The Development of Ethnocultural Competencies of a Teacher in the Context of Higher Education Digitalization

Abstract

The ethnocultural competence among high education teachers is becoming increasingly important due to the ongoing technological advancements and the increasing demand in modern society. Ethnocultural competence is a critical personal and professional characteristic among educators that determines the ability to produce productive students in the current culturally diversified world. The study's main objective was to investigate the development of a teacher's ethnocultural competencies in higher learning digitalization. The research exploits an empirical method through an electronic questionnaire to 200 students pursuing their masters' programs and teachers from different departments and faculties within the university. The questionnaire also included a cultural competence self-assessment checklist based on the cultural competency model. A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was also utilized to explore the factors that affect the development of ethnocultural competencies among teachers in higher education digitalization. The findings show that majority of the teachers always ensure a positive attitude, skills, awareness, and knowledge to support the development of ethnocultural competencies in higher learning digitalization. Similarly, the majority of the participants agreed that digitalization is helpful, easy to use, and highly accepted in higher learning institutions. The results from the study can be utilized to develop efficient strategies to improve and enhance the interactions of the teachers and students in the context of higher learning digitalization.