Uses of moving pictures in intercultural education

This study investigated perceptions of the best uses of moving pictures in support of intercultural education for late adolescents and adults primarily in community college and business settings. The research focused on what unique powers moving pictures might bring to the classroom and how best to use these powers to support the development of intercultural sensitivity, competence, and agency or action.;A Delphi technique was used to collect data from 24 experts in general educational and intercultural educational theory and practice, and intercultural and anthropological filmmakers and theorists. Qualitative inductive analyses of the data revealed that the stimulation of multiple senses is the key power of moving pictures. Other important powers result from this one, such as the ability to present and evoke holistic, realistic, complex intercultural experiences right in the classroom and the ability to engage viewers in the affective domain. Additional powers were in turn derived from these and all of the powers, when applied to the goals of intercultural education, provide a wide range of possible uses of moving pictures as tools for the intercultural educator.;Information from the literature and the Delphi study supported the hypothesis that the best uses of moving pictures depend upon the stage of development of the students and the quality and appropriateness of facilitation. The purpose of grounded theory, therefore, was to describe the most effective uses of moving pictures for each stage along a continuum derived from M. J. Bennett's (1993; 1998b) "Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity.";The primary conclusions of this study included the discovery that images are particularly appropriate and important to intercultural education. Not only do they engage the full tacit side of culture for conscious encounter, they also help elicit and develop the affective capacities necessary to intercultural sensitivity. Images are also increasingly prevalent in world media, which is itself an ever larger component of people's cultural experiences. Media awareness, therefore, should be a central element in education, and particularly in intercultural education. Another important conclusion of this study was the particular appropriateness of exploratory facilitation in the development of intercultural sensitivity. This pedagogical approach models in process the attitude of openness to the diverse plurality of experience that characterizes intercultural sensitivity. It is hoped that the primary contribution of this Delphi study has been to begin serious dialogue about the powers and uses of moving pictures in intercultural education.