Language educators in Australia and Finland are expected to foster intercultural understanding within foreign language education. This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study focusing on theoretical and practical intercultural understanding in secondary school language education. The data for this study includes lesson observations as well as student and teachers interviews collected in two secondary schools in Australia and Finland. The findings demonstrate the complex resources teachers and students draw on to develop and share intercultural understanding. The discussion addresses the value of different perspectives and the need for a new metaphor to conceptualise intercultural understanding. Keywords: intercultural understanding; foreign language education, critical intercultural dialogue Von Sprachlehrern in Australien und Finnland wird erwartet, dass sie interkulturelle Kompetenz fördern, um Beziehungen zwischen kulturellen Identitäten, Kontexten und sozialen Werten aufzubauen. In diesem Beitrag werden die wichtigsten Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Fallstudie sowohl zum theoretischen Verständnis, als auch zur Ausübung interkultureller Kompetenz, von Lehrern und Schülern der Sekundarstufe diskutiert. Die Daten für diese Studie umfassen Beobachtungen des Unterrichts sowie Interviews mit Studenten und Lehrern, die an zwei weiterführenden Schulen in Australien und Finnland gesammelt wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Entwicklung von interkulturellem Verständnis von Lehrern und Schülern eng mit ihrem Sprachgebrauch im Unterricht und im Alltag verbunden ist.

This chapter examines different perspectives on intercultural competences within foreign language teacher education in two case studies in Australia and Finland. The interview and narrative data came from a number of teacher educators, pre-service language teachers, and in-service languages teachers, in Jyväskylä, Finland, and Sydney, Australia. The chapter offers a critical cross-case dialogue which seeks to better understand the different perspectives of participants in their contexts. It highlights the way in which contextual factors, similarities, differences, contradictions and instabilities are present in and across perspectives. This cross-case study provides a critical perspective into the field of foreign language education as a community-based enterprise. The findings suggest that although the resources and experiences of individual participants in the field of foreign language education are recognised and valued, responses and experiences at a community level rarely get the attention needed to develop effective pedagogical practices that foster intercultural competences that include social justice and equality in foreign language education.