According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025, employers are now more than ever prioritizing human-centered skills, like critical thinking, communication, and flexibility, in what they’re looking for in employees. These skills, referred to at Participate Learning as global competencies, are in fact essential, durable capabilities that give students a competitive edge in any career path.
One of the most valuable competencies students can build throughout life is intercultural understanding. This global competency isn’t just about understanding faraway places. It’s about recognizing how culture shapes everything: how people live, think, and communicate, whether they live in the next neighborhood or halfway across the globe.
As one of Participate Learning’s ten core global competencies, intercultural understanding empowers students to connect across differences and develop the mindset needed for global leadership. By developing intercultural understanding, students deepen their empathy and gain the career skills to build meaningful relationships and to lead in any professional setting.
Intercultural understanding is foundational to helping students develop human intelligence skills—skills that enable them to think critically, communicate clearly, and lead confidently across differences. Culture influences how people live, think, and relate to others. It shapes everything from daily interactions to celebratory traditions. When students begin to explore intercultural understanding, they learn that culture is more than traditions: It is a shared way of life. They also begin to recognize differences and similarities that exist across both local and global communities.
When students begin to understand how their own traditions and values shape their thinking, they become better equipped to respect the different ways others experience the world.
Creating classroom experiences that build intercultural understanding helps students:
These real-world abilities are the very same capabilities that employers across industries are asking for.
Explore all ten global competencies with our printable Global Competency Chart.
Just like other global competencies, teaching intercultural understanding doesn’t require a special, dedicated unit. It can be woven into everyday conversations, writing prompts, and reflective learning experiences. Here are four strategies teachers in Global Leaders classrooms use to build intercultural understanding:
Invite students to compare how different communities celebrate similar holidays. For example, contrast Mother’s Day in the U.S. and Costa Rica.
Begin with a guiding question:
“What does this holiday say about what’s important to the people who celebrate it?”
After students learn about Costa Rican traditions, like attending church, giving gifts, and spending the day with extended family, encourage them to reflect on what those practices reveal about what is important to this community.
Invite them to compare that celebration to one they experience in their own communities. Then, facilitate a whole-class discussion or create a Venn diagram to capture similarities and differences.
Career connection: This simple act of comparing traditions sharpens students’ analytical thinking and strengthens their ability to interpret unspoken norms, skills essential for communication, collaboration, and leadership in any cross-functional team or client-facing role.
To build a strong understanding of what culture is, students can begin to explore how their own backgrounds influence how they see the world. Introduce the concept of a “cultural lens,” a mental filter shaped by beliefs, traditions, and lived experiences.
Use a scenario-based activity like:
“You visit a friend’s house and notice they take off their shoes at the door. Why might that be important to them?”
Guide students in reflecting on how their own upbringing shapes their reactions. Then, ask them to consider how someone else’s lens might offer a different interpretation.
Career connection: Being able to pause, reframe, and consider multiple viewpoints is a critical skill in professional settings, especially in conflict resolution and teamwork.
Invite students to design a “Culture Quilt” square that represents a story, tradition, or value from their family or heritage. Each square should include a drawing or symbol and one to two sentences explaining its meaning.
Once complete, have students present their squares to a partner or small group. Then, compile them into a collective display that celebrates the range of backgrounds in your classroom.
To extend the activity, encourage students to reflect on what they learned about others and how that influences their understanding of the world.
Career connection: Practicing respectful storytelling and active listening builds confidence, empathy, and cross-cultural communication, skills that are valuable in interviews, presentations, and team projects.
Use a culture-rich example, like the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, to help younger students connect cultural practices with meaning. After introducing the ceremony through a story or video, ask students:
“What does this tradition tell us about Ethiopian culture?”
“What is a food, piece of clothing, or tradition that is important in your home?”
Students can then create a “culture collage” using magazine clippings or draw their own pictures to represent important artifacts from their lives.
Career connection: Understanding that everyday actions reflect deeper values helps students navigate new environments with curiosity and respect—qualities that matter in every field, from business to education to health care.
At Pactolus Elementary in North Carolina, intercultural understanding moved beyond the classroom and into the heart of the school community during its annual Global Festival celebration.
The event transformed a regular school day into a vibrant showcase of music, dance, and cultural traditions from around the world. Students participated in interactive activities like a “walk in someone else’s shoes” empathy challenge, explored traditional dances and wildlife exhibits, and even presented research on global cultures.
Families and local organizations joined in, creating a shared experience that celebrated both local and global connections. From showcasing heritage to practicing kindness, students had the opportunity to learn about other cultures and to experience, reflect on, and share their own.
This day of celebration became something much deeper: an opportunity for students to see how culture shapes identity, how empathy builds bridges, and how they are part of both a local and global community.
Intercultural understanding grows when students reflect on their own identities, engage with different perspectives, and develop the ability to interpret cross-cultural situations. As they build this competency, they learn how to:
These abilities help students participate more fully in the classroom today and prepare them to collaborate, lead, and connect in tomorrow’s workplaces.
When educators center intercultural understanding in classroom and school experiences, they equip students with the tools to navigate real-world relationships with insight and empathy.
These skills support career readiness, but they also build stronger schools today, where every student feels seen, valued, and ready to contribute.
At Participate Learning, we’re proud to support educators who are building globally engaged classrooms where intercultural understanding is not just taught but lived.
Download our free Global Competency Chart to help your students build a strong foundation for global leadership.
Want more ideas for bringing global learning into your classroom?
Explore our full series on global competencies on the Participate Learning blog.
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