A School is a Multicultural Community

A school is a multicultural community. Whether it is racially diverse or, (for example) looks all “white,” when you have a community of people—teachers, administrators, staff, students and families—it is multicultural. Sometimes the diversity is very visible, sometimes it is not.

Some intercultural professionals, including Interculturalist’s lead coach Akiko Maeker, have been working with schools in various school districts to support the intercultural transformation of education. The collaboration among education professionals and intercultural professionals has evolved into amazing initiatives and began the transformation process at individual and system-wide levels. Take a look at p.9 of the Osseo Area Schools "Strategic Plan 2009-10" for a good example (a 12-page document). The district clearly states as a system-wide priority:

"System leaders model intercultural competence that supports all students achieving our mission and strategic objectives."

On May 25-26, many of these key players are gathering for the first time, with Mitchell Hammer, the developer of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), at the IDI Education Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

Akiko Maeker and Paul Maeker from Interculturalist will be attending the Summit. We look forward to having inspiring dialogue with educational and intercultural colleagues, learning from one another, and taking away innovative ideas for our continuing work. We look forward to seeing some of you who are reading this blog at the Summit. For those of you who will not be attending, we will be sure to share some of the learning and outcomes after the Summit!