Our approach to intercultural work

Encounters of members of different cultures are a natural social phenomenon that has been going on since ancient times. Regardless of whether we like these encounters or not, whether we think about them or not, they happen all the time around us. It is only the reflection of this phenomenon that differs.

One of the most important topics of intercultural education is the issue of intercultural communication. We do not always perceive the difference between cultures and misunderstandings as a necessary cause of conflict. When there is a need to resolve a dispute in practice, studying intercultural issues leads us to an effective analysis of the problem and recognition of the true causes of actions and behaviour; whether or not an intercultural conflict is among the causes will manifest later on.

Intercultural environment is a space created by constant interactions between individuals and groups and the environment. It is a continuous process shaping the cultures of individuals and groups; a continuous swirl of conflict, change, and reconciliation. For us, it is important and also interesting to see it and observe what is happening during this process and to use gained knowledge and experience to professionalise our team of intercultural workers.

Intercultural workers (community interpreters, intercultural assistants, intercultural mediators, etc.) work in environments where there are members of different groups or people talk about members of different groups in some way. It is therefore important for them to be able to distinguish opinions (Is it good to have foreigners here or not?) from facts (What happens when people of different cultures meet?). They should understand the meaning of the terms multiculturalism and multiculturality. They should have certain personality features as well as specific information about both groups whose languages they speak. They should be able to tell which claims about “exotic” or “backward” countries are true or not and to what extent and in what context they are true or not. Along with the content of the claims about different cultures, they should also pay attention to their authors including the background and intentions of the authors. This knowledge is important not only for intercultural workers but also for trainers working in the intercultural field.

Practice shows us that the process of resolving intercultural disputes is somewhat specific and for this reason, intercultural workers should also concern themselves with the methods for resolving intercultural disputes.

In intercultural work, one should consider the extent to which problems and situations are caused by intercultural differences and other causes. Such knowledge is applied in particular in intercultural problem analysis. Therefore, intercultural workers should be aware of what is meant by the word intercultural. What is culture; how is it described; how to illustrate it; what constitutes social identity and when does this identity change and how; or what impact does the environment have on culture.

Since some people are still regarded as members of a certain group, it is also necessary to look at the content of group concepts and their functions in practice. Intercultural workers should be able to work with these terms and to communicate their knowledge to others. For this reason, we have also looked into the concepts and their redefinition.

Various findings of intercultural science can be very well used to increase the efficiency of teaching languages to foreigners. In particular, we will introduce the possibilities of its use in teaching Czech for foreigners.

Findings from the intercultural field can also be beneficial for a proper scientific diagnosis done by experts from various scientific disciplines.