Abstract:
This master’s research explores studio teachers’ intercultural sensitivity through looking at the reflective anecdotes of inclusive teaching practices. The research question guiding this inquiry is: How might inclusive teaching practices in dance studios extend through understandings of intercultural sensitivity, for teachers of international students in tertiary dance education? Within internationalisation of higher education, studio teachers make efforts to care about international students and build inclusive classrooms. But they have different understandings of cultural differences and show different intercultural sensitivity, which may influence their intentions to be inclusive educators in studio teaching. Therefore, this study regards scholar Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity as a theoretical framework to inspect teachers’ intercultural experiences in relation to teaching international students in tertiary dance studios. This qualitative research project uses semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect data and a thematic process of analysis to discuss the data. The findings have 13 tangible stories that respond to different stages in Bennett’s model and reveal different intercultural sensitivity. Besides, this thesis presents possible rationales for these differences and proposes potential approaches for studio teachers to reflect on their inclusive teaching practices. The investigation does not aim to judge studio teachers engaged in this study, but rather it seeks to show that Bennett’s model can be a useful tool for analysing different understandings of intercultural sensitivity, and for prompting further critical reflections on approaches to inclusive education for international students.
