Pathways to cultural rapprochement in schools: becoming a global teacher through the use of the “Educational Cultural Convergence” (ECCO) model

The authors propose a pathway to cultural rapprochement through “educational cultural convergence” (ECCO) which was described conceptually in a previousstudy (McKeown & Diboll, 2011) and present for discussion an ECCO model for use by teachers. The model is intended for practical use in classroom environments to assess existing “cultural gaps” and to assist teachers with social inclusion (McKeown & Kurt, 2011). It is meant to support teachers in their efforts to develop intercultural competence with, and between, students which transgresses a current cultural identity and assists in creating a viable new one. Rather than teaching citizenship or social interdependence as a stand-alone curriculum, the ECCO model is intended for independent teacher use. The authors demonstrate the development and potentiality of the model where students learn by doing and manifest their learning through what they produce, with an appreciation of the contributions of various perspectives. A significant aspect of this mutuality is cross-cultural communication (Giles, 1979) which increases positive inter-cultural relations, minimizes the creation of “out-groups”, and ensures that the teacher is part of the “in-group”. Through the process of exposure to ‘otherness’ and diversity, ECCO promotes the process of intercultural dialogue, and the development of educators with a global perspective