An Independent Evaluation of Together for Humanity's Face to Face Teacher Professional Training Program: Interim Report

Calls for fresh critical approaches to the fostering of intercultural understanding for in-service teacher education (e.g. Civitillo et al., 2018, Romijn et al., 2021, Watlkins, Lean & Noble, 2015) as well as pre-service education (Moloney & Giles, 2015) continue as globalization and migration rapidly change the demographics of Australian communities and classrooms as well as the experiences of teachers and students in both metropolitan and regional schools (Forrest et al., 2016, Forrest et al., 2017). Intercultural ‘competence’ or capacity has been a long-standing focus in teacher education internationally for a number of decades (Ashman, 2019). There have been many individual initiatives to devise programs in teacher education to impact pre-service teacher competences (for example, Moloney & Giles, 2015), but few directed at in-service teachers (Walton et al., 2012, Halse et al., 2015, Tualaulelei & Halse, 2021). The Australian National Curriculum (introduced in 2013) includes intercultural understanding within the seven ‘general capabilities’ of 21st century education to be integrated by teachers in every syllabus (ACARA, 2013/2016). The Australian curriculum frames intercultural understanding in local and global contexts as engaging with diverse cultures in ways that recognise commonalities and differences in order to develop responsible local and global citizens, capable of living and working together in an interconnected world, cultivating mutual respect. Within the Australian National Curriculum and the relevant organisational literature, the General Capabilities section on the mandatory Intercultural Understanding Capability, highlights the importance of the promotion of intercultural competency and the role of schools in caring for the well-being and equality of all students (ACARA, 2016).