Developing the Intercultural Competence of Twenty-First-Century Learners with Blogging During a Work Placement Abroad

Abstract

It is fair to say that, of all service sectors, the hospitality sector is by far the most affected by globalization. Leading and working in multicultural teams and managing intercultural service encounters have become standard elements of a hotel manager's professional profile. Hospitality management schools that offer an opportunity to complete a work placement abroad allow students to link theories of culture learnt in university and theories of culture in use in a multicultural professional working environment and develop the skills needed to deal with cultural diversity. Yet, traditionally, students still digest their work placement learning experiences by writing a report and having an interview with their supervisor afterwards. We argue that the learning efficiency of intercultural competences could be substantially improved if methods are adopted that meet the needs of twenty-first-century learners better than the current ones. In this chapter, the authors present their insights in developing hotel management students' intercultural competences through blogging during a work placement abroad. We argue why this is a natural way of learning that incorporates several twenty-first-century skills and is a very effective learning method for students who are geographically dispersed during their work placement. Examples are taken from our own experiences with a blogging platform called `Curious People'. Implications for the hospitality curriculum are provided.