Asian perspectives and intercultural understanding Recent educational policy emphases on intercultural understanding are consistent with recognition of Australia's culturally diverse society and its geographic location in the Asian region. The Federal Government policy on multiculturalism has been guided by need for harmony and cooperation in an increasingly cosmopolitan and culturally pluralistic society. Operating within the theme, "unity within diversity", Government policy advocates a multicultural and cohesive nation with equal rights and opportunity for all regardless of their ethnic origin (Ho, Niles, Penney & Thomas, 1994). Australia's geographic location and growing economic, social, and political links with Asian nations require educational policies and practices that facilitate students' better understandings of Asian cultures and communities. In 1988, an Asian Studies Council paper, A National Strategy for the Study of Asia in Australia (1988), identified widespread ignorance of Asia in the Australian community and proposed that by the year 2000 students' knowledge of Asian communities, achievements, politics, and economies should enable understandings of Asia that would foster social, intellectual and working contacts. It was proposed that this would be achieved through inclusion of studies on Asia across the curriculum and the Australian contextualisation of Asian studies (Asian Studies Council, 1988, pp. 4-5). Later reports, including Australia and the North East Asian Ascendancy (Garnaut, 1989) and Australia's Languages: The Australian Language and Literacy Policy (1991) have reiterated the need for Australian schools to develop approaches to curriculum that counter popularist and stereotypic notions of Asian cultures. These new foci on Asia are part of a wider movement to promote intercultural understandings in Australian schools and communities. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia (1989) expressed the need to promote respect for individual identity "to ensure social cohesion and to enhance social justice" (p. v). Such broad statements have provided the background for more specific policy statements on global curriculum and intercultural understanding in educational contexts. Most recently, for example, The Review of the Post-Compulsory Education Committee (the Finn Report, 1991), indicated the importance of developing "cultural understanding" and pointed to three sub-competencies under this heading. *Understanding and knowledge of Australia's historical, geographical and political context; * Understanding of major global issues eg. competing environment, technological and social priorities; and *Understanding of the world of work, its importance and requirements (Finn, 1991, p. 58). In Western Australia, the Social Justice in Education (1991) policy emphasised that educational provision should reflect the diversity and needs of social and cultural groups and promote understanding and respect for cultural complexity, diversity and difference. According to Camilleri (1992, p. 142), it is this focus on initiatives to construct "process(es) of articulation between incumbents of different cultures" that distinguishes "intercultural" from "multicultural" understanding. Importantly, in an increasingly global environment, education must empower students to "cope with the irrevocable interdependence of humankind- socially, politically, economically, ecologically, and on the grounds of human survival (Bikson & Law, 1994, p. 52). Promotion of "globalism" - the interdependence and internationalisation of economic activity requires awareness of the both the diversity and interconnectedness of cultures and societies. Clearly, given our geographic location, a focus on Asian cultures is an important component in any efforts to promote intercultural understanding. The National Strategy for the Study of Asia in Australia (1988), proposed that Australian students should learn about Asian cultural, political and economic contexts. It was envisaged that students would draw on cultural achievements of Asian civilisations for their personal enrichment and on political, social and economic knowledge for future use as informed citizens of the Asian region. It was hoped that studies of Asia would afford Australians a greater comprehension of the diversity and complexity of the peoples, cultures and environments that made up Asia. To date, implementation of policy initiatives about Asia has occurred in several ways, including through central and local school policies and through initiatives of the Asia Education Foundation (AEF). Established to work with schools, education authorities, teacher education institutions, professional associations, philanthropic foundations and the corporate sector to promote and support studies of Asia across all curriculum areas, the AEF is a joint venture of the Curriculum Corporation and the University of Melbourne and managed through the University's Asia Link Centre. The work of the AEF is substantially funded by the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET), but has also attracted additional support and resources through its Partnerships program. The AEF aims to facilitate the study of Asia across the curriculum in Australian schools, to develop and disseminate Asia-related curriculum support materials, and to promote the study of Asia in teacher education. It aims to be responsive and sensitive to the needs of teachers in their attempts to include studies of Asia in their curricula. As part of its goal implementation process, some 80 schools across Australia were initially designated Magnet Schools. Magnet Schools pursue a range of programs across the curriculum focussing on awareness and understanding of Asia and Asian cultural communities. In this paper we consider the responses of 639 (senior primary and junior secondary) students enrolled in 16 of these Magnet Schools (two in each state and territory) to questions about aspects of Asia. We discuss the development of intercultural awareness and explore qualitative differences in students' levels of intercultural understanding. In the longer term, a major purpose of this preliminary work is to construct and refine an approach to measuring intercultural understanding in school contexts. The work forms, in part, a component of a larger project designed to evaluate AEF programs, including Magnet Schools. The paper draws implications for curriculum and for teaching and learning about Asia in Australian schools. Intercultural understanding Human societies are notable for the cultural legacy of values and skills which their members acquire. Institutions of culture include bureaucratic organisations such as schools, economic and political systems, and informal systems of practices and mores. These institutions channel attitudes and prescriptions for skilled performance in particular directions. Each generation in any society inherits a cultural history, including technologies, to support problem-solving. At the same time, children are active in organising their thinking and constructing meaning from the world around them. This integration of individual and social activity, in turn, constitutes and transforms cultural practices with each successive generation (Rogoff, 1990). Intercultural understanding is a multi-dimensional construct containing elements that are cognitive, affective and behavioural. In this paper intercultural understanding refers to awareness and appreciation of the diversity and interdependence of ideas and practices in human societies (Christensen, 1989; Finn, 1991). Its operational manifestation, intercultural competence, takes the idea of awareness to action. This step requires a wide knowledge base plus openness and adaptability to different cultural perspectives and the willingness to learn whatever is needed to deploy domain skills effectively in new contexts, including perhaps functionality in another language (Bikson & Law, 1994, p. 26). In this paper, we are concerned only with the awareness and appreciation component of intercultural understanding. Coming to terms with one's own culture is a complex and lengthy process. Understanding the culture of people in other societies or communities involves even more complex cognitive, affective and behavioural processes. According to Christensen (1989), the process of becoming aware of social positions in relation to others happens as a gradual part of psychosocial development. She contends that intercultural awareness begins to develop at the point when interactions with other cultures are initiated. But, it is unlikely that development is completed before adulthood, if ever. An understanding of other cultures is based on comprehension of complex processes. The notion of "understanding" depends on the links made by the individual between new information and previous knowledge and experience. Further, it is firmly anchored in self-awareness and acceptance. "Even older adolescents are commonly struggling to define and accept who they are in terms of cultural backgrounds, ideals, attitudes, moral codes, and interpersonal relations" (Christensen, 1989, p. 272). Indeed, Christensen (1989) contends it is possible that some people will never develop an awareness and understanding of other cultures, because of lack of opportunity or interest or because of an aversion to interacting with people who are culturally or racially different. There are several important dimensions of intercultural understanding. They include: *a wide knowledge base emphasising factual coexistence of diverse cultures and subcultures; *understanding of shared cultural elements; *recognition and appreciation of different cultural perspectives and cultural diversity; and *recognition of interconnectedness and interdependence humankind- socially, politically, economically, and ecologically- and the need to promote effective coexistence between groups (Bikson & Law, 1994; Camilleri, 1992; Christensen, 1989; Schuster, 1989). Hanvey (1981) has identified four stages in the development of intercultural awareness. Level 1:An awareness of very visible cultural traits that are interpreted as exotic or bizarre. Level 2: An awareness of significant and subtle cultural traits that contrast markedly with one's own and are experienced as frustrating or irrational. Level 3: An awareness of significant and subtle cultural traits that contrast markedly with one's own but can be understood cognitively. Level 4: An awareness of how another culture feels from the standpoint of the insider. Like Christensen (1989), Willinski (1992) believes that development of intercultural understanding, depends on experiences with existing cultural resources. It grows out of "receptivity and curiosity" within prevailing cultural forms. And, it is concerned with the ability to communicate, collaborate, and work interculturally. As Bikson & Law (1994) contend, it is an experience, not just a content issue, a view supported by Sadow (1987) and others (e.g., Camilleri, 1992). According to Willinsky (1992), development of intercultural understand begins when students see that culture is not single-minded or static in its perspective and focus. They must appreciate that there are no easy characterisations of historical events, peoples, or cultures. They need to reserve judgement in favour of gaining insights and finding a basis for engagement and interaction. And, they need to see that there is always room for contesting the meaning of events and texts. Intercultural understanding involves thinking about what constitutes one's own cultural landscape, as well as a more regional or global perspective. For Willinsky, moving beyond community and nation to a more global cultural perspective is particularly challenging because of the legacy of conflict that has affected peoples and cultures. But, rather than effecting "historical amnesia" he suggests turning the legacy of conflict to understand negotiation processes and new instances of co-operation, partnership and appreciation. Willinsky's work on promoting intercultural understanding focuses mainly on the Pacific region. However, his emphasis on the increasing interdependence of economies and cultures throughout the region to prepare students for participation in these developments is consistent with the wider construct and promotion of intercultural understanding and, in particular, globalisation. In Australian schools, the broad notion of intercultural understanding is not new. For some years now it has been has been promoted, both formally and informally, to various extents in guises such as "multicultural education" or "social justice education". It confronts issues related to "plurality" of elements and situations of diverse cultural communities and communication between cultural groups. However, despite an interest in helping students' better understand and communicate with cultures other than their own and a wider movement to globalisation of curricula, there is little information on how intercultural understanding develops in childhood and adolescence (Christensen, 1989; Hollinsworth, 1992). The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to explore students' knowledge of Asia and Asian cultures and to document development of intercultural understanding. Knowledge of a culture is considered important in the development of intercultural understanding. The developmental nature of intercultural understanding has been flagged in the literature (e.g., Hanvey, 1981; Christensen, 1989) but not explored in any depth. In this study, categories of intercultural understanding were generated using a phenomenographic approach. Student responses to open-ended question probing intercultural understanding were used as the basis for category description. The categories were constituted in relation to the characteristics of the data and to theoretical perspectives of intercultural understanding, especially those of Hanvey (1981) and Christensen (1989). Method Separate questionnaires were administered to 316 senior primary (mean age 10.4 years, SD 1.4) and 323 junior secondary students (mean age 14.6 years, SD 1.3). Most students were born in Australia (84% primary and 88% secondary) with 7% primary and 6% secondary born in Asia. Most students (88% primary and 89% secondary) spoke English as a first language at home. Students attended one of 16 schools designated as Magnet Schools. These schools, from each State/Territory, were selected randomly from the 80 Magnet Schools throughout the country. Selection of students was made by the school and based, mainly, on timetable convenience. A 13 item questionnaire (with sub items) was developed to seek information on a range of issues about Asian countries and peoples. Questions, both open-ended and closed, probed students' knowledge of geographical, historical, cultural, socio-economic and political factors that parallel those in Willinsky's (1992) work on intercultural understanding in the Pacific region. Three questions relating to an imaginary pen-friend in an Asian country were specifically designed to elicit responses that would provide insights into intercultural understanding. The questionnaire was administered on a whole class basis and took between 30 and 40 minutes to complete. A phenomenographic approach was taken to analyse student responses to the open-ended questions. The first stage in this analysis was to identify categories of description from responses to questions that probed intercultural understanding. The categories reflected characteristics of the data and theoretical perspectives of intercultural understanding. Three researchers were involved in the process of reaching agreement on shared meanings. Results and Discussion Overview of students' knowledge of Asia Information on students' knowledge of socio-economic aspects of Asia and how they learned about Asia is reported below. Findings indicate that students seem, in general, to be developing a sound knowledge base on which to build intercultural understanding. With recent Government emphasis on the importance of Asia to Australia and concomitant support for curriculum programs promoting a knowledge of Asian countries, people and languages, we sought first to identify what students perceived as the important factors linking Australia and Asian region. Primary students were asked to give one reason why Asia is important to Australia. Secondary students were asked to list "the most important things linking Australia to Asia". Table 1 summarises student responses. Table 1 StudentsÕ perceptions of the most important links between Australia and Asia PRIMARY STUDENTS SECONDARY STUDENTS Nature of the Link N = 281 89% response %RESPONSE 1 N = 288 89% response %RESPONSE 2 N = 123 38% response % Trade or business 62 75 26 Tourism 3 3 24 Politics 2 3 13 Geography 14 8 8 Inter-cultural exchanges 12 8 28 Other 7 3 2 TOTAL 100 100 100 It was clear from these data that trade or business was perceived by students as being the dominant link between Australia and Asia. While some might express concern at this economic focus, student thinking does seem to be reflecting recent media emphasis on Australia-Asia economic ties and aspirations. Student perceptions on Asia's leading economies and (in the case of secondary students) their reasons for their opinions were also sought. Primary children were asked to name a "rich" country and a "poor" country in Asia. Of the 95% of students who responded, 35% named Japan, 23% China, 9% Singapore, and 8% Hong Kong and Indonesia respectively. Vietnam was most often cited as a poor country (23%), followed by Indonesia (16%) and China (13%). When some Asian countries are simultaneously classified as "developing" and "tiger" economies or "a dynamic Asian economy (DAE)", a label used by OECD, these conflicting responses are not surprising. In the case of secondary students, a much larger proportion (87%) identified Japan as a leading Asian economy. Reasons for nominating Japan included trade (26%), technology (17%), and human resources and manufacturing (15% respectively). Most secondary students (85%) were able to correctly name a major business or industry involved in trading with Asian countries. All students were asked to name the most important exports and imports between Australia and Asian countries. For both primary and secondary students, foods (often listed as specific items such as wheat, rice) dominated the responses. Secondary students also nominated manufactured goods, natural resources and technologies. These findings suggest that Gerber and Wilson's (1994) recent concerns about students' lack of socio-economic knowledge may not be as widespread as they thought. From this research, it seems that students in schools with an emphasis on Asian Studies across the curricula are beginning to understand the nature of economic links in the regions. That development of understandings that first focus on relations between Australia - their home country - and Asia, with which they have some direct experience, is not unexpected given our understanding of how children construct their knowledge. Pursuing the idea that development of intercultural understanding is dependent on a sound knowledge base we asked primary students to "name one really important thing that has happened in Asia in the last 100 years"; and secondary students to identify "two of the most important historical events in the Asian region since 1900". Student responses to these questions (Table 2) suggest a more limited knowledge of significant events impacting on socio-political life. In fact, many students seemed to find the question quite difficult with 25% of primary and 29% of secondary students omitting it. For students who responded, wars (World Wars, the Vietnam and Korean wars) tended to dominate their perceptions of history. This was particularly true in the case of secondary students. This finding, reflects a strong Eurocentric perspective, probably shaped by a combination of media, family and community discourse, and school history curricula. Encouragingly, 30% of primary students listed contemporary political events with another 13% listing natural disasters. The omission of the latter category for secondary students may reflect use of the word "historical" in the question. Table 2 Students' perceptions of important (historical) events in the Asian region PRIMARY STUDENTS SECONDARY STUDENTS Nature of the Event (One event requested) N = 238; 75% response (Two events requested) N = 228; 71% response World Wars 8 54 Asian Wars 14 48 Wars - not specified 14 0 Natural disasters 13 0 Festivals, sports, cultural events 7 7 Contemporary politics 30 38 Other 3 4 Unclear or ambiguous 11 4 TOTAL 100 155 Migration and tourism Student responses to questions about countries in Asia from which there is significant migration to Australia and countries providing significant numbers of tourists are summarised in Table 3. Since primary students were asked to name just one country in each case and secondary students two countries, figures should not be directly compared. However, valid comparisons can be made based on the relative frequencies. Although high proportions of both primary and secondary students appropriately identified Japan as a major source of tourism, both groups incorrectly named Japan as a major source of migration. Some students in both groups made clear distinctions between migration and tourism for Vietnamese people. Secondary students were specifically asked to comment on differences between their responses to each question. However, 63% of those responding indicated no difference in source countries of migration and tourism. Of those indicating differences only 8% were able to explain differences appropriately. Table 3 StudentsÕ perceptions of Asian countries providing migrants and tourists to Australia PRIMARY STUDENTS (One country requested) SECONDARY STUDENTS (Two countries requested) Country Migration n = 300 95% response % Tourism n = 300 95% response % Migration n = 300 95% response % Tourism n = 300 95% response % China 27 21 51 59 Hong Kong 4 4 3 7 Indonesia 9 12 16 7 Japan 29 41 47 91 Korea 1 2 6 4 Malaysia 3 2 6 4 Singapore 2 4 3 6 Taiwan 3 1 2 2 Vietnam 17 5 37 2 Others 5 8 21 7 TOTAL 100 100 192 188 Finally, students were asked to draw some Asian countries on a map already containing a picture of Australia. Primary students were asked to locate ¥the country of the pen pal (selected in questions about intercultural understanding) ¥two other countries in Asia ¥two major cities. A summary of students' knowledge of locations of Asian countries and cities is shown in Table 4. For the 216 (83%) primary students who attempted this question, the countries drawn most frequently were China (by 39% of students), Japan (13%) and Indonesia (11%). Cities most frequently marked were Tokyo (by 38% of students), Beijing (23%) and Jakarta (12%). Secondary students were asked to locate the country of their pen friend and at least two other countries and two cities on the map. These students seemed to find the task more daunting than did the primary students with some 30% of secondary students not able to draw a country (range of countries drawn was from 0 to 22) and 69% not able to correctly locate even one city (range 0 to 10). An overall locational accuracy mark was allocated to the maps according to the scale indicated Table 4. While primary and secondary students' marks are not directly comparable because different marking "standards" were applied to take account differing cognitive development, the younger children performed quite creditably on what was a difficult task. A high proportion of secondary students had little or no idea of the locations of countries or cities. This limited knowledge of Asian geography is consistent with Gerber and Wilson's (1994) findings. The orientation, juxtaposition and spatial configuration given to the countries included in students' maps warrant further study in their own right in that they reflect perceptions of their place in the region and their relationship to other countries. These will be discussed in a future paper. Table 4 Students' knowledge of country and city locations PRIMARY STUDENTS SECONDARY STUDENTS Description Mark n % n % No idea 0 40 13 121 43 Some idea of relative locations 1 116 38 59 21 A good idea 2 86 28 51 18 A very good impression 3 66 21 49 18 TOTAL 308 100 280 100 There were no clear indications that students' knowledge of Asia varied as a function of their State/Territory of residence, their gender, or country of birth or language spoken at home. Sources of knowledge The importance of different sources of information in developing knowledge of Asian peoples and countries was assessed by asking students to rate the impact of the media, school classes, relatives or family friends, school friends, their reading, and visits to other countries on their understandings. For both primary and secondary students, school and the media were considered to have the greatest impact on learning. Some 51% of primary students rated school classes as most important (on a 3-point scale) with 33% of secondary students rating school "very important" (on a 4-point scale). The corresponding figures for the media were 48% and 30% respectively with other sources receiving considerably lower ratings. The high rating of the media in providing information about Asia is consistent with Lancley and Laws' (1994) finding of a strong media influence on year 8 and 10 students' perceptions of Asia. That students in the current study rated school as a slightly more important influence than the media may reflect their schools' Magnet School status and special focus on Asian curriculum perspectives. (b) Categories of responses for intercultural understanding In order to gain insights into students' developing intercultural understandings we asked them to imagine they could choose a pen friend in an Asian country. We expected this task would afford them an opportunity to view the pen friend's culture as it might be seen by an insider, the perspective Hanvey (1981) considered reflected the highest level of intercultural understanding. Students were asked to indicate why they selected the country and what their pen friend might tell them about his or her life and country. A third question probing in what ways are Asian countries alike was also designed to elicit responses that might reflect understanding of the richness and diversity of Asian cultures. Table 6 indicates that students were most likely to nominate a Japanese pen friend. Table 6 Preferred country for a pen pal Level Preferred country % of students nominating country Primary Japan Indonesia China Vietnam Korea 25.6 17.2 15.9 7.1 0.9 Secondary Japan China Indonesia India Hong Kong (Korea) (rank 9) 39.5 15.2 12.3 5.2 4.5 (2.3) Further analyses indicated that choice of country was strongly associated with the opportunity to study a corresponding national language in school. This was especially true in the case of Indonesia for both primary and secondary schools, and Japan for secondary students. Lancely and Laws (1994) have reported that Japan, along with Hong Kong and Singapore were countries that year 8 and 10 students most wanted to visit, largely, because of their modernity and "good shopping". Countries perceived as "poor" and "war torn" were least likely to feature as worth visiting. Few students said they wanted to see countries because they had learnt about them or their languages in school. Interestingly, although India forms a major part of Asia and there are large numbers of Indians living in Australia, there was rarely any reference to its geography, peoples or cultures. In the eyes of the students we surveyed, Asia consisted of those countries in North Eastern Asia (China, Japan, North and South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and South Eastern Asia (Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam etc). And, languages from these countries, rather than Southern Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) are those likely to be taught in schools. Analysis of students' responses to the three questions probing intercultural understanding: Why select this country? What would a pen-friend tell you? and How are Asian countries alike? yielded five categories. The process of categorisation involved the grouping, integration and generalistation of recurring ideas, similarities and core elements expressed in responses. The content and structure of each grouping was then refined and labelled in terms of the key components of "intercultural understanding" described above. This required examining texts with the intention of understanding students' intent irrespective of the words or the examples used. The resulting categories have been ordered in an hierarchical manner ranging from little or no intercultural awareness and beginning awareness to understanding of fundamental human qualities as unifying dimensions and the interdependence of communities. Level 1: Limited awareness of cultural or ethnic differences other than from a personal or egocentric perspective. For example, "I like Chinese food'. It is assumed that all groups share similar cultural traits and values and that these are similar to those held by the respondent. Level 2: Awareness of very visible cultural traits that are interpreted as exotic or novel. For example, "They all eat rice" (Grade 6 male) and "They all have black hair" (Grade 6 male). Individuals may begin to question cultural practices and may be concerned with obvious issues of prejudice or oppression. Level 3: Awareness based on based on rational or scientific knowledge. Students can contrast and explain differences and identify shared elements. Level 4: Awareness and appreciation of more subtle cultural traits. Valuing cultural diversity and appreciating different historical perspectives. For example, "A lot of different countries have Gods of some kind and they all have very strong ways of praising them" (Grade 5 female); "I think they are alike in some ways but their selfs and their countries are different as well" (Grade 6 female); "They are not alike, they all have different cultures, customs and spiritual beliefs, different languages, different attitude to politics" (Grade 6 female). Level 5: Students indicate an ability to internalise multiple perspectives, recognise interconnectedness and interdependence of human societies and appreciate how another culture feels from the standpoint of an insider. Table 7 shows percentages of student responses at each level of the hierarchy. Table 7 Categories of intercultural understanding PRIMARY STUDENTS (N=316) SECONDARY STUDENTS (N=323) Level of Response Why this country? % What would pen pal tell? % How are Asian countries alike? % Why this Country? % What would pen pal tell? % How are Asian countries alike? % Irrelevant 0 0 2 0 0 0 1. Personal or egocentric 41 10 17 21 10 15 2. Exotic or novel 24 5 3 13 2 2 3. Rational or scientific 7 22 31 17 22 48 4. Low cultural understanding 8 47 27 31 50 20 5 High cultural understanding 37 6 4165 Language related 17 2 16 15 0 9 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 100 Further analyses indicated that students' levels of intercultural awareness were similar across states and there were no indications of significant relationships between intercultural understanding and students' country of birth or language spoken at home. As anticipated, given that development of intercultural awareness is considered to be age related, there was a trend for higher level responses (4 and 5) to be made by older children both at the primary and secondary levels. Support for the developmental nature of intercultural awareness can be found in the psychological literature. Mature intercultural understanding, for example depends on the ability to view a situation from the perspective of an insider. It's not until early to mid adolescence, according to Selman's (1976) model of "perspective taking", that children begin to successfully take the view of a third person and realise that the social system in which they operate is the product of shared views of the member of a society. Individuals, however, may still take both egocentric and non egocentric perspectives in the same context. There are some indications too, that recursive thought- reflective cognitive endeavour that involves thinking about what another person is thinking, undergoes rapid improvement during early to mid adolescence (Miller, Kessel & Flavell, 1970). This age-related maturity would help explain older children's better ability to think about what their pen-pal would think and tell them about his or her culture. Interestingly, male and female students' intercultural understanding scores were significantly different in both the primary (female mean = 4. 3 and male mean = 3.6, t-value = 3.85; p< . 001) and secondary grades (female mean = 4. 6 and male mean = 3.9; t-value = 3.7; p< .001). Explanations for girls' greater intercultural awareness may lie in their greater emotionally sensitivity as a function of social expectations, their ability to better articulate their responses due to greater language maturity, or their ability to respond more empathically to messages than boys (Halpern, 1992). While further quantitative and qualitative analyses of student responses and relations between student characteristics, knowledge of Asian socio-political contexts and intercultural understanding are underway, no major trends have emerged at this point. Students' geographical knowledge, however, as demonstrated by the ability to correctly locate Asian countries and cities does appear to be moderately related to intercultural understanding. There was a moderate correlation (r = .7) between the score for correct location of cities and intercultural understanding for secondary students and between the overall map location score and intercultural understanding for primary students (r = .6). The r-squared values of 49% and 36% respectively, indicated a moderate relationship between the variables. Summary In this paper we have reported on students' knowledge of Asia, generated descriptive categories of intercultural understanding and described students' developing notions of intercultural awareness. This work is intended to serve as a basis for further research on assessing and promoting intercultural understanding. Little is known, at present, on how children's intercultural understanding develops during the school years and what strategies might best afford opportunities to promote interculturalism in educational contexts. Overall, students' responses to specific "knowledge of Asia" questions indicated that they were developing a sound knowledge of basic Asian economic and trade issues. This knowledge seems to reflect recent and concerted government and media emphases on economic restructuring and more global, particularly Asian, economic, trade and manufacturing initiatives, rather that than Asia specific curricula in schools. As noted in previous studies, students' knowledge of Asian geography and major cultural/historical events was less well developed. Analyses of responses to questions about the imaginary pen friend designed to probe intercultural understanding, revealed that many students were beginning to comprehend and appreciate the diversity and differences between cultures. Older students especially, were starting to recognise the interdependence of cultures and were able to view a situation as it might be seen by a members of the specific culture. At the same time many students were not able to project beyond their own reference system and considered their "pen friend's" culture only in terms of their ethnocentric perspectives. Others, while taking into account differences in cultures tended to distort the differences, viewing cultures as more or less inferior to their own, and turning differences into value judgements. Not unexpectedly, some students seemed to interpret "differences" as "problems". That many students' perceptions of Asian cultures were categorised as "egocentric" and "novel" is in keeping with their cognitive maturity and the complex and developmental nature of intercultural awareness. Encouragingly, there were many students who appeared to be developing higher levels of intercultural awareness. Older students' greater intercultural understanding reflects, at least in part, the notion that maturity of perspective taking increases with age (Selmen, 1976). Evidence that media were influential in shaping students' perceptions also helps explain stereotypic views of Asian cultures that were included in the "novelty" category. Popular knowledge of Asia generally includes the facts, interpretations, and beliefs that are institutionalised within television, movies, videos, records, magazines and newspapers, and from glimpses into the lives of Asian families living in Australia. This knowledge often consists of misconceptions, stereotypes, and partial truths. Problems arise when popular knowledge conflicts with the reality of the school, wider community, or specific cultural groups and their practices both here and in Asia (Banks, 1993). Implications for curriculum A major goal of teaching for intercultural understanding is to permit adequate partnership in an intercultural context and there are a range of strategies for promoting intercultural awareness and competence. At the same time, students bring their own cultural experiences and expectations to the classroom, formed by the family, community, nation and beyond. These intersecting dimensions work together to create a rich basis for exploring the cultural richness and diversity. According to Willinsky (1992) schools need to capitalise on the educational value of these cultural orientations, and elaborate their connections and histories to expand students' horizons and enhance intercultural communication. Camilleri (1992) too, highlights the value of experience and knowledge about each system, but points out, that this knowledge will also highlight the "surprising, bizarre or shocking". 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