Teachers and cultural identity : developing intercultural understanding

Teachers are crucial to the development of intercultural understanding and an Asia-Iiterate society. As Fitzgerald argues, Asia-literate students require Asia-literate teachers: "The point is to provide excellent Australian teachers who are Asia literate and who are committed to helping our children to understand the world in which they will live and work" (Fitzgerald, 1991, p. 25). The importance of teachers in overcoming the barriers to intercultural understanding raises questions about the intercultural understanding of teachers. Specifically: 1. How do teachers view their own culture and the cultures of other countries? 2. What cultural similarities and differences do teachers perceive between their different countries? A team of researchers from Australia, Thailand and Japan investigated these questions by asking Australian, Japanese and Thai teachers about nationally held values in their country and in the other countries in the study. The aim of the research was to identify areas of congruence (i.e. meeting points) and divergences (differences) that would help develop intercultural understanding in education in an increasingly globalised world.