Towards intercultural Learning. PERMIT’s learned lessons and the future

Currently, intercultural education is a topic which receives much interest. This is mainly due to the rise of cultural studies and globalization. Culture has become an instrument for social interpretation and communicative action. As it has been emphasised in this book, the main goal of intercultural education is seen as the development of intercultural competence, which is the ability to act and relate appropriately and effectively in various cultural contexts. Intercultural competence is generally thought to require three components on the learner's side: a certain skillset, culturally sensitive knowledge, and a motivated mindset. In greater detail, the skills, values, and attitudes that constitute intercultural competence include 1. intercultural attitudes (like openness, curiosity, readiness) 2. general knowledge (of the theoretical aspects of how social groups/products/practices work and interact) 3. skills of interpreting and relating (a document of another culture to one's own culture) 4. skills of discovery and interaction (like the ability to discover information about another culture and the ability to communicate in real-time interaction) 5. critical cultural awareness (that there are different cultures next to one's own) The teacher's task is to induce the learning of all in these aspects in the learner. Being successful, intercultural learning results in culturally competent learners.