In the contemporary world, encounters with people from other cultural backgrounds have become part of our everyday lives. These intercultural encounters may be used as an opportunity to learn about other cultures, to develop our capacities for effective and respectful communication, to think about our own cultural affiliations and to reflect on ways in which we might take action for the common good.

The Autobiography of intercultural encounters (AIE) is an educational resource that can be used by learners to achieve all of these outcomes. It supports learners in thinking about and learning from intercultural encounters that they have experienced either face to face, through visual media (such as television, films, magazines) or through the internet.

Revised and updated editions of the various versions of the AIE that have been developed can be found in three separate volumes which accompany the present volume. The present volume contains two accompanying papers, “Context, concepts and theories” and “Concepts for discussion”. The former discusses the policy context and conceptual and theoretical issues relating to intercultural encounters and is intended for readers who wish to understand the ideas that underlie the design of the AIE. The latter provides less technical discussions of key concepts related to culture, identity and intercultural encounters and can be used with learners in upper secondary education or the early years of higher education and in non-formal and informal education.

Table of contents:

• INTRODUCTION
• CONTEXT, CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
• The policy context of the Autobiography of intercultural encounters
• Concepts and theories underlying the Autobiography of intercultural encounters
• Culture
• Cultural discourse
• Multicultural societies
• Plurality
• Pluriculturality
• Interculturality
• Tolerance, respect and intercultural dialogue
• Views of people from other cultures
• Factors influencing attitudes to people from other cultures
• Multiple identities and the impact of intercultural encounters
• Nationality and citizenship
• Plurilingualism
• Languages and social, political and economic inclusion
• The concept of intercultural citizenship
• Active citizenship and education for intercultural citizenship
• History and culture
• Mass media, digital media and the representations of others
• The Council of Europe’s work on digital citizenship education
• Cultural boundaries which may be crossed in an intercultural encounter
• Ethnic groups
• National and state groups
• Religious groups
• Language groups
• Racial groups
• Local and regional groups
• Supranational groups
• Some final reflections concerning cultural boundaries
• The competences required for interculturality
• Conclusions
• References and recommended reading
• CONCEPTS FOR DISCUSSION
• Introduction
• Culture
• Multicultural societies
• Attitudes to other cultures
• Citizenship and nationality
• History and ...
• Multiple identities: interpreting the self
• Perceptions of people from other cultures: interpreting the other
• Functioning in a context of plurality: plurilingualism
• Functioning in a context of plurality: pluriculturality and interculturality
• Active citizenship and intercultural citizenship