachingoreducationqualifications.Overall teaching experienceof the sample spans less than five years to 40-plusyears,withallbutsixof theparticipantsstating that theyhave inexcessofsixyears’experienceteachingthePYP.Multiculturalteachingexperiencewasassessedaslowforthemajorityofthesample,exceptingtenparticipants,fiveCanadianandfiveAustralian.Thereappearedsomecorrelationbetweenmulticulturalteachingexperienceandtravelexperienceoverall; of the 10 participants with greater multicultural teaching experience, nine had


mediumtohightravelexperiencetodateandhadundertakentravelforbothpersonalandprofessionalreasons.Otherthanthiscorrelation,therewerenodiscerniblepatternsinthetravel experience of the sample; there was significant diversity in the reasons for,destinations and travel duration of the sample overall. Themajority of participants wereborn inthecountry inwhichtheynowteach,withonlyfourparticipantsborn incountriesotherthantheircurrentresidence.AlloftheCanadian-basedteachers,exceptfour,possessFrench as either their primary or secondary language, and this cohort overall showed astronger predilection and capability in languages other than their primary language,comparedwiththeirAustraliancounterparts.

MeasuresandProcedure

Thestudyadoptedasequential,qualitative-dominantmixedmethodsdesign,combiningtwoexisting approaches in the determination of an individual’s transcultural capability. Theconcept of transcultural capability, derived from Casinader’s (2014) model of culturaldispositions of thinking, was combined with the Community Field Experience modeldevelopedby the Facultyof Educationat theUniversityofBritishColumbia (UBC) forusewiththeCommunityFieldExperienceinanindigenouslocalethatformsacompulsorypartof the UBC’s elementary (primary) pre-service teacher education course (Andreotti,McPherson & Broom, 2015). Two assessment techniques resulted: an online survey andsemi-structured interview,whichwereutilised to gather and analyse bothqualitative andquantitativedata.

Pre-visitOnlineSurvey

Asurveywascreatedbytheresearchteamanddeliveredonlinetothefourteachercohorts.Thesurveywasundertakenbyeachnominatedschool’steachercohortsasthefirststageofdatacollection.Itobtaineddemographicdataabouteachparticipant,withaspecialfocusonthe nature of the teacher’s personal and professional background, and particularly thedegree,timingandnatureoftravelexperiencesawayfromtheirlocationoforigin.Thisdataprovidedthefoundationfortheclassificationandanalysisofeachteacher’sCDT.Themodelunderpinningthesurvey(Casinader,2014)wasbasedonthepremisethatthereceptivenessofanindividualteachertonewculturalexperiences,andthereforetheirpotentialcapabilityintransculturaleducation,dependsstronglyonthedegreeanddepthoftheirpersonalandprofessionalexperiencesawayfromtheirplaceofbirth.TheunderlyingprincipleoftheCDTmodelisthat,themoreexposedateacherhasbeentoglobalisingexperiences–whichcanbe defined as those involving experiences in unfamiliar cultural environments, whetherwithin the country of origin or international – the greater the likelihood of the teacherdevelopingatransculturalcapability,andtherefore,theabilityofaPYPteachertodeveloptransculturalopen-mindednesswithinIBstudents.

The 40-question online survey was administered to all 38 participants using Qualtricssoftware. Survey responses were identifiable. The survey included contextual anddemographic text-based and multiple-choice questions, text-based questions seekinginterpretative responses to skill and thinking terms, as well as hypothetical teachingsituations,arangeoffive-pointLikert-scaledmultiple-choicequestionsseekingresponsestodifferent experiential and moral-based contexts, and lastly, a range of four-point Likertscaledmultiplechoicequestionsseekingviewsonteachinginfluencesandperspectives(SeeAppendix1).

QuantitativedatawasderivedfromLikert-scaledquestions,whichwerescoredandanalysedusingDedooseandExcel.Five-pointLikert-scaledquestionresponsesfromparticipantswere


scored in relation to their relationship tomore transcultural attitudes,with the responsesbeing scored positively in the direction of transcultural thinking. For example, if atransculturalresponsewasto“agree”,then“agree”responseswerescoredeither+1or+2,with“neutral”aszeroand“disagree”responseseither-1or-2.Thesameoccurredwhenamoretransculturalattitudewastodisagree;thatis,“disagree”and“stronglydisagree”werescoredas+1and+2respectively.

In contrast, responses thatwere seenasbeingcounter-transcultural,whether inornot inagreement,werescoredaseither-1or-2.Four-pointLikert-scaledquestionresponsesfromparticipantswere scored from zero to 3;with “no influence” responses scoring zero, andrangedto“stronginfluence”responsesscoringamaximumof3.Responsescoreswerethensummedandaveraged, resulting inanoverall surveyscore in the rangeof -2 to+2.UsingCasinader’s (2014) model, the questions relating to thinking skills were used to assignparticipantstooneofthefivecategoriesonaspectrumofculturaldispositionsofthinking.

Text-based survey responses from participants were coded and analysed using Dedoosesoftware. Coding was objective, being based on language used by each participant, andutilised a coding structure designating text-based responses and interview excerpts aspermutationsof61different codes spanning independentversus interdependent thinking,personalandprofessionalimpact,influenceoncurriculumandpedagogy,aswellasculturaldispositionsofthinking.

Semi-StructuredInterviews

Semi-structured interview guides were developed prior to interviews commencingspecificallyforthisstudy.Thepurposeoftheinterviewswastoconsolidateandexpandthethinking behind their responses to the questions in the pre-visit online survey, aiming tofurther explore and understand the degree and nature of an individual’s transculturalcapability, as well as the relationship of this to their teaching of the PYP. Questionsinvestigated theprofessionalandpersonal impactof teaching thePYP,exploringviewsoncultural diversity and understanding, interpretation of terms such as tolerance andinternationalmindedness,aswellasmoralperspectivesofhowteachersengageddifferenceboth individually andwith their students. In particular, the interviews investigated if andhowindividualshaverespondedtotheirvarioustravelexperiences,whetherpersonallyandprofessionally. In the individual interviews, this exploration focused on theways inwhichtheseexperiencesimpactedupontheirpedagogicalandprofessionalpractices(includingthewaysinwhichtheyperceivethestudentsthattheyteach)andinthespecificwaysinwhichtheyperceive the thinking skills of critical thinking, creative thinking andproblem solving.(SeeAppendix2.)Datafromtheinterviewswasrichanddiverse,andwehavedeliberatelysoughttopreservetherichflavourandthoughtfuldepthofteachers’storiesandresponsesinthefindingsbelow.

All 38 participants attended individual interviews, whichwere approximately one hour indurationandwereaudio-taped.Interviewswerethentranscribed,de-identified,codedandentered into Dedoose project software. Like the text-based survey responses, interviewexcerptswerethencodedandanalysedusingDedoosesoftwareaccordingtothemodelofculturaldispositionsofthinking(Casinader,2014),aswellasothercriteriaestablishedbytheresearch team as a consequence of conducting the interviews at each school. Codingfollowed the sameparametersused for theonline survey,asoutlinedpreviously. In total,approximately3,200excerptswerecodedutilisingover4,000codeapplications.


SynthesisandanalysisofthevarioussourcesofprojectdatausedtheanalyticaltoolswithinDedoose, following guidelinesestablishedby the chief investigatorsof the research team.Datawereanalysedbyallmembersoftheresearchteam,withtheresearchassistanttakingresponsibilityfortheadministrativeaspectsofeachdeliverable.

DocumentAnalysis

In addition, a small desktop reviewwas conducted inwhich school policy documentationwas analysed, together with appropriate conversations with participants, to provide adeeper understanding of the educational background within which the teachers of theschool areworking, and context for the interpretationandanalysisof thedata, especiallywiththatrelatingtopedagogyandprofessionalpracticeinrelationtothePYP.


D ResearchFindings

The findings are organised below according to the research aims of this study. Beforeexamining these, it is useful to outline the broad cultural context of these schools asdescribedbytheirteachers.

1.Theculturalcompositionofthefourparticipatingschools

School1

ThepolicydocumentationofSchool1emphasisedthecommunitylinksbetweentheschooland its family base, a point that was highlighted by its PYP teachers. A participant fromSchool1characterisedtheirlocalregioninCanadaasbeing

“somewhatculturallydiverse.Wedohaveaverystrong Iraniancommunity…you see that in our mother tongue data; that thehighest number for mother tongue will be Farsi, followed byKoreanandJapaneseandFrench…Ithinkitis,relativelyspeaking,a culturally diverse school, although more diverse schoolcommunitiescanbefoundwithintheregion”(Participant5-TC).

AnotherintervieweefromSchool1characterisedherschoolas

“a really interesting mix…[T]he students hail from all kinds ofsocioeconomic backgrounds, we have lots of kids who haveimmigrated here, many students were born and bred like mehere…Wedohavealotofdiversityhere”(Participant4-IC).

One teacher found that thewider community is becoming increasingly diverse, “with thechangingdynamics inour [local] communityaspeople immigratehere…At this school, it’stypically families from Iran and that’s about it” (Participant 3-CI). Another CI intervieweefrom School 1 also observed “many students here frommanydifferent cultures” butwasunsureastowhethershewoulddefinethewiderschoolcommunityasculturallydiverse:

“Inmymind, diversity iswhen everybody's interacting togetherand where we're really open-minded to that, and while we doacknowledge that we have differences, we're more focused onwhatmakesuslikeacommunityorateamoragroup.Icertainlysee that for themostpartwithour students. I'mnot sure I seethatwithourparentcommunityandIoftenseegroupsofpeoplewhen theycome topickup their children,very segregated…It issomething [the leadership team] are aware of...It's somethingwe'd like toworkonbutwealsoneedparent support todoso.The kids are very open-minded, but sometimes I think it's a bitmore lip service because I don’t see them necessarily going tomake friends with a kid that looks different than them”(Participant2-CI).

This teacher’s observation of the differing attitudes to difference demonstrated by thestudents as opposed to their parents is a reminder of the complexity of CDTs that existwithinacommunity,andanalysisofanysituationrequiresanacknowledgementofnuancesbeyondbroadgeneralisationsthatareoftenonlyrevealedbyqualitativemethodologies.Herown strong degree of transculturalism, despite being CI overall, is also evident in her


comment that the school itself focuses on commonalities between people, whilstsimultaneously acknowledging their differences: difference is not seen as a barrier tocommunication.

School2

An interviewee teacher from School 2 characterised his local community as ethnicallydiverse,withItalianand

“Sikh communities present here, so that’s very good to see in thestreets all those people with different traditional clothing.Consequently, the students see [cultural difference] every dayaround them. But…do they understand it? That’s something else”(Participant15-TC).

Inasimilarvein,hisfellowteachersaidthat

“becauseof thearea thatweare in, childrenare zoned for thisschool,andsogenerally…thereareseveralculturesandsothatiswhatendsupattheschool.Now,isitverydiverse?Idon’tknow.I thinkthere isquiteabitofdiversity. Iusuallydiscover itwhenwe do our celebrations unit and I ask parents if they celebrateanythingathome…Butintheschool,I’mnotsosure”(Participant19-TC).

SometeachersatSchool2 (e.g.Participants12-IC,3-CIand10-CI) thought that theschoolitselfwasnotverymulticulturalinstudentorigins:

“Wehaveprobably somewherealong the95per centof Italianorigins and then a few other origins in the remaining five percent,[but]ourneighbourschool…ismulticulturalatitsbest,[withstudentsfrom]allpartsoftheworld”(Participant12-IC).

School3

As reflected in itspublicdocumentation, the locationof School3 in a largely affluentbayside community schoolmeant that its cultural environment is distinctly narrow in scope,whichalsohasan impacton teachingpractice. The schoolwas characterisedasuniformly“Anglo”byTeacherParticipant30-CI,makingit

“incrediblydifficult.BecauseIthinkyou’refightingtwoelements.Oneis,youknow,whatwecallthe“[local]Bubble”.Mostofourfamiliesliveonthe[local]area.They…arefairlyaffluentfamilies.But I think our biggest push was that when we’re offeringscholarships tochildren…whoare fromdiversebackgrounds.So,we’re trying to educate our kids that, yes, they belong to the[local]area,butoutsidethe[local]area,therearelotsoffamilieswhocanbringsomuchvalueandsomuchculturalunderstandingtoourschool,thatcanopenoureyes”(Participant38-TC).

School4

Intermsofrelativelocation,demographicsituationandpolicydocumentation,therewasadegree of similarity in the community served by Schools 1 and 4. However, School 4


participantshelddifferingviewsofhowculturallydiversetheirschoolwas,anditsteachersshoweda greatdeal of awarenessofhow the school’s cultural environmenthad changedovertime.OneCIparticipantfromSchool4believedthat“ourschoolisdiverseincultures,inlanguages,inbeliefs,inphilosophiesbutyetit’sinclusive”(Participant20-CI).AnotherCIintervieweefromthesameschoolheldadifferentview:

“Ithinkwehaveculturesrepresentedinourcommunity.DoIfeelit’sdiverse?No.Andwhy?Well,Idon'tevenfeellikemyculturalexperience has been diverse, [although] I feel likemyCanadianexperience has been very rich and way more rich than otherCanadians. In our country, sometimes people don't leave theirland,theirgeographyfortheirownlife,oreventheirownhome.Iknowthatexists inotherpartsof thecountry,but Ibelieveyouhavetogetouttoseeotherthings…Ibelievethatit’schangingallthetime.OurstaffisthemostdiversethatI’veeverseen…inthe17yearsthatI’vebeenhere”(Participant21-CI).

Similarly, anotherparticipant fromSchool4notedhowher communityhadbecomemorediverseovertime:initially,

“there were very few immigrant families, for example. It wasfairly homogenous…And then we started to see waves ofimmigration that have affected our school over time – fromKorea, from China and so forth. So that’s been, kind of, thechange that’s happened over time.…As our school started tochange and become much more international in the scope offamilies,[thePYP]fitevenmoreintermsoftheinterculturalandglobalmindednessandsoforth”(Participant23-IC).

FellowteachersinSchool4concurredthattheschoolhadbecome

“culturally diverse in the population. I think we’re culturallydiverse with our staff and the people involved, theadministration. I thinkcurriculumbased, it’sstill intheworksofbeingmoreculturallysensitiveanddiverse…Wehavekids[from],Ithink,20differentcountries–Ithinktheybringalotofculture.It’sthosefamilyarerichwiththeirownhistoriesandexperiences,andtheybringthatintotheclassroom.Andthoseconversationsare promoted, and so we learn from each other and we are, Ithink, a little more empathetic and tolerant of each other…”(Participant25-TC).

Again, to set thecontext,participantswereaskedabout theirpersonal journeysand theirunderstandingsofculture.

2.Backgroundsofparticipants

By and large, in line with the CDTmodel, participants demonstrating TC tended to haveexperiencedsomedegreeofculturaldislocation,having lived inandtravelled tocountriesotherthantheirbirthcountry.Thishelpedtodeveloptheirperceptionofculturaldifferenceasthenorm,althoughthisisnottheonlydeterminantoftransculturalisminPYPteachers).One TC teacher (Participant 25-TC), for example, had lived in India and travelled to


Bangladesh,Pakistan,SriLanka,Dhaka,SingaporeandEgypt.Another(Participant5-TC)wasborn in Canada, but travelled to a variety of schools by Grade Seven, including Italy andGuam,withoneparentbornoverseas.

NotallTCandCIteachershadlivedortravelledextensively.OneTCteacherfromSchool3(Participant 38-TC), for instance, had grown up in Australia and drew mainly from thatexperience.

SomeTCteachersfeltthatthePYPaffirmedtheirpre-existingmindset,typicallyinfluencedbyfamilybackgroundandtravel.AsoneAustralianteacherfromSchool3found:

“I think I grew upwith parentswhowere very openminded intheirapproach.Ineverheardanycriticismofanybodyathome.Itwasverymuchpeopledoajob,andsolongastheydoitwell,itdoesn't matter what that job was. My father was a POW[PrisonerofWar]on theBurmaRailway,butheldnonegativitytowards the Japanese at all, even though he went throughterrible things, so I think that was part ofmy background as Icamethrough,andthenwhenPYPcameonboardIjustgotmoreandmore excited by it, because itmade somuch sense tome,and I think having the Learner Profile as the umbrella overeverything we do I think created that common language, thatcommondirection; I just think ithasenhancedmyteachingandenhancedmeasaperson”(Participant36-TC).

The experiences of the IC group were also varied. One teacher from Canada grew up inVancouver and travelled to Europe, participating in a French immersion programme.Teachingasaprofessionwasnotuncommoninherfamily(Participant4-IC).Anotherteacherin Canadahadundertaken extensivework experienceoverseas in places such as ThailandandJapan(Participant23-IC).AnothergrewupinQuebecandtravelledtoFrance,ItalyandotherpartsofEuropewithfamily,aswellasthePhilippinesandNetherlands(Participant12-IC).

One Australian teacher (Participant 32-IC) had a desire to travel early in life, traveling toFinland,amongstotherplaces,butthisdesiredidnotcomefromherfamily,butfromwithinherself.Anotherteacher(Participant35-IC)fromtheAustraliancohortofparticipantsspentmany years of her teaching career “in government schools froma variety ofmulticulturalsettings…”withinAustraliaandoverseas.Shesaidthattravel“opensyourmindupbecauseyou live inAustralia;you livesofaraway;yes,you’vegotmulticulturaldiversity;however,you don’t see how other people live, so by going overseas, so I’ve been to Americaand…Italy”[openedhermind](Participant35-IC).

Thefollowingsectionexploresthefindingsinrelationtothefirsttworesearchaims.


3.ResearchAims1and2:TodeterminetheindividualculturaldispositionofthinkingteacherswithinthefourIBschools;andtoanalysethepatternsofteacherculturaldispositionsofthinking,bothwithineachschool,andcomparatively,intermsofthedegreeandnatureoftransculturalcapability

The dominant CDT pattern across the sample groups was that the large majority of PYPteacherswereeithertransculturaloroneCDTawayfromit(seeTable2andFigure1above).

School CI TC ICSchool1 3 5 1School2 2 5 3School3 2 3 4School4 2 6 2ALLSCHOOLS 9 19 10

TABLE2:CulturalDispositionsofThinkingaccordingtoschool(numbersofteachers)

Three of the schools had at least 50 per cent of the sample cohort designated as beingtranscultural,exceptforSchool3havingahigherpercentageofmoreindividualisticthinkers(IC)andalowerratiooftransculturalteachersthantheotherschools.Suchavariationwasto be expected in light of the school’s cultural environment, as outlined previously. Theteachers here are catering for a relatively homogenous community in which theencounteringofdifferencewithinaclassroomisnotcommon.Moreindividualisticthinking,as opposed to the more collective approach that a culturally diverse environment cannurture, is thereforemore likely tobe reflected in teacherpracticewithin sucha learningenvironment–evenifthePrincipaloftheschoolwassettingveryclearpolicygoalstowardsthedevelopmentofdeepersocialandculturalunderstandingswithintheschoolcommunityatlarge.Nevertheless,itcanbesaidthat,ingeneral,PYPteachersinallfourschoolshadaculturalmindsetthatisgenerallyalignedwiththeopennesstodifferencethatisembeddedintheIBLearnerProfileandthePYPprinciples.

Acrossallfourschoolssurveyed,exactlyhalfoftheteachers interviewedcanbesaidtobetranscultural in their approach (TC), with a further quarter (23.7 per cent) being highlyinterdependent/community-centred in their thinking and therefore close to beingtranscultural(CI).ThiscanbeseeninthewaysinwhichTCteachershighlightthecomplexityofthinkingandtheimportanceofrelationshipsinthatprocess,oftenthroughthepowerofnarrative:

“…in kindergarten I say, ‘Think outside the box. When you’rethinking,there’snotonlyonewaytosolveaproblem.Thinkofallthedifferentways,putyourheadstogether,andcomeupwithallthe different ways that you could solve this problem. Whenyou’reacritical thinker,youdonotonly thinkofoneanswer tothequestion.There’salwaysmany,manywaystothink’…Theboxis,whenIaskaquestion,thereisoneanswerthatcomestomind.Don’tthinkofthatanswer.Gobeyondthat”(Participant19-TC).

Ithinkthat'sparticularlytrueforwhenkidsaretryingtogatherinformation, because it's all there, it's all at their fingertips,there'smore information thanoneperson can ever process out


there.So,howareyougoingtothinkthroughwhatyou'regoingto do with that information and then how are you going toproblematise it or fit it into what you already understand orperhaps you need to create a new way of understanding toprocess it. So, for me that critical thinking is being able tonavigate theworld around them,whether it’s social or contentbasedorwhereverthatis”(Participant2-CI).

It issignificant,however, that26.3percentoftheoverallcohortcanbesaidtobe largelyindividualistic intheirapproachtothinking–theICgroup.Itwasthisparticulargroupthattendedtodisplaycharacteristicsofapproachandattitudethatwerelessattunedpersonallyto the principles of the PYP, regardless of their professional commitment to PYP. Thedifferences can be seen in the highly abstract nature of these teachers’ comments onthinking, which are in strong contrast with the strongly inclusive tones of the TC and CIquotationsabove.For ICteachers,culturalvariationtendstoberelativelyunimportant,asreflected in the focus on the concept of thinking rather than on the people-processinteraction:

“analysing different things, bringing forth ideas from lots ofdifferentplaces,notpassively justaccepting something,puttingtheir own slant on it but also prior knowledge of other things.Andthenit’susedacrossalldifferentareas”(Participant32-IC).

“…thinking outside the box…you can still manage to do thecritical thinking somaking the best decision that you can withwhat you have at hand, but maybe take…a little unexpectedroute or…a different angle to try to solve your problemat thatmoment”(Participant12-IC).

It is important tonote that, regardlessof thispattern,no teacher across the four schoolscouldbedefined as beinghighly individualistic (a CDTof IS: see Figure1) or highly grouporiented(aCDTofCC:seeFigure1),whichwouldplacethemverymuchoutofsyncwiththeinclusivenatureoftransculturalismandtheIBLearnerProfile.Inthatcontext,thewholeofthe sample cohort appears to have at least some alignment with the global open-mindednessprinciplesoftheIBstudentprofile.

ItisusefultocontextualiseTable2aboveintermsofparticipants’understandingsofculture,which varied considerably. Some were linear and objectified, with others more complex,withastrongdegreeofassociationbetweenteacherCDTandtheirnotionofculture.Onecommonthemeacross teacherCDT,however,was that thedevelopmentofculturewasafunctionoffamilybackgroundandthecontextofone’supbringing.Forexample,atoneendof thespectrum,an identified IC teacherdescribedcultureasbeing reflected“indifferentways…it’ssortofwhatmakesthem,them.So,whattheycanbringwithareflectionofwhathappens at home, of their culture andwhat they celebrate andwhat they believe in andwhattheydo”(Participant32-IC).

AttheotherendoftheCDTspectrum,aCIteachersharedasimilarviewthatcultureismadeupof “thevaluesand thebeliefs that you’re raisedwith in yourhome firstoff. It’s the…wealthof resourcesorwhatyouknowthatyoubringwithyouwhereveryougo. It’syourfirst point of reference. It’s what you’re growing up with” (Participant 10-CI). What issignificant about this CI example, however, is that the teacher sees this family base as astarting point, a frame to be developed over a lifetime, and that culture is a changing


concept;thatis,itisanattitudinalnotion,whichisafundamentalaspectofatransculturalapproach.

Interestingly,suchaviewwasalsoheldbythemoreindividualisticICgroup,despitethefactthat, in general, they held to amore traditional vision of culture,with a focus on values,traditionsandreligion;forexample,oneintervieweedescribedcultureas:

“whereyou’refrom.Iwouldassociatetheculture,likewhereyouwere born. And then of course, you have your family traditionsthataremixedintothat.Andofcourse,Iwouldalsoputreligioninthere,becauseIthinka lotof–cultureandreligionoftenareused–they’relinked”(Participant13-TC).

Similarly, another Canadian teacher characterised culture in terms of “Your beliefs, yourvalues, your traditions, I guessyour religionhasa lot todowith it.Whereyouwerebornplaysaroleintoit”(Participant22-IC).

Nevertheless,someICPYPteachersacknowledgedthatcultureis

“evolvingall the time,because I thinkwhat I thoughtofculturefive years ago, is not what I think about now. It has to dowith…the‘takenforgranted’worldthatpeoplebringwiththeminacertainplace,andpartsofthatalignwithwhereyouare,and[other]partsdon’t…IfeelthatfromwhenIlivedoverseasmyself.Therewereaspectsofmeandmyculturemovingoverseas thatwereeasilyadaptable,or I thought, ‘Oh, this is – it’s the same,yes’,andthentherewerethosethingsthatwereabsolutelymind-blowinglydifferent,andIcouldn’tputafaceto.

So, it’s that constant negotiation, I guess, of who you are andwhere you are and so forth…Because threaded through that isalso your personal…it’s a very complex piece, I think, thatchanges over time, and depending on who you’re with”(Participant23-IC).

Suchacommonviewwasoutof syncwithotheraspectsof thecollectiveviewofculture.Overall, the more individualistically-focused IC teachers defined culture in moreconventionalterms.AnotherICteacherfromSchool2,forexample,definedcultureas

“the set of values [that] is shared within a community...Thatdoesn’t reallymean thatyou’re coming fromthe samecountry,butyou’resharingthesamesetofvalueatthatmoment,inthatcommunity….thewaytheyraisetheirchildrenandfamilyvaluesor theway they think education is important or even likewhatcan you eat andwhat shouldn’t you be eating as part of theirtraditionsandthingslikethat”(Participant12-IC).

Similarly,anotherintervieweesaid

“it’swhoyouarebasedonwhereyoucomefromobviously,butit’salsowhoyouarebasedonwhoyouinteractwith.So,Ithinkculture is shaped by a lot of factors [such as] what your beliefsystemisandwhatyourvaluesareandwhattraditionsyoumay


have, what celebrations you might do…I also think of it as adisposition…sowho you are and the things you appreciate andwhatmattersmosttoyouasaperson”(Participant4-IC).

Incontrast,amoretransculturalviewisevident inthefollowingexample,whichhighlightsthe importanceof relationships and the strong transcultural tendency toplacemattersofculture in a narrative context in order to bring out the natural complexity of real-lifesituations;thenotionofcultureisbeingdefinedmoreasaninnermanifestationofidentityandnotsomuchcircumscribedbyitsouter,moretangibleaspects:

“IIlookatthewayinwhichmydadisoneofsixandhisyoungestsister is married to a guy who is from Trinidad. She looks likeSnowWhiteandhedoesn't.Theirchildrennow-theymovedto[asuburbofMelbourne]becausea lotofpeoplearound in thatarea are…of mix-mix race. To me, I think we are creatingtranscultural in that sense.What's the culture for those kids? Idon't think that theyshouldhave todefine that. I'mBritishandI'mIrishandI'mAustralian,butthenI'malsothis.Ithinktheyarecreatingacultureoftheirownbyjoiningtogether.Tomethat'swhatIseetranscultural”(Participant31-CI).

ArangeofotherTCteachersenunciatedthisfluidcreationofculturalidentity:

• “havingaconnectionmaybetoyourcountry’sculturaltraditions[ormorespecifically]whichever cultures you connect to... culture is the traditions fromwhere you comefrom”(Participant24-TC).

• “Culturesortofencompasseswhoweare,whatwe’ve learned,whatour traditionsare,whatourexperiencesare…it’seventhefoodsweeat,theclotheswewear,thewholesortofpackage”(Participant19-TC).

• “whoyouare:yourbeliefs,religion,artefacts,possessions,thelanguage.Ithinkwe’reconnectedtothelanguage.IthinkifIwanttounderstandwhoyouareasaculture,yourculture,Ineedtoknoworunderstandintwolanguages.Ithinkthat’sabigonethatbringsustogetherasIB,becausewehaveacommonlanguage.Andthat’sthatIB culture… if you lookat IB schools, they’re verydistinct in their IB culture, if thatmakessense.Theyhavethelearner-profileattitudes...Theyhaveplanners,theyhavethe way of teaching, which is that culture [that teachers and schools] build [incontrastto]schoolsthatarenotIB,youcantellrightawaybythekidswhocomeoutofthatschool,whetherthey’reanIBstudentornot,justbythewaythey’rethinking,thewaytheybehave”(Participant25-TC).

Inapatternthatwasamovetowardsatransculturalnotionthatcultureisfarmorethanasetof communityattitudesandbeliefs, incorporatinga certainmind-centredapproach,CIteachersdefinedcultureintermsofpersonalidentity,suchas“howyouidentifyyourself;acertaingroupthatyouwouldbelongto.Andsomepeople, it’sbasedonwheretheycomefrom.Some, it’s their religion” (Participant3-CI).Asimilarviewwas thatculture is“…yourbeliefsystem,yourcorevalues,potentiallyit’syourreligion,yourtraditions,yourcustoms”(Participant3-CI).AnotherCIteacherdescribedcultureas

“the set of expectations, understandings, world views that youkindof comewith. It certainly canalso be, like, food festivals…


butreally,Ithinkit'sthosepre-assumptionsthatwehaveinourmindsthatwedon’tknowwehave,becausewe're justgrowingup in it. So, it's like a fish swimming inwater, they don’t knowthey're in water. We don’t know we're so submersed in ourcultureuntilwestarttoproblematizeitorsomebodyelsesaystousheythis iswhatyou justsaid,here'show itaffectsme.Thenwecansortofstarttoseethekindofcontextthatwe'relivingin.So, I think it's more so your assumptions about situations”(Participant2-CI).

What do these different definitions and perspectives mean for the approaches taken byteacherstobringaboutculturalunderstandingandtolerancewithstudents?TheimpactofamoretransculturalnotionofcultureonPYPteachingisthatitreflectsateacher’swillingnesstobeopentodifferenceandtobefarmorenuancedintheirteachingaboutdifference.Therelationships and interactions between people are not defined or oversimplified byreferences to cultural identity based on outward appearances as fundamental andunalterableasskincolour.Instead,asoneTCteacherinCanadaoutlined,itisaboutworkingwith and teaching about the falsity of making general assumptions without consideredthought:

“Iactuallyteachit inGradeSeven.Wetryandlookatthewordculture and look at theword civilisation andwhatmakes themdifferent and unique…some people define culture as whatreligion you believe in, or what group you identify with, but Ithinkoftentimesthat’skindofputtingboxesonthingsalittlebit,of just saying because you’re this religion, you’re this culture. Idon’t think that holds true anymore in the world. I think thatculturereallyisjustwhatyouholddeartoyourselfatapersonallevel”(Participant9-TC).

Discussionoffindingsnowturnstoresearchaimsthreeandfour.


4.ResearchAims3and4:TodeterminetheindividualandcollectivepersonalandprofessionalprofileofteacherswithinthefourIBschools;andtoevaluatereasonsforthepatternsoftransculturalcapabilityusingtheseteacherprofiles

NatureandDegreeofTravelExperience

Althoughthemajorityoftheteachersateachschoolshowedahighdegreeoftransculturalcapability,therangeoffactorsthatcreatedthatCDTwasquitediverse.Therewasalsomorevariation than might have been expected in the ways in which their dominant CDT wasreflectedinattitudestodifferentscenariosbasedontransculturalprinciples.

As outlined previously, one of the major influences on the creation of a transculturalcapability is the nature and degree of globalising experiences that an individual has beeninvolvedwith.Giventhat thesamplecohortwaseither transculturaloronlyoneCDTstepaway frombeing so, a significant degree of travelwas to be expected, and suchwas thecase.Theentiresamplecohorthadtravelledoutsidetheircountryoforigin,withonly10percenthavingonlybeeninoneotherregion.InalignmentwiththeCDTmodel(Figure1),themoretransculturalteacherstendedtohaveahigherdegreeoftravelbeyondtheirlocationoforigin,bothprofessionallyandpersonally(seeFigure2).Allbutoneofthetransculturalteachers had been to at least two other regions of the world, with 74 per cent of thatsubgroup (35.8 per cent of thewhole) having experienced at least four regions, includingtheir place of birth. Significantly, most of the transcultural group had travelled in bothpersonalandprofessionalcontexts,highlightingtheviewthattransculturalcapabilityisnotjustaprofessionalattributethatcanbeacquired,butmoreofapersonalmindsetthatneedsto be stimulated and nurtured through ‘globalising’ experiences. Over 40 per cent of thetransculturalgrouphadmediumtohighlevelsoftravelexperience,andnearly60percenthadtravelforbothprofessionalandpersonalreasons.ThissupportstheCDTprinciplethatexposure to different cultural contexts, especially if amatter of personal choice, helps tostimulatethedegreeofTCattitudeswithinanindividual.

Some teachers highlighted found their international experiences to be personallytransformative, naming certain immersive experiences as highly influential on theirworldview and approach to teaching. For example, one Canadian teacher described theimpactofahighlyinfluentialtriptoJapan:“Toreallyunderstandaculture,acountry,IthinkIwouldn’thavelearntthethingsIdidifIhadn’tgonetoJapan...”(Participant22-IC).

FIGURE 2:Degreeof Travel Experience of Teachers according to CulturalDispositions ofThinking

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Itisusefultoreflectononeofthenuancesoftheinterviewfindingsinthisrespect,however.Severalteachersbelievedthattravelwasinfluential,butnotessentialtopromotingculturalunderstanding. TheCanadianparticipantwhohadvisited Japan suggested that,whilsthertravelhadbeen formative, itwasnotnecessarilyessential tounderstandingandengagingdifferenceinherclassroom:

“being around people from different cultures and learning about theircultureshelpswith [understandingculturaldifference]…I thinkaboutmystudentsinmyownclassroom,lotsofourunitsareaboutlikewhoweareand howwe express ourselves. They’re about their families about theirtraditions,sothey’relearningaboutthatfromeachother…Ifeellikewe’reimmersed in it right now, I don’t feel like I have to travel somewhere…Ithinkjustbeingimmersedinitheregivesstudentsandeveryonehereanopenmindaboutdifferencesandabout learningaboutdifferentwaysoflifefordifferentfamiliesandtheirculture…”(Participant22-IC).

MulticulturalTeachingExperience

Interestingly,thiscapacityfortransculturalthinkingwaspresentinagroupofteachers,whooverall(79percent)hadrelativelylittleexperienceinteachingwithinmulticulturalstudentenvironments (see Figure 3). This suggests that, for some educators, teaching experiencewithinculturallydiverseschoolcohortsmaynotbesufficientapre-conditioninitselfforthedevelopmentoftransculturalattitudes,reinforcingpastresearchfindings(Casinader,2014;inpress;2018) that transcultural capability isnot just aprofessional attribute that canbefullyacquiredbyprofessionalpracticeorlearning.Instead,itsfullactivationoradoptionbyan individual necessitates a shift in personal attitude, whichmay ormay not result fromteaching in multicultural environments. For some teachers, teaching in multiculturalenvironmentsisaprofessionalchoiceandnotnecessarilyapersonaltransformation.

FIGURE3:MulticulturalTeachingExperienceofTeachersaccordingtoCulturalDispositionsofThinking

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Placeofbirth

Anothersingularfeatureofthetransculturalgroupwasthat,collectively,theywereborninawiderrangeofcountries(Figure4).UnliketheICandCIgroups,whowereallborninoneofthe two case study regions (Australia and Canada), the transcultural cohort originated incountriesthatnotonlyincludedthesetworegions,butalsocontinentalEurope,AfricaandSouthAsia.

FIGURE4:PlaceofbirthofteachersaccordingtoCulturalDispositionsofThinking

The reason why being born outside their country of work can be seen to influencetranscultural capability is that the teachers inquestionhaveundertakenadeeper formofglobalisingexperiencethroughtheveryactofmigration.Foroneteacher(Participant16-TC),themovewasadeliberatesteptowardspersonalcultural transformationas themigrationwas the consequence of marriage to a French-Canadian. For some of the transculturalteachersborn intheircountryofemployment,theglobalisingexperiencestookadifferentform,although theeffect– immersion inculturaldifferenceaspartofdaily life–was thesame. For example, another teacher lived in several disparate locations around Canadabeforesettlingintohercurrentposition:

“MyfatherisanRCMPmembersotheRoyalCanadianMountainPolice…he’s a retired member now but was a high-rankingofficer,andat that level,wemovedaroundCanada.So,when Ithink aboutmy identity, it’s not the place of where I am rightnow; it’s a nationalist kind of approach to being Canadian.What’shappenedformeisalotofmymoralcodeandalotofmy

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identity is as the daughter of a service person plus a nationalpolice forcemember, andhis familywere also in the service aswell,soa lotofwhat Ihaveembedded inme is, I think,a largeparttoourstoryismovingaroundasthe[nameremoved]family(Participant21-CI).

PYPConvictions

Logicwouldsuggestthatteacherswhohadadeeppersonalandprofessionalcommitmentto PYP principles, including the IB focus on international-mindedness, would be farmoretranscultural,andthatthereverseshouldalsobetrue.

FIGURE5:DegreeofPYPconvictionaccordingtoCulturalDispositionsofThinking

Figure5showsthedegreeofconsistencyoftheteachercohortbetweentheirreactionstostatements on the PYP course and transcultural thinking on a scale of -12 to +2, withrankingsinthepositivesreflectingastrongsupportforPYPprinciples.Asthechartshows,byand large, teachers in all three CDTs were predominantly in the positive range, andespeciallyso inthetransculturalgroup. It ispossible, therefore, tosaythatoverall,80percent of thewhole cohortwas strong in its convictions as to the value of the PYP. This isgeneralaffirmationthatteachersbeingemployedbyPYPschoolsare,asarule,personallyand professionally invested in the cultural education dimensions mandated for inclusionwithintheprogramme.

Generalpatterns

Two general aspects of the findings are notable here, and serve to highlight thattransculturalcapability,andtherefore,compatibilitywiththeIBprofileandtheaimsofthePYP,isnotnecessarilyamerefunctionofbiologicalorprofessionalmaturity.Firstly,newer,younger teacherswere either transcultural ormore community-oriented in their thinking.Whilst older and more experienced teachers could be found across all three culturaldispositionsofthinking(seeFigure6),theyoungerteachers(thatis,bornafter1983)were

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alleithertransculturalorclosetoit(11percentintotal).Approximately20percentoftheentire cohort had less than 10 years of teaching experience, and all of thesewere eithertransculturalormorecommunity-orientedintheirthinking.

FIGURE6:DateofTeacherBirthaccordingtoCulturalDispositionsofThinking

Secondly, the transcultural group was far more globally aware, with 65 per centdemonstrating high levels ofwhole-world consciousness. In Figure 7, the higher numbersindicate a stronger commitment to notions of global awareness and the focus of the IBLearnerProfile,themoreindividualistic(IC)cohortlevelsofglobalawarenesswereabout50percent lower thanthe transculturalcohort.Thishighercommitmentby the transculturalteachersisalsoinalignmentwiththefactthattheyoriginatedfromawiderrangeofregionsthan teachers with other CDTs. It also reflects the likelihood that many of them hasdeveloped transcultural capability by being immersed in different cultural environmentsthroughtheprocessesofeverydaylifeandtheneedtoadjusttonewculturalenvironments.

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FIGURE7:CulturalDispositionsofThinkingaccordingtodegreeofglobalawareness

Aswith travelexperience,however, thenuancesrevealedbythe interviews in thecaseofglobal awareness, or, as defined by the PYP, ‘international-mindedness’, were mostinteresting.

Participants’ responses indicated also some complexities beneath the data; particularly inrelation to what they believe constitutes “international-mindedness”. At one end of thespectrum,participantswhowereIC(moreindividually-centredthinkers)suggestedthatthePYPdidnotnecessarilychangetheirmindset,butgavethemalanguagetoarticulateexistingunderstandings.Forexample,oneCanadianteachersaid:

“Myunderstandingof internationalmindednesshas takenabitofajourney,sohadyouaskedmethatbeforeI’dtaughtinanIBschool I probably would’ve answered along the lines that it’saboutbeingagoodpersonnomatterwhereyouare.Thathasn'treally changed, [but] now I’ve just got the vernacular of theLearnerProfile,[it]iskindofattachedtothat.Overthecourseofsevenyears teaching IB that justbecomes theway that I framemythinkingaroundinternationalmindedness…whatdoIviewasinternationallyminded? It’sapersonwho isopenminded toallpeople and is eyes wide open no matter where they are”(Participant4-IC).

Inasimilarvein,anotherparticipantcategorisedasICreportedthat:

“International mindedness for me is defined when we workacrossthe10attributesoftheLearnerProfile.Whenastudentisabletodemonstrateallthose10orabletoexplainthemandtodemonstratethem,atthatpoint formethat’showI identifyaninternational mindedness person because if you can be openminded, if you can be knowledgeable, if you can demonstratethose attributes then that person could easily transfer intoanother country and they are internationallyminded. It doesn'tmeansomeonethattravelstheworld, itdoesn'tmeansomeonethatknowsallabouttheworld”(Participant14).

Otherstookawiderperspectivetothequestion.OneCanadianparticipantfromanotherschool,identifiedtobeIC,saidthatinternational-mindednesswasabout

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“taking those aspects of your humanity, and being able torecognise that other people throughout the world, andsometimesyourneighbourormembersofyourownfamily,havesimilar traits or thinking or ideas to you. Regardless of thediversity or the difference, we have these common core thingsthatrunthroughourlives,and,youknow,to…alargedegree,wespend timeondifference,andwedon’t spendasmuch timeonthosethingsthatareverysimilar,youknow,tous.We…allhaveamother,right?Imean,notthatsimple,but,Imean,itistrue.[Itis]thosetransferablethings”(Participant23-IC).

AnotherCanadianparticipantfromthesameschool,whoweidentifiedtobeCI,characterisedinternationalmindednessasapersonalresponsibility;itis

“a disposition. I feel that defining it would make it somethingthat peoplewould try to assess andmeasure and I don't thinkyou canmeasure culture, inter-culturalism. I thinkwehave thisdesire to box lots of stuff and check things off, especially aseducators.So,definingitissuperhardforme.

Ifeelit’stheopenness,acceptancetounderstandthehumankind,thehumanspirit,butalsothere’saresponsibilityformetotrytolivethatexperienceortoaskorquestion. It’snotforyoutotellmeaboutyou,it’sformetofindout.Ifeelthere’saresponsibilityandthat’swherejudgmentscomeinandthingsgetmisconstruedwhere ifyoudon't findout foryourself thenhowdoesapersonreallyknow?”(Participant21-CI).

Thegreatersophisticationofperspectiveshownbythosewithtransculturalcapabilitywasalsoevident:

“Ithinkwhatwedoisthroughourunitsofinquiry[isthat]we’relearningaboutdifferentcultures,wearelearningaboutdifferentgendersorsexualorientation.That’s…thewholeLearnerProfileof being openminded and…being knowledgeable. I always tellthestudents,‘ImaynotknowaboutyourcultureandImaynotknow your background so we’re learning together, but it’simportant to be knowledgeable so that others can be openmindedandunderstandwhyatacertaintimeofyearthisiswhyyou’re not eating certain foods or maybe you’re fasting,whateveritis,we’relearningtogether.’”(Participant14-IC).

Wenowturntoresearchaimfive,startingwiththecohortasawhole.


5.ResearchAim5:ToassesstheimplicationsofthesepatternsfortheeffectiveteachingandlearningoftherelevantaspectsoftheIBLearnerProfile(beingathinkerandopen-minded)intheschoolcasestudies,bothindividuallyandcollectively.

Thecohortasawhole

PersonalImpact ProfessionalImpact

CDT Capacities&Skills

IndividualGrowth

Competences&Skills

Relationships&Communications

CI 35.8 64.2 17.3 82.7

TC 38.4 61.4 8.7 91.3

IS 42.7 57.3 10.8 89.2

TABLE3:PersonalandProfessionalImpactbypercentagecodingsofinterviewresponsesandculturaldispositionsofthinking

Table3 shows the teachers’perceptionsofhow teaching thePYPhasaffected thembothpersonallyandprofessionally,accordingtothepercentcodingsineachcategory.Toalargedegree, the teachers’perceptionsof impactof their teachingof thePYP,according to theculturaldispositionof thinking (CDT),mirroredthatof theoverallpattern.AcrossallCDTs,teacher comments showed that they were more aware of the personal impact on theirgrowthasindividuals(56-65percentcodings)thanontheirspecificcapacitiesand/orskills(35-44percentcodings:seeTable3).Onceagain,thecapacitiesofculturalawarenessandflexibility of thought were the specific capacities/skills in which progress was noted;approximatelyhalfthecodingsforeachCDTreflectedthesetwoaspects.

Like the wider pattern, by far the greatest impact professionally was in the area ofrelationships and communications (80+ per cent codings in each CDT), with progress instudent relationships and student outcomes being heavily emphasised. Althoughperceptionsofdevelopment in theirowncompetencesand skillswasmuch lower ineachCDT, there was agreement within each CDT that the greatest impact in this area was incultural knowledge (57-91 per cent relevant codings). However, the focus on culturalknowledgewasmuchhigher(91percent)inthemorecollectivelysituatedthinkersoftheCIdispositionthanthosewhoweretranscultural(65percent)ormoreindividualistic(IS–57percent).Thesedifferencessuggest that transcultural thinkersmayhaveahigher startingpoint in cultural knowledge than other CDTS, but also that the IC group is less open todifferent forms of cultural knowledge than the CI group, whose community-centredapproachismoreacceptingofdifferentperspectives.

These findings seem to suggest that undertaking teachingwithin the PYP tended to havemore effect, personally and professionally, on those who were close to becomingtransculturalindisposition,thanthosewhowerealreadytranscultural.TheimpactonsomeofthekeyattitudesrelatedtotheIBLearnerProfile,suchasculturalknowledgeandglobalawareness,wasfarmoresignificant,withthegreatestprofessionaleffectbeingintheareaofconnectionswithstudents,andthenthroughthis,byimplication,progressinthequalityofstudentlearningoutcomes.


5.1Personalandprofessionalimpactonindividuals

Duringtheinterviews,participantswereaskedabouttheirexperiencesinteachingthePYP,includingitsstrengthsandlimitations.Theirqualitativeresponsesprovideusefulcontextualinsightsinrelationtothesurveyfindingspresentedthisreport.Inparticular,theyhighlightapractical reality; that the extent of a teacher’s ability to fully utilise their personal andprofessionalcapacitiesinmaximisingthetransculturalelementsofthePYPisalsodependenton them being given the curricular and pedagogical space to do so. Six themes emergedduringinterviewsastotheimpactofthePYPonteachersandtheirschoolcommunities:

(i)Creatingacommonlanguage

Oneway in the PYP creates a sense of tranculturalism – the sense that difference is lessimportant than commonality – is that it utilises a lexiconand language that is usedby allinvolved in the programme. The benefits of having a common PYP languagewerewidelyreportedbyteachers in thisstudy.Oneteacher fromSchool1said, thePYP[andthe IB ingeneral]:

“giveslanguagetowhatwearedoingthatiscommontoallkids…when I get them at 12 years old and I talk about tolerance andopen mindedness the kids get it, they understand what thosewordsmean. And so, I can give language to them to be able todescribewhat isactuallyhappening,whereas IwoulddosomeofthosethingswithinadifferentcontextinnotanIBlanguageschoolbut Iwouldn’thave labelled it thesameway. Itdoesn’tbringthekidstogether, itdoesn’tgivethemthatabilitytoreallythink,[or]the commonality that brings them together and allows them toactuallygofurther…intheirunderstanding”(Participant9-TC).

AteacherfromSchool3heldasimilarviewthat“thecommonlanguageisveryimportant…to have that from grade to grade to grade where children are building on theirunderstandingofwhatthingsare”(Participant36-TC).

Otherteachersextolledthewiderbenefits,suchasthisICteacherfromSchool4:

“whenever a school adopts a framework, it provides anopportunity for teachers, and communityat large, to speak thesame language. So, for example, when we focus on LearnerProfile…as a continuant school, we focus on PYP and MYP[MiddleYearsProgramme]andDP[DiplomaProgramme][soas]kids move through our school; there’s not this constantreintroducingorreinventinglanguage,whichisreallyimportant.[The PYP] framework was also instrumental in…developing ateam approach…, which helps a great deal with continuity ofprogramme for kids, when the teachers are all working on thesamepageintermsoflanguageandprocess…

I think theother thing that I hear from teachers,and fromkidsandparents,isthatthe…differenceinwaysoflearningforkids,and what they’re talking about and what they’re learning andwhatthey’reproducing,hasbeenabigshift…[W]henIfirstcamehere,…the school [was], kindof, a skills development school tosomedegree”(Participant23-IC).


Creating a common language extended to parents of students. While theparentsofoneschoolwerereluctanttoembracethePYPapproach,

“overtime,[parents]nowaremuchmoreinterestedinthedepthand breadth of conversations that…they have with their kidsabout [global issues]…Also things in terms of the collaborationpiecewithfamilies,orparents,havingasensethattheirkidsareworking well with others. Because increasingly, I think parentsarerealisingthattheirchildren,tobesuccessfulinthefuture,aregoing to be involved in teams of collaborative groups of somesort”(Participant23-IC).

In short, the PYP common language creates ameans bywhich teachers can generate thestudent interest in and acceptance of difference that underpins the notion oftransculturalism:“withstudents‘comingfromaroundtheworld’,itbuildsevenmoreoftheinterests in knowledge and understanding that our kids have about theworld and aboutpeoplecomingfromplaces”(Participant23-IC).

(ii)TheteachingpracticeofthePYP

As with any curriculum, the use of the PYP to teach international-mindedness is largelydependent on the teachers’ acceptance of and commitment to the principles of thatprogramme. To a large degree, the survey participants have come to accept the PYP andbecause of the impact that it has had on their teaching practice, regardless of any initialhesitance. For instance,during theearly yearsofPYP in their school, some teacherswerescepticalaboutwhytheschooladoptedthePYP,initiallybelieving

“that the reason we were doing it is pure marketing.Consequently, itwas necessary for leadership to emphasise thestrengths of a ‘great curriculum framework’ and ‘a greatprogramme’thatwilltakeyouonajourney…whereyoubecomeaPYPteacher,whichopensyourpathwaysanddoorwaysacrosstheboard…”(Participant38-TC).

Another teacher in Canada alluded to a similar initial feeling when he said:“I'mabigfanoftheprogramme.Therearecertainelementsoftheprogramme that I'm not as comfortable with, but I mean, it's abrand,youknow;it'sagoodbrand,butit'sstillabrand.Andso,Ithink I came here because of the IB programme; I came herebecauseIlookedatthatprogrammeandsaid,‘wellthat'sthewayI'm trying to teach’ and so like it could come into that fit. I lovewhatit'sdoneatthisschool;Ithinkit'sbeentransformative,asfaraseducationandhowweteachandwhatourpracticeis.Thathasstartedtospread,wherewehaveteachersherewhogoandworkwithotherschoolsanddoworkshopsandteachthemthingsandIlikethat.Itbothersmethatitrequiresabrandforthattohappen;but that's more of a comment on teaching than it is the IB” (Participant5-TC).


TheparticipantalsothoughttheIB“havedoneagoodjobputtingtogetherapackagethatusesbestpractice.”HehadrecentlybeensecondedtoalocaluniversitytoteachacohortofbeginningteachersthePYP:

“WhatIreallyfoundwhenIgotmyheadaroundwhatIwantedtodowiththemwasIdidn'tsomuchteachthemthePYP…Ididteachthemtheteachingprinciplesbehinditandthen,attheendsortofsay‘andthat'swhyinthePYPwedothis….So,Ithinkit'sthatsoundeducationalpracticethateverybodyshouldbeawareofandeverybodyshouldknowthatreallyjumpsoutandisbigforme…The teaching practice of what is good education is whatdrivesme;more than the ideaofglobaleducation” (Participant5-TC).

Headded,

“it'smorejustwhatmyprioritiesare.IhavethesekidsinfrontofmeandhowcanIbethebestteacherthatIcanbe?HowcouldIturnthemintocriticalthinkers?HowcanIturnthemintopeoplewhodon'tacceptinformationwithoutconsideringitandmakingjudgmentsforthemselves?HowcanIturnthemintopeoplewhoaregoingtobegoodcitizens?AndinmymindwiththeIB,IthinkalotofpeoplecomeintotheIBandhearaboutglobaleducationand international mindedness and they sort of have a certainview of what that is going to be all about…[but] that LearnerProfile is those dispositions and things that are going to turnsomebody into a good global citizen…it's not explicitly about‘we’re an IB school becausewe are pen palswith somebody inChina’.Youknow,it'smoreaboutcreatingthecharacterandthetypeofpersonandthatisn'tnecessarilyexplicitlyaninternationalthing”(Participant5-TC).

ThisimpactofthePYPontheirapproachtoteachingalsosetuptheteachingenvironmentinwhichthevaluingandacceptanceofdifferencecouldbenurtured.AsoneICteacherfromSchool 3 explained, the PYP “values individuality, it values…openness and some creativitycancomeintoit[and]itvaluesinputfromlotsofdifferentpeople,places,thingsyoucando.Idon’tseeitasastructuredthing.Ivaluetheflexibilitywithinit”(Participant32-IC).

(iii)Promotingcriticalthinkingandproblemsolving

AsdescribedintheCDTmodel,thereisacloseassociationbetweentransculturalismandthedevelopment of a deep conception of thinking skills that is inclusive of different culturalexpressionsofthinking.ThevalueofthePYPinteachingtheseskillswaswidelyrecognisedbytheparticipants.Inaninformationagethatrequiresstudentstointerpretthevalidityofall that they read (Participant 36-TC), the great advantageof thePYP’s inquiry-embeddedapproachwasthatitinculcatedarangeofthinkingskills,suchas:

• criticalthinking–“lookingindepthatthings.It'sanalysing,it'spullingthingsapart,it'snot justtakingthingsatfacevalue. It'saskingquestions…andfindoutanswers”(Participant36-TC);

• creativethinking–“Tryingtothinkofdifferentwaysto lookatan issue,so it'sverylinkedwithcriticalthinking,butIthinkit'ssortoftryingtothinkoutsidethebox.You


know,we cangoabout something inquitea structuredway,and I think it'sabouttryingtoclearourheadandlookatitincreativeways”(Participant36-TC);and

• problem solving – “trying to work with others, and individually, to come toconclusionsaboutthings.Ithinkyou'vegottobeusingcreativeandcriticalthinkingtosolveproblems.Youknow,eveninasimplewaywithchildren-ifthey'rehavingadisagreement in theplaygroundyou're creatively thinkingofhowwecansolve thisproblemsothateveryonefeelscomfortableaboutit”(Participant36-TC).

One Australian-based interviewee articulated the strengths of the PYP in “that we arehopefullyhelpingchildrentobe…criticalthinkers,tobecreative,tolearntoproblemsolve,tolearntodiscusstogether,tolookatdifferentpointsofviewandthentoconsiderwheretheystandon that.”Shebelieved that“having theattributesof theLearnerProfile isalsoreallyimportant.Imean,youcanbeopen-minded[butit]doesn'tmeanyouhavetotakeoneverybody'spointof viewand that youdon'thaveyourownopinion,but you can still beopenmindedtoalternatives”(Participant36-TC).

TheinquirybasedapproachofthePYPwascentraltothesuccessofthePYPinthisaspectasitfocusedon

“the kids asking the questions…it’s open…you can be led to goanywhere…sharing their knowledge is the best part becausethey…become knowledgeable and they’re teaching otherstudents what they’ve learned, but they’re also excited aboutfindingoutnewinformation”(Participant35-IC).

(iv)ThePYPfocusontransdisciplinarylearning

Another educational manifestation of transculturalism is an ability to think in atransdisciplinarymanner(Kidman&Casinader,2017),andthisaspectofthePYPwasnotedbymanyparticipants.Aparticipant fromSchool 2 found thePYP tobe strong in enablingstudents“tocreatelink[s]betweenthedisciplines”andthat“whenthey[are]abletogettheskillstobeabletomakethoselinks,theywillbeabletomakelinks[with]thosethingsfromwhattheylearnedatschool,withtheirdailylife,outsideofschool”(Participant15-TC).

OneAustralianteacheralsofoundthePYPbroadenedhisownoutlookglobally:“I,sortof,gotswayedintotheglobalisationofthecurriculumbecauseIfeltthatwewerebecoming…verymuch‘Aussie’inourcurriculumdelivery.WeweretryingtodoalotofintegratedtopicsthatwerejustAustralianratherthanglobal,sothatwasmyattractiontoPYP”(Participant38-TC).Similarly,anotherkindergartenteacherfromSchool2describedhowteachinginthiswayopenedherownmindandapproach:

“Thechildrenare5and6yearsold,sothey’rereallysortoffreshoutofthebox,andit’sunbelievablethatwhenyougivethemjusta tiny bit, how much you can get out of them, how muchdiscussioncomesout,howmanyconnectionstheymaketoaveryshortexperienceoflifethattheyhave.Youknow,theyconnect–that’s how they learn…They connect it to something that theyalready know, their base knowledge or experiences…[A]s ateacher,it’staughtmenottofocussomuchonsortofthesmallthemes,andreally to thinkbigandto thinkglobally…[Students]need to understand that there is a world outside of…Quebec,Canada,andsoon”(Participant19-TC).


Consequently,teachingthePYPimprovedherskillsasateacher

“100 per cent.Why? Because in the past…everything was verysortof inthebox,andIhadmyplan…Ihadmyplan,andthis iswhatweweredoingtoday,anditwasallthere,andeverychilddidworkshopnumber1,2,3,and4,andthenIcorrecteditanditwentintheirfolder,anditwasallniceandneatandsupereasy,right,becauseit’sallveryorganised.AndnowImuchmoreopento letting them sort of lead the teaching, so whereas before,somebody said, ‘How does this work?’ I would tell them theanswerandmoveon”(Participant19-TC).

(v)Promotingcollaborationbetweenstudentsandstaff

The positive impact of the PYP in generating a positive learning environment thatencouraged the school community to work more closely together was also noted in thesurveyresponses.AteacherfromSchool2highlightedhowthePYPpromotescollaborationbetweenandamongstteachersandlearners:

“IreallyenjoyedintheLearnerProfileandwhilsttodevelopthekids … to support each other – like if one of them is havingtrouble, then you can just encourage students to say – okay,what shouldyoudo?Youseeyourmate is in trouble,whatcanyoudotohelphim,toimprove?”(Participant15-TC).

Similarly,anAustralianteacherfromSchool3

“lovedthebackgroundstructurethat’sinitandIlikethewaywedeveloptheprofileandtheattitudesandallthat’skindofgoingoninthebackground,but…Ilikethewayit’stheteacher’sroletoget that out of the kids andget that handsonhappening. Kidsarenotat tables.They’renot structurally sittingdowntrying tonutsomethingoutthemselves.They’reworkingwitheachother,they’vegot everythinghappening in the room, I’m thereas thefacilitator [to] bounce in, bounce out and sort of redirect theirthinking…I’m not someonewho teaches things in isolation, so Ilovehowitcanallbemeshedtogether”(Participant32-IC).

OneICteacherfurtherhighlightedthewaysthatthePYPpromotescollaborationwithandbetweenstudents:

“Asa framework, it’sexemplary forusingbackwarddesignandreally keepingwhat are the things you really want students tounderstandandbeabletodo,andthatfocusonconcepts.Oneofmy frustrationsasa studentwasalwaysabout relevance, ‘WhyamIlearningthis?’IbelievethatthePYPreallyaddressesthatinameaningfulway.Lovethecollaborationaspecttoit,sotheco-planningandco-teachingmodelsthatweputinplacearereally,really powerful…You can speak to the power of commonlanguage....[But] I don't see that as [just] it though; I really dothink it’s that emphasis on learning reallyworthwhilematerial,


worthwhile skill set, so an emphasis on process” (Participant 4-IC).

AnotherICteacherfromtheAustralianSchool3notedhowteachersandstudents

“bounceoffeachotheralldaylong.Weworkwitheachother. Idon’tliketothinkthattheydon’tseemeasthisperson,thisguruwho knows everything. I often show that I’m learning too andthat I want them to learn through different experiences.Connections are a huge thing. Iwant them to piece everythingtogether. IknowIsaid I just liveandbreatheforsixweeks,andevennow,stillI’mlikethisisourfirstunitofinquiry.Iwantthemto constantly be making those connections, and I show actionand I expect them to show action too and we know we’rebringing in; there’s lots of sharing and things like that”(Participant32-IC).

CI teachers spokepositivelyof thePYP suchas theway it allows students “to learnotherpeople’sperspectives, to learnabout theworld and issues that are goingon in theworld[and] toworkwith different people too, becauseof all the groupprojects andwhat not”(Participant3-CI).ButthePYPdidn’tchangethisparticularteacher’spersonalworldview:

“because…evenbeforecomingtotheinternationalprogramme,Iconsideredmyselfverymuchopen-minded. Iwasveryfortunatetogrowupinafamilythat[was]verywellreadandwatchedthenews, and we knew what was going on around the world…Iwasn’tsheltered”(Participant3-CI).

AnAustralianTCcounterpartaffirmedthisview,addingthatthePYPpromotedcollaborationamongst staff by having a common language, as suggested above in Section 5.1(i). Thiscollaborationextendedbeyondtheschool:

“one of my attractions to PYP was that cross-collaborationbetween,youknow,Governmentschools,privateschools,acrosstheworld. I think that had a huge attraction forme, because Ithinkeverystaffmemberwho’sbeenapartofPYP,andisapartof PYP, brings something to the table. You know, you’re nothavingsomeonewho’sanexpertsaying,‘ThisishowIthinkyoushoulddoit.’Asyousawfrommystaff,youhavestaffwhohavebeen doing it for a while, some are new – but every time youbecome part of the PYP network, you are bringing somethingextratothatcollaborativeplanningwithit”(Participant38-TC).

AsoneICteacherfound,beingpartofacohesivenetworkofteacherswasanotherbenefitstemmingfrom

“the values,…the attitudes,…thewhole Learner Profile and howthey had this harmonious feel when I entered their schoolbecauseitwasournetworkingschoolaswell,because,althoughit was a government school, it still had the PYP...I’ve been tootherprofessionallearningwherethey’vebroughtinthatinquiry,theseunitsof inquiryandhowthey letthechildrenwanderand


explore and I’ve always thought, ‘Oh, that, - I really love thatbecause you could have so many inquiries going on’ and it’ssatisfying for the children because they’re coming up withanswers and solving what their questions are, or what theirquestionshavebeen,ratherthanalwaysbeingteacherdirected.This was more…student led, student directed and…a bit moreopen,ratherthanstructured”(Participant35-IC).

Another IC teacher suggested that “because of the collaborative nature of PYP, it’s alsohelpedusasaschool, [to]start thinkingaboutco-teachingmodelsandallkindsof things,whichprobablywouldn’thavecomeaboutwithoutPYP...”(Participant23-IC).

AtleastoneteacherfromSchool4wishedformorecollaborationbeyondtheschool,whileacknowledgingthebenefitsofthePYPinthefollowingterms:

“Ithink it isaveryrobust,rigorousprogramme.Ithink itallowsthe teacher and the student, and theparents, it’s like almost acollaborativeprocess of learning,which I enjoy. [But] I’d like tosee more school to school interactions, but that’s logistics anddemographicallyit’stougherthatway”(Participant25-TC).

Othershadvaluedinter-professionalinteractionsenabledbytheIBandtheirschools.Someteachers commented on the way the PYP promoted more inclusion overall; coming toteachinginanIBschool,onefoundittobe

“a very different view, with respect to education, pedagogy,practice, assessment. I was introduced for the first time to theLearnerProfile,theattitudesandskills,andcomingfromanotherschool system, I’d never seen something quite as accepting andinclusive,andthat’swhatIreallyloved.Andit’salmostlikeyougeta bug, like when you start teaching inquiry-based learning,student-centred,itkindofbecomespartofyou.”

(vi)Enablingpedagogicalleadership

ThePYPalsoenabledtheprofessionaldevelopmentandlearningofteachers.AsoneteacherfromSchool4found,thePYP

“put a new face on what I do. It moved me from anadministrator, who does timetables and budgets and all thosekindof things, toapedagogical leader,and that [is] verymuchappreciated…andIstillhaveanopportunitytositdownandtalkwith teachers aboutwhat they’re doing andwhy they’re doingthat,andsothat’sbeenreallyrewarding”(Participant23-IC).

AnotherteacherfromSchool4alsovaluedhowtheIBpromotesprofessionaldevelopment,with

“thishubornetworkthatIBhaswheretheyofferconferencesincertain areas in the world. And you’re welcome to put in aprofessional request and travel there, and the school supportsyou.Sothat’sthenetworkingthing[where]youcanborrowandtweak different teaching practices, and then you bring it andmakeityourown,intoyourownclassroom”(Participant25-TC).


ThecomplexityandextentofthesecollaborativerelationshipsthatthePYPfacilitatesisalsoanindicationthatthePYPembodiesacomplexviewofsocietyasthenorm,againreflectingoneoftheinherentnotionsoftransculturalism.

5.2PersonalandProfessionalImpactbySchool

PersonalImpact ProfessionalImpact

SchoolCapacities&

SkillsIndividualGrowth

Competences&Skills

Relationships&Communications

1 39.0 61.0 8.1 91.9

2 44.3 55.7 4.0 96.0

3 48.3 51.7 14.0 86

4 26.1 79 20.4 79.6

TABLE4:PersonalandProfessionalImpactbypercentagecodingsofinterviewresponsesbyschool

Thedistributionofteachers'culturaldispositionsacrossthefourschoolswasfairlysimilar,and it is therefore not surprising that the patterns of perceived impact relating toundertakingthePYPwerealso inalignment.Overall,eachschooldisplayedthesamebasiccharacteristics of teacher perceptions as indicated by the previous analysis; that is, therewas a tendency to see personal impact in terms of individual growth rather than specificcapacitiesorskills,characterisedby:firstly,anemphasisonthepersonalimpactofculturaland global awareness; and, secondly, on the professional impact of cultural knowledge,improved student relationships and higher student outcomes student outcomes. Therewere,however,certainaspectsrelatingtoeachschoolthatareworthhighlighting.

School1

This school canbe said to typify thepatterns of overall findings in termsof personal andprofessionalimpact,particularlyinrelationtoimprovementsinculturalknowledge,culturalawarenessandglobalawareness.

School2

Thekeydifferencebetweenthisschoolandtheotherswasthealmosttotallackofbeliefinthe PYP improving their professional capacities and skills, especially in terms of culturalknowledge.Thiswastheonlyschoolinthesamplewhichwasbilingual,andaneducationalsettingwheremostofthesurveyededucatorshavebeenbroughtupandeducatedinsuchanatmosphere.Itcouldbe,therefore,thattheeducatorsintheschooldidnotbelievethatthey hadmade any improvement in these aspects of cultural capability as they hadbeenlivingandworkinginadiverseculturalenvironmentformuchoftheirlivesinanycase.


Even here, though, there were those who had been transformed by international travel,suchastheCIintervieweementionedearlierwhohadbeenprofoundlyaffectedbyherstayinJapan:

“You can read about something but, until you’re in it…I mean,howmanybookshadIalreadyreadthatwereeitherwrittenbyaJapaneseauthorandplacedinthattime,butIwouldhaveneverunderstooditthewayIdidbybeingimmersed…Itrytousealotof empathy or having themact it out, so having them imaginethemselves as that other person, so any time that there is thatdifference, that clash – so I can’t necessarily say that this is acultural example but let’s just talk about friendships andwhenthe children are having trouble understanding each other and,‘Oh,hecalledmethis,’or,‘Shecalledmethat,’or,‘Shehurtmyfeelings.’ Ialwaysaskthemto imaginethey’retheotherpersonandsay,‘Whatif…yousaythat?Whatifthosewordscomeoutofyourmouthandtheydon’tmeanthesamethingbecauseforthatperson”(Participant10-CI).

Another CI teacher from the same school also believed that to understand culturaldifference,onecanbothmeetitorbedeeplyimmersedinit,butthelatterwaspreferable:

“themoreyouliveitonewayoranother,thebetteryou’regoingtounderstandit…Nothingreplacesexperience…Howwellcanyouunderstanditifyouhaven’tlivedit?That’shardformebecauseIgrewupknowingit.AsanEnglishgirlinaFrenchsociety,whereall my French teachers would mess up my name…They’d evenmisspell it atrociously...So, I’ve always felt that difference inculture”(Participant10-CI).

School3

There were two notable aspects of the patterns at the school in which the educatorsdeviatedfromtheoverallconclusions.Thefirstisthattheteacherssawthemselvesasbeingpersonally impacted in awider rangeofways than theother schools. For instance,whilstgrowthinculturalawarenessandflexibilityofthoughtwasseenasbeingsignificant,aswithothercasestudies,teachersinthisestablishmentalsosawgrowthinareassuchasagreaterappreciation of educational philosophy (25 per cent codings) and improvement in theirstandinginthecommunity(16percent).

In similar fashion, the school's teachers perceived the impact of being part of the PYP tohavehadaprofessionalimpactacrossawiderrangeofareas.Intermsofcompetenciesandskills, improved leadership abilities (14 per cent codings) was also significant, along withculturalknowledge(79percent).Developmentsinrelationshipsandcommunicationswentbeyond improved student relationships and outcomes to include improved parentrelationships(17percent)andstaffrelationships(17percent).

Thereasonsforthesedifferencesmaylieinthefactthatthisschoolhadthelowestnumberoftransculturaleducatorsoutofthefourcasestudies,apatternreflectedinaslightlymoredefinedinsularity.Nevertheless,someoftheschoolcohortdisplayedstrongtransculturalcharacteristics.Oneteacher(Participant31-CI)whohadgrownupinAustraliainanAnglo-Australianenvironment,buthadthenworkedinAsia,believedthatexposuretodifference


“is criticalbecause I think thenonce Iwasable to, say, interactwithparentsfromadifferentculturalbackground,IfoundthatanumberofparentshadareallydifferentexpectationthatIhadn'texperiencedbefore,butthenbeingabletogettoknowthemandseeotherwaysinwhichthatcommunityworked.Iworkedwithalocal teaching assistant which I really struggled with to beginwith because things that she did I just don't understand. Eventhingslikeveryspecificaboutthetimethatshewasgoingtogoandhaveherbreak, itwasallaboutfoodanditwasaboutthis,whereas I had not come from that…but I think I needed toexperiencethatandbeinvolvedwithittothentrulyunderstandwhereshewascomingfrom...”

Shearguedthatthetypeofimmersionisimportant:

“When I think about the kids that I am teaching now and thedifference that they would be experiencing, a lot of themobviouslycomingfromquiteaprivilegedbackgroundtravel,butthen what they're doing when they're travelling somewhere isstayinginabigresortandmaybejustseeingasurfacething.Forme,itwasonceI'dlivedwithinthatexistence…Ihadthecuriosityto learn more and to find out more. I think that living in it isprobablymorewhat'sgoingtobringaboutyourunderstanding”(Participant31-CI).

Experience of cultural difference abroad provided some teachers with a reservoir ofexperienceuponwhichtodraw;forexample,oneCIteacherfromSchool3(Participant30-CI) grew up in England, lived in the US and had worked in Hong Kong, which heavilyinfluencedtheirteachingpracticeandgeneraloutlook:

“I find I’ve got a wealth of cultural understanding to fall back[comparedto]thatotherpeoplewhohaven’tbeenexposed,likeinmyupbringing…allmyexperiences,Igetquiteconcernedovertokenistic nods to culture, the way it can sometimes bedisplayed”(Participant30-CI).

AnotherCIparticipantfromSchool3feltthattherewasnot

“enoughexposure todifference [at her school] but I don't havethe solution to how you'd do that without it also to beingtokenistic…I had a parent last year send me an email and saywe're thinking about taking her on a holiday to Vietnam nextyear so she can just really appreciate howmuch she's got andhow little others don't have. I don't think you need to go on aholiday to Vietnam to be able to experience that, that existswithinhereand…Ithinkalotofpeoplethatgrowuparoundherelive in [a local] bubble and don't realise that life exists beyond[thelocalbubble].”

SomeeffortsweremadebytheCIteachertoengagevisitorsfromthelocalcommunity:“Theschool'sgotaconnectionwiththe…Indigenouscommunity,we'venowgotacoupleofstudentsthatcometoschoolhere”(Participant31-CI).


School4

Thisschoolstandsoutasbeingthemainexceptiontothepatternsofattitudesevidentintheother institutions. The proportion of comments relating to impact in terms of individualgrowthwassignificantlyhigherthantheotherschools(79percentversus50-60percent),but there was also a similar significant increase in comments relating to professionalimprovementinculturallyrelatedcompetenciesandskills.Inthisschool,20percentofthecommentsemphasisedgrowthinareassuchasculturalknowledge,comparedwith0-8percentintheotherschools.Thisfocusongrowthcan,tosomedegree,beseenasreflectiveofthehighlytransculturalnatureoftheschool’sPYPstaffasawhole.It isalsoareflectionoftheir general enhancedopenness to difference and thus a greaterwillingness to embracepersonalchangeasaconsequence.

For example, several teachers across all schools highlighted the powerful influence ofinternationaltravelontheirpersonalandprofessional identities,andasacorollaryofthis,theirteachingpractices.However,foroneCIteacherfromSchool1,theeffecthadbeenfarmoreprofound.ShehadbeenonexchangetoAfricawhilstatschool,

“and it was mind opening…I definitely thought I was openmindedaheadoftimebut,havinggonethroughthat,itwasjawdropping howmuch you just learn from being away from yourhome and being a young kid and trying to make sense ofeverything, because I lived in some very different homes, likesomehomesthatwereveryopenmindedandsomeveryclosedminded homes because at that time…I do in my heart believethatlivingandbreathingsomethingjusthelpsyoutounderstanditthatmuchmoreandwhetherthatbeanewlanguage,whetherthatbeaculture,whetherthatjustbeawayofliving,…whenwecan be hands-on, it just helps our minds be that much moreaware”(Participant20-CI).

5.3Cross-schoolthemesarisinginrelationtoperceivedlimitationsofthePYP

OtherthemesemergedacrossschoolsinwhichparticipantsdescribedcertainlimitationsofPYP,whichinturnmayimpactonthecapacitytoteachandlearnaboutculturaldifference.DespitetheexpressedadvantagesofacommonPYPlanguage-seeSection6.1(i)-amajorconcernexpressedbyparticipants inbothAustraliaandCanadarelatedtotheterminologyofthePYP.Thisconcernhadtwodistinctmanifestations:firstly,inrelationtothecomplexityof language; and secondly, in relation to the nuance and meaning of certain concepts –particularly“tolerance”.

ThefirstcriticismthatwasbynomeanslimitedtooneCanadian-basedparticipant,whowasrelativelynewto theprogramme.Hehadbeen initiallyoverwhelmedby“theamountandthe complexity of the language used to describe and…sometimes it was quite heavy todigest…thebestthingwaswiththepractice”(Participant15-TC).Understanding,articulatingand agreeing on the language used within the PYP was a sticking point for severalparticipants. Changes to the language andmeaning of concepts created issues for a fewteachers.AnotherteacherfromSchool2,forexample,foundthat

“wespendanawfullotoftimeonsemantics,onthewording.OurPYPcoordinator,youknow,shewouldgoofftoaworkshop,and


shewould comeback and say, ‘We’re not quite doing this partright.Weneedtochangeandhave…moreconceptsinacentralidea’,andsonowwe’reback…to thedrawingboard, rethinkingour central idea. So, often times,we’ll do that, and then not acoupleofmonthslater,thatwasn’tquitethewayitshouldbe,sowehavetochangeit.

I’m all for improvement and fixingwhat needs to be fixed, butsometimeswespendanawfullotoftimeonjustthewordingofsomething,and theother thing that reallyhas takenmea longtimetogetusedtoistheamountofassessingthatcomesalongwiththeprogramme.We’reassessinga lot.Asyouknow,whenyou’re assessing, you’re not teaching, and when you’re notteaching,youfeellikeyou’rebehind”(Participant19-TC).

Such comments suggest that the PYP lexicon needs to be continually reviewed to ensurethatitremainsbothrelevantandusableinthecontextofthePYPasawhole.

(i)Theconceptof‘tolerance’inthePYP

One unexpected finding was that, regardless of CDT, participants across all schools wereoftenuncomfortablewiththeIB’snotionof“tolerance”.Thisnotioniscentraltothelexiconof the PYP; however, the word “tolerance” was a particular point of contention withteachersinbothAustraliaandCanada.Typically,participantswhofoundittobeproblematicfounditsinclusioninthePYPtobea

“verycomplicatedone,Ithinkalotofkidsdon’ttrulyunderstandit. But I think it is so important to be there. I’m constantlybringingkidsbacktothatpieceofthefactthatit’sokaytohavediffering opinions, it’s okay to have your own ideas. But to betolerantofsomebodyelsemeansthatyou’reacceptingofthoseand not reactionary to it, but really thinking about it and itincorporates all the other essential elements, like empathy andopenmindedness.Inordertobetolerant,you’rekindofallthoseother essential elements built in in order to be able to havetolerance. And a lot of kids, I teach twelve year olds, havedifficultywith tolerancebecause theyarequick toverymuchoftheirownmindsetversusbeingtoleranttothemindsetofotherpeople”(Participant9-TC).

AsimilarthemecameupatanotherCanadianschool:

“I think it’sacceptingofpeopleeven ifyouhaveadifferenceofopinionsor thoughts. Ihada littlegirl todaysay, ‘They’rebeingmean tome on the bus.’ And I said, ‘Well, howare they beingmean toyou?’Andshe said, ‘They’re justannoyingme.They’rejustmakingnoisesandIdon’tlikeit.They’rejustrunningbyme.’And I said, ‘Oh!Well, this iswherewehave tobe tolerant.Youmightnotlikewhathe’sdoing,andyoucanaskhimtobuthehisyounger’,soIwouldsaythatthere’ssomethingsthatpeoplethataregoingtodo thataredifferent thanwhatyoudo.Youmightnot even believe…or agree with what they’re doing, but there


are…some behaviours that we just tolerate.’ And I would saytolerateiswhenit’skindbotheringyoualittlebit;that’swhenIwould say tolerate. So, it’s more of a negative term almost”(Participant24-TC).

AnotherCIteachersharedthesameview:

“we’re using terms thatwork internationally and they used theUnitedStatesasanexampleofwheretoleranceisgoingtobetheword that’s better understood over acceptance, which reallyshockedme,because formetolerance isn’tenough.But Iguessthat’sjustreality…sometimesyouhavetolearntotolerateothersrather than truly accept them, but I always push for more–becausetojusttoleratemeansyou’restillnotcompletelyopen.Ifyou’reonlytoleratingsomething,there’sstillapartofyouthat’sresisting and deciding to hold on to your belief without beingwilling toaccept that that reallymightbeokay for thatperson,andIguesstherearesituationswhereitis,itdoescomedowntotolerancebutIthinkacceptanceistheideal”(Participant10-CI).

Other teachers alsodescribed toleranceasbeinga “negative” term (Participant5-TC) andwantedtoseealternativesused(Participant20-CI),suchas“acceptance”(Participants21-CI,23-IC,4-ICand24-TC).Some(e.g.Participants2-CIand19-TC)offeredamorenuancedviewbycouplingtolerancewithbeingacceptingandopenminded:

“Tolerance means that you’re not necessarily understand[ing]what’shappeninginfrontofyou,soifit’savalueortraditionorlet’ssay,religion,butyouareinformingyourselfaboutitandyouchoose to accept what is in front of you…In the PYP with thestudents thatmeans thatwe need to celebrate our differencesinsteadofbeinconflictwiththem”(Participant12-IC).

Inessence,teachersfoundthePYPassumptionthat‘tolerance’hadthesamemeaningandimport for all people, regardless of location of origin or residence, to be flawed. It alsocontradictsthetransculturalprinciplesembodiedintheIBLearnerProfileandtheinclusionof international-mindedness, which expects and celebrates differences in thought andacceptanceasanormalpartofcontemporarylife.

(ii)Inadequatetimetoinquireandlearn

AthemeamongstsometeachersinbothcountrieswastheissueoflimitedtimebecauseofthepressureofhavingtocompletethePYPthemesinsixweeks:

“I’veoftenheardpeoplesayweneedmorethansixweeks.WhichI sometimes agree with and I sometimes don’t. I know thatpeoplewanttogetintherebutitactuallyturnsoutthatthey’redoingmore fluffy stuff than they need to…irrelevant tasks thatare somehow connected to the trans theme or somehowconnectedtothecentralidea…Iwas,onceuponatime,notokaywiththesixweeksbutnowIseethevalueinthat.”


By‘fluffy’,shereferstowhatsheseesas

“irrelevanttasksthataresomehowconnectedtothetransthemeor somehow connected to the central idea… when it was firststarting,…we [were] used to [this] really nice activity, which istrue. It was a really lovely activity, but was it really using kidstimewisely?…Theylikedacertainactivitythattheyreallywantedto do because it looked good on thewalls or it looked good inportfolio or something like that, which it possibly did. But itwasn’tstudentdriven”(Participant32-IC).

ForoneintervieweeinherthirteenthyearofteachingthePYP,

“sometimes it can feel restrictive, so asmuch as it’swonderfulthat thingsaremappedout,youalsosometimes feel that,eventhough it’s inquiry and children are supposed to be leading,you’restillmakingsureyoudon’tsteponotherpeople’stoesso,whenachildgoesoff inadirectionandhe’sgoing intooceans,beinglike,‘Oh,butyou’regoingtogothereinGradeFivesojustholdbackalittlebitordothatforyourowninterestsbutkeepinmindyou’regoingtobedoingthatagainlaterandlet’ssteeryoubackthisway,’sosometimesIfeelIdon’twanttobeputtingouta fire. Youwant to be nourishing it, so it’s a delicate balance”(Participant10-CI).

ACIteacherinAustraliafeltthat

“itwouldbegreatifwecouldjustdofour[topics]becausethenyou cangodeeperandgo further. I find sometimes I go, ‘Okaystop,we’vestoppedtalkingaboutthatbecausewe’vegottogoback to the line of inquiry,’ and sometimes that can be quitechallenging for the kids as well as me. But, I think the timeaspect,forme,isthebigone,andIthinkthat’sprobablynotanuncommonone that youhear in thePYP environment. But, thesixthemesaresoimportantthatyouwouldn’twanttodropanyof them, but I do sometimes find I’m pulling them back ratherthan letting them go deeper…I find the difference between thetrainingthatyouget in thePYPandputting it intopractice isahugeleap,yougetalotoftheorychuckedatyouveryquicklyandthenyougetput into theclassroomandyou’re like: ‘I’vegot toget theconcepts, I’vegot todo this, I’vegot toget the studentprofile.’ I think we, historically, try to do things too quicklyinsteadofjustslowingdownandlettingithappen’”(Participant30-CI).

Weshallreturntotheissueoftimelimitationsintherecommendationsbelow.

(iii)RigidityofIBcurriculumandintegratingitwithothers

AcorollaryofthelastconcernwastherigidityofthePYPcurriculum,andwhencombined,the two limitations were seen as making the PYP more focused at times on curriculumcompletionratherthansound,deeplearning,Thispressurewasespeciallyacute inall four


schoolsastheyrequiredtocoverandmeet localstateorprovincialcurriculumframeworkoutcomes:

“There is a little bit of rigidity, so I do find that the IB ideal ofwantingtousetheplannerforeverythingyoudo[difficult]–Igetwherethey’recomingfrom,but,atthesametime, in[termsof]practicality,itjustdoesn'tnecessarilywork…youhavetofilterallof your science and social science curriculum through your sixunits of inquiry…well it’s not necessarily feasiblewhen you’re apublicschool…We’vebeenworkingonthat,[and]we[also]havea provincially mandated curriculum to teach and that doesn'talwaysjive”(Participant4-IC).

OneteacherfromSchool4suggested“…fornewschools,theplannerisridiculouslydifficult.There’snowaythattheycan…sitdownanddowellwithaplanner,andforschoolsthathavebeeninitforalongtime,Ithinkit’soverkill”(Participant23-IC).ForanotherCIparticipant,teachingthePYPinvolves

“alotofwork.EventhoughI’vebeenteachingIBforthreeyears,Istillfeellikeabeginner.Istillfeelattimes–Istruggletomakeitasinquiry-basedandopenforthestudentsaspossible,becauseIteachGradeFour,sotheyarequiteyoungstillandthere’slotsofskillsthatIhavetophysicallyteachthem.ThereisalotofdirectteachingthatneedstohappenandsoItryandfindthatbalance.Sometimes, I’m like ‘I’m a bad IB teacher because I’m teachingthemthesethings,theyshouldbefiguringitoutthemselves’,butthey’renine,sotheyneedsomemoredirectteachingsometimes”(Participant3-CI).

Anotherteacherfromthesameschoolfoundthatgiven“theamountoftimewehaveinayeartoactuallycovereverything,IoftenfindI’mstrugglingfortimetogetthingsdoneinareallyauthenticwayandareallypurposefulwaywithouttakingawayfromanotherunitandlettingkidsexplore.Ifindthatreallyhardtobalancesometimes”(Participant9-TC).

(iv)Thelimitationsofin-practicelearning

OneofthemoresalientgeneralfindingsoftheresearchstudywasthattheteachingofthePYPitselfcanbeaneffectiveformofprofessionaldevelopmentforthoseinvolved.Figures7and 8 show the cohort’s perception of how the teaching of the PYP had influenced theircultural capacities both personally and professionally. However, it would appear that theimpactofsuch‘in-practice’learningismoreprofoundiftheteachersconcernedarealreadytranscultural.Theeffectisperceivedtobemuchlessinthosewhoaremoreindividualistic.


FIGURE7:CulturalDispositionsofThinking: ImpactofPYPTeachingonpersonal culturalawarenessbasedonlengthofteachingexperience

Consequently, Figure 7 shows that transcultural teachers, regardless ofwhether they hadbeen teaching for 5 or 21+ years, sawmarked development in the level of their culturalawareness. The same occurred with those who were CI, especially those who had beenteachinglonger.

FIGURE 8: Cultural Dispositions of Thinking: Impact of PYP Teaching on Professionalculturalknowledgebasedonlengthofteachingexperience

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

IC

CI

CC

IS

TC

NoofcodingsCD

T

5

10

15

20

21

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

IC

CI

CC

IS

TC

Noofcodings

CDT

5

10

15

20

21


Incontrast,professionalgrowthinculturalknowledge(Figure8)wasperceivedtobemoresignificant by the CI group, especially those with 10 to 15 years or more of experience.Indeed, overall the professional impactwasmore noticed bymore experienced teachers.Only younger transcultural teachers saw such growth in themselves as a result of theirreflections. These patterns suggest that this form of ‘in-practice’ professional learning incultural capability ismore effective in teacherswho are already transcultural or disposedtowards it. It is noticeable that, as shown in Figures 7 and8, thosewith a preference forindividualisticapproachesarelessopentogrowthinculturalcapability,whereasthosewhohaveamorecommunitycentredwayofthinkingareinclinedtodevelopsuchcapability;thatis, they (CI teachers) aremoredisposed to transcultural growth thanmore linear thinkers(IC).Thesepatternsalso indicatethatprofessionaldevelopmentthatseeksto increasethelevelofteachertransculturalcapabilityshouldbeseenasalong-termprocess;itcannotbeachieved merely by the undertaking of specific professional learning activities. Teachersneedtimetodeveloptheirtransculturalcapabilityandcannotjust‘acquire’itthroughone-offactivities.


E Recommendations

6.ResearchAim6:RecommendationsforthefuturedevelopmentofteachertransculturalcapacitiesinIBschoolsthatofferthePYP.

The final sectionof this report seeks toprovide the IBwith recommendationsofhow thefindingsofthisstudycouldinformthefuturedirectionofthePYP.Ouremphasisisonwaysofexpandinganddeepeninggoodpractice,andpotentialwaysofmakingexcellentpractice,commonpractice.Therearefivemainrecommendationsthatarisefromthisstudyrelatingto the future development of teacher transcultural capacities in IB schools that offer thePYP:

1) Embedding transcultural concepts and capabilitymore deeply and explicitly in thePYPcurriculum;

2) De-crowdingthePYPcurriculum;3) Professionallearninganddevelopment;4) InitialteachereducationandIBstaffrecruitment;and5) Providing curriculum and operational space for the nurturing of transculturally

orientedteaching.

6.1Embedding transcultural conceptsandcapabilitymoredeeplyandexplicitly in thePYPcurriculum

If transcultural capability in PYP teachers is desired by the IB, then this small sample ofteachers suggests that it is starting from a strong base. Every participant in the studydemonstrated some degree of transcultural capability, with half identified as fullytranscultural, showing a high degree global and cultural knowledge and awareness, alongwith a deep commitment to the PYP core principles. However, the fact that just under aquarterofteacherswasdistinctlylesstransculturalthantherestofthecohortsuggeststhatmorework can be done in the areas of teacher ideas and attitudes.While professionallycommitted to PYP and its principles, these teachers demonstrated less personalcommitmenttoitsideasandattitudes,viewsthatappearedtobelinkedtoalowerdegreeofglobalawareness,culturalknowledgeandculturalawareness.ThiswasnotconnectedtotheamountoftimeteachershadspenteducatinginthePYP.Assuggestedabove,lengthofteachingexperience,directPYPexperienceandageappearedtohavelittleinfluenceonthedegreeoftransculturalcapability.

Whereas deep immersion in different cultures is of enormous value and associated withtranscultural capability, enabling physical travel for teachers is not without practical,financialandpersonalconstraints.Teachersreported,forexample,thattheabilitytotravelto IB workshops overseas was delimited by school budgets; consequently, other deeperformsoftraveltoinformculturalknowledgeandculturalawarenessmaynotbepracticablewithinthefiniteresourcesofschools.Aquestion, therefore, ishowtodevelop IBcapacitydrawingfromexistingcontexts,knowledgeandpractice?

Basedonthetestimoniesofparticipants(whoweretreatedinthisstudyasexpertsofferingpowerful insights to guide research), the following areas could be used as a basis foramplifyingtransculturalcapabilityinthePYP.

One starting point could involve creating a common language about what is meant by“culture”. Definitions varied amongst participants, from background influences such asfamily,tovaluesanddispositions.Articulatingwhatismeantby‘culture’couldbegeneratedthrough professional learning conversations conducted within and between schools, andthrough IB workshops more generally. A corollary of this conceptual discussion could be


whatconstitutes‘action’and‘tolerance’.Achallengehereisthatsometeacherswerewaryoroverwhelmedbywhatwas labelledbyoneas “semantics”.But rigorous, reflective andcriticaldiscussionaboutthevalues,meaningsandintentionsofanyeducationalprogrammeshouldbearguablycentraltoitson-goingdevelopment.

As a result of these conversations, the IB could explore ways of explicitly embeddingtranscultural capability in the IB curriculum, or alternatively, investigate modifying theexistingcurriculuminsomewaytoincorporateit.

6.2De-crowdingthePYPcurriculum

Partofthiscouldinvolvefreeinguptimewithintheexistingcurriculumframework.Teacherfeedback fromboth countries suggested that covering six transdisciplinary themes in oneyearmaybetoomuch,withseveralsuggestingthatremovingatleastoneareawouldenablethemtopursuetheareas inmoredepth;consequently,theremaybeaneedtocreate: (i)moreopportunitiesforstudentinquiry;and(ii)moretimeforteacherstocollaborate.

Withregardstolearning,effortsto“getchildrenintobeing…creative,deepthinkers”maybeconstrainedbecause“they'rejustgettingintothingsandyouhavetomoveonbecausethe next timeframe is coming, and I think that's a real shame” (Participant 36-TC). OnerecommendationfromteacherswasfortheIBtoallowstudentsmoretimeonfewerareasofinquiry:“lookat…GradesOneandTwo.You’vegotyoursixtransdisciplinarythemes…Dothree in one year, three in the next. Stretch out your time for inquiry. This would allowstudentstoprofoundly“gettogointowhatthey’reresearchingandreallyunderstanditandreallymastertheirlearningandthewaytheyenduppresentingtheirprojectandtheyownit.”(Participant10-CI).

Staffalsovaluedopportunitiesto

“get togetherand…talkpedagogy,wetalkcontent,andwetalkall – basically all the essential elements…I think the limitationpiece is the amount of work it takes to get there, in terms ofcollaboration.Andwe’rereallyfortunatetohave…amplereleasetime for people. But if Iwas in a schoolwhere thatwasn’t thecase, I don’t know how itwould operate. So, teachers need anopportunitytositdownandtalk.Andinourmodel,atthistimeofyear, we’re trying to collaborate and reflect and so forth, andmeanwhile the teachers are just trying to keep the kids undercontrol.So,it’skindofhard…tobeareflectiveintellectualaboutyour teaching…it is a programme that I think requires systemictimetabling and release time for people to be able to do theirjobs.Iwonder,too,sometimesthatwiththePYPplanner,Ithinkforaschoolthat’sbeeninvolvedfor10,12years,sometimestheplannerandplanningprocessgets in thewayofgoodteaching,because it’s so complex…sometimes teachers will express thatconcern,like,‘There’ssomuchpaperwork’,whichreally,inmanyrespects – the intention is to help student learning, but I’mnotsureitalwaysdoes…”(Participant23-IC).

SometeachersinbothcountriesfurtheridentifiedachallengeincoveringtheIBcurriculumaswellasmeetingthemandatedrequirementsoflocalcurriculum(particularlyinAustralia).Several British Columbian teachers, however, noted that the new curriculum in thatCanadianprovincewasmorealignedtothespiritandintentoftheIB,andwasthuseasierto


teach simultaneously in a coherent way. This is not so much a recommendation as aconsiderationtobetakenintoaccount.

6.3Professionallearninganddevelopment

Teachers described the influence of the PYP on their teaching practice, emphasising itspowerfulconceptualframeworkandteachingprinciplesbeyond“theIBbrand”(Participant5-TC). The PYP focus on transdisciplinary learningwas seen bymany participants to be amajor benefit of the PYP. One participant specifically referred to the power oftransdisciplinary learning to enable students to make connections and collaborate whilerespecting each other’s differences. This openness to disciplinary difference withtransdisciplinaryteachingalignscleanlywiththeinherentprinciplesoftransculturalthinking,anotherreinforcementoftheembeddedtransculturalisminthePYPandtheIBingeneral.Itis also a connection that is the subject of recent, ongoing research into inquiry teachingacrossthedisciplines(Kidman&Casinader,2017).

There ispotentialscope in IBprofessional learningtomoreexplicitlydeveloptransculturaleducationrootedinareversedperspectiveofculturaldifferenceastheprimestateofglobalsociety, rather than being one set in cultural contrasts that need to be brought together(Casinader, in press; 2016). The IB could explore ways that teachers could improve thetranscultural capability of PYP teachers, which, in turn, could enable them to developtransculturalmindsetswithinPYPstudents.This includesprovisionofprofessional learninganddevelopmentthatcouldbedrivenbypedagogicalleaderswhohavedemonstratedhightransculturalcapability.

Ourparticipantshaveprovidedsomeusefulwaysofengagingculturaldifferenceuponwhichopportunitiescouldbe leveraged tobuild transculturalcapability.Someof these included:the power of being immersed in different communities (both locally and internationally);presenting studentswith examples of difference and using the inquiry-based approach toexplorethemandmakepersonalandglobalconnections;drawingfromtheexperiencesofstudents from diverse backgrounds within classrooms and through class conversations;exploringculturaldiversity throughexcursionsand incursionsby the localcommunity;andthroughtheuseofinformationandcommunicationtechnologytoenableexplorationofanddialoguewithpeople fromdiversebackgrounds.Muchof this,aswehaveseen, isalreadybeingdoneandoftendonewellbyPYPteachers.Thechallengeistomakeexcellentpracticeacommonpractice.

6.4InitialteachereducationandIBstaffrecruitment

Teacher education is beginning to recognise the importanceof building such transculturalcapability within teacher graduates before they enter the school setting as serviceprofessionals(GutiérrezAlmarza,DuránMartínez&BeltránLlavador(2015);Holmes,Bavieri& Ganassin (2015); Messelink, Van Maele & Spencer-Oatey (2015)). One school leaderhighlightedthekindsofmindsetsthathewasseekinginrecruitingnewstaff:

“Iwas looking for staffwhowerediverse in their thinking, thatthey[didnothave]onemindseton,[thatis]‘Thisisthebestwayof teachingandthis is thebestwayofdeliveringgreat learningprogrammes.’ I was looking for more staff who…had differentbackgrounds [and who] had an experience overseas. I waslookingforthatstaffmemberwhowasreadytoembracechangeandnotthinkthatwejusthaveto,youknow,alignourselvestothe[national]curriculum,butwecanlookatotherthingswecan


do.So,myrecruitmentofstaff,andthen lookingatstaffwithinyourownteamwhocouldcomewithyouonthat journey,werethestaffwho…IfeltIhadaconnectionwithinthesenseoftheywerereadytodoleftandrightthinking[and]weren’tjustsingle-minded that, ‘Wehave to teachmaths thisway,orwehave toteach’,youknow,‘socialstudiesthisway’.Theywerelookingforotherpathwaystodoit”(Participant38-TC).

Hispersonalviewwasthat

“ifwe’veonly got teachers and staffwhoare only teaching fordevelopingkids’knowledge,skills,understandings, I thinkwe’vegot the wrong calibre of teachers. I think we should haveteacherswhoareconstantlyquestioning,‘Howshouldweliveinthisworld?’ And if they’re not doing that on a daily basiswiththeir own lives and then trying to impart that on their kidsthrough their own teaching styles, knowledge, wisdom – youknow,mybiggestthingisIkeepputtingtothestaffthatwewantto be able to develop in these kids – and it starts with you asteachers–asenseofgratitude,strongsenseofempathyand,forthisgenerationofkids,theyneedtohavemindfulness.Now,ifwecan’tdo thatourselves, thenhowcanweexpectourkids todoit?”(Participant38-TC).

The development of a transcultural tool that would aid in teacher recruitment was alsorecognised as being of value by the principal of one of the Canadian schools, but it is apossibilitythathaspotentialglobalsalienceinthedeliveryoftheIB,aswellasforprovidersofinitialteachereducation.

6.5Providingcurriculumandoperationalspaceforthenurturingoftransculturallyorientedteaching

Thisrecommendationderivesfromthemanyexamplesprovidedbyparticipantsofpracticalillustrations of how they engaged difference within and beyond their classrooms.ParticipantsprovidedfourmainexamplesinwhichIBPYPschoolscanprovideopportunitiestoexperienceand learnaboutculturaldifference,butsuchapproacheswerenotcommonacrossthesampleschools.Collectively,theseexamplesreflectprioritiesforinquirylearningthatneedtobeembeddedmorefirmlyintheteachingofthePYPacrossIBschools,eitherthrough modifications to the PYP’s official IB documentation, or through IB PYP schoolscommittingtooperationalpoliciesandprocessesthatpromotesuchlearningexperiences.

(i)Thepowerofbeingimmersedindifferentcommunities

Someteacherstalkedaboutthepowerofimmersionfromintermsoftheirownexperienceand providing opportunities for students, either through travel or school exchanges. Ateacher from School 1 (Participant 24-TC), who grew up in Canada and came from aculturallydiversefamilyofteachers,extolledthepowerfulexperienceofimmersioninothercultures. Her previous travels to Australia, Africa, New Zealand, India, Europe and theCaribbeanwere

“veryeyeopeningforme,beingapersonfrom[acommunity inwhich] everybody was the same culture, everybody spoke thesamelanguage,everybodywenttothesamechurch…IrealisedI


that was very closed minded when I was younger…having anadventurous spirit I think, is what led to that aspect of reallywanting to tryandgetoutandsee theworld.And Ibore reallyeasily!”

An IC participant from School 1 also emphasised the learning power of students beingimmersedindifferentcultures:“youhavetomakethemlivethedifference.Foranylearningandanythingtocomeaboutyouhavetoputinplaceanopportunityforstudentstoreallylearn”(Participant4-IC).AnotherICteacherfromSchool2inCanadafeltthat

“to live that difference is probably the key component ofunderstanding another culture or another country. However, attheageofmystudentstheyprettymuchtalkwithwhatevertheparentschoosetoshowthemandwhateverwechoosetoshowthematsomepoint.So, Iwouldsay live itasmuchaspossible”(Participant12-IC).

AteacherfromanotherCanadianschoolheldasimilarview:

“[tounderstandculturaldifference],youhavetobeimmersedinit.Imean,Ithinkyoucangettheperipheralsenseofculturefromobserving, but I think you have to be [immersed]. And evenimmersion doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to beculturallyaware,Iguess.Andpartofthatisjust–inmyview–isjust the invisible parts of culture that younever know, and youjusthavenosenseofwhatapersonisandfeelsfromtheexteriorview of them. Because to a large extent, and again from myexperience overseas, much of my day was spent trying to notappeardifferent,soobviouslyyouchangeyourbehaviourstogetthat–tofitin,youknow?”(Participant23-IC).

Similarly, foranother teacher fromSchool1 (Participant9-TC),previous travel toAustraliaand New Zealand, as well as to Europe on a French exchange programme, “opened mymind”(Participant9-TC).Inasimilarvein,aTCartteacherfromSchool2(Participant15-TC)grew up in France, travelled through Europe and spokemultiple languages. He describedhow travel influenced how he teaches the PYP: “Mostly by the relationship with thestudents,andusingthetechnology[suchas]Google…”Hesuggestedthat

“with the cultural diversity, it has to be triggered with somerelation or subject about the unit of inquiry. Like sometimes,we’re talking about Japanese art and we have some studentsfrom[a] Japanese familyorat leastanAsiancountry [and theyask],‘Please,tellusaboutit–whatdoyouknowaboutit?’…[weneed to] make students aware that everyone is carrying someformof‘culturalbaggage’;thatis,aculturalbackgroundandsetof norms…and as a teacher, I’m going to use those bricks tobuild…”.

ACIparticipantfromSchool4alsosawgreatvalueinstudentexchangesformoreseniorPYPstudents:


“there’s individual [ones] where students can go on their own,but then there’s also the travel groupswhere theywill go andthey’ll go to different countries and usually have a home stayoption,whichIbelievestronglyinbecausethere’snobetterwaytogettoknowpeoplethantoliveinthehomewiththem.AndIgottogowithagroup-itwasmythirdyearhereandIwenttoJapanwithagroupofGradeSixtoEightstudentsand,myself, Igottostayinahomestayduringthattimeanditwasawesomebecausewekindof communicatedwith eachotherwitha littledictionary. But there is away of living together and getting toknoweachotherdespitethelanguagebut,fortheyoungerkids,gettingtoexploredifferentcultures. Just inthewaythat IBandPYPisbased,it’sensuringthat,whenwe’redeliveringcurriculum,itisdoneinawaythatexploresdifferentopinions,differentwaysofthinking”(Participant20-CI).

(ii)Presentingstudentswithexamplesofdifference

The importance of challenging students by placing them in safe, yet unfamiliar situationswas mentioned by some teachers as a key to students gaining some understanding ofdifference. For example, when asked how students can explore cultural difference, oneteacherworkinginCanadathoughtstudents

“needtobepresentedwithdifferences. I thinkyoucangetverytrappedinteachingintopresentingonedifferentperspectiveandIthinkopeningupyourcurriculuminopeningupthecontentareathatyou’redealingwithandrecognisethattherearedifferences.An example would be health education: different cultures ofpeoplebelievedifferentthingsinrelationtohowtokeepyourselfhealthy. And so, me saying, ‘This is how you keep yourselfhealthy’,oftentimesIwillsendithome,say‘Askyourparents,askyour friendswhat do they do and bring those perspectives intothe classroom’…I think it’s verymuch coming back to exposingkids to that idea that therearedifferentperspectiveson thingsandthatwhenyou’rebecomingmoreknowledgeable…

I think there is something tobesaid tobebeing immersed in itandnot just touchingon it…I’m still in the trying toget to thatpartwherewe’re immersingand I don’t thinknecessarilywe’retotallythereyet.Ithinkit’simportantthatkidsdogetimmersedinit,‘causeIthinkit’sonethingtoseeitinpaperorhearaboutit, but to actually experience those differences speaks volumes.And I’ve seen it in the couple of first nation’s pieces that havecome out within our school community of just how connectedkids can come when they’re actually in it [as opposed to] justhearingaboutitorwatchingavideoonit”(Participant9-TC).

(iii)Drawingfromdiversestudentswithinclassroomsandthroughclassconversations

The integration of students’ own experiences into the inquiry learning process, wherepossible,wasseenbyseveralteachersasanimportanttool,andonethatnegated,tosome


extent, the need for students to “live” difference to understand it. As explained by onekindergartenteacherwhogrewup inQuebecandstudied inSpain(Participant19-TC),shedrewonthediversityofchildrenwithintheschool

“whocomefromdifferentbackgrounds[and]whohavedifferentexperiences.Not everybody liveswith amumanda dad. Therearechildrenwhohavetwomumsinaschool.Therearechildrenthat have two dads. There are children that live with theirgrandparents, so they are exposed to that kind of difference”(Participant19-TC).

AnotherteacherfromSchool3(Participant38-TC)whogrewupinAustraliaalsodrewfromthediverseexperiencesofchildrenwithintheschool:

“thebiggest,mostpowerful time I’veseen ithappeninghere, iswhenchildrenhavecomefromanothercountryandwhere thatparticularchildstartseducatingtheotherkidsaboutwhattheirlifestylewas likefromtheirpreviouscountry.And I thinkhavingthesechildrenbeapartofsomechildrenwhohavecomedownfrom our Indigenous community, and understandingwhat theirlife is like, they’vegot adeeperunderstandingof howdifferenttheirworldsarecomparedtowhattheynormallyareusedto intheirownhomelife”(Participant38-TC).

Such an approach, which appears to emphasise cultural difference, serves to highlightanotherfeatureoftransculturalisminthatacknowledgestheexistenceofculturaldiversity,whilstsimultaneouslyviewingthatvariationasthenorm.Tobetransculturalisnottoignoredifference; it is totranscend itsexistenceasan inevitableconcernontheassumptionthathomogeneityisthenaturalorder.

ThesameQuebec-basedteacheralsospokeabouttheimportanceofensuringthatchildrenobtainedaccesstoinformationfromallperspectives,eveninthefaceofparentopposition,sothatanystudent-centredinquirywasbasedonsoundknowledge:

“Ithinkthat it’susually ignoranceofthe informationthatkeepspeople intolerant or not accepting. So, I think if you educatechildren,especiallywhentheyareso littleandsomalleableandsoeasytosortofmould–Ithinkthatifyouteachthem,theyveryslowly start to believe you, and even if they don’t live it, theyunderstandit,theylearnit…”(Participant19-TC).

Inrelationto“information”shecitedtheexampleofone

“experience where a parent took offence to the fact that I wasteachingchildrenabouttheJewishreligion,andwewerelearningaboutdifferent celebrationsof theworld, so I told themsomeofthe celebrations that they celebrate in different countries andsomeofthereligionsthatgoalongwithit,andalthoughwewentthrough some of the symbols that are associated with differentreligiouscelebrations,Iwasn’ttellingthemtobelieveinthemortopray to anybody in particular; I was just giving them theinformation,which iswhat I explained to the parents – that I’m


simply here to give the information. The child then learns theinformation and takes it where – you know, it’s in there andeventuallyitwouldcomeout. Butforaparenttosay,‘Idon’twantyoutoteachmychildwhattothink’ – that isn’t our role. I don’t think we’ve ever told a childwhattothink.Wetellthemtheinformation,wehopetobesortofhonestinwhatweteachandnotgiveourparticularopinion,…togive them the skills to find out the information, [and] inkindergarten, oftentimes they don’t have enough of theknowledge, and sowegive thema bitmore information.Also…children are super inquisitive naturally and they ask a lot ofquestions,butwhentheydon’t,Ipry.Isay,‘Isanybodycurioustoknowwhat kind of pets theymight have in a country in Africa?’Andthenthey’llsay,‘Oh,yes,Isawaprogram,andthentheystarttobringouttheirbackgroundknowledge.ButsometimesifIdon’tpry deep enough, they don’t remember what they know, so it’skindofyour job to remind themofwhat theyknow” (Participant19-TC).

Butsheaddedthat

“sometimesyou’rebattlingwithwhathasbeentaughtathome,and you know, you are giving your opinion when you’re doingthat.When I’m telling a child that they should be accepting ofthis, thisandthis, it’smyopinion. Itmightnotbetheirparents’opinioneither.It’stough”(Participant19-TC).

Teachersusedothermeanstobringdifferenceintotheclassroom.Oneparticipantexploredculturaldifferencethroughclassroomconversation:

“kidsactuallytalkaboutitwiththemselves,intheclass…Wealsoprovidethemsituationsandscenarios,wegivethempicturesandsay,let’stalkaboutwhat’shappeningintheworldhere.Whydoyou think this is happening to this person? What do you see,notice, in this picture? I think that’s really good because it’sbringingbacktowhattheyalreadyknowaboutthatculture.Andthen…openingtheirmindsaboutit”(Participant25-TC).

Similarly,anotherICintervieweefeltthatencounterswithdifferencecouldbecreated

“througha lotofdiscourse…wehadthemreallyanalysewhat isculture,what is civilisation,where is the crossover, howdo youviewthat,andthediscussionswerereallyrichandtheybroughtout a lot of their family biases. It just came out through thediscussion and youmediate those, and you have to be open tothefactthatstudentshaveviewsaswell…”(Participant4-IC).

One CI teacher in School 2 noted that students are “not always open-minded andempatheticastheyshouldbetoothers.So,we’veworkedreallyhardon instillingthatweshould be accepting other people’s differences, culturally and also in their behaviours”


(Participant3-CI).AnotherCI teacher fromSchool3believedthatwhilstonedoesneedtoexperienceculturaldifferencetounderstandit,exposurecanoccurinavarietyofways:

“I think you’ve got to be exposed to it, and exposure doesn’talways have to be direct firsthand experience. It can beeducation,itcanbelisteningtopeople,itcanbefirsthandlivingit,or reading it,or listening to someonewho’sbeen through it;primary sources I think are the richest sources of information.Kids always go straight to the internet, but I think talk tosomeone firstbefore yougo to that level. I thinkundera steeplevel of understanding empathy comes quicker if you haveexperienceditbecauseyouhavethatsortoffeelingalready,butIdon’tthinkyouneedtohaveitinordertolearnit.Maturityhelpsaswell.Themoretimesyou’reexposedtoit,themoretimesyouhear it, themore timesyou listen to it, themore it sinks in.Forexample, talking to the kids last year,whenwe did the unit ofinquiry on Indigenous Expression, I had to say to them at thebeginning, ‘I actually don’t know a lot about this subject. I’mlearningalongsideyou,’whichisreallychallenging.WedidalotofreadingaboutitandIwouldsaytothekidsallthetime,‘Okay,myopinionhasnowchanged,Iusedtothinkthis,butnowIthinkthisaboutthesubject.’Especiallyabouta lotofthe informationaround the artwork, I didn’t realise that dot paintings and linepaintingsweredifferentandtheycamefromdifferentareas,andIalwaystalkedtothekidsaboutthat.

Then,wewent to theArtMuseumandheard firsthandfromanIndigenousartistandtheytolduswhat itmeant to them,and Ikept bringing the kids back and saying, ‘This is how ourunderstandingisgrowing,thisishowmyreflectionischanging.’Ithink the first-hand knowledge was really important for mebecause Ihadn’thad thatbefore,and I said to thekids, ‘This issomething that I probably won’t experience, I’m unable toexperiencethismyselfbecauseIcan’tputmyselfinthatperson’sshoesbecauseI’mnotanIndigenousAustralian,butwhenIwasgrowingupIwasanIndigenousEnglishpersonwhothenmovedtoadifferentcountryandhadtoexperience–fishoutofwater,’and was explaining things to them that I did that they didn’tunderstand.”(Participant30-CI).

Languageeducation,inparticular,wasseentobeapowerfultool:

“Ithinkoneofthethingsthat…wetrytodoasmuchaspossible,is...thatinPYP,wevalueandwerespect,andwetrytodrawoutthose opportunities where kids are able to use language –maternallanguage.Aswegoforwardinourschool,itbecomesalittle bit more difficult, because our language of instruction isEnglish,andwecan,andwe’vehadtodealwith,thepodsofkidswhoprefertospeakinanotherlanguage.Andforsometeachers,


theybelievethatthat’slimitingtheirdevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguage. So, it’s that balance…whenever possible, we tryto…haveopportunities,forkidswithmothertongue…it’sallthoselittle things– those littlenuances…thathelpus to… realisehowweapproachpeople,whatwesay,andwhatwe’recarefulnottosaytoo”(Participant23-IC).

ACIteacherfromSchool4drewfromlocalcurriculumanddiversity:

“withthenew[local]curriculum…we’rereallytryingtointegrateour Aboriginal ways of knowing, so incorporating storytelling,incorporating that there’s different ways to learn than just thestandardwrite,copy, learn.So, I’dsay, itmightnotbehowthisculturelearns.Like,it’snot…directinstruction,butit’smoreofanopenwayofgettingthekids–evenlikedoingcalendarwithlittleguys.Somekidsspeakanotherlanguageandtheywanttosharethat language with their friends and say the calendar in thatlanguagethatmorningandteachtheirfriends.Or…I’dsaytomykid,‘DoyouspeakMandarinorCantonese?’andtheywouldsay,‘Chinese’…hehashislittlebooksthathelikestobringin,buthe’sgot kids that cannot readChineseand they’reall reading thesebooks together…it’s just them exposing different parts of theirculture to each other and sharing that…it’s the kids feelingcomfortable”(Participant20-CI).

Itisimportanttonote,however,thatsometeachersstruggledwithexploringdiversityusingthehumanresourcesoftheschoolcommunity.OneCIteachercommentedthat

“sometimes I struggle with the fact that we’re trying to haveexperienceswithkidsas teachers, so theCanadian…kid isgoingtotrytohaveaculturalexperiencewith[other]ones,[but]Idon'thave that richness, Idon'thave the livedstory topass thatoff”(Participant21-CI).

Another CI teacher was initially uncomfortable teaching culturally diverse classrooms ofstudents:

“Idobelieveinmyroletoo,thatIamtheschoolmumformykidsfor most of the day, so I do use that term with them quiteliberally and they do callme ‘schoolmum’.When they callmemum,Isay,‘I’myourschoolmum’…it’sstoppingthedivideofthetitleandtherolethatIhavebecause,culturally,itwasabigpiecefor me. I’d had school friends who were Asian and from othercountries, but I hadn’t ever taught [them as] student. I’d onlytaught Aboriginal students and people from a culturalbackground that were European or Canadian. So, when I firstmovedhereasateacheratourschool, Ihadno ideathat inanAsian culture the teacherwas equated to be the Buddha. ThatwasthreeorfouryearsinandIwassouncomfortablewiththatbecausethatpositioningofhierarchy.So,Itrytoteachmyclassasanon-divisiverule;‘Iamtheschoolmum,I’myourhelperbut


we learn together because I don't know everything.’…that’smyapproach”(Participant21-CI).

Sometimes, we see evidence that these conversations, excursions and examples ofdifference being based upon encounters to expose students to “the Other” based onexplorations with outward appearances, such as skin colour. Nevertheless, despite theoversimplificationsrepresentedbysuchanapproach,theseexampleswerethenusedasanentry point into deeper inquiry based explorations of how understanding differences canhighlightwhatallpeopleshaveincommon.

(iv)Exploringdifferencesthroughexcursions

Another way of exploring difference was through field trips, such as “a museum aroundChristmastimeandweseeallthedifferentSantaClausesaroundtheworld”(Participant19-TC).AschoolleaderfromSchool3providedapowerfulexampleofanexcursiontoremoteAustralia:

“ThebiggestonethatIwassoproudofwaswithmyconnectionwith the children…who decided to take on the Future ProblemSolvingprojectof lookingat Indigenous communitiesandbeingwiththreeofthosestudentswhentheywereinaremotevillageinWestern Australia for a 10 hour drive, and just seeing theireyesopenupandcomingbackfromthatwantingtodomore.Tome, thatwas themost life-changing experience…there are now10 kids out there in the world, in Australia, pushing hard forIndigenouseducation,pushinghardforraisingtheprofileofwhatwe can do to help and support these communities and, moreimportantly,haveanunderstandingof,theycan’tforcetheirownwesterncivilisationontothesecommunities”(Participant38-TC).

It is important that such excursions are not seen to be “exceptional outings”, butopportunitiestodeepenunderstandingofdifferenceasanormalpartofcontemporarylife,ratherthanunderstanding“theOther”inandofitself.

(v)Usinginformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)

Theadvantagesof ICT in schoolswere seenby several teachers tobeaneffectivewayofexposingstudentstodifference.OneICteacherusedcommunicationtechnologytoprovidestudentswithopportunitiestoengagedifference:

“I can Skype a group overseas. You can expose them throughvideosthatpeople–thatyouhaveaconnectionwithfromotherplaces around the world. You can set up a classroom and aprovocation that would make them understand what it’s like”(Participant35-IC).

Andwhen the technology fails, the same teacher uses it as an opportunity for problem-solving,citinganexamplefromthemorningtheinterviewtookplace,duringwhich“wehadagreatprovocation”wheretheclassexploredalternatives:

“And then we started to come with solutions: ‘Well, we canthis’; ‘wellwe cando this’. So, I think they’ve got to be givensimilar experiences as close as you can and a unit of inquirydoes that. You give them the provocation first and then you


teachtheconceptswithinthat…we’vegotanewChinesegirlinour classroom who doesn’t speak a lot of English. Well, howhardisitforher?So,Isupposeyou’vegottoexposechildrentothose things to be able to teach them; having contact withdifferent network groups around theworld enables you to dothatininterestingways”(Participant35-IC).

AnotherAustralian-basedCIteacheralsousedSkype:

“technologyisawonderfulthingatthemoment.I’vegotfriendswho teach in America and England and Hong Kong and one isSouthAfrica,soItrytoSkype.Wewerebuddiedupwithoneclassforayearandthatworkedreallywellbecauseweweredoingthesamethingsbutwithdifferentresourcesorwithadifferentspinon it, so that worked quite well. Setting up that sort of globalawarenessiseffective.

We’vedoneafewchallengeswherewetravelaroundtheworlddoing–thereisonewhereyouwalkaroundtheworldandeverytimeyougetsomanystepsyouexploreanewcountry,and…allthoseoldschoolbutreallyimportantactivitiesyoucando,whichIthinkkidsreallyenjoy.But…Ifindourchildrenheretheirviewisnarrower,inaway,thanthechildrenininternationalschoolsthatItaughtbecausetheinternationalschoolkidshavetravelledandthey’vebeentothesefarawayplaces,sotheyhavethefirsthandvisualunderstanding”(Participant30-CI).

AnotherusedGoogleEarthtoshowstudents

“that travelling is not something that back in the time wassomething fancier, and affordable. Today, many people willtravel in their life forwork, for job, so it’s becomingmore andmore [globalised], like for many of us and especially thisgenerationiscoming,theywillfeelless…intheborders,theywillbeabletotravelatlessandlesscost,withalltheexplosionofairtrafficcompanies.So,it’sbecomecheaperandcheaperandtheywill have thisopportunity togrowup in theworldwhere– youwanttogothere?Justgo!Thisiswhatwewishforthemandthisiswhatweencouragetoseekthoseopportunitiesoftravelling,ofmeetingpeople,ofhavingall thoseexperiences. I think– itwasvery good for me to have [a] European background [which] itdrives to question aboutwhere I come from,what I speak andthat.And…wecreatelinksorwecreatebonds–withthestudentsaboutgeographyandaboutfuture”(Participant15-TC).

(vi)DrawingontheLocalCommunity

Severalteacherssawengagementwiththeschool’slocalcommunityasanessentialpartofteaching about difference. One IC teacher from School 2 started with investigating localcultures:“we’regoingtotalkaboutourlocalfirstnationsandthenwe’regoingtogoaroundtheworld.What’safirstnationinotherpartsoftheworldandtrytocompareandcontrast,


what’s the similarities and what’s the differences between those two groups of people”(Participant12-IC).AnAustralianteacherdidnotthinkapersonhastoencounterdifferenceinthebroadcommunitydirectlytounderstandit,butthat localcommunityactivitieswereimportant:

“Youdon'thavetodirectlyencounterit,butyou’restillexposingthechildrentootherplaces,andyou'vegottodothatinacarefulway…toavoidprobablyavalue-ladenapproachandsortofan‘usandthem’,and‘oneisbetterthantheother’,soit'samatteroflooking at basic needs need to be meet, and some peopleunfortunatelyarenothavingthoseneedsmet,andhowcanwegoabouthelpingthat?”(Participant36-TC).

Instead,shedrewonthelocalcommunitytoprovideencounterswithdifference:

“wedoaunitofinquiryherewhenthey'relookingatbeliefsandvalues,soratherthanlookingatreligionsassuch,you'relookingatbeliefsandvaluesthroughdifferentpeople's religiousbeliefs.They’regoingouttovariousplaces.Ithinkthat’sprobablyoneoftheotherthings-gettingfirst-handexperiencefromthosepeopleandusingthoseprimarysourceshavebeenarealbenefitofthePYP.It'sprobablysomethingwedidn’tdoenoughofbeforehand,andIthinkthat'ssopowerfulforchildrentohearotherpeople'sexperiences, [such as] when we looked at immigration we gotgrandparentsandparentsinwhohadbeenthroughsituations,sothey can tell their first-handexperiences to the children. So,weutilise what we have here, and I think that’s very powerful”(Participant36-TC).

Nevertheless, she was unsure of the efficacy of exposure to these kinds of differences“unless you're somewhere for a longer period of time”, citing her experience of living inCanada,

“because perhaps, in my bubble, where I lived [in Australia] Iwasn't exposed [but In Canada] I was doing different things. Iwas using public transport much more, so I was exposed todifference more…I think anything that builds you as a personthereforemakesyouabetter teacher…youbring that intowhatyou can then discuss with the children, the questions you canpose to them, you know, the depth at which you plan units ofinquiry,thewayyouthinkaboutthings”(Participant36-TC).

TwoCIteachersdrewfromtheirownexperiences,aswellasthoseoftheirstudents:

“Ioftenintegratemytravelsintomyteaching.EverysingleyearItalk about my experience in Ghana and I talk a lot aboutAustralia…So I like to teach that this iswhatdifferentcultureslook like, they have some very amazing things, they’reautonomous, they have skills, they have abilities, I show thempictures,we talk about different celebrations.Whoever’s in theclassatthetime,I’llpoolthemandsee‘whatkindsofthingsdo


youguysdo’andtryandreallyintegrateallthedifferenttypesofcelebrations and traditions that different cultures have. So, Ithink it’s more of a logistically a meeting thing rather than alivingtypething,becauseofoursetup”(Participant3-CI).

AnotherCIteacherbasedinCanadadrewfromherownwaysoflearning:

“I learnbestbydoing,andIthinkthat'sthesamewithmanyofourstudents.So, if theyhavetheopportunity to learnwithkidsthat are different than them, engage withmaterial that is notculturally typical for them, I think employ strategies arounddialectical thought considering multiple perspectives. If that'ssortofwhereyou'regoingwiththeemergent,formeIthinkthatis themost meaningful way to engage students and is to alsoteach with a social justice focus and critical literacy.When wepassively consume things, thekidsaren’tnecessarily involved inmakingtheirownmeaning.

ButIthinkthatcriticalliteracyalsotiestowhatwe'redoingherewith inquiry, it's making that meaning for themselves andconsideringhowsomebodyelsemightfeeldifferently inrelationto a text or video. Certainly, it's important to invite in guestspeakers and that's a really key part of our Grade Fiveprogrammebecausewewant tomake itas real lifeaswecan.But my goal with the guest speaker is it's not necessarilydiversity, it'smorethetopicthey'retalkingabout.Mygoalwithdiversity istogivethekids lotsofdifferent literaturetoread,toread stories from different perspectives, to choose mathsproblemsthatdon’thaveSallyandBobforeverysinglequestion,forexample…Ihavenoticedoverthelastfewyears,thekidsarereallypickinguponthatandtheywillbequicktosayhowcomeit'sallmeninthatpicture,ortheymightsaysomethinglikehowcomeeverybodyinthatpicturehasblondhair.”

Shebroughtherinternationalexperiencetothestudentsthrough

“lotsofphotos, lotsofvideos,asmuchasIpossiblycan,talkingaboutit,havingthemaskquestions,answeringtothebestofmyability, having them make connections to their own lives – insome ways is it different, well maintaining that the word‘different’doesnotmeananegativething...ItalktothemallthetimeaboutWetMarkets,andthat’swhereIusedtogoshoppingformyfood.WhenIwasworking inHongKongI’dgotoaWetMarketandtherewouldbeliveanimalsandthey’dkilltheanimalinfrontofmesometimesandcouldtakehomethechicken,andthekidsarelike,‘Ohgross,that’ssodisgusting.Whywouldtheydothat?It’ssomean’,butIwouldsaytothem,‘Well,that’sjustthe way it’s done, that’s the way it is when you’re in thatenvironment,andtome,atthetime,itwaslike,‘Well,doIwantafreshchicken?That’swhereI’mgoingtogo.’”


Sheseekstohelpthemto“understandthatthatdifferencedoesn’tequalbadandjustkindofgettingthemtounderstandandappreciatethatdifferentplacesaregoingtolookdifferentandthat’sokayandthatgoesfortheirself-identityaswell”(Participant3-CI).Thechallengeforheristomovebeyondtokenisticencounterswithdifference:

“IalwaysgetabitchallengedwhenwedoChineseNewYearandeveryonealwaysdoesa lanternoradragon. It’sa sad tokenisticsideof things– sometimes I thinkschoolsdon’tgodeepenough,but then it’s reallyhard togodeepwithoutmakinga judgementcall, and that’s where, I think, we have to step really carefully”(Participant3-CI).

Anongoingchallengeinrelationtotheseexamplesistoensurethattheselearningactivitiesor experiencesmovebeyond tokenistic gestures tomore embedded infusions of diversityinto everyday life. Such encounters would seek to foster openness to difference andnuancedteachingandlearningaboutdifference.


F Conclusion:AFuturePerspective

A difficulty with interculturalism, which is central to the mission of the IB (n.d.), andmulticulturalism, is that they fail to take intoaccountcertaincontemporarydimensionsofglobalisation,embeddedastheyareinthepre-contemporaryglobalisationeraofthelatter20thcentury.Theincreasinginteraction,cohabitationandworkofpeoplearoundtheworlddemandneedsforglobalcompetence(Zhao,2002)and“theabilitytomoveacrossculturescomfortably and fluently” (Zhao, 2009). “As well as understanding other cultures”, writeHannon,PattonandTemperley, “developing global competenceoffersup for scrutinyoursenseofourownidentities,corevalues,andculturalpractices”(2011,p.4).

This report is arguing for somethingmore.We deliberately use themore expansive termtransculturalcapabilitytoencompassbothculturalunderstandingandtheabilitytoliveandworkwithinandacrossdifferentcultures,theoutcomeofadispositiontoseetheexistenceofculturalvariationasasocietalnorm,andnotanaberration.Itisaculturalapproachthatisframed around modern concerns, in which difference is the accepted reality andhomogeneitytheabnormal.

Overlapping and intersecting this is a wider interest in developing 21st century skillsalongsidetransculturalcapability,suchasproblemsolvingandcriticalthinking(Kahnetal.,2012). These approaches focus on emotional and social dimensions, and in schools, aretypically focused on students; however, this research has examined the under-developedareaofteachers.

This report startswithunderstanding the influenceofbackgroundattitudesof teachers indeterminingtheeffectivenessofstudent-focusedeffortstoengageculturaldiversityanditschallenges and opportunities, not only in schools, but also in preparing students for lifebeyondtheclassroom.Itisbasedonthepremisethatteachersneedtopossessadifferentform of cultural expertise to meet the needs of students in and from culturally diversesettings. Its investigation of teachers’ transcultural capacities, individually and as part oftheirschoolstaffcohort,hasexploredtheimplicationsofpatternsofCDTforteachingandlearning within the PYP. Being transcultural means seeing cultural variation as the normrather than the exception. This is akin to “open-mindedness” in the IB.Most of the PYPteachers were either transcultural or one CDT away from it. At least half of the samplecohortinthreeoftheschoolshaddesignatedasbeingtranscultural.Justoveraquarterofallparticipantswerelargelyindividualistic intheirapproachtothinking.Itwasthisgroupthattended to display attitudes and approaches that were less attuned personally to theprinciplesofthePYP,regardlessoftheirprofessionalcommitmenttoPYP,whichoverallwasveryhigh.Theseparticipantsdemonstratedhighlyabstractcommentsonthinkinginstrongcontrast to the strongly inclusive tones of the TC and CI participants. Their focus on theconcept of thinking rather than on the people-process interaction had, as its corollary, aviewthatculturalvariationwasrelativelylessimportant.

TherewasanassociationbetweenteacherCDTandtheir individualnotionsofculture,thedevelopmentofwhichwasshapedbyfamilybackgroundandthecontextoftheparticipants’upbringing. Overall, the more individualistically-focused teachers defined culture in moreconventionalterms,suchasasetofvaluessharedwithinacommunity.Moretransculturalviewshighlightedtheimportanceofrelationshipsandatendencytoplacemattersofcultureinanarrativecontexttobringoutthenaturalcomplexityofreal-lifesituations.Culturehereisbeingdefinedmoreasaninnermanifestationofidentitythatisfluidandchangingandlessbytheouter,moretangibleaspectsofcultureanddifference.


Amoretransculturalnotionofculturereflectsawillingnessonthepartoftheteachertobeopen to difference and more nuanced in their teaching about difference. Humanrelationships and interactions are not reduced to simplistic references to cultural identitybasedonoutwardappearances,suchas thecolourofone’sskin.Theyweremoregloballyaware,withamajoritydemonstratinghighlevelsofwhole-worldconsciousness.

ForthosedemonstratingatransculturalCDT,therangeoffactorsthatcreateditwasdiverse.Amajor influencewas thenatureanddegreeofglobalisingexperiences thatan individualhasbeen involvedwith, suchas travel.Nearly all the transcultural teachershad visitedatleasttwootherregionsoftheworld,withthemajorityofthatsubgrouphavingexperiencedatleastfourregions,includingtheirplaceofbirth.Theyhadtravelledinbothpersonalandprofessional contexts, suggesting that transcultural capability is not just a professionalattributethatcanbeacquired,butmoreofapersonalmindsetthatneedstobestimulatedandnurturedthrough‘globalising’experiences.Thisisimportanttotherecommendations.

We suggest that the realisation of transcultural capability requires a shift in personalattitude,whichmayormaynot result fromteaching inmulticulturalenvironments. In thecontext of the PYP, this has implications for teacher recruitment (what they bring to thePYP);professionallearning(whattheydevelop‘onthejob’);andteachingandlearning(whattheydo‘onthejob’).

The benefits of having a common PYP languagewerewidely reported by teachers in thisstudy,andextendedbeyondtheschooltothelocalcommunity.Languageisimportant.Itisapowerfulwayofgalvanisingandunitingteacherstoacommonpurpose.Meaning,too,isimportant,withdisagreementovermeaningsofkeytermssuchastolerancehighlightedbymultipleteachersinbothCanadaandAustralia.TheseaspectsofthePYPwerecloselylinkedtoteachingpractice.Hownotionsoftoleranceandculturearedefinedthereforeflowontoteachingpractice(i.e.whattheydo‘onthejob’).

Thebasicmethodologies of the PYP lend themselves to transcultural approaches, such asthe inquiry-based approach and how it encourages cross-disciplinary and critical thinking.Part of a future response seeking to enhance transcultural capability could involveidentifying pedagogical leaders to be champions who demonstrate the personal andprofessional mindset. This is not something that should be taken as given amongst PYPteachers,butassomethingthatcanbegrownbyleaderswithinschoolsandIBcommunities.ThefindingsofthissmallstudysuggestthatthereisalreadyarichreservoirfromwhichtheIBcoulddraw.

But this, in turn, requires resourcing (for travel and professional learning) and flexibilitywithinthecurriculumandtime–factorsthatsometeacherssuggestedwereinshortsupply.Time is needed not only within the PYP, but also in relation to developing transculturalcapability in general. As we have suggested, professional learning and development thatseekstoincreaseanddeepenteachertransculturalcapabilityshouldbeseenasalong-termprocess; teachers need time to develop their transcultural capability and cannot just‘acquire’itthroughone-offactivities. Assuggestedearlierinthisreport,thefindingsofthisresearchhavepotentialrelevancetoallIBprogrammes.

Teachersthemselvesprovidedpracticalillustrationsofhowtransculturalcapabilitycouldbedeveloped within their teaching and learning environments. They spoke of the power ofbeing immersed in different communities outside of school and in terms of their ownpersonal and professional experience. Within classrooms, they provided practicalillustrationssuchaspresentingstudentswithexamplesofdifference,drawingfromdiverse


studentswithinclassroomsandthroughclassconversations,using ICTanddrawingonthelocalcommunity.Keytotheseexamples isaneedtomovebeyond“thin”experiencesandnotionsofculturetorichtransculturallearningthatmovesbeyond‘theOther’todiversityasanormalstateofcontemporaryhumanlife.

In the PYP, where the notion of international-mindedness is significant, recruiting anddeveloping teachers with a high degree of transcultural capability can play a key role indeveloping“inquiring,knowledgeableandcaringyoungpeoplewhohelptocreateabetterandmorepeacefulworld”(IB,n.d.).ItisontheirattitudesandapproachestodifferencethattheeffectivenessofthePYPinenablingstudentstodevelopaccordingtothefullestsenseoftheIBLearnerProfilewilldepend.


G References

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Beech,H.(2013).‘IAmAustralian.SoAmI’.TimeMagazine.19August2013.Accessed14September2017at:http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2149091,00.html

Casinader,N.(2014).Culture,TransnationalEducationandThinking:casestudiesinglobalschooling.MiltonPark,Abingdon:Routledge.

Casinader,N.(2016)ALostConduitforInterculturalEducation:SchoolGeographyandthePotentialforTransformationintheAustralianCurriculum.InterculturalEducation,27(3).

Casinader,N.(2017).Transnationalism,EducationandEmpowerment:TheLatentLegaciesofEmpire.MiltonPark,Abingdon:Routledge.

Casinader,N.(inpress,March2018).Transnationallearningexperiencesandteachertranscultural capacity:theimpactonprofessionalpractice–acomparativestudyofthreeAustralianschools,InterculturalEducation,29(2)

Casinader,N.andWalsh,L.(2015)TeacherTransculturalismandculturaldifference:AddressingracisminAustralianschools.InternationalEducationJournal:ComparativePerspectives,SpecialEdition:ANZCIESConferenceProceedings,14(2),51-62.

Dewey,C.(2013).Map:Morethanhalfofhumanityliveswithinthiscircle.WashingtonPost,7May2013.Accessed14September2017at:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/07/mParticipant20ore-than-half-of-humanity-lives-within-this-circle/

Evans,L.(2013).DiversityinCanada:anoverview.CanadianImmigrant,4June2013.Accessed14September2017at:http://canadianimmigrant.ca/guides/moving-to-canada/diversity-incanada-an-overview

Geertz,C.(1973).TheInterpretationofCultures.NewYork:BasicBooksInc.

GutiérrezAlmarza,G.,DuránMartínez,R.,&BeltránLlavador,F.(2015).Identifyingstudents’interculturalcommunicativecompetenceatthebeginningoftheirplacement:towardstheenhancementofstudyabroadprograms.InterculturalEducation,26(1),73-85.doi:10.1080/14675986.2015.997004

Halse,C.(1999).EncounteringCultures:TheimpactofstudytourstoAsiaonAustralianteachersandteachingpractice.Melbourne:AsiaEducationFoundation.

Halse,C.M.,&Baumgart,N.L.(2000).Crossculturalperspectivesofteachers:astudyinthreecountries.InternationalJournalofInterculturalRelations,24(4),455-475.doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(00)00012-2

Hannon,V.,Patton,A.,&Temperley,J.(2011).DevelopinganInnovationEcosystemforEducation.CiscoWhitePaper,December2011.Retrieved12September2017from:http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/ecosystem_for_edu.pdf

Hassim,E.(2013).An'InterculturalUnderstanding'ViewoftheAsiaPriority:implicationsfortheAustralianCurriculum.InK.Redman(Ed.),OccasionalPaper131.Jolimont:CentreforStrategicEducation.


Holmes,P.,Bavieri,L.,&Ganassin,S.(2015).Developinginterculturalunderstandingforstudyabroad:students’andteachers’perspectivesonpre-departureinterculturallearning.InterculturalEducation,26(1),16-30.doi:10.1080/14675986.2015.993250

Hugo,G.(2012).‘Thecornerstoneofdemocracy:why(andhow)thecensuscounts.’TheConversation.21June2012.Accessed14September2017at:http://theconversation.com/the-cornerstone-of-democracy-why-and-how-the-census-counts-7607

IB(InternationalBaccalaureate)(n.d.).Mission.Accessed27November2017at:http://www.ibo.org/about-the-ib/mission/

IB(InternationalBaccalaureate)(2017a).AbouttheIB.Accessed18November2017at:http://www.ibo.org/about-the-ib

IB(InternationalBaccalaureate)(2017b).PrimaryYearsProgramme:WrittenCurriculum.Accessed18November2017at:http://www.ibo.org/programmes/primary-years-programme/curriculum/written-curriculum/

Kahn,L.,McNeil,B.,Patrick,R.,Sellick,V.,Thompson,K.,&Walsh,L.(2012).DevelopingSkillsforLife andWork:AcceleratingSocialandEmotionalLearningacrossSouthAustralia.London:YoungFoundation.

Kidman,G.,&Casinader,N.(2017).Inquiry-basedTeachingandLearningacrossDisciplines:comparativetheoryandpracticeinschools.Basingstoke:PalgravePivot.

Mansouri,F.,Leach,M.,Jenkins,L.&Walsh,L.(2009).BuildingBridges:CreatingCulturesofDiversity.Melbourne:MelbourneUniversityPress.

Messelink,H.E.,VanMaele,J.,&Spencer-Oatey,H.(2015).Interculturalcompetencies:whatstudentsinstudyandplacementmobilityshouldbelearning.InterculturalEducation,26(1), 62-72.doi:10.1080/14675986.2015.993555

Perry,L.B.,&Southwell,L.(2011).Developinginterculturalunderstandingandskills:modelsandapproaches.InterculturalEducation,22(6),453-466.doi:10.1080/14675986.2011.644948

Rizvi,F.(2011).Diversitywithintransnationalism.InternationalSchoolsJournal,13(Spring),20-21.

Santoro,N.,Kamler,B.,&Reid,J.-A.(2001).TeachersTalkingDifference:Teachereducationandthepoeticsofanti-racism.TeachingEducation,12(2),191-212.doi:10.1080/10476210124956

Santoro,N.,Reid,J.,&Kamler,B.(2001).MakingDifferenceCount:ADemographicStudyofOverseasBornTeachers.AustralianJournalofEducation,45(1),62-75.doi:10.1177/000494410104500106

Sahin,M.(2008).Cross-culturalexperienceinpreserviceteachereducation.TeachingandTeacherEducation,24(7),1777-1790.doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.02.006

Walton,J.,Priest,N.,Kowal,E.,White,F.,Brickwood,K.,Fox,B.,&Paradies,Y.(2014).Talkingculture?Egalitarianism,color-blindnessandracisminAustralianelementaryschools.TeachingandTeacherEducation,39(0),112-122.doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.003

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H Appendices

Appendix1:Survey

Q1ConsentFormIunderstandIhavebeenaskedtotakepartintheMonashUniversityresearchprojectspecifiedabove.Ihavehadtheprojectexplainedtome,andIhavereadtheExplanatoryStatement,whichIwillkeepformyrecords.Iunderstandthat:-IwillbeaskedtobeinterviewedeitherbyoneoftheCo-InvestigatorsoftheProject-unlessIotherwiseinformoneoftheCo-Investigatorsbeforetheinterview,Iagreetoallowtheinterviewtobeaudio-tapedand/orvideo-taped

and

Iunderstandthatmyparticipationisvoluntary,thatIcanchoosenottoparticipateinpartoralloftheproject,andthatIcanwithdrawatanystageoftheprojectwithoutbeingpenalisedordisadvantagedinanyway.

and

Iunderstandthatanydatathattheresearcherextractsfromtheinterview/focusgroup/questionnaire/surveyforuseinreportsorpublishedfindingswillnot,underanycircumstances,containnamesoridentifyingcharacteristicswithoutmysignedconsentbelow.

and

IunderstandthatImayaskatanytime/priortopublication/priorto(insertdate)/priortomygivingfinalconsentformydatatobewithdrawnfromtheproject

and

IunderstandthatnoinformationIhaveprovidedthatcouldleadtotheidentificationofanyotherindividualwillbedisclosedinanyreportsontheproject,ortoanyotherparty

and

Iunderstandthatdatafromtheinterviewaudiorecordingandtranscriptwillbekeptinsecurestorageandaccessibletotheresearchteam.Ialsounderstandthatthedatawillbedestroyedaftera5yearperiodunlessIconsenttoitbeingusedinfutureresearch.andIunderstandthatdatafromthissurveyandinterviewwillbeattributedtomeduringthecollationandprocessingoftheprojectdata,butthatmydatawillbede-identifiedthroughcodingand/orpseudonyminanyreport,presentationorpublicationarisingfromthisproject.

o Iagree(1)Q2aInwhichschooldoyouwork?

________________________________________________________________


Q2bWhatisyourname?(Weneedtoknowthisinordertocross-matchdatafromtheinterviewwiththissurvey.Oncethedatahasbeenentered,nameswillberemovedfromthedatabaseandyouwillbeidentifiedonlybyacode.)

________________________________________________________________

Q3Pleaseprovideabriefoverviewofyourpersonalandprofessionalbackground,withspecialreferencetoanyoverseasexperiencesduringlife(bothpersonalandprofessional).Includealistofspecificcountriesandtheexactnatureofyourexperienceintheseplaces

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

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Q4Whichlanguagesdoyouspeak?Howproficientareyouintheselanguages(e.g.native-speaker,advanced,intermediate,beginner)?

________________________________________________________________

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Q5Whatcircumstancesledtoyoulearningthesedifferentlanguages?

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Q6Howdoyouusetheselanguagesinyourteaching,ifatall?

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Q7Whichlanguageistheonethatyouusemosteffectivelywithyourstudents?

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Q8Whyisthisthecase?

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Q9Isyourcurrentteachingofstudentsinfluencedinanywaybylanguage?

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Q10TowhatextentdoyoubelievethatthefollowingfactorsinfluenceyourapproachtoteachingthePYPprogram?

Noinfluence(1) Limitedinfluence(2)

Moderateinfluence(3)

Stronginfluence(4)

Conflictingworldviews(1) o o o o Historical

injustices(2) o o o o Languagediversity(3) o o o o

Social-economicinequalities(4) o o o o

Race(5) o o o o Gender(6) o o o o

Mentalhealth(7) o o o o Sexuality(8) o o o o Religion(9) o o o o

Aboriginality(10) o o o o Other(pleasespecify)(11) o o o o

Q11Whatdoyoubelieveismeantbyeachofthefollowingterms?Note:Itisuptoyouhowyouexplainyourunderstandingoftheseterms.Youarefreetogiveaformaldefinition,orexpressyourideasinyourownstyle,conversationalorformal.

Q11acriticalthinking

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Q11bcreativethinking

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Q11cproblem-solving

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Q11dindividualproblem-solving

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Q11ecommunityproblem-solving

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Q11fthinkingskills

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Q12Aboutyou:pleaseprovidedetailsonthefollowing.

aWhatisyourgender?

o Female(2)

o Male(3)

o Preferredchoice(4)________________________________________________o Prefernottosay(5)

bWherewereyouborn?

________________________________________________________________

cHowwouldyoudescribeyourcultural/ethnicheritage?

________________________________________________________________

dHowmanyyearshaveyoubeenteaching?

o 0-5years(1)o 6-10years(2)o 11-15years(3)o 15-20years(4)o 21+years(5)

eHowmanyyearshaveyoubeenteachingthePYP?

o 0-2years(1)o 3-5years(2)o 6+years(3)

fInwhichyearwereyouborn?


gYourmainacademicmajorand/orteachingdiscipline.

________________________________________________________________

hWhichofthesestatementsreflectyourfamilycontextinthiscountry?(markallthatapply)

� Iamlivinginthiscountrypermanently.(1)

� Iamlivinginthiscountrytemporarily.(2)

� Iwasborninthiscountry.(3)� Bothmyparentswereborninthiscountry.(4)

� Onlyoneofmyparentswasborninthiscountry.(5)

� Allofmygrandparentswereborninthiscountry.(6)

� Oneormoreofmygrandparentswereborninanothercountry.(7)

iInyourschoolcontext,doyoudefineyourselfas:

� anethnicminority(1)

� areligiousminority(2)

� alanguageminority(3)

� aminorityintermsofsocio-economicstatus(4)

� aminorityintermsofsexualidentity(5)

� anotherminority(pleasespecify)(6)________________________________________________

� Notapplicable(7)


Duringyourlunchbreakafteraclass,youoverhearfourpeoplediscussingthetopicsbelow.Foreachtopic,therearefourstatements.Indicatethedegreetowhichyouagree/disagreewitheachofthesestatements.

Q13Topic1:Howdoyoupreparefornew/unfamiliarexperiences?

StronglyDisagree(1) Disagree(2) Neutral(3) Agree(4) StronglyAgree

(5)

ItrytounderstandasmuchasIcaninadvanceinordertofeelinformed.(1)

o o o o o

Itrynottooverplansinordertobeopentonewexperiences.

(2)

o o o o o

Iprepareasmuchas

possiblesothatnothingsurprisesme.

(3)

o o o o o

Inordertoavoid

unfamiliarexperiences,Itrytokeepthingsas

predictableaspossible.(4)

o o o o o


Q14Topic2:Howdoyouapproachconflictingperspectives?

StronglyDisagree(1) Disagree(2) Neutral(3) Agree(4) Strongly

Agree(5)

Itrytofigureoutwhoisright.(1) o o o o o

Itrytofigureoutwhatthegapinthe

communicationis.(2)

o o o o o

Itriedtohelppeoplearrivedatconsensus.

(3)o o o o o

Iseeconflictasanopportunityforgrowth.(4) o o o o o


Q15Topic3:Howdoyoubehavewhenyoufindyourselfinanewplace?


(5)

IavoidunfamiliarsituationsasmuchasIcan.

(1)

o o o o o

Idon'tchangemybehaviourbecauseothersshouldacceptmeasIam.(2)

o o o o o

Itrytoadapt,asmuchaspossible,towhatothersexpectofme.

(3)

o o o o o

Iappreciatethe

uncomfortablelearningthatoccursinthosesituations.(4)

o o o o o


Q16Topic4:Howdoyoufeelaboutimmigration?


(5)

Immigrationshouldbetightly

controlled.(1)o o o o o

Immigrantsshouldfitintothecultureofthecountry

theyarein.(2)

o o o o o

Immigrationenablesustolearnfromdifferent

cultures.(3)

o o o o o

Immigrationopensusupto

ourowncontradictions.

(4)

o o o o o


Q17Topic5:Howdoyouexplaineconomicinequality?


(5)

Inequalityisinevitable

becausesomepeopleworkharderthanothers.(1)

o o o o o

Peoplewithmore

resourcesdonotdoenoughtohelpthoseinneed.(2)

o o o o o

Theeconomicsystembenefits

peoplewithmore

resources,anditneeds

reform.(3)

o o o o o

Theeconomicsystemisinherently

unfair,andweneedanewone.(4)

o o o o o


Q18Topic6:Howcantheworld'sproblemsbesolved?


(5)

Bymindingourownbusiness.

(1) o o o o o Bytrustingourexpertsto

applyexistingknowledgeintheirfield.(2)

o o o o o

Bypromotingagreater

understandingofeachother'sperspectives.

(3)

o o o o o

Byimaginingcompletely

newdirections:problemscannotbesolvedusingthesame

thinkingthatcreatedtheproblemsin

thefirstplace.(4)

o o o o o


Q19Topic7:Whatisthebiggestchallengetosustainability?


(5)

Thereisnochallenge.Howwearelivingnowisperfectly

sustainable.(1)

o o o o o

Wedonotinvestenoughinrenewable

energysources.(2)

o o o o o

Wecannotagreeonacommon

definitionofsustainability.

(3)

o o o o o

Ourcurrentthinking

preventsusfromseeing

theplanetasalivingentity.

(4)

o o o o o


Q20Topic8:Whatisourprimaryroleasprospectiveeducators?


(5)

Todeliverthecontent

prescribedinthe

curriculum.(1)

o o o o o

Tofacilitatestudent

learningtoachieve

curriculumobjectives.(2)

o o o o o

Toassiststudentstounderstandtheworldbeyondthe

curriculum.(3)

o o o o o

Toengagestudentswithpossibilities

andlimitationsof

understanding.(4)

o o o o o

Duringaclass,imagineyouareinteractingwithaneightyear-oldchildandareaskedthefollowingquestions.Youdonothavetimetorespondatlength.Whatwouldbeyourimmediateshortresponse(max3sentences)?

Q21Topic9(fromachildrecentlyarrivedinyourcountry)Whyisitthatsomepeoplehavesomuchandothershavesolittle?

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Q22Topic10(fromachildvisiblyfromaminoritygroup,butborninyourcountry)Whyisitthatmostteachersandprincipalsarewhite?

________________________________________________________________

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Q23Topic11(fromanIndigenouschild)Mygrandmothersaysthatourpeopleandourlandarethesame:issheright?

________________________________________________________________

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Q24Topic12(fromachildfromafamilyhighonthesocio-economicscale)Ifpeoplekeepcuttingdowntheforestsandpollutingthewaters,wewillnotbeabletosurvive.Whyareadultsstilldoingthat?

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Q25Topic13:Hasthebackgroundofthechildaffectedyourresponsethatyouhaveprovided?Ifso,tryandexplainhowandwhy.

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Q26Topic14:ThePYPhasmadememoreconvincedofthevalueof...


Agree(5)

localandregional

cooperation(1)

o o o o o

internationalcooperation

(2) o o o o o learningdifferent

languages(3) o o o o o learningtoseethingsfromdifferent

perspectives(4)

o o o o o

acknowledgingthat

everythingisinterconnected

(5)

o o o o o

thecontributionofimmigrantstothesocietyIbelongto(6)

o o o o o

seeingthebiggerpicture

(7) o o o o o peopleinmycountrybeingexposedtodifferent

perspectives(8)

o o o o o

considering o o o o o


morethanonlynationalinterests(9)

Q27Topic15:Howdoyoupreparefornew/unfamiliarexperiences?


(5)

ItrytounderstandasmuchasIcaninadvanceinordertofeelinformed.(1)

o o o o o

Itrynottooverplansinordertobeopentonewexperiences.

(2)

o o o o o

Iprepareasmuchas

possiblesothatnothingsurprisesme.

(3)

o o o o o

Inordertoavoid

unfamiliarexperiences,Itrytokeepthingsas

predictableaspossible.(4)

o o o o o


Q28Topic16:Howdoyouapproachconflictingperspectives?


Agree(5)

Itrytofigureoutwhoisright.(1) o o o o o

Itrytofigureoutwhatthegapinthe

communicationis.(2)

o o o o o

Itriedtohelppeoplearrivedatconsensus.

(3)o o o o o

Iseeconflictasanopportunityforgrowth.(4) o o o o o


Q29Topic17Howdoyoubehavewhenyoufindyourselfinanewplace?


(5)

IavoidunfamiliarsituationsasmuchasIcan.

(1)

o o o o o

Idon'tchangemybehaviourbecauseothersshouldacceptmeasIam.(2)

o o o o o

Itrytoadapt,asmuchaspossible,towhatothersexpectofme.

(3)

o o o o o

Iappreciatethe

uncomfortablelearningthatoccursinthosesituations.(4)

o o o o o


Q30Topic18:Howdoyoufeelaboutimmigration?


(5)

Immigrationshouldbetightly

controlled.(1)o o o o o

Immigrantsshouldfitintothecultureofthecountry

theyarein.(2)

o o o o o

Immigrationenablesustolearnfromdifferent

cultures.(3)

o o o o o

Immigrationopensusupto

ourowncontradictions.

(4)

o o o o o


Appendix2:TeacherSemi-structuredInterview GuidingQuestionsforresearcher

Q1Pleaseprovideabriefoverviewofyourpersonalandprofessionalbackground,withspecialreferencetoanyoverseasexperiencespriortoyourparticipationinthePYP.

Q2WhatwereyourexpectationsofthePYPintermsofhowitrelatedtoyou?Werethesemet?Inwhatways/whynot?

a. Personalexpectations

b. Professionalexpectations

Q3Fromyourperspective,whatarethemainbenefitsthathaveresultedfromyourparticipationinthePYP?

a. Personal

b. Professional

i. Relationshipwithschoolstudentsandstaff

ii. Educationalknowledge

iii. Impactonteachingpractice

iv. Impactoncapabilitiesandcapacities

v. Dealingwithculturaldifference

c. Overall

Q4WerethereanyissuesorconcernsresultedfromyourparticipationinthePYP?Howhavetheseaffectedyourcapacitiesandworkasaneducationalprofessional,ifatall?

a. Personal

b. Professional

i. Relationshipwithstudents

ii. Educationalknowledge

iii. Impactonteachingpractice

iv. Impactoncapabilitiesandcapacities

c. Overall

Q5HavingtaughtthePYP,whatyoubelieveismeantbythefollowingterms?

a. criticalthinking

b. creativethinking

c. problem-solving

d. individualproblem-solving

e. communityproblem-solving

f. thinkingskills


ExamplesofSupplementaryQuestions

Q6HowhasthePYPchangedyou:a.Asateacher?b.Asaperson?

Q7Wouldyoucallthisschoolaculturallydiverseschool?

Q8Whatdoesculturemeantoyou?

Q9Tounderstandculturaldifference,doyouneedtoliveitorjustmeetit?

Q10WhatdoestolerancemeantoyouasaPYPattitude?

Q11Whatdoesinternationalmindednessmeantoyou?

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