Enhancing Intercultural Sensitivity through Group Investigation — a Co‑operative Learning Approach

This paper presents a two year research project that addressed the ways teachers observe, implement and experience the development of student intercultural sensitivity through co-operative learning activities and especially through utilising the Group Investigation strategy. The study also sought to understand to what extent the combination of an intercultural competence model such as the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) (Bennett, 1993) and the use of qualitative measures, such as critical incidents and questionnaire data, can be instrumental in identifying students’ viewpoints and ‘competence’ in relation to cultural diversity. The scope of this paper places limits on the publication of detailed results of the research; however, key findings are shared and discussed. The analysis of the quantitative data gathered, demonstrated that students became more receptive to issues of diversity. These results were consistent with the analysis of comments related to critical incidents and with the qualitative data gathered through teacher interviews and student focus groups. The study indicates that co-operative learning and in particular the group investigation strategy, can be effective in triggering positive intercultural sensitivity.