Online workshop on the topic of Interculturality in Higher Education was organized for the teaching staff of the Montenegrin universities on 3-4 June 2021. The workshop was carried out by dr. Špela Razpotnik, an assistant professor of Social Pedagogy at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Education.
Internationalization is closely related to the intercultural dimensions and competencies. The workshop was focused on the conditions and challenges that lie behind the implementation of internationalization and the identification of differences in implementing the concept of multiculturalism and interculturalism.
During the workshop, dr. Razpotnik addressed different topics: aspects of global inequality and their reflection in our daily lives, globalization and the changing faces of Europe, theoretical concepts of identity, minority, equality, institutional racism and nationalism, theoretical concepts of institutional racism, multicultural versus egalitarian approach, and explicit and implicit prejudices, related to higher education context, challenges of interculturalism in the higher education space and their specifics.
Dr. Razpotnik also shared her challenges in the study process, lessons learned, and her experiences with working in intercultural groups of students. The workshop took place in different forms: lecture parts combined with the discussion of the participant and working in small groups. During the workshop participants discussed different case studies from several important aspects and the creation of new solutions and reflection on their minority images and their involvement in beliefs and/or experiences. They also explored challenges that students face when they study in a foreign country and the way teachers can effectively engage students from diverse backgrounds.
26 representatives of the Montenegrin institutions (the University of Montenegro, the University of Donja Gorica, the Mediterranean University, the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education) through interaction with colleagues from Ljubljana actively participated in the training.
As interculturality in higher education is one of the important aspects of internationalization, training will be useful for the representatives of the Montenegrin universities in the future. It should further help teachers to strengthen their understanding of the locally experienced consequences of global inequality, deepen the understanding of interculturality and intercultural approach in pedagogical work, and contribute to the sensibilization of pedagogical workers for the issues of interculturalism and (in)equality.