Intercultural studies in the university community in the focus on social cohesion development

Abstract

The present article continues the cycle of social cohesion re-search in education and society. In order to research the main principles of organized society, the main foundations of social cohesion and their ap-plications in the educational sphere are very important. The main goal of the article is to consider the intercultural aspect of social cohesion and to provide intercultural study in the university community. This study starts with the first diagnostics of the cognitive focuses of intercultural communications in the university community of the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. Cultural diversity is considered the foundation and the central part of intercultural studies. The purpose of the study is to provide a conceptualization of cognitive focuses in intercultural commu-nications, to determine the actual level of intercultural competence, to test the author’s questionnaire, and to determine the further steps for enhancing intercultural communications in the educational community. Methods that were used in the study are the author’s questionnaire, math analyt-ics, etc. There were 272 persons interviewed at the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, namely 230 students and 42 teachers. According to the research results, the level of intercultural competence of students and teachers is relatively high, and all indicators are above average, which positively characterizes the attitude of students and teachers of the uni-versity to other cultures, their perception of other cultures, tolerance and willingness to cooperate and combine cultural activities. This is impor-tant at this time, because Ukraine is on the path to European integration, bravely defending its own choice, where one of the main values is respect and acceptance of cultural diversity.