Facilitating intercultural education in majority student groups in higher education

ABSTRACT

The present article critically analyses the pedagogical efforts of two teachers to promote values education and intercultural reflection in their own educational practice. They teach in higher education in Norway and most of their students have majority backgrounds. Based on their teaching experiences with VaKE (Values and Knowledge education), the article discusses opportunities and challenges when working with values education in majority student groups. It concludes that discussing values is difficult but can be eye opening. It also raises the question of which dilemmas can prevent stereotyping and foster more complex intercultural thinking and shows that intercultural education requires a discussion of one’s own cultural position. The article highlights the teacher’s crucial role in the VaKE-process regarding the aims of intercultural values education.     

Intercultural educational alternatives based on sustainability from Mexico: beyond school and cultural belonging

Abstract

This article proposes the articulation of intercultural education and sustainability, linking the recognition of cultural diversity to socio-environmental concerns. This implies transcending formal education and classrooms; moving towards educational modalities that could impact people of different ages, and levels of scholastic achievement, with different needs and demands. We suggest that education is a key to transform structural conditions that have perpetuated inequality, and then to the self-empowerment of indigenous peoples, but that previous models, political basis and forms have not been pertinent, nor do they respond entirely to explicit demands of indigenous peoples. Intercultural education should go beyond simply adding cultural elements to the curriculum. Learning and sharing about ways to connect knowledges and know-how from cultural, social, economic and political distant sources, and ways to visualise and propose autochthonous relevant methods to transform their regions and make these visions of social justice real, are amongst the elements that we consider central to intercultural education. In order to demonstrate this, we analyse an experience of non-formal, collaborative, intercultural education with fisherwomen and youths, making up a learning community and emphasising a dialogue of knowledge for the conservation of their territory.     

Intercultural education: theory and practice

The paper examines the theoretical position of intercultural educational studies. It begins by stressing the vital importance of intercultural education and the progress that has been made in recent times. It then turns to the terminological shift that occurred two decades ago, from multicultural to intercultural education, which was accepted unquestioningly at the time. Retrospectively, we might ask what was the discursive strategy of this lexical change. Did it not serve to disguise the realities of much cultural interaction: conquest, slave trade, genocide? What are the theoretical (as distinct from the moral) premises of intercultural education? Is the aspiration realistically for an education able to negotiate between cultures rather than to show that there is more than one culture? As the subject appears not to be tightly focused, so the context is also under‐theorized and effectively de‐politicized. The international political, economic and cultural contextualization (globalization) of intercultural education is essential to its understanding. Is there an international view of intercultural education, or is it rather a few paradigmatic examples? The paper shows how the development of a social sciences and comparative perspective might assist the theoretical deficit suggested above.     

Intercultural teaching in higher education

In this paper I examine the difference between a multicultural curriculum and an intercultural one. I argue that such a distinction is important because it helps teachers in universities and colleges to move beyond the canon debate and its politics, and focus on the more fundamental task of fostering intercultural thinking. I assert here that interculturalism in teaching is not about covering multiple cultures; rather it is about working through a dialogue between cultures. A dialogue, of course, requires minimally a party of two. Once that requirement is satisfied, in my view the focus should then be on the dialogue itself rather than on the multiplicity of voices for the sake of inclusivity.     

Intercultural education and academic achievement: a framework for school-based policies in multilingual schools

The paper reviews quantitative and qualitative research evidence regarding the relationship between intercultural education and academic achievement among students from socially marginalized communities. Intercultural education is conceptualized as including a focus both on generating understanding and respect for diverse cultural traditions and challenging inequitable distribution of resources and educational opportunities across social groups. As such, intercultural education incorporates notions such as critical literacy and culturally responsive education. By definition, socially marginalized communities have experienced social exclusion and discrimination, often over generations. Thus, educators who adopt an intercultural education orientation are also committed to challenging the operation of coercive relations of power within their school environments. The operation of societal power relations that affect marginalized group students’ academic achievement can be conceptualized along a continuum ranging from structural/societal, through structural/educational, to interpersonal. Structural/societal forms of discrimination are largely outside the scope of what educators can influence directly (e.g. housing segregation). However, the research evidence suggests that educators have considerable power to resist and challenge coercive power relations operating at both structural/educational (e.g. curriculum materials) and interpersonal (e.g. classroom interactions) dimensions of the continuum. Thus, the proposed framework represents an explanatory model to account for patterns of school success and failure among marginalized group students and a predictive model to specify educator behaviors that are likely to promote academic achievement.     

Diversity management in preschools using a critical incident approach

Using the critical incident approach, preschool teachers at 10 preschools in Sweden were asked to describe their work with respect to ethnic and cultural diversity. The study attempted to provide insights that go beyond commonly used models of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence (e.g. Gudykunst and Kim; Landis, Bennett, and Bennett). Four different understandings and approaches to ethnic and cultural diversity were discernible in the empirical material (i.e. ‘instrumental,’ ‘co-productive,’ ‘facilitative proactive,’ and ‘agitative proactive’). The data suggest that preschool teachers, in order to be interculturally competent, need to work systematically with intercultural pedagogy, intercultural communication skills, and with their discursive awareness. Moreover, it is concluded that if preschool teachers fail to scrutinize their own values, modes of behavior, and a-priori understanding of what ‘is’ cultural behavior, they may sustain cultural stereotypes.     

The role of reflexive thought in the achievement of intercultural competence

ABSTRACT

Reflexivity refers to the capacity for individuals to understand the cultural system and manage their own position within it. Reflexivity is a key concept in the understanding of intercultural communication, particularly in recognising the ability for individuals to understand and adapt to new cultural contexts. However, the prevailing methods used in intercultural communication (namely that of intercultural competencies) do not place a great emphasis on the role of reflexivity in achieving cultural adaptation. In this paper, I argue for the central positioning of the concept of reflexivity in intercultural education as a mechanism which mediates between intercultural experiences and individual behaviour. I present evidence of the reflexive sequence (subject-object-subject) from the reflections of a cohort of students (n = 19). Finally, I suggest a pedagogical instrument (a heuristic) for empirically exploring reflexivity in intercultural communication.     

Uses and abuses of culture: mestizaje in the era of multiculturalism

ABSTRACT

In this article, I analyse how intercultural ideas, practices and policies inform Mexico’s current racial formation, and how racial categories and meanings are shaped under neoliberalism and the politics of recognition. I argue that the uncritical use of cultural and ethnic differences as the central focus of interculturalism reifies and reproduces the preoccupation with culture and ethnic differences characteristic of the racial project of mestizaje that held sway for most of the twentieth century. This focus on difference has silenced a much-needed discussion about how neither interculturalism nor multiculturalism has changed existing racial hierarchies and privileges nor curtailed the effects of racism and racial injustice on indigenous people and their communities.     

Bilingual-intercultural education for indigenous children: the case of Mexico in an era of globalization and uprisings

The past 25 years have brought upheaval to the indigenous people of Mexico due to two opposing forces: modernization and globalization, on the one hand, and indigenous uprisings on the other. Suddenly, the topic of indigenous languages and education was brought into official discussions at the national level. This paper examines the tensions that emerge between the political discourses which emanate from within the indigenous communities and from the national government, and the actual implementation of educational policy models. The political–educational discourse shifted from Spanishization [castellanización], assimilation, and integration to bilingualism, interculturalism, and participation. We demonstrate that this shift was not a smooth transition, but rather an abrupt change that occurred in the early 1990s. Further, despite the shift to new discourses that respected indigenous languages and cultures, institutional factors have not been altered sufficiently to improve the conditions of indigenous education or their well-being in Mexico. Thus, ultimately, the new discourse of bilingualism and interculturalism in education serves to obfuscate the socio-political-economic work that must be done to truly allow the indigenous people to participate in the nation’s political life.     

On reflection: is reflexivity necessarily beneficial in intercultural education? 1

This article explores how the concept of reflexivity is used in intercultural education. Reflexivity is often presented as a key learning goal in acquiring intercultural competence (ICC). Yet, reflexivity can be defined in different ways, and take different forms across time and space, depending on the concepts of selfhood that prevail and how notions of difference are constructed. First, I discuss how the dominant usages of reflexivity in intercultural education reflect and reproduce a Cartesian view of the self that shapes how ICC is conceptualized and taught. I discuss three assumptions that this view produces: that the self is accessible and transcendable, that reflexivity is universal across space and time, and that the self can act as its own remedial change agent or ‘inner consultant.’ I argue that because reflexivity is understood in many different ways, attention to definition is crucial, both in designing learning objectives in intercultural education and in devising ways to attain them. Greater attention is also needed in intercultural education to the ways in which selfhood, and hence also reflexivity and constructions of difference, differ across space and time.     

Research note: Promoting intercultural education through art education

Taking UNESCO’s proposal ‘learning how to live together’ as a starting point, we examined to what extent visual education can be used as a tool to promote the aims of intercultural education. We analyzed the power of using artistic images from different cultures to change students’ perception of cultural differences, thereby facilitating the development of attitudes of respect towards different ethnic/cultural groups. We also investigated to what extent this strategy could contribute to the integration of minority peers into a majority group. Students were assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental treatment consisted of exposing students to several art object images associated with different cultures. Our measurement instrument was based on an adapted version of the ‘Draw‐A‐Person‐Test’, which we have called the ‘Draw‐Two‐Persons‐Test’. We also used a questionnaire to examine attitudes among subjects     

Problems and Possibilities of Dialogue Across Cultures

In a liberal, democratic culturally plural society, it is to be expected that people will differ in their views of the good life and that they will proceed differently in cognitive, moral and political matters. This paper argues that, although the problems of inter-ethnic conflict, cultural or ethnic differences pose a challenge, they do not pose an insurmountable challenge to the possibilities of dialogue across cultures. Granting this, teachers and educators should be asking themselves: what positive conditions, norms and principles make dialogue across cultures possible and what can they do to promote those conditions, norms and principles. The paper assumes a context of diversity of cultural values and offers some guidelines for the conduct of dialogue across cultures. The assumption here is, that by being conscious of the successes and failures, aims and objectives, norms, principles and procedures of dialogue, teachers and other relevant individuals would be clearer about how to proceed in dialogue or discussion across cultures and what to expect from such dialogue.     

Identifying and developing effective approaches to foster intercultural understanding in schools

This paper provides a systematic review of education literature focused on identifying school-based approaches for developing students’ intercultural understanding. Studies were assessed using selection criteria and then critically appraised for study quality. A key finding from the review is that developing students’ intercultural understanding beyond cultural awareness requires students and teachers to take a critical approach toward cultural diversity, as well as the opportunity for ongoing intercultural and intergroup contact. Studies reported that only building cultural awareness and knowledge is not enough to promote long-term changes in attitudes. There is a need for more rigorously evaluated longitudinal school-based interventions. Finally, studies consistently call for investment in teachers’ professional and personal intercultural capabilities. The paper concludes by calling for school-based interventions that are informed by best practice approaches at a whole school level in order to effectively develop students’ intercultural attitudes and skills.     

The representation of multicultural values in the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-Endorsed EFL textbook: a critical discourse analysis

In transcultural and transnational communication settings, English learners have to be able to communicate with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For this reason, English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks, for instance, not only promote Anglo-American and British cultures but also include both EFL learners’ home and international cultures. The present discourse study looks at the cultural content of a nationally adopted EFL textbook in Indonesia. It particularly investigates multicultural values represented in the EFL textbook geared for senior high school students. Findings of the study reveal that four themes of multicultural values emerge from the textbook, such as: (1) respect for cultures of different ethnic and religious groups; (2) respect for cultures of indigenous people; (3) conflict avoidance and peace with all forms of life and nature; and (4) appreciation of creative cultural products. The implications of this textual study suggest that as English plays an increasingly important role as a global lingua franca, multicultural materials from outer and expanding circle countries need to be added to English language teaching (ELT) textbooks. Therefore, English teachers should creatively teach multicultural aspects and use multimodal materials to engage students in culturally laden language-learning tasks.     

Intercultural literacy dialogue: international assessment moderation in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT

This research reports intercultural dialogue of meaning making in literacy by lecturers, engaged with an assessment moderation process of early childhood education (ECE) preservice teacher education across Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. The purpose of the dialogue was to inform pedagogical and conceptual knowledge in their courses. The research question is: How does intercultural dialogue inform teacher education literacy practices? Methods include (1) a blind assessment review process using 30 examples from ‘high’ to ‘low’ exemplars of ECE students’ literacy assessment annotations, some from each country, and (2) textual analysis of intercultural student feedback and reflection from student forum comments and, semi-structured reflexive interviews with students about the assessment moderation process. Rich academic reflections on the data have led to our recommendations that the conceptual framework of intercultural praxis could be applied in early childhood preservice teacher education practice. Further, we suggest there are increased possibilities for the use of intercultural literacy with ECE preservice student teachers using virtual and explicit collaborations and texts as explained in this research.     

Integrating entertainment and critical pedagogy for multicultural pre-service teachers: film watching during the lecture hours of higher education

This article discusses the pedagogical opportunities to use film as a tool to supplement lecture and classroom learning activities in a pre-service teachers’ course in a Malaysian higher education setting. While the multicultural participants participated in two academic courses to learn how to teach spoken English to young learners, movie segments were usually introduced in the middle of lecture periods before the lecturer moved to another topic. Movie watching was connected to follow-up activities such as classroom discussion, and later in the second course, dramatic dialogue practices. Results indicated that film watching was effective in providing students with a healthy outlet for boredom or stress and refreshing moments to recharge their attention span. Furthermore, film watching was perceived as effective in promoting critical thinking and intercultural competence, resulting in attitudinal growth regarding openness to other cultures and different people. This study encourages the use of films during lecture periods to make the academic learning process fun and to provide significant opportunities to promote learners’ intercultural competence and expand their perspective of multiple educational and social issues, which is the essence of critical pedagogy.     

An argument for love in intercultural education for teacher education

This paper proposes rethinking intercultural education in teacher education, arguing that any discussion of student teachers’ intercultural education should be connected more explicitly to a theoretical conceptualisation of love. The first part of the paper focuses on identifying discursive boundaries in engaging with intercultural education in teacher education. It is argued that if we are to develop intercultural education, we need to consciously move away from some discourses in teacher education, namely instrumentalism, performance orientation, emotionlessness and seeing the relationship between teacher and learner as static. The second half of the paper develops a theoretical alternative by engaging with the concept of love as a basis for intercultural education in pursuing an alternative to the instrumentalist, performance-based, non-emotional fixed-relationship ethos of intercultural education in teacher education.     

Intercultural education in everyday practice

While there is substantive work in intercultural education, especially that which proposes intellectual or conceptual road maps for pedagogic interculturalism and, more specifically for the classroom, there is a need to surface the complexity of everyday intercultural classroom practices. This article reflects on some Singapore students’ responses to materials designed to help them engage critically with intercultural issues. These responses can be categorized into three types of tajectories: reifying, critical and conflicted. Reifying practices basically mean that students essentialize individuals, communities and countries despite (and perhaps because of) the intercultural approach to the teaching of communication. Critical trajectories, on the other hand, showcase students’ ability to identify stereotypes and provide much more nuanced characterizations of individuals and countries. Conflicted trajectories, however, seem to be the most dominant classroom practice: these are attempts of students to be critical but, in practice, their criticality is enmeshed in reifying tendencies. In other words, ‘criticality’ as it is envisioned is always incomplete on the ground. Thus, we need micro-lenses in interculturalism and intercultural education to help us critically reflect on and surface essentialisms, tensions and struggles in everyday classroom practice.     

Critical issues on informed consent in Africa

Biomedical research has made tremendous advances during the last decade in improving human health and well being. In spite of these advances, research has encountered serious emerging challenges as it moves across boarders and confronts different societies with different cultural practices, beliefs, moral thoughts and different values. A pervasive and perplexing issue affecting the current advances in research is the perception that research might end up exploiting populations unless it is conducted in the context of a strong ethical framework. Furthermore, informed consent has increasingly become a thorny area for researchers when considering what should be done when introducing the process into a community, especially if the process might destroy the traditional value system and customs of the community. In this paper, I argue that community consent is an unethical process which should be subverted for community dialogue and community education in research in Africa.