Analysis of the Content and Structure of Multicultural Competence in the Context of General Systems Theory: Foreign Experience

The relevance of the study stems from the spread of globalization processes on our planet, which is the most important trend in the development of the modern world. From the point of view of the socio-cultural development of societies and states, globalization is implemented in the deepening of multicultural processes that provide for social harmony in a multicultural environment – from educational systems to people's workplaces, revealing their mutual respect and harmonious adaptation to the cultural characteristics of representatives of nations and states, revealing a multicultural identity.

The interdisciplinary study develops the problems of a systemic approach to the content and structure of multicultural competence of education in the context of foreign experience. The study uses a theoretical analysis of the problem field of the research, general systems theory, modified by the author to analyze the content and model of multicultural competence of participants in the educational process. The study is also based on cultural models developed by R. Lewis.

The main components of the content of multicultural competence have been identified, which are extrapolated into the context of the general theory of systems. This enables the construction of a universal system model of the specified components: cognitive (understanding the essence of multiculturalism, intercultural differences, knowledge of the peculiarities of one's own and other people's cultures), axiological (cultivation of a positive attitude towards cultural diversity, tolerance, awareness of the equality of cultures, one's own cultural identity), behavioral/activity (development of skills of successful social communication in the context of the socio-cultural environment; for educators, this is the ability to organize the educational process taking into account multicultural features, methodical readiness to develop this competence in all participants of the educational process), personal (readiness for self-development and integration into the multicultural world without losing one's own cultural identity), formative (ability to effectively form skills of intercultural interaction), adaptive (ability to effectively adapt to new cultural conditions determined by social experience and social practice).