Cross-Cultural Competence Sensitivity as a Mediator of the Relationship between Cross-Cultural Competence and Teachers’ Performance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2026.439Keywords:
Cross-cultural competence, Cross-cultural sensitivity, Mediation analysis, Public school teachers, Teaching performanceAbstract
Although cultural competence and intercultural sensitivity are increasingly recognized in multicultural education, limited evidence explains how these constructs interact to shape teachers’ professional performance. Gleaning from these problematic issues, this descriptive-correlational design through mediation analysis was employed with 189 public school teachers as respondents to examine the relationships among cross-cultural competence, cross-cultural sensitivity, and teachers’ performance. Data were gathered using validated scales of cross-cultural competence, cross-cultural sensitivity, and teaching performance and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and mediation analysis. Findings indicated that teachers demonstrate favorable levels of cross-cultural competence and sensitivity, as well as outstanding teaching performance. The three constructs were significantly related, indicating that greater cultural competence and sensitivity are associated with stronger teaching performance. Moreover, the mediation analysis established that cross-cultural sensitivity is a significant pathway between cross-cultural competence and teaching performance. This suggested that cultural competence became professionally consequential, in part, through teachers’ capacity to engage respectfully, attentively, and responsively with cultural differences. The findings were supported by Campinha-Bacote’s Cultural Competence Theory and Chen and Starosta’s Intercultural Sensitivity Theory. It further explained the development of cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, while the latter explains how these capacities are enacted through intercultural interaction. Hence, the study concluded that cross-cultural sensitivity serves as a relational bridge through which cultural competence translates into professional teaching practice.
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