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12Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 10 (2018 11) 1673-1698
УДК 376.74
"Double Bottom" of Intercultural Competence: Evaluation by Means of Electronic Educational Platform of a Federal University
Olga G. Smolyaninova and Dmitry O. Trufanov*
Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
Received 06.08.2018, received in revised form 25.09.2018, accepted 05.10.2018
The article presents the experience of assessing multicultural competence of students, teachers, and trainers who participate in the intercultural educational platform in Siberian Federal University. This platform created within the project Tempus ALLMEET. The authors reveal a method of assessing multicultural competence and experience of use it. The method involves the study of superficial (verbal) and latent (unarticulated) layer of consciousness of the respondents. For data analysis the authors use the methods of descriptive statistics, index and factor analysis. This approach reveals a mismatch between declared (socially predetermined) and the actual attitude of respondents to other nationalities and cultures. The authors present and discuss the main results that were obtained during the researches.
Keywords: multicultural competence, modern multinational Russia, assessment of multicultural competence, tolerance, electronic platform of lifelong learning.
Research area: culturology.
Citation: Smolyaninova, O.G., Trufanov, D.O. (2018). "Double bottom" of Intercultural Competence: evaluation by means of electronic educational platform of a Federal University. J. Sib. Fed. Univ. Humanit. soc. sci., 11(10), 1673-1698. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0327.
Introduction
In modern multinational Russia, the territory of which is inhabited by more than 190 nations, the urgent problem is the increasing number of ethnic conflicts among young people. According to experts, the Krasnoyarsk region is characterized by stability in interethnic and intercultural relations. The cases of discrimination based on ethnic or cultural grounds are very rare. However, in spite of the overall stability in
© Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
Corresponding author E-mail address: smololga@mail.ru; dtrufanov@sfu-kras.ru
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
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the region, there are cases of Internet extremism and ethnic and cultural intolerance in everyday life. Particularly, the facts of ethnic and cultural intolerance are quite often met in students' and youth's environment. These facts are rather latent than bare. To reduce the tension of ethnic conflicts it is necessary to form multicultural competence in the education process.
The analysis of existing studies allows us to state that relying on certain concepts and contexts scientists reveal various aspects of intercultural competence. Obviously, the existing evaluation techniques do not embrace all aspects of intercultural competence. As a rule, each method of evaluation focuses only on a separate subset of intercultural competence constituents. In our research we present the experience of using a comprehensive method for assessing the intercultural competence of the federal university students and municipal employees on the basis of the popular in Russia questionnaire by G. Soldatova, supplemented by the D. Trufanov method, who used the Bogardus social distance scale and the sociometric Likert scale. This evaluation technique, in our opinion, facilitates more thorough definition of the basic intercultural competence foundations related to the actor orientation during the interaction with the other cultural groups.
Theoretical background
Many contemporary authors discuss the issues of multicultural education and multicultural competence (Hill, 2007; Kural & Bayyurt, 2016; Dalib, Harun & Yusof, 2017; Harris et al., 2018), including in the context of lifelong education. (Alidou, Glanz & Nikiema, 2011; Zubkova et al., 2015). A topical issue in many studies is the question of the definition of "multicultural competence". There is no single definition of multicultural competence both in Russian and international practice.
Notwithstanding this we considered a number of definitions of Russian researchers. Some of them are presented below.
"Multicultural competence is a complex integrative characteristic, reflecting awareness of the content, means, and ways of interacting with the world of culture, which is realized in the ability to navigate freely in a multicultural world, to understand its values and meanings, embodying them in decent samples of civilized behaviour in the process of positive interaction with representatives of different cultures (nationalities, races, beliefs, social groups)" by N. Filatova.
"Multicultural competence is a set of knowledge, abilities, skills, conducive to absorbing knowledge about the culture of people, as a precondition for integration into
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other cultures; the development of students' ideas about the diversity of cultures in the region, Russia and the world; development of skills of productive interaction with other cultures" by A. Ivanova.
The following definition from the thesis research made by Irina Kharina was taken as a basic definition: "Multicultural competence is an integrative property, which includes a number of interdependent and complementary components of cognitive, affective and behavioural spheres, enabling the person to interact effectively with the representatives of other cultures at all levels of intercultural communication in all spheres of interaction".
Foreign researchers also interpret the term "multicultural (polycultural) competence" from different perspectives. It should be noted that the term "intercultural competence" is more often used in foreign literature, with various meanings "ranging from cross-cultural adjustment, cultural sensitivity, global citizenship, intercultural communication effectiveness to transcultural communication appropriateness" (Taylor, 1994). Different authors study intercultural competence on the basis of one of two conceptual approaches: either a structurally-oriented model or a process model. The structurally-oriented approach (Wiseman, 2004) draws upon four components: motivation, knowledge, skills and relations. From the point of view of the process approach, intercultural competence is acquired throughout life and passes through some stages. One researcher notes that "the development of intercultural competence is a slow, gradual process of transformative learning" (Korhonen, 2002). Competence has different stages of development. One of the most popular process models of intercultural competence is the Bennet's "development of intercultural sensitivity" model (1998). Bennet defines intercultural competence as the ability to "perceive cultural differences in order to behave appropriately" and therefore calls this phenomenon intercultural sensitivity.
A. Matveev, M. Merz point out that "in different scientific schools there are various techniques for assessing multicultural competence that focus on its various elements, such as intercultural sensitivity (i.e. relations), interpersonal skills, intercultural communication skills, cultural empathy, openness, emotional stability, flexibility, social initiative, emotional stability, intercultural uncertainty, acuity, personal autonomy and effective teamwork (Bennett & Hammer, 1998; Brinkmann, 2011; Matveev & Nelson, 2004; Trompenaars & Wooliams, 2009). Carrying out the analysis of ten available assessment methods (the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and the Arasaratnam's Intercultural Communication
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Competence Instrument (ICCI), Intercultural Adjustment Potential Scale (ICAPS), the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), Culture Shock Inventory (CSI), Intercultural Sensitivity Inventory (ICSI), Intercultural Competence Profiler (ICP), Intercultural Readiness Check (IRC), and Intercultural Competence Questionnaire (ICQ)), A. Matveev and M. Merz conclude that "each of the assessment methods places a different emphasis on certain IC dimensions". According to the authors (A. Matveev, M. Merz), a comprehensive definition and measurement of intercultural competence must take into account cognitive (cultural-specific knowledge, attitude, openness / flexibility, critical thinking, motivation and personal autonomy), affective (cultural empathy and emotional stability / control) and behavioural competences (experience, social initiative, leadership and communication).
In summary, multicultural competence has at least two clearly distinguishable and hierarchically organized components at its core. The first component, expressed in terms of A.V. Gouldner, is "implicit underlying premises" (Gouldner). They are instincts rooted in the actor's experience, and at a profound level determining his / her attitude to foreign cultures and manifestations of other cultural behavioural pattern. The second component is verbally formulated in the consciousness evaluations, opinions and meanings that the actor can express, describing his / her attitude to foreign culture. This component is more superficial, variable and dependent on the current value-normative system, within which the actor exists.
The methods of developing multicultural competences in the education process should be targeted primarily at the first and the deepest component of multicultural competence. It is at this level where a tolerant attitude to foreign culture is formed; it functions not as a situational but as a "penetrating" value, as if guiding the actor's behaviour in various life situations. In this regard, methods for assessing the formation of multicultural competence should include diagnostic techniques for both superficial verbal and deep orientations in relation to interaction with foreign cultural groups and practices.
This approach becomes particularly relevant in multicultural communities, such as the Krasnoyarsk Krai (region). The main site for the development of practices for assessing multicultural competence in the Krasnoyarsk Krai is the Siberian Federal University, as it is the meeting place for representatives of a large number of foreign cultural groups and communities. Students from different countries come and study in Siberian Federal University (hereinafter referred to as SFU). They belong to different nationalities.
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The most numerous communities of students are from the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and China. Students from countries such as Nigeria, Ecuador, Venezuela, Syria, Bulgaria and Mongolia have also chosen SFU for getting higher education. Students from Germany, Japan, Spain, the Czech Republic come to SFU for exchange on a regular basis. Annually the University hosts more than 200 cultural events. Among them the important place belongs to the activities of intercultural orientation, such as Student festival "Youth Commonwealth", the Day of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), an international festival "Studentship without Borders", "Day of Kyrgyzstan Culture in SFU", "Cuisine without Borders".
The School of Education, Psychology and Sociology (SEPS) is one of the leading institutes of Siberian Federal University in the field of humanitarian training. In 2014, a group of the SFU scientists led by O. Smolyaninova created an electronic multicultural platform for continuous education. So far it has been used for improving tolerance and building a productive intercultural communication, thereto Multicultural Lifelong Learning Center was established. Currently, the platform is aimed at developing the scientific and educational complex of the Krasnoyarsk Krai (region) with the support of the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation. The effective models of interaction based on effective E-PLATFORM LIFELONG LEARNING were created as a result of the study undertaken in the context of implementation of the project No. 16-1624005 "Development of education and research center in the Krasnoyarsk Region by means of an electronic platform of lifelong learning (PL2LS)" and presented in the paper.
An important motivational element for self-reflection and lifelong learning in a multicultural society is awareness of interethnic relations and cultures of other nations. In order to increase students' awareness of them, the content of humanitarian and some professional and special disciplines in educational programs was revised with a focus on regional, national, ethnic and religious specifics. First of all, these changes concern such subjects as history, world and art culture, philosophy, ethnopedagogy and ethnosociology.
We considered it appropriate not to include in the formal program to a number of theoretical issues related to the organization of productive interaction with representatives of different cultures, with ethnic cultures and values of different religions, but to cover them using PL2S multicultural educational platform as informal educational space. As an experiment, we used tasks in the form of the real cases of the multicultural educational environment.
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Developing a model of a multicultural approach for training future teachers, we rely on the concept developed by N.N. Nikitina together with other researchers: N.A. Evleshina, V.R. Yasnitskaya, I.T. Suleimanov. According to this concept, we expound the university multicultural environment as an objectively existing variety of subcultures; study the educational potential of these cultures; determine the real level of students' tolerance in relation to the diversity of subcultures presented at the university and conditions for its development; find out the conditions for the emergence of social and cultural tolerance and student identity in a multicultural reality; describe the culture of the educational organization as a field of interpenetration of the multicultural environment components, ensuring the enrichment of their educational potential.
Our theoretical model of the multicultural platform of continuous education is based on concepts, ideas and basic categories of multiculturalism, as well as on the A.V. Mudrik's concept of socialization in the social education context. The researcher defines the concept as the human upbringing in the course of the planned creating conditions for human at least relatively purposeful positive development and spiritual-value orientation.
Intercultural education platform (hereinafter referred to as IEP) consists of several interactive spaces and systems of functional connections between them. Each interactive space is organized as a medium of individuals' communication of educational process, which directly implements the specific activities.
The main activities implemented in the framework of IEP are:
• monitoring of issues related to migration, interethnic and interreligious relations;
• collection and analysis of data, information about migration;
• seminars and workshops dedicated to the practice and methods of cultural equality;
• courses-trainings for migrants, devoted to the problems of unemployment, social tensions and inclusion;
• promotion of forms of Association to maintain ethnic self-awareness and identity in small groups;
• organization of public forums, aimed at formation of respectful attitude to the traditions and cultural heritage of the small groups;
• prevention of extremism, nationalist radicalism.
IEP includes five interactive spaces (Fig. 1).
Interactive space 1 presents an interactive website. It is made to solve the problems of integration of the Intercultural education platform into information environment of the community where the platform operates. Highlight three main functions that must be implemented on the website. First of all, it is the involvement of representatives of
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Fig. 1. Five interactive spaces
target groups to work of the platform, informing about possibilities of participation in it. This feature provides the ability to log in the Intercultural education platform, creates an informational message to potential individuals of educational process. It should be brought into focus that the involvement to work of the platform is provided means of art with the use of modern multimedia technologies. This allows referring not only to the cognitive reactions of representatives of target audience, but to emotional reactions. Secondly, the website serves as a service that allows members of the target group to ask questions to specialists of the platform. It thereby establishes the interactive format of
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the contacts between the individuals of the educational process. Thirdly, blogging and Internet discussions on the problems of ethnic and religious tolerance in the form of a moderated online forum.
This space is the first step into the platform for a representative of the target audience. The task of an operator (consultant, trainer, methodologist) of this interactive space is to get in touch with the target audience representative, to study the motives of his/her interest in the platform and, on this basis, to formulate the scenario of his/her route within the framework of the platform. In accordance with this scenario, the target audience representative of is sent to one or another service located in the platform's various interactive spaces.
Interactive space 2 is represented with the digital ePortfolio service. It acts as an instrument of self-presentation, personal development, self-study and career-building of the target groups throughout life.
Interactive space 3 is actually educational sector of the platform. Here the problems of the trainings, seminars, consultations are solved, also the direct work for the socialization of representatives of target audience is made. In the educational sector can be applied technologies such as distance learning and direct training. First are presented in the form of webinars, e-learning courses and other similar formats; the second are in the form of courses, trainings, forums, workshops, training seminars, et cetera.
Interactive space 4 is the scientific sector of the platform. Here the scientific analysis of the progress and results of the work of Intercultural education platform and its separate components is carried out. In the scientific sector is scientific reflection of platform, develop recommendations on improvement of its functioning. Obtained during scientific analysis conclusions are drawn in the form of analytical reports, scientific publications and presentations at scientific conferences.
Interactive space 5 is a coordination center. It provides general and operational management of the work of Intercultural education platform, provides a general reflection with participants of the project, identify problem areas, making decisions on their optimization. The main task of the coordination center is to create conditions for functioning and efficient interaction of all interactive spaces.
Problem
Tolerance is a polymorphic phenomenon. The possibility of tolerance, as a characteristic of human existence, is inherent in the human as the representative of
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Homo Sapiens, as their essence presupposes the development of the ability to tolerate otherness. In its actualized form, tolerance belongs to a class of spiritual phenomena. At the same time, in the process of its formation as the ability of an individual, tolerance exists as a social phenomenon. Tolerance in its social sense is a necessary stage in and a precondition for the development of the spiritual dimension. Let us enlist the essential features of these stages.
Tolerance as a social trait acts in the form of a social and cultural prediction in relation to a socializing individual who is a subject of group communications. The socially significant value of tolerance under these circumstances acts as an instrument for the individual to become a group member (it is clear that this group is social where this value is appreciated and is a part of intragroup values). Here, tolerance is not yet a trait of an individual, but acts as a social fact in relation to him/her, i.e. exists in the social (supra-individual) space and exerts a compulsory influence on behaviour. At this stage, the individual's commitment to the tolerance imperative remains as long as the group, whose norms declare this imperative, is referential for this individual. When in the individual's environment a different group with alternative and attractive to the individual group values appears, the tolerance imperative can easily be replaced by other, perhaps opposing, values. Often tolerant and intolerant behaviour patterns are shown by the same individual, depending on the group (and therefore the value system) within which he/she acts at the moment. So, a vivid example of this is double standards in the individual behaviour (grotesquely this habit manifests itself in the teenagers behaviour at school in relations with teachers and with peers (informal relations)). Thus, a social group is able to act as a sort of intermediary between the individual and tolerance patterns, which does not guarantee his/her personal commitment to this imperative.
Tolerance as a spiritual dimension is a characteristic of the immediate (not superimposed by the social group) relationship of the individual to the Otherness of the Other. Such an individual has spiritual autonomy being a source of morality for him/ herself, while the norms of social groups and institutions in his/her environment do not have a determining influence on behaviour (for defining such an individual Maslow uses the term "self-actualized person"). Here, tolerance is perceived as the moral choice of a particular individual and is a manifestation of the individual's inner freedom. In this case, adherence to the tolerance imperative is not situational, but, on the contrary, it is a "penetrating" value, i.e. this value governs the individual's behaviour in various life situations.
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In connection with the above points, there is a question, how it is possible (and whether it is possible) to teach tolerance? If training is understood as informing, presentation of tolerance patterns to an individual with just explaining ideas of tolerance, then the answer to the question posed is negative: it is impossible to teach tolerance in such a way. As practice shows, the individual's awareness of the tolerance imperative does not necessarily lead to his/her commitment to this imperative.
To establish the essential individual's adherence to the models of tolerant behaviour is possible only by actualizing in his/her motivational system the need for a tolerant attitude to otherness. By doing this, the learning process also acquires significant signs of upbringing. If this socialization effect is successful, the individual will be able to enjoy the realization of the tolerance imperative, which indicates that he/she has an actual need for such behaviour.
Due to the social and cultural changes taking place in the modern world, there is a need for specialists of a new level who have a high level of communication skills and are able to work in the multicultural educational environment. One of the main tasks of the Siberian Federal University is creating a mindset of tolerant consciousness and behaviour. Having conducted longitudinal research, we came up with a scientific idea that the process of developing ethnic tolerance of the federal university students is connected with the organization of systematic activities to add multicultural events to the educational environment and support the educational, scientific and social activity of students and university researchers through the PL2S platform of continuous education. We agreed on and characterized practical teaching methods for involving students in multicultural events on the basis of the SFU intercultural educational platform, developed jointly in a consortium with international partners, national diasporas and with the support of the Krasnoyarsk Krai administration. Then the educational programs for the university humanitarian specialties were developed. Now the curriculum includes such disciplines as Ethnopedagogy, Ethnopsychology, Theory and practice of effective verbal communication, History of religions, Multicultural education and other multiculturalism courses that promote the development of students' ethnic tolerance and ethnic identity. Students learn about basic national values, national and ethnic spiritual traditions mainly via extra-curricular activities, including non-formal education implemented by the PL2S multicultural platform. Different types of students' creative (dance, singing, artistic, handmade clubs, etc.) activities help them to understand their belonging to the national group and develop ethnic identity, so they are presented on Pl2S platform both in news sections and in personal students' electronic portfolios.
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A prerequisite for the effective development of multicultural competence by the educational means is the evaluation of the components of the cognitive, affective and behavioural spheres in target groups prior to the course start. These components characterize the individual's ability to interact with representatives of other cultures. An important role is played by hostile or complementary perceptions of foreign cultural groups. On the cognitive level, respondents often declare a positive attitude towards representatives of other nationalities and cultures. Such declarations express a superficial verbal layer of their consciousness reflecting the general imperatives of tolerance presented in the value-normative environment of the society. Declared at this level, this attitude has a real impact on the actor's behaviour primarily during his/her activity in the space of social control, when the actor endures stable social expectations of tolerant behaviour. With the weakening of social control, the actor is inclined to change the model of tolerant behaviour to confrontational one as regards the representatives of other cultures.
Along with the superficial verbal level there is also the latent level of multicultural competence, expressed in the deep-laid respondents' attitude to the representatives of other cultures. This level's indications are a powerful motivator of social behaviour.
Methods for assessing multicultural competence aimed at analyzing the content of verbal responses often give a situational result that does not reveal the deep structures of perception as regards foreign cultural groups. Such methods should be supplemented by means of analysis of latent orientations, enabling to study the respondents' actual attitude to the representatives of other cultures.
Objectives
The main objectives of the platform are as follows.
• Orientation on formal and informal education in lifelong learning;
• Development of ethno-cultural competencies demanded in multicultural society;
• Development of international cooperation with the leading higher educational institutions in conditions of lifelong learning;
• Creation of multicultural educational space, ensuring the integration of representatives of different ethnic and cultural groups;
• Consultation activity for representatives of different ethno-cultural groups to integrate them into the multicultural space of the Krasnoyarsk region;
• Expansion of multicultural educational content platform and provision of its software and methodological support;
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35 courses are planned in SEPS
3 courses were chosen to approbate the assessment tools of multicultural competence
XI
1. Modern international relations;
2. ePortfolio in education and employment;
3. Improvement of social and professional competence in polycultural field
Fig. 2. Target groups. Multicultural courses on the SEPS base for different target groups
• Implementation of "informal education" by including students in personal meaningful creative activities in the process of which an individual educational trajectory is formed.
The electronic platform for lifelong learning includes a system of courses for the following target groups: coaches, students, teachers, government and municipal officials, representatives of diasporas and national autonomies.
3 courses were chosen to approbate the assessment tools of multicultural competence. You can see them on the Fig. 2.
The first two courses are for students, the third one is for government and municipal officials.
To evaluate the effectiveness of courses and trainings with regards to the development of the high level of multicultural competence two methodologies were chosen.
Methodology
The first is the express questionnaire developed by Dmitry Trufanov and the second is the express questionnaire developed by Galina Soldatova. Express questionnaire "Index of Tolerance" developed by Galina Soldatova can be used to diagnose the general level of tolerance. The questionnaire statements reflect both the general attitude towards the world and other people and social settings in different areas of cooperation where tolerance and intolerance are manifested. The methodology includes the statements that identify the opinion of a person towards some social groups
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Fig. 3. Three issues of qualitative analysis
(minorities, mentally disabled and indigent people), communication settings (respect for the opponent's opinion, readiness for constructive conflict solving and productive cooperation). Special attention is given to ethnic tolerance and intolerance (opinions towards people of a different race or an ethnic group, towards the respondent's own ethnic group, the evaluation of cultural distance).
As a result of the survey there were obtained data for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. For quantitative analysis the overall result is calculated with no division into subscales. For quantitative analysis each response is distributed either between direct or the opposite statements. It is scored from 1 to 6. As for qualitative analysis (Fig. 3), it includes such subscales as
• Ethnic tolerance;
• Social tolerance;
• Tolerance as a personal characteristics.
There are 3 steps to indentify the levels of tolerance using this method. In Table 1 you can see the indicators used to measure levels of tolerance.
The express questionnaire to study relations of tolerance among students made by Dmitry Trufanov allows revealing verbally expressed attitudes towards representatives of other nationalities represented at the surface level of the respondents' consciousness and reflecting current social norms, and latent revealing the deep level of respondents' attitude towards representatives of other nationalities (Fig. 4).
The latent level of attitude towards representatives of other nationalities is studied using the Likert scale, whereby respondents are asked to express their attitude to a series of positive and negative judgements revealing tolerant and intolerant attitude towards representatives of other nationalities. A series of positive judgements includes the following: all nations,
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Table 1. The indicators used to measure levels of tolerance
Level of tolerance Quantitative analysis Qualitative analysis
Individual or group Ethnic tolerance Social tolerance Tolerance as a personal characteristic
low level From 20 to 60 points Up to 19 points Up to 22 points Up to 19 points
average level From 61 to 99 points From 20 to 31 points From 23 to 36 points From 20 to 31 points
high level From 100 to 132 points From 32 and more points From 37 and more points From 32 and more points
^LeveU^
Statistical analysis of respondents ' opinions obtained as answers to the question from the sociological questionnaire on their attitudes towards multi-ethnicity of the region where they live
Index analysis of respondents' answers, obtained using a sevenfold unipolar scale of social distance (Bogardus)
The method of factor analysis of the ratings of positive and negative judgments of students about other nationalities, which are obtained using Likert scale
Fig. 4. Two levels of the diagnostic approach used by Dmitry Trufanov
large and small, should have equal opportunities in Russia to preserve their language, religion and traditions; the representatives of different nationalities in the region enriches the culture of our region; radical nationalism should be condemned; the incitement of ethnic dissension is a crime which must be punished severely; it is impossible to divide peoples into good and bad, because in every nation there are good and bad people. A series of negative judgments is represented by the following examples: it is necessary to deliberately restrict the residence of representatives of some nationalities in our region; people who have their historical homeland outside of Russia must go there; the multinational environment is the breeding ground for crime; only those who know Russian and respect Russian culture should be allowed to live in Russia.
A factor analysis of the answers obtained lets us reveal the correlations between the judgements forming the complexes of opinions that are relevant in the respondents' minds. They may contradict the respondents' answers received through the traditional questions of the sociological questionnaire.
Express questionnaire for studying the dynamics of the verbal component of tolerance mindsets.
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01. Representatives of many nationalities live in our region. How do you feel about that fact that you live in the multinational environment?
1. satisfied;
2. more satisfied than dissatisfied;
3. more dissatisfied than satisfied;
4. dissatisfied;
5. it doesn't matter for me.
02. Do you agree to have the following relations with people of a different nationality?
1. yes 2. no
1 get married
2 be friends
3 be neighbours, live on the same street
4 be colleagues (work / study together)
5 be fellow citizens of one state
6 I agree to have them only as tourists in my country
7 I would prefer not to see them in my country
03. Do you agree with the following statements (in each line tick one answer only)?
I agree I am likely to agree Difficult to answer I rather disagree I disagree
1 The incitement of ethnic dissension is a crime which should be punished severely
2 It is necessary to deliberately restrict the number of coming immigrants labourers
3 Radical nationalism should be condemned
4 People who have their historical homeland outside of Russia must go there
5 Coming immigrants labourers enrich the culture of our region
6 The multinational environment is the breeding ground for crime
7 It is impossible to divide peoples into good and bad, because in every nation there are good and bad people
8 Only those who know Russian and respect Russian culture should be allowed to live in Russia for a long time
9 All nations, large and small, should have equal opportunities in Russia to preserve their language, religion and traditions
10 It is necessary to restrict the residence in our region for representatives of the peoples from the Caucasus and Central Asia
Research stages and results
So, during the implementation of the project an input survey was conducted. 104 respondents took part in it and filled in the questionnaires (Fig. 5). They were divided into groups.
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Modern international relations (bachelor degree students)
ePortfolio in education and employment (master degree students)
Improvement of social and professional competence in multicultural field
Fig. 5. Groups of respondents participated in the survey
Groups were formed according to the request of the target audience for special learning courses. So, the target group "Government and municipal officers" started the course "Improvement of social and professional competence in multicultural field". Students were divided into 2 groups: 23 students of bachelor degree program and 31 of master degree program. Bachelor degree students started the course "Modern international relations" and master degree students - "ePortfolio in education and employment". According to the input diagnosis of the group "Government and municipal officers" the results of the express questionnaire "Index of Tolerance" showed that most respondents have an average level of tolerance (Fig. 6).
It means a combination of tolerant and intolerant traits. So, in some cases they behave tolerantly, in others - may demonstrate intolerance. Only 3 persons of 50 have a low level of tolerance and 6 have a high level.
Representatives of the group "Government and municipal officials" showed an average level of ethnic, social tolerance and tolerance as a personal characteristic (Fig. 7).
Fig. 6. The results of the input diagnosis using express questionnaire "Index of tolerance" among government and municipal officials
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Qualitative analysis: average values of the index of tolerance
■ Ethnic tolerance
■ Social tolerance
Tolerance as a personal characteristic
Fig. 7. The results of the input diagnosis using express questionnaire "Index of tolerance" among government and municipal officials
Distribution of answers to the question "Representatives of many nationalities live in our region. How do you feel about the fact that you live in the multicultural environment?"
■ Satisfied
I More satisfied than dissatisfied
More dissatisfied than satisfied I Dissatisfied
It does not matter
Fig. 8. The answers of government and municipal officials to the question "Representatives of many nationalities live in our region.
How do you feel about the fact that you live in the multicultural environment?"
According to another diagnostic method (the express questionnaire made by Dmitry Trufanov), more than a half of respondents are satisfied or rather satisfied that they live in the multicultural environment (Fig. 8).
The express questionnaire made by Dmitry Trufanov includes 3 types of analysis: statistical analysis of respondents' opinions, index analysis of respondents' answers, obtained using a scale of social distance (Bogardus) and mathematical (factor) analysis. So, according to Bogradus scale, it shows willingness of government and municipal officers to enter into close and friendly relations with people of other nationality. But mathematical analysis of respondents' answers gives evidence that the complex of
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intolerant opinions is present in a deep level of their consciousness and they express negative attitude towards other nationalities.
Measurement of social distance is used on the basis of seven-extent unipolar Bogardus scale. The minimum distance corresponds to the value "1" and expresses the readiness of students to accept other nationalities as a family member. Scale value "2" indicates the willingness of students to be close friends with other nationalities, "3" -to be neighbours, live in the same street, "4" - to be colleagues, "5" - to live with them in the same city, town, "6" - consent to see them as residents of the Krasnoyarsk region and "7" (maximum distance) expressed a wish not to see them in the Krasnoyarsk region.
Index of social distance, which government and municipal officials demonstrate against the other nationalities, is 2.06, so it expresses their willingness to engage with people of other nationality in close and friendly relations. This figure demonstrates openness to relations with representatives of other nationalities that are interpreted by respondents as "their own".
Factor analysis shows that the respondents have in their minds active complex of intolerant opinions, expressing cautious and often negative attitudes towards other nationalities. Respondents were offered a list of statements with which they could agree or disagree. For answers, Likert five-point scale was used with responses varying from "fully agree" to "completely disagree". The results of factor analysis showed that there are two complexes of sustainable opinions (factors), describing 60% of the variance. The most common is the factor expressing the intolerant attitude of government and municipal officials to other nationalities (34% of the variance).
The components of this factor are presented below (Table 2).
Intolerant attitude of respondents to other nationalities is expressed in such statements:
• Limit the arrival of foreign labor migrants in our region;
• The deportation of the people who have their homeland outside Russia;
• Multinational environment is breeding crime;
• Permission to enter Russia for a long time only for those who know the Russian language and respect Russian culture;
• The restriction of residence in our region for representatives of peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The second factor expresses an open tolerant attitude of government and municipal officers to other nationalities (26% of the variance).
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Open tolerant attitude of respondents to other nationalities:
• Incitement to ethnic hatred is a crime which shall be punished severely;
• Radical nationalism is condemnable;
• It is impossible to divide nations into good and bad, because there are good and bad people in every nation;
• All nations in Russia need to have an equal opportunity to preserve their language, religion, traditions and customs.
Thus, along with the demonstrated openness of state and municipal employees as regards relations with representatives of other nationalities, and declared at the verbal level tolerance, their consciousness reveals a complex of intolerant opinions, since they express a negative attitude towards representatives of other nationalities.
The results of the quantitative analysis of students' answers to express questionnaire "Index of Tolerance" developed by Galina Soldatova are presented below (Fig. 9). These results show that the students have an average level of tolerance. It is worth noting that respondents studying in bachelor and master degree programs have a tendency of transition from average level of tolerance to high level.
Taking into account the results of the qualitative analysis we can also speak about the average level of tolerance. However, according to indicators of the level of tolerance
Table 2. Factor analysis of responses of state and municipal employees to the question "Do you agree with the following statements?"
Factor
1 2
The incitement of ethnic dissension is a crime which should be punished severely -0,169 0,768
It is necessary to deliberately restrict the number of coming immigrants labourers 0,842 0,001
Radical nationalism should be condemned 0,012 0,896
People who have their historical homeland outside of Russia must go there 0,818 -0,296
Coming immigrants labourers enrich the culture of our region -0,775 0,077
The multinational environment is the breeding ground for crime 0,793 -0,150
It is impossible to divide peoples into good and bad, because in every nation there are good and bad people -0,502 0,646
Only those who know Russian and respect Russian culture should be allowed to live in Russia for a long time 0,399 -0,012
All nations, large and small, should have equal opportunities in Russia to preserve their language, religion and traditions -0,057 0,698
It is necessary to restrict the residence in our region for representatives of the peoples from the Caucasus and Central Asia 0,619 -0,377
% of dispersion 34% 26%
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Fig. 9. The results of Quantitative and Qualitative analysis
Fig. 10. The results of the input diagnosis for students - express questionnaire by D. Trufanov
presented in the table, we can notice a tendency of transition from the low level to the average level of tolerance in the category of social tolerance.
It can be assumed that some respondents hold a certain system of norms and values, not just because it is their system, but also because from their point of view, this system in some aspects is better than other.
According to the express questionnaire made by Dmitry Trufanov (Fig. 10), the index of social distance established by SFU students towards people of other nationality
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is the 1.62, which proves their willingness to participate in close and friendly relations with such people. This figure demonstrates openness to relations with representatives of other nationalities that are interpreted by respondents as "their own".
Conclusion
On the one hand, the researches made have shown that qualitative analysis shows the average level of both groups "Government and municipal officials" and "Students". There is a tendency of transition from the average level of tolerance to the high level. This tendency may indicate the declared willingness to accept "other" cultures, their right to exist, right to express their views and values. This proves that the tolerance imperative exists in the respondents' social environment as a social norm and has a direct effect on their consciousness. This norm is perceived by the respondents and regulates their behaviour in those periods when they are under the influence of external social control active in the given social environment.
Despite the external openness of "Government and municipal officials" towards representatives of "other", declared on the verbal level, at the deeper level of their consciousness they reveal a complex of intolerant opinions, expressing an actively negative attitude towards representatives of other nationalities.
Students' mindsets have not evidentiated stable complexes of deep opinions that reveal their attitude towards representatives of other nationalities. Opinions of students are fragmented and often include both judgments indicating their tolerant attitude towards the representatives of minorities and judgments expressing wariness of these people.
Such dissonance between the manifestation of ethnic tolerance, "tolerance as a personal characteristic" and "social tolerance" can be attributed to the contradiction between "the declared humanistic principles" and a real manifestation of intolerance.
We can suppose that a person has a tendency to split (often unconsciously) some cultural prejudices, to use stereotypes in relation to the representatives of various cultures, to feel personal rejection of any socio-cultural groups.
Summing it up, it is necessary to distinguish tolerance as social and spiritual dimension of individuals. Tolerance as a social factor is a less stable characteristic of the social behaviour of the actor and largely depends on the social context in which the person acts.
It can be concluded that in the Siberian Federal University the process of students' teaching and education in the spirit of interethnic interaction takes advantage
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of culturally appropriate (teaching, motivating, developing) methods. And these technologies or means are aimed at the creating every component of tolerance: cognitive, value-oriented and activity-based.
The intensification of the development of the SFU students' multicultural competence was carried out both in the format of formal and informal education through various activities presented on the PL2S platform: conducting trainings and multicultural events based on the activity approach; presentations of various exhibitions and participation in discussions, also with the representatives of national cultural autonomies; through the organization and coverage of the results of the expeditions with a real immersion in the multicultural environment; through intercultural and interdisciplinary student research together with the lecturers. From our point of view, involving members of the national cultural autonomies and national diasporas in the implementation of multicultural education is of great potential. The productive interaction of SFU students with the representatives of other cultures and religions ensures the implementation of the strategic initiatives of the federal university for the prevention of interethnic conflicts in a youth multicultural environment and this will foster the formation of a single social and educational space of the multinational region.
Dialogue and joint activities of social organizations, civil institutions and individual organizations in the multicultural region were supported by electronic technologies. For consolidating interethnic space and supporting the system of multicultural education in Krasnoyarsk Krai, it is possible to use the PL2S electronic platform for continuous education, which contributes to the successful socialization of future specialists and their integration into the multicultural environment, as well as to designing a promising trajectory for their personal and professional development.
Thus, creation and development of multicultural competence of future teachers in the conditions of the regional multicultural environment will adequately reflect the competencies necessary for professional training for pedagogical activity and for life in a multicultural society. These competencies should act as an integrative content of the educational process at the federal university.
Taking into account the obtained data of primary diagnosis, special courses have been developed and included in a special educational program, or have been offered to the target groups. According to our assumptions, if representatives take these courses, it will be possible to raise their level of tolerance.
Thus, multicultural competence can and should be assessed comprehensively, including an assessment of both the deep and the surface verbal levels of the actors'
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mindsets as regards foreign cultural groups and practices. The approach to the multicultural competence evaluation applied within the framework of the multicultural educational platform of the Siberian Federal University, allows us not only to study the respondents' declared attitude to foreign cultures, but also to reveal the deeper level of their orientations. As the results of the research have proved, the "fine façade" may disguise latent tensions and conflicts. High assessments of multicultural competence obtained during the diagnosis of the surface verbal level may conflict with the results obtained by studying the respondents' inner orientations. For the sake of developing multicultural competences by means of education, this means the need to influence the deeper level of students' consciousness in order to create a positive and tolerant attitude to foreign culture. This tolerance as a "penetrating" value should guide the actor's behaviour in various life situations, regardless of changing social contexts. These tasks can be successfully solved using the lifelong learning educational methods, which at the Siberian Federal University are applied, along with other things, in the electronic educational platform.
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«Двойное дно» поликультурной компетентности: результаты оценивания средствами электронной образовательной платформы федерального университета
О.Г. Смолянинова, Д.О. Труфанов
Сибирский федеральный университет Россия, 660041, Красноярск, пр. Свободный, 79
В статье представлен опыт оценки поликультурной компетентности студентов, преподавателей и тренеров, взаимодействующих на базе межкультурной образовательной платформы Сибирского федерального университета. Данная платформа создана в рамках проекта Tempus ALLMEET. Авторы раскрывают методику оценки поликультурной компетентности и опыт ее использования. Метод предполагает изучение поверхностного (вербального) и латентного (неартикулированного) слоев сознания респондентов. Для анализа данных используются методы описательной статистики, индексного и факторного анализа. Такой подход выявляет несоответствие декларируемого (социально детерминированного) и фактического отношений респондентов к другим национальностям и культурам. Авторы представляют и обсуждают основные результаты, полученные в ходе исследований.
Ключевые слова: поликультурная компетентность, современная многонациональная Россия, оценка поликультурной компетентности, толерантность, электронная платформа непрерывного образования.
Научная специальность: 24.00.00 - культурология.
