Intercultural Competence, A Necessity in 21 st Century Classrooms: Are Teacher Educators in Tanzania Interculturally Competent? Patrick Severine Kavenuke* 1 and Grace Ezekiel Kihwele 2 • Recently, teacher educators have been required to possess strong aca - demic 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 compe - tence 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, academ - ics’ teaching experience, and the faculty from where the academics come are significantly related to at least one dimension of intercultural compe - tence. For instance, academics’ level of education is significantly related to the attitude, knowledge, and skills dimensions of intercultural com - petence. Therefore, the results have far-reaching implications for policy and future research. Keywords: intercultural competence, internationalisation, Tanzania, teacher educators, 21 st 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. 2 Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1524 Published on-line as Recently Accepted Paper: October 2023 c e p s Journal intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 2 Medkulturna kompetenca, nujnost v učilnicah 21. stoletja: ali so izobraževalci učiteljev v Tanzaniji medkulturno kompetentni? Patrick Severine Kavenuke in Grace Ezekiel Kihwele • V zadnjem času se od izobraževalcev učiteljev pričakuje, da imajo dobre akademske reference in medkulturne kompetence, da bi lahko uspešno poučevali. Namen te študije je raziskati, v kolikšni meri imajo izobraže - valci učiteljev veščine medkulturne kompetence. Študija prav tako preu - čuje dejavnike, ki vplivajo na medkulturno kompetenco izobraževalcev učiteljev. Uporabljen je bil vzorec 300 izobraževalcev učiteljev, izbranih z dveh tanzanijskih fakultet. Izsledki kažejo, da so imeli izobraževalci učiteljev višje povprečne ocene pri dimenzijah odnosa, zunanjih izidov, notranjih izidov in veščin, vendar bistveno nižje povprečne ocene pri dimenziji znanja. Poleg tega so dejavniki, kot so: prebivanje v tujini, tra - janje prebivanja v tujini, stopnja izobrazbe, pedagoške izkušnje akade - mikov in fakulteta, s katere akademiki prihajajo, pomembno povezani z vsaj eno dimenzijo medkulturne kompetence. Na primer, raven izo - brazbe akademikov je pomembno povezana z naslednjimi dimenzijami medkulturne kompetence: odnos, znanje in veščine. Posledično imajo rezultati daljnosežne posledice za politiko in prihodnje raziskave. Ključne besede: medkulturna kompetenca, internacionalizacija, Tanzanija, izobraževalci učiteljev, učilnice 21. stoletja c e p s Journal 3 Introduction T eaching in the 21 st century classroom requires teacher educators to pos - sess 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 lim - ited to discussing issues across nations and borders (Feng, 2016; Garson, 2016; Salisbury et al., 2013; Wang & Kulich, 2015). As a solution, scholars (Garson, 2016; W ang & Kulich, 2015) have emphasised internationalisation or developing intercultural competence at home. This internationalisation operates by incor - porating the international and intercultural dimensions into formal and infor - mal curricula for all people within a local learning environment. Despite these efforts, Garson (2016) has asserted that internationalisation at home has been neglected and challenged by increased academic mobility and how it is placed within a market framework. Intercultural competence has remained emphasised in the 21 st centu - ry, given that academics travel outside their countries of origin for academic undertakings such as conferences and studies (Vižintin, 2018, 2022). As they go abroad, they are expected to be exposed to foreign languages and possibly submerge themselves in foreign cultural experiences. In these circumstances, academics must use their critical thinking skills to make well-considered deci - sions in culturally complex environments (Miller & Tucker, 2015). In that re - spect, critical thinking skills are linked with intercultural competence. Thus, it is not surprising that scholars (Deardorff, 2006; Miller & Tucker, 2015) have documented that critical thinking and intercultural competence overlap. For instance, Deardorff (2006) has observed that skills such as respecting and valu - ing others’ ideas and cultures, being ready and open to learning other people’s cultures, and withholding judgment form parts of both intercultural compe - tence and critical thinking. Literature Review There is an assumption that people who are well-connected locally find it easy to accommodate themselves in other cultures (Chi & Suthers, 2015). In other words, people with more social and local relations have less difficulty experiencing global acculturation. Numerous studies have examined intercul - tural competence issues among individuals over the previous three decades intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 4 (Deardorff, 2006; Portera, 2020; Portera & Milani, 2021). Many other studies have been conducted to assess the intercultural competence of individuals in different disciplines, such as military force (Miller & Tucker, 2015), education (Duvivier, 2017; Gong et al., 2018; Jackson, 2015; Odağ et al., 2016; Streitwieser & Light, 2018; Peng & Wu, 2016), business (Feng, 2016; Nair-Venugopal, 2015), management (Presbitero & Attar, 2018) and other multidisciplinary fields (Lie - berman & Gamst, 2015). Recently, there have been considerable academic and student exchanges across the globe for further education (Portera, 2020; Por - tera & Milani, 2021; Vögtle & Windzio, 2023). In that respect, teacher educators (whose role) is to prepare prospective teachers should be familiar with inter - cultural competence skills. Such skills are important in helping teacher edu - cators accommodate academics and students from diverse cultures (Vižintin, 2022). Given the importance of individuals’ intercultural competence in this globalised era, teacher educators must familiarise themselves with the factors that influence their intercultural competence. Factors influencing intercultural competence This section has reviewed the literature on factors influencing indi - viduals’ intercultural competence. It is important to note that we reviewed the literature based on the dimensions of intercultural competence (i.e., attitude, knowledge, skills, internal outcomes, and external outcomes) used in this pres - ent study (Deardorff, 2006; Messner, 2015; Odağ et al., 2016; Peng et al., 2009). Sex as one factor influencing intercultural competence was included based on its importance in any study, as it affects many other variables (Morley & Lugg, 2009). Garrote (2016) found that sex and intercultural competence had no significant relationship. Contrary to that observation, Polat and Barka (2014) noted that male pre-service teachers were more competent than female pre- service teachers regarding the dimensions of intercultural competence, such as emotional stability. Assuming that men and women have similar cognitive abilities (Hyde & Linn, 2006), we hypothesised that there would be no signifi - cant relationship between sex and intercultural competence. Also, the relationship between living abroad and intercultural compe - tence has been recognised. Thus, we included living abroad as an independent measure. The assumption is that intercultural competence as an outcome of internationalisation increases due to academics’ mobility (Deardorff, 2006; Odağ et al., 2016; Peng & Wu, 2016; Salisbury et al., 2013). Studies (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012; Garrote, 2016; Holland, 2013) have noted no significant rela - tionship between living abroad and intercultural competence. Contrary to that, other studies found that studying abroad significantly positively affected some c e p s Journal 5 dimensions of intercultural competence (Maharaja, 2018; Salisbury et al., 2013). The years of stay abroad may also influence individuals’ intercultural compe - tence. However, a study by Behrnd and Porzelt (2012) indicated that the dura - tion of stay had no significant relationship with intercultural competence. Moreover, a relationship between academics’ teaching experience and intercultural competence has been established. Work experience at the local or global level plays a crucial role in improving one’s intercultural competence. In support of this argument, studies have observed that work experience can help to develop the intercultural competence of academics (Hudelson et al., 2011; Peng & Wu, 2016). In particular, Hudelson et al. (2011) noted that the intercul - tural competence scores were higher for participants with work experience. In that respect, the study examined the relationship between work experience and intercultural competence. Likewise, level of education has been associated with intercultural com - petence. It has been observed that individuals with higher levels of education are more competent in intercultural competence than those with a lower lev - el of education. For instance, Polat and Barka (2014) found that pre-service teachers in primary education departments in Switzerland and Turkey were more competent in intercultural competence, such as emotional stability, than pre-service teachers in pre-school education. Given that there were some con - tradicting results in many of the variables reviewed, we considered including these variables in this study to investigate if the examined variables significantly relate to academics’ intercultural competence. Theoretical Framework Intercultural competence makes an individual fit in any environment, both at the local and global levels. In that case, interculturally competent peo - ple hardly find themselves divorced from their environment. Plenty of terms in the literature have described the concept of intercultural competence, includ - ing ‘intercultural sensitivity’ , ‘global literacy’ , ‘cultural competence’ , ‘intercultural communicative competence’, and many more (Deardorff, 2006). Moreover, no consensus on reputable researchers on what constitutes intercultural competence exists (Deardorff, 2006; Rathje, 2007). Rathje (2007) has noted that there is no mutual agreement to any particular account of the concept; instead, there are only varieties of models on several features that describe the term differently. Irrespec - tive of the missing consensus, Rathje (2007) asserted that intercultural scholars have made several efforts to define the term, which intercultural scholars fre - quently adopt. Thus, intercultural competence is reflected in several dimensions. intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 6 Some of these models have conceptualised intercultural competence as communicating effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations (Nadeem et al., 2020). Nonetheless, to communicate effectively and appropri - ately in intercultural situations, one’s intercultural knowledge, skills and atti - tude are paramount. In particular, scholars have mentioned knowledge, skills, and attitude (Scarino, 2009), awareness, attitude, skills, knowledge, and meta- awareness (Peng et al., 2009), knowledge, motivation, skills, outcomes, and adaptability (Odağ et al., 2016) and attitude, knowledge, skills, internal out - comes and external outcomes (Deardorff, 2006; Streitwieser & Light, 2018) as dimensions of intercultural competence. Similarly, Messner (2015) used internal outcomes and external outcomes as other dimensions of intercultural competence. It is common for researchers to use different terms to communicate the same matter. For instance, while Nadeem et al. (2020) report individuals’ ability to effectively and appropriately communicate with people from other cultures as a dimension of intercultur - al competence, Deardorff (2006), Messner (2015), and Streitwieser and Light (2018) paraphrase it as external outcomes dimension. The literature reviewed shows that an individual’s intercultural compe - tence starts at the individual level (attitude) and at the interaction level (out - comes). Given that this area of study is under-researched in the Tanzanian context, we adopted the most commonly used dimensions of intercultural com - petence. Therefore, we picked five dimensions from the studies by Deardorff (2006), Messner (2015) , Odağ et al. (2016), Peng et al. (2009), Scarino (2009), and Streitwieser and Light (2018). The dimensions are described hereunder as our theoretical framework. Attitude In the context of intercultural competence, Peng et al. (2009) de - fined attitude as an individual’s readiness and willingness to accept informa - tion from other cultures. It is one’s attitude that influences one’s intercultural competence—a concept that is closely related to the idea of global citizenship education (Deardorff, 2006; Trede et al., 2013). In particular, Deardorff (2006) maintained that respecting and valuing others’ cultures, being ready and open to learning other cultures, and being curious about new cultural environments are integral parts of intercultural competence. Knowledge Peng et al. (2009) conceptualised knowledge as an individual’s under - standing of one’ s culture and other people’ s cultures. For that matter, knowledge, c e p s Journal 7 and comprehension form another dimension of intercultural competence. Culture-specific information, cultural self-awareness, and a thorough under - standing of one’s culture and others’ cultures are prerequisites to possessing the knowledge necessary for intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2006; Holmes & O’Neill, 2012; Peng et al., 2009). Skills Skills are another dimension of intercultural competence that individu - als need to possess in this era of globalisation and its subsequent feature of internationalisation. Listening, observing, interpreting, analysing, evaluating, negotiating, and relating are important skills for intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2006; Holmes & O’Neill, 2012). Peng et al. (2009) added that skills enable an individual to use relevant techniques of relating with people while living in such intercultural contexts. Internal Outcomes Internal outcomes as a dimension of intercultural competence focus on an individual’s adaptability and flexibility (Deardorff, 2006; Odağ et al., 2016). Interculturally competent individuals are expected to be adaptive to diverse communication styles and easily adjust to new cultural environments. In other words, interculturally competent individuals should adapt and appreciate com - plex cultural differences. Deardorff (2006) also maintained that interculturally competent individuals must be flexible. Their flexibility has been reflected in selecting and using appropriate communication styles and behaviours. External Outcomes The concept of external outcomes as a dimension of intercultural com - petence is described in terms of the individuals’ ability to behave and com - municate appropriately and effectively (Deardorff, 2006; Scarino, 2009). It is through interaction that communication can easily be undertaken. For that matter, communication becomes a defining characteristic of intercultural com - petence. According to Deardorff (2006), these external outcomes are also based on the individual’s intercultural attitude, knowledge, skills, and internal out - comes. In other words, to communicate effectively with people from a different culture, they need to be ready and willing to learn and accept the information from that culture. Modified from Deardorff (2006), Figure 1 below illustrates the relationship among these five dimensions of intercultural competence. intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 8 Figure 1 A Theoretical Framework adapted from Deardorff (2006) Research problem and hypothesis It is unfortunate that, of all the reviewed studies (e.g., Deardorff, 2006; Duvivier, 2017; Feng, 2016; Gong et al., 2018; Jackson, 2015; Lieberman & Gamst, 2015; Miller & Tucker, 2015; Nair-Venugopal, 2015; Odağ et al., 2016; Peng & Wu, 2016; Portera & Milani, 2021; Presbitero & Attar, 2018; Streitwieser & Light, 2018; Vižintin, 2022), no studies have focused on intercultural compe - tence of teacher educators in an African context, specifically Tanzania. Many of the relevant and accessible literature were from outside Africa and Tanzania in particular. Thus, little is known about the extent to which teacher educators in Tanzania possess the required intercultural competence. For that matter, this study aimed to investigate the extent to which teacher educators possess inter - cultural competence and examine the factors that influence the intercultural competence of academics. In that regard, following the theoretical framework and the reviewed literature, the hypotheses that were developed to guide the study are: H1: There will be no significant difference among teacher educators’ inter - cultural competence dimensions. c e p s Journal 9 H2: There will be no significant difference between men and women con - cerning their intercultural competence. H3: There will be a significant relationship between living abroad and aca - demics’ intercultural competence. H4: There will be a significant relationship between the years of staying abroad and the academics’ intercultural competence. H5: There will be a significant difference between academics’ level of educa - tion and intercultural competence. H6: Academics with different teaching experiences will differ regarding their intercultural competence. H7: Academics from different faculties will have no significant differences in intercultural competence. H8: Academics from different colleges will have no significant differences in intercultural competence. Method Participants The study was carried out in two higher learning institutions in Tan - zania, specifically university colleges established to train prospective teachers. The study used a sample of 300 teacher educators. The researchers termed the university colleges ‘College A’ and ‘College B’ to maintain the anonymity and confidentiality of research ethics (Hett & Hett, 2013; Shamim & Qureshi, 2013). At the time of data collection, the population from which the sample was se - lected was 370 teacher educators; 240 were from College A, and 130 were from College B. The initial plan was to collect data from all teacher educators in both colleges. Following the colleges and the faculties where they came from, we treated these two colleges and their respective faculties as strata. The questionnaires were divided per the proportion of the population of each college and its respective faculty members. For instance, in College A, which had three faculties, the questionnaires distributed were 55, 70, and 115 for the faculties of science, education, and humanities and social sciences, re - spectively. Similarly, in College B, which had three faculties named in the same order as above, the questionnaires distributed were 35, 45, and 50, respectively. Finally, 300 questionnaires from both colleges were returned, yielding a re - sponse rate of 81.1% distributed across the two colleges (see details in Table 1). Of the 300 participants, 198 (66%) were men, and 102 (34%) were wom - en. Among these, 212 (70.7%) participants were from College A, and 88 (29.3%) were from College B. Moreover, 86 (28.7%) participants were from the faculty intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 10 of science, 90 (30%) were from the faculty of education, and 124 (41.3%) were from the faculty of humanities and social sciences. Before data collection, we obtained an institutional research permit. We prepared a consent form that participants completed to affirm their willingness before participating in the study. The form included research ethical issues such as participants’ rights and responsibilities. For instance, participants were assured that their responses would be kept confidential. Moreover, demographic data showed that most participants had a mas - ter’s degree level of education. Those with doctoral degrees followed the num - ber. A few participants, 34 (11.6%) working as tutorial assistants, had a bach - elor’s degree. In addition, half of the participants had lived abroad, and half had not studied or lived abroad. Most of those who had studied or lived abroad lived only for less than five years. Only 6 (4.1%) participants had lived abroad for over five years. Regarding teaching experience, 92 (31.9%) had taught at the university colleges for less than five years. Additionally, 92 (31.9%) had taught for over ten years. The remaining 104 (36.1%) participants had taught for five to ten years. Table 1 summarises the demographic data of the study participants. Table 1 Sample Demographics Characteristics (n=300) N % Sex Male 198 66 Female 102 34 College College A 212 70.7 College B 88 29.3 Faculty Education 90 30 Humanities & Social Sciences 124 41.3 Science 86 28.7 Having Studied/Stayed Abroad Yes 148 49.7 No 148 49.7 Duration of Staying Abroad Below 1 year 34 23 From 1 to 3 years 58 39.2 From 3 to 5 years 50 33.8 5 years and above 6 4.1 c e p s Journal 11 Characteristics (n=300) N % Level of Education Bachelor Degree 34 11.6 Master Degree 128 43.5 Doctoral Degree 132 44.9 Teaching Experience Below 5 years 92 31.9 From 5 to 10 years 104 36.1 10 years and above 92 31.9 Instruments Attitude The attitude dimension was measured using a four-point scale (1=strong - ly disagree, 4=strongly agree) for items measuring the extent of possession of intercultural competence among academics. The dimension was measured us - ing nine items (e.g., ‘I willingly interact with people from other cultures’). The items were modified from a study by Peng et al. (2009). After running the reli - ability test, all nine items were retained. The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the dimension was .93. The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the dimension in the present study is .77. Knowledge Knowledge was measured using a four-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree) for items measuring the extent to which academics possess intercultural competence. Seven items (e.g., ‘I know the essential norms and taboos of other people’s culture’) were used to measure the dimension. Similar to the dimension of attitude, the items were adopted and modified from a study by Peng et al. (2009). Again, after running the reliability test, all seven items were retained. The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the di - mension was .91. In the present study, Cronbach’ s alpha for the dimension is .78. Skills Using a four-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree), we measured ‘skills’ as a dimension of intercultural competence. Five items (e.g., ‘I listen to others who are different from me’) were used to measure the dimen - sion. However, one item that led to low reliability was omitted after running a reliability test. Hence, four items were used to measure this dimension. The items were adopted from a study by Peng et al. (2009) and customised to fit intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 12 the local study context. The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the dimension was .88. In the present study, the reliability coefficient is .70. Internal outcomes We measured the internal outcomes dimension of intercultural com - petence using a four-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree). Four items (e.g., ‘I am flexible when I encounter people who are very different from me’) were used to measure the dimension. Like the ‘skills’ dimension, one item was deleted in the internal outcomes dimension. Therefore, the dimension was measured using three items. The items were adopted and modified from a study done by Messner (2015). The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the items measuring this dimension was .71. The reliability coefficient for this dimension in this present study is .63. External outcomes External outcomes dimension of intercultural competence was meas - ured using a four-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree). Four items (e.g., ‘I learn through interaction with others’) were used to measure this dimension. The items were adopted from a study done by Messner (2015). Then, they were modified to fit the local study context. Also, after running the reliabil - ity test, all four items were retained in this dimension. The reliability coefficient in terms of Cronbach’s alpha for the items measuring this dimension was .73. The reliability coefficient for this dimension in this present study is .74. Independent measures Based on the literature reviewed, we included several independent measures to establish their relationship with the dependent measures. Thus, independent measures such as sex were included. Also, the faculty and college which the academics came from were included. In that regard, academics were asked to indicate their sex (1=Male, 2=Female), their faculty (1=Education, 2=Humanities and Social Sciences, 3=Science) as well as their college (1=Col - lege A, 2=College B). The purpose was to determine if there is a relationship between sex, the faculty and the college where academics came from, and in - tercultural competence. Moreover, we included the academics’ teaching experi - ence as an independent measure. Academics were required to report their years of teaching experience. The purpose was to determine if teaching experience significantly relates to academics’ intercultural competence. Furthermore, living abroad and the duration of staying abroad were considered to be other important independent measures. Thus, academics were c e p s Journal 13 asked to indicate whether or not they have lived abroad by indicating (1=Yes, 2=No). Moreover, the participants were asked to indicate the number of years they have studied or lived abroad. The purpose was to find out if academics’ intercultural competence increases with the number of years spent abroad. Additionally, the academics were asked to provide their level of education. In Tanzania, it is common for a university academic to start working as a tutorial assistant with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Thus, a 3-point scale (1=Bach - elor’s Degree, 2=Master’s Degree, and 3=Doctoral Degree) was used. Generally, the decision to include many independent measures adds value to the explora - tory nature of this study, given that little research on this theme has been done in the context of Tanzania. Data analysis Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. To respond to the hypotheses delineated earlier, we computed several analyses. Firstly, a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to calculate the frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Also, we conducted a reliability test to calculate Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension measuring intercultural competence. The reliability scores reported in this study represent the consistency among the items for each dimension. We calculated the mean scores and standard deviations for different dimensions to respond to the first research objective. Finally, we com - puted an Independent Samples t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to respond to the second research objective and subsequent hypotheses. Results To reiterate the study purpose, the study aimed to investigate the extent to which teacher educators possess intercultural competence. It also intended to examine the factors that influence the intercultural competence of academics. The results are presented per the research objectives and hypotheses as follows. The extent to which teacher educators possess the intercultural competence To respond to this research objective and the subsequent hypothesis, we computed the mean scores and the standard deviation for the dimensions measuring intercultural competence, as illustrated in Table 2. In terms of the order from high to low, the results indicated that academics had higher mean scores in the dimensions of attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, skills, and knowledge (see Table 2). intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 14 Table 2 Mean scores for dimensions measuring intercultural competence Attitude Knowledge Skills Internal Outcomes External Outcomes M 3.3054 3.0045 3.1241 3.1712 3.2568 SD .3640 .4462 .4652 .4501 .4483 To thoroughly understand how teacher educators scored on the individual items, we analysed the mean scores and standard deviation for individual items (see Table 3). On the one hand, teacher educators scored higher in many items measuring their intercultural competence. On the other hand, the results in - dicated that teacher educators scored lower in some of the individual items measuring skills and knowledge as dimensions of intercultural competence (Table 3). Table 3 Mean scores of dimensions and their respective individual items Min Max M SD Attitude 1 4 3.3054 .3640 I willingly interact with people from other cultures 1 4 3.53 .587 I communicate in others’ language in appropriate ways 1 4 3.15 .700 I learn the culture of other people 1 4 3.07 .695 I respect other people’s culture 1 4 3.49 .552 I deal with the emotions and frustrations of my involvement in others’ culture 1 4 3.17 .598 I am mindful and able to withhold judgment about different beliefs 1 4 3.23 .593 I reflect on the effect of my decisions and behaviour on other people 1 4 3.34 .578 I am curious and eager to discover cultural differences 1 4 3.31 .616 I am open to learning from other people about different cultural practices 1 4 3.39 .589 Skills 1 4 3.1241 .4652 I understand factors that have shaped other people’s culture 1 4 2.81 .729 I use appropriate strategies for coping with others’ culture 1 4 3.13 .606 I interpret, analyse, and relate to others in different contexts 1 4 3.18 .594 I listen to others who are different from me 1 4 3.32 .640 Knowledge 1 4 3.0045 .4462 I use suitable strategies for adjusting to my own culture upon returning to my home (region or country) 1 4 3.21 .675 I use a variety of techniques to enhance my learning about others’ culture 1 4 3.01 .629 I contrast aspects of the culture of my own and other people 1 4 3.03 .657 I know the essential norms of other people’s culture 1 4 2.75 .730 I know how to overcome signs of cultural stress 1 4 2.90 .696 c e p s Journal 15 Min Max M SD I understand the impact of culture on the different contexts involved 1 4 3.12 .595 I know the techniques to maximise the learning of the language and culture of others 1 4 2.75 .817 Internal Outcomes 1 4 3.1712 .4501 I see from others’ perspectives and respond as per their desire to be treated 1 4 3.03 .643 I adjust to the new cultural environment 1 4 3.21 .573 I am flexible when I encounter people who are very different from me 1 4 3.29 .559 External Outcomes 1 2 3.2568 .4483 I adapt to different communication and learning styles 1 4 3.23 .591 I learn through interaction with others 1 4 3.42 .594 I adapt my behaviour in line with what I learn about communi- cation in others’ culture 1 4 3.13 .628 I tolerate the behaviour demonstrated by people from other cultures 1 4 3.24 .564 Factors influencing teacher educators’ intercultural competence We computed an Independent Samples t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOV A) to attempt this research objective. The results indicated that sex and the college where the academics came from had no significant relationship with all the dimensions of intercultural competence (Table 4). Thus, we accept hypotheses (H2 and H8). Moreover, the rest of the independent variables had a significant relationship with at least one dimension of intercultural compe - tence. In particular, the results indicated that living abroad had a significant relationship (p<.01) with the internal outcomes dimension only (Table 4). An analysis of mean scores indicated that teacher educators who had lived abroad had a relatively higher mean score (M=3.2374, SD=.4411) than those who never lived abroad ( M=3.1005, SD=.4418). Impliedly, living abroad influences teacher educators in the dimension of internal outcomes only. Therefore, we accept the hypothesis (H3) for this dimension only. intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 16 Table 4 T-test and ANOVA for the dimensions of intercultural competence Attitude Knowledge Skills Internal Outcomes External Outcomes Sex .843 .762 .415 .074 .537 Living abroad .065 .867 .423 .008** .950 Duration of staying abroad .017* .078 .150 .285 .337 Level of education .000** .000** .026* .196 .103 Teaching experience .042* .876 .453 .057 .402 The faculty where the academics came from .009** .615 .176 .167 .052 The college where the academics came from .071 .228 .094 .298 .644 p < .01**, p < .05* Furthermore, the results indicated that years of staying abroad signifi - cantly (p<.05) influence academics’ intercultural competence in the dimension of attitude only (Table 4). Descriptive statistics indicated that teacher educators who studied or stayed abroad for more than five years had higher mean scores than those who studied or stayed abroad for years less than five years (see Table 5). Therefore, the duration of staying abroad influences academics’ intercultur - al competence only in the attitude dimension. Thus, we accept the hypothesis (H4) for this dimension only. Table 5 Mean scores for the attitude dimension by the duration of staying abroad Duration of staying abroad M SD Below 1 year 3.3185 .2255 From 1 to 3 years 3.2356 .4818 From 3 to 5 years 3.4356 .3403 5 years and above 3.6296 .3036 From the findings, we note that teacher educators who had stayed abroad for five years and above had higher mean scores compared with those who stayed for a period below five years (Table 5). Nevertheless, it is surprising that teacher educators who studied or stayed abroad for some months had relatively higher mean scores than those who had studied or stayed abroad for one to three years (see Table 5). c e p s Journal 17 Table 6 Mean scores for attitude, knowledge, and skills dimensions by level of education Level of education Attitude Knowledge Skills Bachelor Degree M=3.4837, SD=.3165 M=3.2653, SD=.4325 M=3.2206, SD=.5565 Master Degree M=3.1724, SD=.3638 M=2.8439, SD=.4155 M=3.0323, SD=.4382 Doctoral Degree M=3.3692, SD=.3375 M=3.0813, SD=.4256 M=3.1667, SD=.4517 Regarding the level of education, the results indicated that there was a signifi - cant relationship between the level of education and attitude (p<.01), knowl - edge (p<.01), and skills (p<.05) only (see Table 4). Surprisingly, descriptive sta - tistics indicated that teacher educators with bachelor’ s degrees had higher mean scores in all three dimensions. Under normal circumstances, teacher educators with higher levels of education are expected to possess intercultural compe - tence. Unexpectedly, teacher educators with master’s degrees demonstrated lower mean scores in all dimensions, with knowledge scoring the lowest (see Table 6). Therefore, we accept hypothesis (H5) in these three dimensions only. Table 7 Mean scores for the attitude dimension by academics’ teaching experience Academics’ teaching experience M SD Below 5 years 3.2646 .3802 From 5 to 10 years 3.2622 .3641 10 years and above 3.3813 .3313 With regard to teaching experience, results indicated that academics’ teaching experience was significantly related (p<.05) to the dimension of at - titude only (see Table 4). After running descriptive statistics, results indicated that teacher educators with a university teaching experience of 10 years and above had higher mean scores than those who had taught for less than ten years (see Table 7). We accept the hypothesis (H6) from the results that academics with different teaching experiences will only differ regarding their intercultural competence in the attitude dimension. intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 18 Table 8 Mean scores for the attitude dimension by the faculty where the academics came from Faculty M SD Education 3.3730 .3122 Humanities and Social Sciences 3.3239 .3315 Science 3.2018 .4399 Concerning the faculty from which the academics came, the results indicated that there was a significant relationship (p<.01) between the faculty where teacher academics came from and the attitude dimension of intercultural competence (see Table 4). Descriptive statistics showed that teacher educators from the faculty of education had higher mean scores than those from the faculty of humanities and social sciences and the faculty of science (Table 8). Therefore, we nullify the hypothesis (H7) in the attitude dimension and accept the hypothesis (H7) in all other dimensions of intercultural competence. Discussion The general purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which teacher educators possess intercultural competence. Also, the study intended to examine the factors that influence the intercultural competence of academics. Descriptive statistics indicated that of all the study participants, 148 (49.7%) had not studied or lived abroad; this implies that many teacher educators lack at least one dimension of intercultural competence. For instance, in this study, results indicated that living abroad influences the dimension of internal out - comes only. On the one hand, the results contradict studies (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012; Garrote, 2016; Holland, 2013), which found no significant relationship be - tween living abroad and intercultural competence. On the other hand, the re - sults support the previous studies (Maharaja, 2018; Salisbury et al., 2013), which have indicated that living abroad significantly relates to some dimensions of intercultural competence. Since these two universities have small numbers of international aca - demics and students, we assume that this might have been the reason for those who had never lived abroad to score relatively lower mean scores compared with those who had studied or lived abroad. Thus, they lacked internationali - sation across nations and borders (Feng, 2016; Garson, 2016; Salisbury et al., 2013; Wang & Kulich, 2015) and internationalisation at home (Garson, 2016; c e p s Journal 19 Wang & Kulich, 2015). As a solution, individuals must continue to familiarise themselves with intercultural competence. Familiarity with intercultural com - petence might be useful to teacher educators when they go abroad for further education, conferences, and other academic ventures. Both colleges have in - ternationalisation and convocation departments which link the colleges with other international institutions across the globe, search for scholarships to study abroad, and organise exchange programmes for academics and students. Therefore, it is mandatory that teacher educators acquire intercultural compe - tencies for interaction with people from other cultures. Apart from the colleges, the government of Tanzania has also established various bilateral relations with other countries for the purpose of securing scholarships and exchange pro - grammes for academics (Tingting, 2014). Such efforts by colleges and govern - ments respond to the emphasis made in the studies (Maharaja, 2018; Salisbury et al., 2013), which have suggested that individuals’ academic mobility and in - ternationalisation experiences improve their intercultural competence. Furthermore, although the results indicated that teacher educators had significantly low mean scores in the knowledge dimension, generally, teacher educators reported having moderate levels of intercultural competence. The fact that academics scored low in the items measuring the dimension of knowl - edge is a sign for academics to continue to familiarise themselves with the knowledge dimension of intercultural competence. With regard to the contradictory results of sex and intercultural com - petence noted in the previous studies (Garrote, 2016; Hyde & Linn, 2006; Po - lat & Barka, 2014), the present study indicates that men and women have no significant relationship with any of the intercultural competence. Such contra - dicting results continue to place sex as an important variable that researchers must consider when conducting intercultural competence studies. Moreover, the results from this study replicate earlier findings (Hudelson et al., 2011; Peng & Wu, 2016) that teaching experience significantly relates to the dimensions of intercultural competence. In this study, teaching experience is significantly only associated with the dimension of attitude. Furthermore, this study repli - cates the earlier studies (Hudelson et al., 2011; Peng & Wu, 2016), which found that academics with many years of teaching experience had higher mean scores than those with few years of teaching experience. Our results contradicted the previous study on the duration of living abroad (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012), which indicated that the duration of stay had no significant relationship with intercultural competence. Our results indicated that living abroad significantly relates to at least one dimension of intercultural competence: attitude. Similar to our expectations, the results indicated that intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 20 teacher educators who had lived abroad for many years had higher mean scores than those who had studied or lived for a few years. Surprisingly, teacher aca - demics who lived abroad for a period below one year had higher mean scores than those who studied or lived for one to three years. Polat and Barka (2014) found that pre-service teachers in primary edu - cation departments were more competent in intercultural competence than pre-service teachers in preschool education. Such results communicate that the higher the level of education, the more the individual becomes interculturally competent. Similarly, logic also tells us that those with higher levels of educa - tion are expected to demonstrate higher mean scores in intercultural compe - tence. This is because those with higher education levels tend to have local and global connections (Chi & Suthers, 2015). In contradiction with these studies, our results indicated that teacher educators with bachelor’s degrees had higher mean scores in the dimensions of attitude, knowledge, and skills. They out - shone teacher educators with master’s and doctoral degrees. Regarding the faculty from which the academics came, the results in - dicated that teacher educators from education had higher mean scores than those from other faculties. Those from the faculty of science had the lowest mean scores. We assume the programme course content taught by academics from humanities and social sciences, and education might have influenced the results. Those from the faculty of education, and humanities and social sciences teach courses related to intercultural competence, such as internationalisation, globalisation, modernisation, and public relations. Conclusions The study concludes that teacher educators possessed much intercultur - al competence, particularly in attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, and skills dimensions. Nevertheless, they have to improve in the dimension of knowledge, which had significantly lower mean scores. Furthermore, the study concludes that factors such as living abroad, duration of staying abroad, level of education, academics’ teaching experience, and the faculty where the aca - demics came from significantly influence at least one dimension of intercul - tural competence. From the study findings, we recommend the following for future research. First, a qualitative study may explore why teacher educators with bachelor’s degrees surpassed those with master’s and doctoral degrees in possessing intercultural competence. Second, a study may examine why teach - er educators who lived abroad for a period below one year had higher mean scores than those who lived abroad for one to three years. 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International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 48, 38–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.03.013 intercultural competence, a necessity in 21 st century classrooms 24 Biographical note Patrick Severine Kavenuke, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Educa - tional Foundations, Management and Lifelong Learning department at Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam. His main areas of research are teacher education, critical pedagogy, critical thinking skills in students, teacher-student relationships, international and comparative edu - cation, and teacher professional development. Grace Ezekiel Kihwele is an Assistant Lecturer in Educational Foundations, Management and Lifelong Learning department at Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam. Her main areas of research are equity and equality in education, international and comparative education, gender and education, teacher ethics, teacher-student relationships, and students’ discipline.