Pedagogy of Heuristic Contexturalisation: Intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters

Abstract: The present study is designed to analyze the effects of the ongoing cultural globalization. It utilizes as its empirical setting two special programmes called the International Master's Programme (the IMP,) directed by Lund University in Sweden. The aim of the study is to infer a pedagogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters by exploring, describing, and comprehending the effective side of the IMP pedagogic conduct and its essential. In order to realize the aim of the study, the study method is oriented to Educational Transferability through Qualitative Ideographic "Root-images" based on the principle of Symbolic Interactionism with a Poststructuralist's perspective. Throughout the fallibilistic approach with "'bottom-up' process" supported by the "3I=Trinity" as methodology, two IMP programmes (IMP-x + IMP-y = the IMP) have been studied. The programmes were divided into different cohorts based on their period of attendance (i.e., 1997-1998; 1998-1999; 1999-2000;) and were studied through participant observations, face-to-face interviews and in-depth e-mail interviews. I interviewed ten IMP students, including Swedish participants and guest students from different countries, with different educational backgrounds. Further, I interviewed six IMP lecturers from different academic fields, all of whom were Swedish. From the empirical data, the IMP effective pedagogic device and its essential for intercultural understanding through cross-cultural encounters are inferred abductively by modifying Piaget's, Vygotsky's, and Bronfenbrenner's theoretical frameworks. The study combines cognitive development in Cross-cultural Psychology, pedagogic devices in Culture of Education, and cognitive effects in Mass media Communication. The effective pedagogic device for intercultural understanding is Heuristic Contexturalisation, its essential is Thematic Reconstruction. Based on abductive inference, the pedagogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters is found to be "3ROME" which can be explained by "Relativism".