Avis E. Beek—Czech Republic
The purpose of this study was to examine contextual interpretations of international mindedness by International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students in a national school and an international school in the Czech Republic. The conceptual framework was based on Wilber’s (2006) comprehensive integral theory, a novel application in the study of international mindedness. Through integral methodological pluralism, a form of mixed methods research, quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed. Using an empirical methodology, the Global Perspectives Inventory (Braskamp, Braskamp & Engberg, 2014) was administered to DP students. Descriptive statistical analysis of the results revealed no significant difference between participants from the two schools. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, interviews were conducted with DP students and DP teachers. Findings revealed the experience of international mindedness can be characterized by the development of an intercultural identity, the ability to take alternate perspectives and the capacity to resolve disconnection from important people in their lives. Contextual factors of privilege and exposure to diversity also characterized students’ experience of international mindedness. Implications for improving education for international mindedness at the level of the school and the IB organization were discussed.
