Webinar Recap 

This session kicked off the 2026 spring semester of the Grow to Glow series by diving deeply into what interculturality looks like in practice—and how it differs from traditional cultural instruction. Participants explored practical strategies for designing learning experiences that help students connect language, culture, and lived experience both locally and globally. 
 

Key Sections & Takeaways 

1. Culture vs. Interculturality: What’s the Difference? 
Participants examined how cultural lessons often focus on products, practices, and perspectives, while intercultural learning asks students to use that content to make comparisons, reflect on their own identities, and engage with others. Interculturality emphasizes connection, empathy, and perspective-taking. 

2. Recognizing Intercultural Learning in Action 
Through interactive scenario comparisons, educators practiced identifying what makes an activity truly intercultural. The key distinction: intercultural tasks consistently invite students to connect new cultural insights to their own lives and communities. 

3. Designing Lessons Through an Intercultural Lens 
Our presenters, Dr. Carolyn Taylor and Julie Pacheco Toye, shared ways to incorporate interculturality using the three modes of communication that scaffolds intercultural learning across proficiency levels. 

• Interpretive: Explore authentic texts or resources
• Interpersonal: Discuss similarities, differences, and perspectives
• Presentational: Share learning through speaking or writing 

4. Local and Global Intercultural Experiences 
Examples from classroom practice and Wayside’s textbook series (EntreCulturas®, EntreCultures®, InterKulturell®) demonstrated how interculturality can be fostered: 

• Within students’ own communities
• Through virtual exchanges and global partnerships
• By connecting heritage, traditions, and contemporary issues 

5. Collaborative Idea Sharing 
Participants contributed ideas and resources on a shared whiteboard, creating a growing collection of classroom-ready examples for investigating interculturality locally and globally. 

A few ideas discussed were: 

• Use students’ own neighborhoods and communities as meaningful starting points for intercultural learning.
• Invite students to share and reflect on their cultural backgrounds and lived experiences to build understanding and empathy.
• Explore current music, media, and public events to examine culture, identity, and language in real-world contexts.
• Design compare-and-contrast activities that connect local practices (food, traditions, daily life) with global perspectives.
• Incorporate collaborative tools, guest speakers, or virtual experiences to encourage discussion, reflection, and student voice. 

6. Why Interculturality Matters 
Grounded in ACTFL’s definition of communication—knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom—the session emphasized that interculturality is essential for developing effective, real-world communicators. 

Presenters 

• Dr. Carolyn Taylor, Instructional Strategist
• Julie Pacheco-Toye, Instructional Strategist 

Producer 

• Alexis Buschert, Instructional Strategist 

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