Critical incidents (or bumpy moments) are commonly used to foster professional development in cross-cultural training. They consist of brief descriptions of situations in which there is a misunderstanding, problem, or conflict, that may arise from cultural differences or assumptions between people who interact.

In the intercultural context, a critical incident has three distinctive features (Fiedler, Mitchell Triandis, 1971; Weiss, Syring and Kiel, 2018):

• it depicts a typical, everyday situation in which representatives of one culture interact with representatives of another culture;
• the situation does not go as expected, causing conflict, confusion or ambiguity for at least one party;
• the behaviours of the interacting people might easily lead to misinterpretation without sufficient knowledge about their respective cultures.

A peculiarity of a critical incident is that it “gives only enough information to set the stage, describes what happened, and possibly provides the feelings and reactions of the parties involved. It does not explain the cultural differences that the parties bring to the situation. These are discovered or revealed as part of the exercise” (Wight, 1995: 128). A Critical Incidents Exercise (CIE) does not give interpretations or possible solutions from which to choose. Rather, it encourages professionals to come up with their own solution, giving more thought to the situation and identifying what they would likely do if they were in that situation (Tripp, 1993; Wight, 1995).

Because of their nature, critical incidents can be a powerful tool for professional development since (Brookfield, 1990; de Frankrijker, 1998; McAllister et al., 2006):

• they contribute to increase professionals’ awareness of their own culturally determined values and accompanying behaviours and those of other cultures;
• they stimulate flexible and open attitudes;
• being open to multiple interpretations, they represent a rich vein for fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

In the sections OBSERVE AND REFLECT of the ISOTIS VLE, you can find some CIEs, presented as ‘Cases’, on different topics:

• Parent-Professional relationship;
• Promoting multilingualism.

Each CIE presents a set of questions provided to stimulate and guide your reflection and critical thinking. Some of those questions concern the specific episode presented in the case, while others will engage you in thinking what you would likely would do if you were in that situation, and to design possible strategies/activities you can implement with the children/families you work with to address the issue at the core of the episode.

You can use the provided CIEs to reflect by yourself or as a stimulus to discuss with your colleagues.

Moreover, you can upload and share eventual critical incidents you have experienced.