Fostering interculturally responsive educators for a sustainable society

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic rendered social inequalities more visible in the last two years and negatively impacted different spheres of life all around the world. How do we enhance quality education and reduce inequalities in the teaching and learning process? This paper presents the main results derived from a quantitative study involving university students who are enrolled in Bachelor's and Master's Degree courses in Italy. Students were asked to fill out surveys concerning the Student Measure of Culturally Responsive Teaching (Italian version) and the Sense of Belonging in order to explore their perceptions of culture-based teaching practices applied during lessons and their sense of belonging to the academic context. Data coming from statistical analysis shows a higher level of CRT and SoB, and reveales a moderate and positive correlation between the examined variables. These results allow us to reflect on the role of the active development methodologies, which can be applied in the educational contexts to promote intercultural dialogue and future culturally engaged professionals in order to reduce social barriers in the learning process and promote a more sustainable world.