Measuring Learning and Development in Cross-Cultural Competence

The proposed Phase I approach will provide the Army with a culture-general model of a developmental learning approach to cross-cultural competence acquisition and measurement. The model will integrate and expand upon efforts to define cultural intelligence and will (1) recognize the metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral elements of culture learning; (2) identify and distinguish cross-culture competencies associated with both general and particular military occupational specialties and operational environments, and (3) align cross-culture competency acquisition with a learning-oriented developmental framework that reflects the best practices of adult learning assessment and is widely utilized across the US military and Joint Professional Education (JPME). The complexity of the problem requires a spiral development approach that involves identifying relevant cultural competency concepts and research, their alignment with soldier-relevant jobs and task, the identification of appropriate human performance requirements, and the integration of these to the institutional learning environment. Once we understand what cross-cultural competencies are most critical for the military in different operating environments, and how those difference competencies can be learned or acquired over time in the military training and education system, then a measurement system be developed and tested. Developing the Measurement system will be the task of Phase II research.