From Multiculturalism to Transculturalism: Constructing Meanings of Transcultural Learning as a Transformative Process

Abstract

Canada is often held up internationally as a successful model of immigration and multiculturalism. For over half a century, multiculturalism as national policy and normative framework has been the subject of discussion focusing on social divisiveness, clash of cultures, and ethnic marginalization and stratification. Recent debate has shifted to the future of Canadian multiculturalism in an age of transnational migration and hyperdiversity characterized by multiple and circular movement across transnational spaces. Critiques claim that Canada's official multiculturalism is showing signs of crisis since it is no longer theoretically attuned to the demands of a rapidly changing and highly mobile complex world. As an alternative, transculturalism has been presented as a more complex mindset reflecting the dynamic interplay, diversification of diversity, and multiversality of belonging. Drawing on the concept of transculturalism, this article explores how people constructed meanings of transculture and transcultural learning out of their lived experiences in an era of transnational migration. Findings from a qualitative study reveal that transcultural learning is a holistic and transformative process that connects local to global, challenges taken-for-granted frames of reference, expands worldviews, integrates new practices, and transforms individuals. A holistic transformative approach of transcultural learning takes into consideration the stabilizing or destabilizing effect, social conjunction, historical conditions, integration or disintegration of groups, cultures, and power experienced on micro, meso, and macro levels.

Keywords

transculturalism transnationalism multiculturalism transcultural learning transformative learning

Introduction

Five decades ago, Canada was the first country in the world to formulate an official multiculturalism policy with an objective to assist immigrants and cultural groups to overcome barriers to integrate into Canadian society while maintaining their heritage language and culture (Guo & Wong, 2015). For over half a century, multiculturalism as national policy and normative framework has been the subject of much debate both in Canada and elsewhere. Some scholars claim that multiculturalism is a response to the pressures that Canada exerts on immigrants to integrate into common institutions by providing a framework for debating and developing fairer terms of integration which is often a long, difficult, and painful process (Kymlicka, 2015). Critiques argue, however, that Canadian multiculturalism promotes homogeneity, coherent identity, and universality (Fleras, 2019). Wong (2007/2008) summarizes the fragmentation critique of multiculturalism in the sociological literature over the past four decades primarily focusing on social divisiveness, clash of cultures, and ethnic marginalization and stratification. Welsch (1999) maintains that cultural separation in multicultural views is problematic when looking at contemporary societies where cultures no longer have the insinuated form of homogeneity and separateness.

More recently, the debate shifted to the future of Canadian multiculturalism in an age of transnational migration and hyperdiversity characterized by multiple and circular movement across transnational spaces. In particular, the idea of transnationalism challenges the rigid, territorial nationalism that defines the modern nation-state by conceptualizing the mobility of migrants and refugees as circulatory and transnational rather than unidirectional, moving us beyond the framework of methodological nationalism (Glick Schiller et al., 1995; Lie, 1995; Portes, 2003). In this context, an official multiculturalism is showing signs of crisis since it is no longer theoretically attuned to the demands of a rapidly changing, highly mobile, and diversely complex world (Fleras, 2019). As an alternative, transculturalism has been presented as a more complex mindset reflecting the dynamic interplay, diversification of diversity, and multiversality of belonging (Epstein, 2009, 2012; Fleras, 2019). It is claimed that transculturalism brings the notion of dynamics, moving through space across borders and expanding the limits beyond a single identity and positionality, conveying a sense of continuum, discourse, and transformation (Kraidy, 2005). As an example of transition from multiculturalism to transculturalism, Dooly and Rubinstein (2018) discuss “nebulous space where individuals cross and reshape boundaries” and “transformative practices involving social activities and interaction that push beyond ‘fixed’ and separate systems” (p. 2). On an ideological level, multiculturalism represents the concept of a cultural mosaic and the positive sociopolitical stance in Canada, although it may induce segregation and alienation, undermine, trivialize, and reinforce cultural and ethnic differences, according to Wilson (2012). Transculturalism is calling for cooperation, interaction, and exchange between communities and thus flexibility and an open mind on the part of individuals (Wilson, 2012).

Largely missing from this dialogue, however, has been discussions of how the notion of transculturalism has been taken up by scholars in education, especially adult education. What does it mean and how people develop a process of transcultural learning? It is therefore the purpose of this study to explore how people in Canada construct meanings of transcultural learning and develop transcultural learning as a transformative process. Cognizing differences in learning among different cultures is an important issue in transculturalism. Additionally, transculturally competent service providers will address better newcomers’ needs and will help them in the process of adjusting and integration into Canadian society. Understanding this phenomenon and generating knowledge from this inquiry offer new insights and inform new practices in fostering and sustaining an inclusive society that is dynamic and transcultural.

Theoretical Framework

Transculturalism provides the theoretical framework for this investigation. As a new way of seeing the world, and thus, of understanding ourselves, transnationalism offers new experience and intellectual generosity, where ethics is at the crossroad of possibilities in human relations (Koehn & Rosenau, 2002; Kraidy, 2005; Lewis, 2002; Slimbach, 2005). The transculturalism paradigm opens a meandering trail between the past, the present, and the future and permits individuals to see a multitude of alternative paths crossed during their experiences in different times and places (Bakhtin, 1981; Epstein, 1999, 2009, 2012). Additionally, it expands the interdisciplinary field of study as new cultural and ethnic boundaries have emerged in the era of transnational migration, fostering multiple cultural interactions, attitudes, meaning-making endeavors, and power formations (Brooks, 2007; Cuccioletta, 2001/2002; Kraidy, 2005; Lewis, 2002).

The notion of transculturalism came forth in Cuba and Brazil in the mid-1930s and 1940s as a variation of mestizage. Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz (1940/1995) conceptualized the concept of transculturalism as a counterhegemonic discourse to illustrate Cuba's experience with racial and cultural encounters as an exchange, a give-and-take process in developing a new common culture. For Ortiz, transculturalism did not just signify transition from one culture to another or simple acquisition of a new culture. Rather, it meant a simultaneous synthesis of deculturalization of the past and a mestizage with the present.

In the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the 21st century, the human phenomenon of transculturality became more apparent and thus emphasized the importance of re-examining human life experience in a contemporary light (Benessaieh, 2010; Epstein, 2009; Graen & Hui, 1996; Imbert, 2014; Schultze-Engler et al., 2009; Welsch, 1999). Transculturalism was appropriated to denote cultural mixture in literature and music (Dagnino, 2015; Pratt, 1992; Wallis & Malm, 1990). Berry and Epstein (1999) also applied the concept in an attempt to provide employees with the means to learn and adapt to the inherent complexities of international workplaces and organizations to survive global competition. Trompenaas and Hampden-Turner (2006) explored space at the crossroads of cultures. Further, Slimbach (2005) described transculturalism as a pursuit to define shared interests and common values across cultural and national borders. He maintains that transculturalism can be tested by means of thinking “outside the box of one's motherland” and by “seeing many sides of every question without abandoning conviction and allowing for chameleon sense of self without losing one's cultural center” (p. 211).

Later, Dagnino (2015) used a “transcultural conceptual and analytical reference frame (namely, ‘transcultural comparativism’)” to explore this century's growing transcultural literature (p. 20). Recently, with the growing and speedy flow of travel and borderless communications, socio-psychological and cognitive outcomes in transnational life experiences gradually became recognized sources of knowledge for social adaptation, experiential knowledge, professional competencies, and transformative learning (Benet-Martinez & Hong, 2014).

The prefix ‘trans-’ carried the notion of moving through and across scales. Multiple scales, such as national cultures as one of many potential scales, may be simultaneously present, ranging from the local to the global, alongside variable temporal scales and speeds from transient interactions and connections to long-term historical processes and influences (Baker, 2022; Guilherme & Dietz, 2015; Monceri, 2019). It expands the limits beyond a single identity, switching between cultures and languages as a mode of being, having a sense of continuum, discourse, and transformation (Berry & Epstein, 1999; Epstein, 2012). In this view, transculturalism includes stabilizing or destabilizing effects, social conjunctions, historical conditions, and integration or disintegration of groups, cultures, power, and inequalities. The prefix “trans-” comes to emphasize that in such interactions participants can transgress and transcend cultural borders (Abu-Er-Rub et al., 2019). Monceri (2019) suggests that the “trans-” can open up new ideas of thinking about culture itself and can also be understood in the meaning of “going beyond,” that is to say that it is able at least to evoke the possibility to “trespass,” or better “transgress, the borders of culture” (Monceri, 2019, pp. 87–88). Through the processes of transgressing and transcending boundaries, the boundaries themselves are transformed, potentially opening new social spaces and identities (Abu-Er-Rub et al., 2019), while previous structures, limitations, and asymmetries may continue, and also new inequalities may emerge.

In his significant contribution to transculturalism from philosophical perspectives, Epstein (2012) defines transculturalism as a new space for cultural development that transcends the borders of traditional cultures (ethnic, national, racial, religious, gender, sexual, and professional). Transculture overcomes the isolation of symbolic systems and value determinations and broadens the field of cultural creativity. In this way, a person acquires transculture at the boundaries of one's own culture and at the crossroads with other cultures. The mode of being located at the crossroads of cultures is the next step in the ongoing human quest for freedom from the language and culture in which one was born and educated. It is a new emerging sphere in which humans position themselves outside their primary cultures, interacting between cultures and integrating them. According to Epstein (2012), cited in Jurkova and Guo (2018),¹ the elements of transculture are freely chosen by people rather than dictated by rules and prescriptions within their given culture. He further compares the process of transculturalism with the way artists choose colors to combine them creatively in their paintings, and maintains that “transculture offers a universal palette on which any individual can blend colours to produce an expressive self-portrait” (p. 62). Consequently, a transcultural person can adhere to any ethnic or confessional tradition and decide the degree to which this becomes part of one's own identity.

This principle implies that we can understand and describe a certain culture only if we distance ourselves from it. Bakhtin (cited in Epstein, 2009) suggests that the essence of a given culture may be penetrated from the viewpoint of another foreign culture rather than from its own inner perspective. Additionally, viewing from the concept of “outsideness,” a human cannot fully visualize his or her own face—only others can see a person's real appearance from their location beyond those personal boundaries. Each of us stands at a crossroads of different ethnic, historical, and professional cultures. Each has a possibility for overcoming the obsessional complexes of the “given” (native) culture. Consciously cognized transcultural differences develop cultural awareness, self-confidence, and recognition, an understanding of a new positionality, and a reintegration of new perspectives and roles, which are different stages of transformative learning described by Mezirow (2009). Built on the foundational concepts of constructivist assumptions, humanism, and critical social theory, Mezirow (2012) defined transformative learning as a process

by which we transform our taken-for-granted frames of reference … to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, emotionally capable of change, and reflective so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove more true or justified to guide action. (p. 75)

Then, transformative learning occurs in one of four ways, by elaborating existing meaning schemes, learning new meaning schemes, transforming meaning schemes, or transforming meaning perspectives (Mezirow, 2009). Meziorow's original concept emphasizes personal transformation and growth where the unit of analysis is primarily the individual, with little attention given to the role of context and social change in the transformative experience. Later on, other theorists add to this framework the role of emotions in transformative learning (Dirkx, 2012), culture and spirituality (Charaniya, 2012), social change, where individual and social transformation are inherently linked (Freire, 1970, 1998; Johnson-Bailey & Alfred, 2006; Tisdell, 2012). Critical reflection on this social orientation of transformative learning is more about ideological change, where learners develop an awareness of power and consciousness to transform society and their own reality. In the context of transcultural-competence learning, all these perspectives on transformative learning have merits.

A transcultural person develops individual self-reflection through interactions with other members of society, and, at the same time, become critically conscious about dynamic social space, positionality, and power. Considering these two facets in transformative learning as a dialectical, coexisting framework will make learners capable of switching between cultures in our era of intensive economic, political, and cultural change (Epstein, 2012; Martin & Nakayama, 2010). In this view, transculture can be perceived as encompassing and creating space for an individual's transformative learning, that is, the attitudes and abilities that facilitate open and ethical interaction between people across cultures (Slimbach, 2005). We can achieve this only through dialogue, dialogue among cultures and between humanities through self-awareness and discovery of otherness.

Research Design and Data Collection

The purpose of this study is to explore, interpret, and analyze how adults understand transculture; and how participants construct the meaning of transcultural learning by participating in different learning activities. Following Merriam (2014), this study employed qualitative research design, interpretive and constructive, comprised of semi-structured in-depth interviews as a primary method, focus groups, unstructured observation, and document analysis as secondary methods.

The participants were selected through purposeful sampling and specifically through criterion sampling, which involves setting criteria for participants and those who meet the criteria are included in the sample. The basic criteria for recruiting our participants were: Canadian-born adults (age 20+) or foreign-born adult (age 20+) immigrants living in Calgary, who have attended at least one general session of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society’s (CCIS) cultural-competence program. We obtained the list of participants in the monthly public sessions of CCIS cultural-competence program, which allowed us access to a broad sample. We sent an e-mail to each individual from this list with specific questions on the identified criteria.

The data collected through 21 face-to-face interviews with 11 Canadian-born and 10 immigrants—all adults, subsequently formed the foundational basis for the overall findings (see Table 1 for demographic characteristics of participants). Although the study includes both Canadian-born and immigrant participants, it was not designed to compare those two groups. Rather, the inclusion of participants from these two groups was necessary to broadly understand how different demographic characteristics (e.g., ethnic background, age, education) impact and distinguish the process of understanding transculture and transcultural learning to becoming a transcultural person. Defining transcultural learning as a continuing learning process was the reason for selecting individuals who participated in one or more learning activities. This was an opportunity for participants to describe how different learning activities have impacted their transcultural learning (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of Interview Participants.

#	Participant (pseudonyms)	Country of origin	Age	Education	Occupation
1	Agata	Poland	51+	MA	Service provider
2	Alicia	China	41–50	MA	Journalist
3	Anaya	India	51+	MA	Employment counsellor
4	Gonzales	Mexico	31–40	PhD student	Student
5	Lindsey	U.K.	51+	MEd	Program coordinator
6	Lucila	Philippines	31–40	Bachelor	Nurse
	Nadia	Ukrainian from Latvia	20–30	BSW	Social worker
8	Okeo West	Kenya	51+	PhD	Diversity liaison
9	Shan	Taiwan	31–40	BA	Unemployed
10	Valerie	France	41–50	MA	Health educator
11	Arthur	Canadian born	41–50	BA & BEd	Firefighter
12	Celine	Canadian born	51+	BA	Social service provider
13	Jim	Canadian born	51+	College diploma	Police officer
14	Jordan	Canadian born	41–50	Bachelor's degree	Instructor, Business faculty member
15	Marie	Canadian born	20–30	MSW	Social worker
16	Margaret	Canadian born	51+	BSc	Criminologist
17	Ron	Canadian born	51+	MA	Private Consultant
18	Rose	Canadian born	41–50	BA	ESL Teacher
19	Sana	Canadian born	21–30	BA	Nurse
20	Sophie	Canadian born	31–40	2 BA degrees	Educator
21	Vince	Canadian born	51+	BSc	Criminologist

Interviews

Qualitative interviews were the primary method of data collection in this research because they offered the potential to capture a person's perspective of an event or experience (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). They allowed us to investigate in critical ways respondents’ comprehensions of their transcultural experience and beliefs, the process of developing transcultural learning from their point of view. Thus, 90-min in-person interviews served as a venue for understanding individual experience, transcultural skills, and perspective change. The interview questions were divided into several categories in relation to the research questions. The questions elicited participants’ understanding about transcultural knowledge and skills that they have developed, the most beneficial ways of learning, and the resources that they have used to build their understanding. The second set of questions encouraged participants to share their experiences in developing transcultural learning by participating in different learning activities.

Focus Groups

Additionally, data collected from two focus groups informed about direct learners’ opinions of participating and interacting in an event related to the issue of investigation: How transcultural learning enhanced personal transcultural development? The focus groups were productive for generating knowledge through dialogue and contributed to achieving synergy in data collection. Focus groups fit well with the study's purpose for the following reasons: (1) eliciting a range of feelings, understanding, and ideas in a dynamic interactive way; (2) understanding differences in perspectives; (3) providing insight into specific factors that influence the process; and (4) seeking ideas that emerge from the group (Kreuger, 2008). The first focus group with three participants preceded the interviews. The three participants have extensive experience in education, working with diverse groups, and cultural consulting. The purpose was to develop themes and topics and discuss questions that were drafted for subsequent interviews. The second focus group was conducted after analyzing the interviews and the observation of one cultural-competence workshop, with three participants who attended the public workshop. The second focus group collected information about direct learners’ opinions of participating and interacting in an event related to the issue of investigation which contributed to achieving synergy in data collection.

Observation

The observation provided information about how participants interacted during their learning activities and key issues during the learning process. We used semi-structured observation (Cohen et al., 2011) to identify issues that occur during the process of acquiring transcultural competence. Specifically, we took rough notes about how participants interacted in small-group discussions, questions that they addressed, key issues that surfaced during activities, and the general atmosphere of the workshop. Observation is an appropriate method when changes in behavior, or at least the ability to document changes in behavior is considered important (Cranton & Hoggan, 2012).

Document Analysis

Documents are a ready-made source of data easily accessible to the imaginative and resourceful investigator (Merriam, 2014). As a supplementary method for data collection in this study, document analysis included a four-year funding report for the Diversity Services Program of CCIS, participants’ feedback and evaluation of the delivered workshops, and quarterly program reports to the Division Manager. The documents are public, accessible on the web or by request. Although they were purposefully produced for the funder, the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the documents shed light on the purpose, value, and the outcome of the cultural-competence program as community learning. In analyzing them, we applied thematic content analysis to uncover themes pertinent to the phenomenon of transcultural learning as a process. Thus, it complemented and expanded findings from the observation and interviews in terms of program lengths, outcomes, identified challenges, and factors that affected program implementation and delivery. As Patton (2002) states, documents are valuable not only for what can be learned directly from them but also as stimulus for paths of inquiry that can be pursued through direct observation and interviewing.

Data Analysis

We followed Creswell's (2014) guidelines in looking at the data in a six-step process: (1) gathering and arranging data sources; (2) getting an overall impression of the data, which enabled familiarization with it; (3) coding the data by linking to quotes from interviews, concepts, themes and findings; (4) generating initial themes and descriptions, which could uncover various layers of information and connections; (5) unveiling the findings in the form of quotes or narrative with descriptions of themes and their interconnections; and (6) engaging in interpretation how the findings may or may not relate to the theories while answering the research question.

Discussing the issue of trustworthiness, we found the concept of crystallization is more relevant to this qualitative inquiry and to the research phenomenon. With multidimensionality of approaches, correlations, methods of data collection and analysis, crystallization provides deeper understanding of the topic (Ellingson, 2009; Richardson, 2000). Complexity and continuum, as principles of crystallization, are consistent with the distinctive characteristics of transculturality in this discourse. The continuum is achieved through blended approaches for meaning making and representation. The complexity of the research embodied description and interpretation of participants’ understanding, knowledge, and learning process construction.

Report of Findings

Initially, it was challenging to ask participants to define the term “transculture” in the interviews. Many participants admitted that they were not familiar with the term and preferred using familiar terms such as “multicultural,” “cross-cultural,” or “intercultural.” Further into the interviews, many of them were able to articulate a transcultural perspective and construct the meanings of transculture and transcultural learning by connecting their memories, feelings, stories, and past knowledge and experiences. Based on participants’ perspectives, three themes emerged: (1) multiple understandings of transculture and transcultural self; (2) transcultural learning as a holistic process; and (3) transcultural learning as a transformative process.

Multiple Understandings of Transculture and Transcultural Self

Exploring the meaning of the term “transculture,” participants referred to the capacity to criticize one's own culture, to recognize one's limitations, and openly embrace cultural plurality. They constructed the meaning of transculture based on their understanding of the qualities of a transcultural person. In outlining the characteristics that best describe the transcultural person, participants conveyed multiple understandings. They described the qualities of transcultural self as open-mindedness, cultural awareness and sensitivity, language abilities, openness to cultural experiences and interactions, being an empathetic and good listener, among others, which are all generally very similar to those qualities that the literature has inventoried. They approached and reflected on their potentials and possibilities of being and becoming transcultural, grappled with doubts and questions, engaged in meaning construction, and changed their frames of references, thus transforming. This aligns with potentiation, the process of “a positive, constructive deconstruction” (Epstein, 2012, p. 269).

Open-mindedness is associated with openness to experience, openness to approaching other cultures and learning about them, which has been identified as a favorable characteristic by most of transcultural theorists. Openness is a requisition to enter a transcultural journey that further drives the transcultural learner to see and map the world in a new way (Slimbach, 2005). It invites learners to bring their knowledge of relationship to the process of cultivating relationships across cultures. Participants connected open-mindedness with self-awareness, self-examination, and self-reflection on own biases, being conscious and constantly questioning one's own cultural assumptions. Thus, open-mindedness has a transcultural dimension: it opens a reality outside oneself, allows one to question their own biases and reflect on them, and accept others without judging them. As one of the participants Jim stated, “it is being aware of your biases, constantly checking and reaffirming, able to understand them, put those aside, step up forward, and stay open-minded.” Another participant Jordan compared self-reflection with “a mirror where we examine ourselves asking why I do what I do? Why do I feel that? Why do I do things that I don’t like? How I can overcome them? Having the answers, then, the next step is how we approach others.” Anaya shared her way of being transcultural: “Every time when I meet someone different, I put myself in other's shoes, trying to understand this person.” Or, as Okeo West said, “being able to empathize and support, with conformity with human rights and dignity” is the essence of transcultural person.

Another important quality of the transcultural self involves “being a good listener and a good question-asker because, first and foremost, a transcultural person is curious, honest, and sincere” (Sophie); able to “navigate through and integrate to different cultural contexts at any time, without barriers” (Okeo West). Such person will do so “without being scared of different environments and different people” (Alice); will attain “mutual understanding, support, and respect to [sic] each other” (Lucila). Several other participants agreed that a transcultural person should be knowledgeable about different cultures, languages, history, and what happens around the world. Most participants have traveled, lived, worked, or surrounded by different cultures, interacting with and navigating through; therefore, they recognize live contact with different cultures as a transcultural quality. One participant emphasized the importance of immersion in other cultures for developing emotional connections that cannot be acquired through books or informational sources. In such an environment, surrounded by varieties of traditions, values, languages, beliefs, and real experiences, a person can test his or her transcultural competence (Slimbach, 2005).

Participant Agata called transcultural competence “fusion” and described it in relation to various aspects, knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Fusion can start in small places though, like on playgrounds, in neighborhoods, “but it's not a fairy-tale, often it is not smooth at all, as our bubbles clash; therefore, we have to learn how to act, consciously developing our transcultural competence” (Agata). It is therefore important for a transcultural person to demonstrate sensitivity and support, openness in approaching other cultures, as the following quote illustrates:

Transcultural competence is being empathetic to others, understand where others come from, having world knowledge about what is happening to other countries and how this may affect people, especially people who come here, like refugees, migrants. (Rose)

Additionally, participants acknowledged the ability to recognizing different cultural identities without betraying their own culture as insignificant for creating a new transcultural community to which individuals belong not because they are similar, but because they are different. They critically reflected on their past and present experiences, describing how they incorporated values from different cultures without surrendering their cultural roots. Immigrant participants especially outlined the impact of their own cultural roots. These roots are meaningful for transcultural competence in terms of how others view, position, or disposition someone who is different. They acknowledged that having multiple identities neither poses a contradiction nor bothers them; they are flexible in performing and negotiating those different identities. Preserving and performing such identity values and characteristics make them feel comfortable. Andrew, who was born in Nigeria, studied in the U.K., and lived in Canada, reflected on his own cultural label:

I am a person who complies with many cultural identities and incorporates values from all, but it doesn’t really bother me. I enjoy having all my roots, talk about, learn more and interact with people. Should I call myself transcultural? (Andrew)

The most significant thing is that participants connected transculture to identity freedom - the freedom to distance from or integrate into other cultures due to flexibility and reflexivity, empathy and interaction, which encourage an alternative mode of thinking, an ability to navigate through and transact in multiple cultures. They have the ability to move beyond the politics of location, from finality to potentials without opposing differences, keeping the connection with cultural roots but not obsessed by them, which differentiates transcultural from multicultural context.

Transcultural Learning as a Holistic Process

Participants constructed transcultural learning as a holistic process that involves the cognitive, affective, and social dimensions through which individuals develop transcultural learning. Participants in holistic learning contexts find meaning, identities, and purpose through connections to their communities and to the world. A holistic transcultural learning interweaves different paths in a web, where each path leads toward understanding certain points, connecting the known with the unknown through memories, feelings, experiences, and interactions, thus making sense of the new that an individual observes, experiences, and feels. Thus, a holistic approach in transcultural learning makes learners constructors and owners of knowledge.

The cognitive aspect of transcultural learning entailed participants’ curiosity; learning about different languages, cultures, values; and exploring and reasoning their own biases and past experiences. Participants described how they constructed their knowledge starting from an early age, and how they were curious and inquired about cultures, framed their own and others’ cultures, positioned themselves among others, reflected on their assumptions and beliefs, and interacted with open minds and open hearts. The holistic approach also encompassed learning different languages, traveling, seeking cultural exposure, and all these involved emotions and spirituality. For example, one participant explained that his interest in exploring cultures started in his childhood, reading National Geographic magazines given to him by his parents. For another, reading stories about different places in the world in her early age nourished her curiosity that led to a degree in history, traveling and working in different countries, and having a professional career in art and culture. Margaret further explained:

We do not always understand the protocol in any cultural tribe; we have to try in the best ability to learn what the need of some of these cultures might be. But really, I think it's about being open-minded, listening and valuing differences, be open and honest. (Margaret)

The affective aspect of transcultural learning lay in participants’ recognition of the importance of developing and demonstrating humility, kindness, empathy and respect to others. Research participants acknowledged that the transcultural learning opens up opportunities for acquiring a set of personal attitude, social sensitivity, humility, and intellectual skills that navigate them through the new experience. As one participant explained, “being able to empathize and support, with conformity, with human rights and dignity, is the essence of transcultural competence” (Okeo West). Most acknowledged that participating in group learning events and sharing their experiences opened up space for them to find common challenges they have encountered across different cultures. Moreover, they realized that having different cultural lenses for interpreting the same cultural situation did not put them in opposition to each other, but rather created a sense of commonality and humility. Taking part in the study was a learning experience for many participants, providing them with an opportunity to reflect on their paths of learning, as one participant told us: “Running through our daily routines, we rarely have time to think about moments in our life that changed us and triggered our curiosity to discover and ask why” (Jordan).

Being in other's shoes and having the flexibility to change perspectives are skills considered valuable by Anaya, an immigrant who worked in another country before coming to Canada and who had significant exposure to different cultures. She commented, “Every time when I meet someone different or see something different, I put myself in other's shoes, and I found it makes me a better person.” She commented that she used this skill successfully in her work and it built trust with her clients. She also acknowledged the role of mentors, people who are knowledgeable, patient and supportive in her learning, noting that “I was lucky to be surrounded by people with open hearts and minds, and I learned a lot from them.” Celine, who was single and lonely, found support in a community church, where she found love, spirit, and compassion:

The holistic way of transcultural learning involves spirituality. In a church or in the community, you have the need to be loved, to feel accepted and happy. When people share their stories, they make you feel belonged. If you have love and compassion in your heart and want to give, if you are a caring person, it will work for learning transcultural competence.

The social dimension in transcultural learning relates to a conscious effort and determination to understand others and interact with them in social, cultural and professional spheres. Traveling and immersing themselves in different cultures became a source for developing transcultural knowledge for almost every one of the participants who emigrated, worked, or studied abroad. Once on their journey, they gradually developed transculturally by reading, learning different languages, researching, and practicing, all the while questioning and examining their own views and beliefs. For non-Canadian-born participants, leaving their home country was a starting point for transcultural learning, including learning different languages and different ways of communicating and behaving, all of which required effort and consistent learning.

Our findings reveal that both immigrant and Canadian-born participants acknowledged the significance of listening skills in guiding them to better understand others and interact respectfully. This applied especially to those participants who worked as service providers in local organizations and served very diverse clients. One participant, who was born and raised in Taiwan, came to Canada as a university student and noted that she observed and listened a lot, “I didn’t speak much, I learned a lot from listening to other people” (Shan). A Canadian-born participant who worked with diverse clients as a service provider shared how she developed her transcultural learning through interaction. She explained,

I travelled a lot from a very young age. I love meeting people and I am curious about everything. I just go to people. When they are new here, don’t wait for them to come to you – you go to them, you know the language, you know how to do things, they may not. Go to them, talk, ask questions, and spend time with them. Be curious, not judgmental, don’t assume, be a really good question-asker and listener. (Sophie)

To summarize, participants described transcultural learning as a holistic process that involves cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions. The cognitive aspect entails participants’ curiosity about other cultures and explore and reason their own biases and past experiences. The emotional aspect functions for developing and demonstrating humility, kindness, empathy, compassion, and respect to others. The social dimension is related to conscious efforts and determinations to understand others and interact with them in social, cultural, and professional spheres. By sharing stories and listening to others, people engage in critical reflection, dialogue and interaction, question their values and beliefs, and transform.

Transcultural Learning as a Transformative Process

Mezirow (2012) defined transformative learning as a process

Drawing from the 10 phases of transformative learning that he identified, the elements of critical reflection and dialogue lead to a transformed frame of reference, resulting in individual and social change. Mezirow's (2009) theory of transformative learning comprises a process that involves the integration of all dimensions of the learner. When considered in the context of transcultural learning, the journey of transformation is intellectual, relational, and reflective for an understanding of self and others. More specifically, this journey usually begins with a questioning of one's beliefs and attitudes, challenging certain culturally based assumptions, and results in a new perspective (Mezirow, 2009; Taylor, 1994). In this study, participants revealed outcomes of transcultural learning that benefit both individual's personal growth and that of an organization or society. They emphasized variables, including self-awareness, authenticity, communication, building rapport, trust and empathy, collaboration, and empowerment. Taking a transcultural journey, individuals transform themselves and become agents of change by moving beyond their own cultural socialization, expanding their cultural horizons, and, furthermore, contributing their knowledge for greater effectiveness and community inclusion.

Overall, the participants’ stories show different experiences and learning scenarios, relative to each one's life. Some were more receptive than others to modifying their belief system and challenging their home culture. Some inherited multiple cultures, while others learned about cultures, how to integrate and navigate at different stages of their lives, whether in childhood, as a teenager, in school, during young adulthood, or as an adult. To illustrate, we present two personal stories of transcultural learning that transformed participants. These individuals encountered negative (Arthur) or positive (Valerie) situations, moments in their lives that served as “a turning point,” a moment of an “eye opening” experience in their quest for broader cultural meaning. The retrospective disorienting dilemma for Valerie evoked positive feelings of respect and appreciation for their relatives, friends, and colleagues who served as role models of transcultural learning.

Arthur described himself as a fifth-generation Albertan from a farming family. His great-grandfather settled down in a small Prairie town in the late nineteenth century; his grandfather was the first white child in the area. “Although we lived across [from] the Native reserve, we never had any interaction with kids from there,” Arthur said. For his family, the road to the reserve was a sort of dead end until a few years ago, when, as he and his wife were driving to the family farm, she stopped to refill the car with gas at the gas station near the reserve. It was his first stop at, what was for Arthur, this kind of forbidden place and he was very surprised that his wife had stopped there. He explained how the lack of exposure and interaction with different cultures, together with some family prejudice, distanced and dispositioned him, so later he felt embarrassed of his dad's and grandfather's ethnocentric racial attitudes. By contrast, his wife is comfortable in interacting with different people because she has experienced this from an early age.

“Gradually, I made an effort to be open to other cultures and I started to learn and build respect”, Arthur said. He acknowledged that he embraced the open-mindedness from his wife and expanded his cultural view and knowledge beyond the boundary of his inherited culture. As a father, he encourages his daughters to respect and understand other cultures, he interacts with his neighbors. However, as a teacher, he still observes in schools cultural behaviors and attitudes from some teachers that are far from transcultural flexibility and openness.

Arthur's story presents personal transformation from biased ethnocentric behaviors adopted in the family to a conscious decision of going beyond the preconceived box to explore, learn, and practice ethno-relative ways of thinking and interacting with people. From a transcultural perspective, his experience shows that it is possible to overcome the obsession of inherited or given culture and expand their cultural interactions and relationships.

The second story, from Valerie, illustrates how positive exposure to different cultures from an early age affirms personal and professional path for transcultural learning. The values in Valerie's family influenced her attitude toward different cultures and expanded her transcultural views. She grew up in a very diverse family with lesbian parents. They lived in a small apartment in France and were neighbors to a family from Gabon with several children. Valerie spent most of her time with the neighbor's children, particularly with one boy of her age, interacting and building a strong friendship. “I learned from this family how to not giving back but bringing forward, doing this from heart, with love.” She also recalled when the boy's parents asked her parents for arranged marriage. “My parents reacted so tactfully and politely and explained that this is not a common practice for us, but we still can be good friends, so we did.” Valerie explained her transcultural flexibility with her early exposure and openness to different cultures. Free from a narrow-minded culture, Valerie felt comfortable in learning, expanding her knowledge, and educating others (e.g., her husband and her colleagues).

These two stories illustrate how participants learned from their personal experiences by being owners of knowledge. Based on the premise that holistic learning accounts for a diverse set of situations described by participants, it is only meaningful and possible in a safe environment where learners feel comfortable and have intimate support. Acquiring transcultural learning as a transformative process allows individuals located at the crossroads of cultures to navigate and create a more inclusive society. It is a continuous process of recognizing different worldviews and identities, adaptation and interaction in our culturally dynamic reality, and transnational mobility across the world.

Discussion and Conclusion

Aligned with the concept of transculturalism, this article explores how people constructed meanings of transculture and transcultural learning out of their lived experiences in an era of transnational migration. The findings reveal that transcultural learning is a holistic and transformative process that connects local to global, challenges taken-for-granted frames of reference, expands worldviews, integrates new practices, and transforms individuals. It is a complex discourse in which individuals reconstruct basic assumptions and expectations that frame their thinking, feeling, and acting. A holistic transformative approach of transcultural learning takes into consideration the stabilizing or destabilizing effect, social conjunction, historical conditions, integration or disintegration of groups, cultures, and power experienced on micro, meso, and macro levels.

The first feature is related to developing the qualities of transcultural person: cognitive, affective, and social through which individuals develop transcultural competence. Becoming transcultural person indeed is a multidimensional process that requires the development of personal qualities such as open-mindedness, curiosity toward different cultures, and knowledge about different languages and history, together with an ability for emotional attachment and support, reflection, and flexibility in navigating through different cultural experiences and across cultural borders. However, the findings also reveal that such qualities can be developed through immersion and engagement in real cultural interactions, by being good listeners and story tellers, transparently sharing worldviews and changing frames of references.

Second, exploring intrinsic and extrinsic factors that motivated engagement in transcultural learning, participants’ experiences uncovered the dominance of internal motivation which relates to the need of personal growth, family relationships, and adaptation to a new, very diverse society and working environment. Different attitudes were expressed regarding external reasons for learning. The results show that if an administratively prescribed, mandatory approach is forceful, it will not result in transcultural enhancement. Especially if the professional authorities do not have a clear idea about the holistic process of transcultural learning, it could create exclusion and a fear of diversity. Moreover, the concept of motivation for learning on personal and organizational levels is a complex system recognizing individual experience, personal emotions, cognitive knowledge, and engagement in relationships.

Next, transcultural learning as a holistic transformative process was outlined. Going through it, learners invite their previous and current knowledge, individual observations, experiences, feelings and interaction to the process of cultivating relationships across cultures, developing skills and awareness, social sensitivity, and humility. Participants discovered different paths and opportunities for transcultural learning that transformed them, which demonstrates that transcultural learning is vital for all members of our society, without differentiating between them based on ethnicity, race, religion, and social privilege or disadvantage.

Connecting these findings with transcultural philosophy lead to the construction of transcultural learning model that involves inquiry, framing, positionality and progressing to dialogue, reflection, and competent action. The phases demonstrate the coherence of transcultural process and convey multiple forces that connect the local to the global, challenge taken-for-granted frames of reference, expand worldviews, integrate new practices, and transform individuals. Additionally, each of those critical components corresponds to the cognitive, affective, and social dimensions of learning. Transculturation, then, is designated as a holistic process of learning and exchange, from which a new reality emerges, transformed and complex, not as a mechanical agglomeration of traits, not a mosaic, but a phenomenon—constructed, original, and unique. Furthermore, the study concludes that individuals empowered with transcultural knowledge can act as agents of change for fostering social inclusion in workplace and in society. Figure 1 visualizes the transcultural learning model for personal development and social impact for fostering inclusion, derived from the research findings and grounded in the relevant theories.

Figure 1.

Transcultural Model for Personal Development and Social Impact.

The idea of continuity is illustrated through connections between the different phases: developing transcultural qualities, outlining the motivations for learning, navigating through inquiry, framing, positionality, dialogue, reflection, resulting in competent actions that further lead to cultural interference, integration, and inclusion. The graphic captures the complexity of the process, with its multiple dimensions that may overlap or contradict in different times and contexts. This process does not reach a final destination; it is continuously going on, reaching new horizons of knowledge and implementation by reflecting the cultural dynamics of the society, transnational movements, and local and global changes. Thus, by enriching one's self through a transcultural journey, individuals become agents of change and empower the community that they belong to.

The transcultural transformative learning model aligns with the new realities and demands of a rapidly diversifying and transnational world characterized by new mobility patterns, interconnectedness, and post-ethnicity. It challenges the static and passive notion of multiculturalism that homogenizes and essentializes groupism and ethnicity failing to capture the evolving dimensions of multilayered diversity and identity, which negatively impacts the commitment to social inclusion and just, equitable, and full participation in the society (Fleras, 2019). Furthermore, the transcultural notion of understanding cultures as self-differentiated but mutually involved, without isolating them from each other corresponds to the humanistic interferential model of cultures proposed by Bakhtin (1981), Berry and Epstein (1999), and Epstein (2012).

Transculturalism as a holistic approach and a conceptual landscape for considering cultures function as relational webs and flows of significant and active interaction with one another in the space of ultimate diversity (Benessaieh, 2010; Epstein, 2009, 2012), where people no longer define themselves in oppositions to other, rather they immerse through diversity that informs and enhances. Integrating different identities and connecting the global with the local, transculturalism is a learning commitment that facilitates communication, interaction, and socio-cultural adaptation in a dynamic society recognizing different worldviews.

This study offers a theoretical perspective and a vision that aims at dissolving cultural and ethnic binaries and the duality of opposing local to global, national to international, particular to universal, and mainstream to newcomers, us to them. This perspective is applicable for practices in the workplace for better usage of talents in organizations, and for facilitating sociocultural adaptation, interaction, and inclusion. Additionally, the model is beneficial to education where transcultural educators and learners will be able to engage in dialogue and implement diverse forms of learning, communicating, and interacting, while building trust and creating safe space for participants. Finally, transcultural transformative learning aligns well with the new realities and demands of a rapidly diversifying and transnational world characterized by new mobility patterns, interconnectedness, and postethnicity (Fleras, 2019).

Footnotes

ORCID iDs

Sinela Jurkova

Shibao Guo

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biographies

Sinela Jurkova, PhD, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. Diversity Education Program Manager, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. Research interests: Transcultural transformative learning, intercultural communication and competence, community development, inclusive education, anti-racism education theories and practices, community-based participatory action research.

Shibao Guo, PhD, is Professor at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. He is specialized in adult and lifelong learning, Chinese immigrants in Canada, internationalization of higher education, and comparative and international education. In 2024 he was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.

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