Intercultural preparation for future mobile students: a pedagogical experience

Higher education ( HE) student mobility offers the opportunity to acquire, among other things, intercultural experience. Nevertheless, it is crucial to prepare students and give them the tools to reflect on their experiences before, during and after study abroad. In this pedagogical paper, we present and discuss 'Perceptions of self and other', one of the pre-departure activities developed in the frame of the European project IEREST, which aims at enabling students to examine their previous intercultural encounters and at developing their ability to build successful intercultural communication with others without prejudice. The paper, directed to an audience of practitioners involved in study abroad preparation, focuses on the feedback received from different stakeholders involved in the initial piloting of the activity, in seven HE institutions. Overall, the activity was considered original and innovative, theoretically solid and engaging for the students. The critical points considered involved the time required to adapt the activity to the specific context in which it was taught, and the need to manage students' expectations by clarifying that the aim was not to provide practical advice and information about specific destinations, but to make them reflect on what intercultural encounters can offer in terms of personal development.