Intercultural Competence, A Necessity in 21st Century Classrooms - Are Teacher Educators in Tanzania Interculturally Competent

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates the extent to which teacher educators in Tanzania possess intercultural competence and identifies factors influencing its development. A sample of 300 teacher educators selected from two Tanzanian university colleges is analyzed. Results show higher mean scores in attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, and skills, alongside significantly lower scores in knowledge. Living abroad, duration of staying abroad, level of education, teaching experience, and faculty affiliation are significantly related to at least one competence dimension, with education level linked to attitude, knowledge, and skills.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Received: 9 November 2022, Accepted: 13 July 2023, Published on-line as Recently Accepted Paper: October 2023 DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1524](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1524) Intercultural Competence, A Necessity in 21st Century Classrooms: Are Teacher Educators in Tanzania Interculturally Competent? Patrick Severine Kavenuke*1 and Grace Ezekiel Kihwele2 • Recently, teacher educators have been required to possess strong academic credentials and intercultural competencies to teach successfully. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the extent to which teacher educators possess the skills of intercultural competence. Also, the study examines the factors that influence the intercultural competence of teacher educators. A sample of 300 teacher educators selected from two Tanzanian university colleges is used. The results indicate that teacher educators had higher mean scores in the dimensions of attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, and skills but significantly lower mean scores in the dimension of knowledge. Furthermore, factors such as living abroad, duration of staying abroad, level of education, academics’ teaching experience, and the faculty from where the academics come are significantly related to at least one dimension of intercultural competence. For instance, academics’ level of education is significantly related to the attitude, knowledge, and skills dimensions of intercultural competence. Therefore, the results have far-reaching implications for policy and future research. Keywords: intercultural competence, internationalisation, Tanzania, teacher educators, 21st century classrooms 1 *Corresponding Author. Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; [patrickkavenuke@gmail.com / patrick.kavenuke@duce.ac.tz](patrickkavenuke@gmail.com / patrick.kavenuke@duce.ac.tz). 2 Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Medkulturna kompetenca, nujnost v učilnicah 21. stoletja: ali so izobraževalci učiteljev v Tanzanijimedkulturno kompetentni? Patrick Severine Kavenuke in Grace Ezekiel Kihwele • V zadnjem času se od izobraževalcev učiteljev pričakuje, da imajo dobreakademske reference in medkulturne kompetence, da bi lahko uspešnopoučevali. Namen te študije je raziskati, v kolikšni meri imajo izobraževalci učiteljev veščine medkulturne kompetence. Študija prav tako preučuje dejavnike, ki vplivajo na medkulturno kompetenco izobraževalcevučiteljev. Uporabljen je bil vzorec 300 izobraževalcev učiteljev, izbranihz dveh tanzanijskih fakultet. Izsledki kažejo, da so imeli izobraževalciučiteljev višje povprečne ocene pri dimenzijah odnosa, zunanjih izidov, notranjih izidov in veščin, vendar bistveno nižje povprečne ocene pridimenziji znanja. Poleg tega so dejavniki, kot so: prebivanje v tujini, trajanje prebivanja v tujini, stopnja izobrazbe, pedagoške izkušnje akademikov in fakulteta, s katere akademiki prihajajo, pomembno povezaniz vsaj eno dimenzijo medkulturne kompetence. Na primer, raven izobrazbe akademikov je pomembno povezana z naslednjimi dimenzijamimedkulturne kompetence: odnos, znanje in veščine. Posledično imajorezultati daljnosežne posledice za politiko in prihodnje raziskave. Ključne besede: medkulturna kompetenca, internacionalizacija, Tanzanija, izobraževalci učiteljev, učilnice 21. stoletja Introduction Teaching in the 21st century classroom requires teacher educators to possess intercultural competencies. Intercultural competence is considered a goal of any education (Duvivier, 2017; Miller & Tucker, 2015; Portera, 2020; Portera & Milani, 2021) . Intercultural competence has also been considered a result of internationalisation (Deardorff, 2006; Odağ et al., 2016; Salisbury et al., 2013) . Nonetheless, it is regrettable that internationalisation has been narrowly limited to discussing issues across nations and borders (Feng, 2016; Garson, 2016; Salisbury et al., 2013; Wang &

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study?

To examine the extent to which teacher educators possess intercultural competence and to determine factors influencing it.

How was the sample selected in the study?

A sample of 300 teacher educators was selected from two Tanzanian university colleges.

Which dimensions scored higher or lower for teacher educators?

Teacher educators scored higher in attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, and skills, but significantly lower in knowledge.

Oct 15, 2026

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