Abstracts Intercultural Education Volumes 22.5 and 22.6
Volume 22.5
Intercultural policies and the contradictory views of teachers; the
Roma in Catalonian schools.
Bálint Ábel Bereményi
Abstract In this article we examine the contradictions and lack of consistency between various levels of
discourse relating to Roma educational policies. Policy makers have claimed that political interventions would
positively impact the progress of Roma. However, the results have been mixed. We argue here that teachers
need to re-evaluate their roles as politically aware and culturally informed agents in order to guarantee social
justice to a historically disadvantaged ethnic minority. Based on ethnographical fieldwork carried out over a two
year period with Spanish Roma children, both in schools and in their families, this study shows how
intercultural policies have failed to impact the educational realities of Roma children.
Keywords Rom, Roma, Gitano, minority school performance, teacher discourses, caring theory, subtractive
cultural assimilation
The Border Pedagogy Revisited
Christopher John Kazanjian
Abstract Border pedagogy is a multicultural educational approach utilized in multicultural settings to help
students understand their histories and experiences and how it affects their identities and cultures. The approach
seeks to produce intellectuals that transcend physical and metaphysical boundaries. The goal of border pedagogy
is to remove cultural and political barriers to attain a greater conceptualization of the human experience. This
paper will discuss border pedagogy in the contemporary Mexican/American border region.
Keywords: Border Pedagogy, Multicultural, Ciudad Juárez, Giroux, Abstractification
Dealing with diversity in internationalised higher education
institutions
Erlenawati Sawir
Abstract While the economic benefits created by international education export are well documented, few
systematic and qualitative analysis studies have been conducted to examine how academic staff perceive the
presence of international students in their institutions. Using interview data from eighty academic staff from
different disciplines in one higher institution in Australia, this study examines whether the presence of
international students has an impact on staff teaching practice. Some of the academic staff reported that they
made no adjustments to their teaching. They treated all students as one student group. Other staff members said
that there have been changes in their teaching in response to the presence of international students in their
classroom. The paper discusses some of the underlying causes of these responses, and implications for the
practice of international education. The discussion of the findings is informed by Bennett’s Developmental
Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, which helps us understand how people respond to cultural differences.
Keywords: international students, denial of difference, cross-cultural awareness, internationalisation,
international education, internationalising the curriculum
Citizenship education for a pluralistic world:
the selection of children's literature in Dutch Protestant primary
schools.
Erna van Koeven & Yvonne Leeman
Abstract The goals of citizenship education are often contested in Protestant schools with an ethnically
heterogeneous population of pupils in multicultural European societies today. This is connected to the tension
between the inclusive goal of citizenship for a pluralistic world and the exclusive goal of education in the
Christian faith. This paper presents an explorative study on citizenship education. It describes the opinions of
teachers and parents on the selection and use of children’s literature in Dutch ‘liberal’ Protestant primary
schools. The results show that most teachers favour the avoidance of books that might not fit in with the
Protestant identity of the school or possibly raise objections from orthodox parents. There is considerable
diversity in the positions parents take on the issue.
Keywords:
Educational equity in ethnically diverse group work
Trish Baker and Jill Clark
Abstract Educational research in cooperative learning suggests that inequity based on perceived status may be
an issue with heterogeneous cooperative learning groups. This paper explores issues of status based on race,
ethnicity and cultural background in the New Zealand tertiary classroom where there is a diverse mix of
domestic and international students. A four year research project examined attitudes and perceptions of both
domestic and international tertiary students towards cooperative learning. The findings of the research project
indicate that initial assumptions of relative status and ability of group members have a major effect on the
outcomes of the group. These assumptions, demonstrated by both domestic and international students, may be
based on expectations of language ability and familiarity with the pedagogical environment, including the
assumed norms and behavioural patterns of the host educational setting, and may disadvantage students from
different cultural backgrounds. This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy limiting the effective interaction and
participation in the group by international students and other students perceived to be of low status, and the
development of trust and reciprocal interdependence among group members. Strategies to weaken the effects of
status, promote more equitable interaction and foster productive group outcomes are proposed.
Keywords: cooperative learning; educational equity; status, multicultural group work; culture
“Egypt in Transition”: Uniting Service-Learning and Short Term
Study-Abroad
Mike McMullen and Everette B. Penn
Abstract Study-abroad has become a popular method for promoting international education in university
curricula. Yet, with today’s growing nontraditional student who is older, working, and increasingly a member of
a racial/ethnic minority group, traditional study-abroad programs of a semester or year abroad have become
more problematic, if not impossible. The paradigm of short term study-abroad, combined with a service-learning
pedagogy, expands the opportunities for nontraditional students to have an international educational experience.
This dual approach is applied to a study-abroad course in Egypt, using a “Service-Learning Cross-Cultural
Research” pedagogy. Data from student participants in our program (based on qualitative data from student
reflection papers, focus group interviews, and student discussions) indicate an expanded global awareness,
changed career goals, and greater appreciation for cross-cultural dialog.
Keywords: service-learning, cross-cultural learning, study-abroad, international education
Research Note: Urging inclusion for interculturalism: Fostering
excellence in a Cypriot primary school
C. Hajisoteriou, P. Angelides, A. Costi and M. Hadjiaggeli Faculty of Education, University
of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract The development and implementation of inclusive practices can potentially enhance intercultural
education. Through the case study of a primary school in Cyprus, we investigated the practices that were
developed and applied by the school itself, which aimed to reduce the marginalisation of students who came
from abroad. The practices relate to the promotion and growth of friendly relations between local and immigrant
students, the inclusion of all students in their self-governing bodies, the differentiation of teaching according to
the needs of each student, the participation of the family and community in school decision-making and the
development of school collaborative cultures.
Keywords: Intercultural education, inclusive education, primary school, Cyprus education,
marginalisation
Volume 22.6
Developing Intercultural Understanding and Skills: Models and
Approaches
Laura B. Perry& Leonie Southwell
Abstract Researchers from a range of disciplines have been theorizing and empirically examining
intercultural competence and intercultural education for decades. This review article synthesizes the research
literature about these concepts around three questions: what is intercultural competence? How can it be
developed? And how can it be measured? Our aim is to provide an overview of current theories and empirical
findings, as well as to show gaps in the literature.
Keywords: intercultural education, intercultural competence, conceptual frameworks, student
outcomes, measurement
Evolving Cross-Group Relationships: The Story of Miller High, 19502000
Caroline Eick
Abstract This paper examines students’ evolving cross-group relationships in a comprehensive high school in
Baltimore County, Maryland, USA, between 1950 and 2000. The findings of this research, situated at the
intersections of two lenses of inquiry: oral historical analysis and critical studies, uncover both the power of
students accustomed to integrated spaces to break social barriers in spite of institutionally entrenched
segregating norms; and the power of institutional norms to segregate students when major demographic shifts
bring into institutional parameters youth unaccustomed to integrated spaces and diversity.
Keywords:
Zebra Crossing: Walking in two continents sharing and celebrating
difference through Music
Dawn Joseph
Abstract I use the metaphor zebra crossing in my reflective narrative to describe my plight and struggle as a
non-white person growing up and working in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the apartheid era. This article
considers and compares the notions of culture, diversity and identity as I now work in a tertiary institution in
Melbourne, Australia. I reflect on my teaching of African music and position myself as ‘the other’ at zebra
crossings, as I create a space in multicultural Australia. By engaging in meaningful dialogue with music and
culture, I contend, we do have opportunity to explore, experience and express music making and sharing
globally. The inclusion and embracing of non-western music can serve as a dais for understanding and
celebrating cultural difference not as distant experiences but as integral aspects of our daily lives.
Keywords: music education, culture, identity, multiculturalism, reflective narrative, South Africa
and Australia
Student Perceptions of International Education and Study Abroad: A
pilot study at York University, Canada
Roopa Desai Trilokekar and Sarah Rasmi
Abstract International student mobility has been identified as a key strategy for the internationalisation of
higher education. Although an institutional priority, Canada has among the lowest levels of international student
mobility, with only 2% of full-time university students participating in study abroad programs. This pilot study,
conducted at a large public university in Toronto, examined the value that students place on international
education, their awareness of opportunities made available by the university, their attitudes towards, perceptions
of, and preferences towards study abroad, and the institutional and individual factors that influence their intent
to engage in study abroad. The study found associations between students’ intent to study abroad with their
perceived social and institutional support and academic hassles at the host and home institution. It identified
three distinct groups within the population, those intending to study abroad, those unsure about their plans, and a
third group who does not seek to pursue study abroad. In terms of applied value, the findings will inform
program administrators how to customise their support services and programs to both assist interested students
and attract new students that otherwise would not be interested in such an experience.
Keywords: International education, Study abroad, International mobility, Study abroad preferences,
Study abroad barriers
The Effects of Cross-cultural Competence on My Teaching and
Studying in the UK Context
Ping Wang
Abstract: In this paper I reflect on my experiences as a Chinese educator, attempting to take my previous
experiences into a new situation: teaching in the UK. These reflections take me down a path that shows how my
Chinese cultural background and experiences created both challenges and opportunities for my teaching. I
attempt to show how important it is to gain cross-cultural competence if one is to take one’s teaching into new
cultural environments.
Key words: cross-cultural competence; cultural sensitivity; teacher-student relations; teacher roles
Research Note: Feel threatened being prejudiced… The role of
past experience and proximal threat in shaping adolescents’
Romaphobia
Vanja Ljujic
Abstract This study investigates Serbian adolescents’ attitudes towards the Roma, i.e., Romaphobia. The
sample consisted of 687 secondary school students (mean age 17), of which 53% were females. In a surveybased study, we assessed perception of physical threat, quality of previous contact with Roma, and Romaphobia.
The findings demonstrate that perceived physical threat entices and supports the emergence of Romaphobia.
Moreover, the relationship between past experience with Roma and Romaphobia was fully mediated by
perceived proximal threat. The theoretical and educational implications are discussed.
Keywords
Romaphobia, negative experience, proximal threat, adolescents
Research Note: Attainment Gap and Responsible Factors – A
quantitative study in Secondary Schools in Cyprus
Galatia Theodosiou-Zipiti , Daniel Muijs, Mel West and Iasonas
Lamprianou
Abstract The population in Cyprus, a recent European Union member, has become much more heterogeneous
during the past decade. Here, we examine the attainment patterns of minority and native students enrolled in six
secondary schools from different cities in Cyprus, and identify factors responsible for these patterns. The
combination of examined factors has not, to our knowledge, taken place in previous studies. Findings confirm
that ethnic minority groups perform significantly lower than native students. In terms of aetiology, we show that
ethnic background, gender, parental education, parental occupation, generation status, absenteeism, and school
minority concentration have a significant effect on student attainment.
Key words: attainment gap, minority students, Cyprus
Volume 23.1
Educational Achievement and Intercultural Education: Making
Critical Connections
Magdalena Suarez-Ortega, Belén Ballesteros Velázquez & Beatriz Malik
Abstract In this article we present key aspects of a research project entitled “Students’ Cultural Diversity and
School Efficacy. A Repertory of Best Practice in Compulsory Learning Centers.” First of all, we present our
concept about cultural diversity and a reflection about “best school practices” and the notion of “student
achievement at school”. In the second part, we analyze two practices which may seem quite different from each
other: learning communities and a program of attention to diversity, which illustrate several ways of adopting an
intercultural approach. The repertory of good practices mentioned might be an insightful resource for teachers.
Keywords: Student diversity, innovative teaching strategies, school effectiveness, educational achievement,
best practice.
Language Teaching and Intercultural Education: Making Critical
Connections
Carla Chamberlin-Quinlisk & Roxanna M. Senyshyn
Abstract This essay explores some of the areas in which language teaching and intercultural education
overlap. We position language teaching as embedded within sociocultural practices and shaped by attitudes
toward bilingualism and native versus non-native speaker status. Specifically, we question language practices
that exclude or downplay the benefits of developing students’ heritage languages while learning additional
languages and we challenge narrow perceptions of language ownership and native speaker identity. We urge
teachers of languages and culture to conceptualize their work as deeply connected
Keywords: Multilingualism, bilingualism, second language teaching, world Englishness
A Reflection on the Broader, Systemic Impacts of Youth Volunteer
Abroad Programs: A Canadian Perspective
Gary W.J. Pluim & Shelane R. Jorgenson
Abstract Despite the increasing popularity and appeal of youth volunteer abroad (YVA) programs, powerful
critiques are emerging. While these programs tend to promise much in the way of global ethics and global
citizenship in youth participants, they often neglect to seriously interrogate the one-way movement of people
from the centre to the periphery and valorize the knowledge and perspectives of the host communities. These
programs, especially those not geared toward social justice and facilitating youth through the struggles and
aftermath of experiential and transformative education, have the potential to perpetuate the same neo-colonial
practices they seek to overcome. This article examines the benefits, context and history of YVA in Canada,
analyzes them under a post-colonial theoretical framework, discusses the gaps between theory and practice, and
proposes alternative ways that researchers, practitioners and policy-makers can redress the colonial implications
of YVA programs.
Keywords: youth abroad; exchange programs; post-colonialism; Canada; volunteer tourism; international
service learning
Context and outcomes of intercultural education amongst
international students in Australia
Zuleyka Zevallos
Abstract International students represent a large economic and international relations investment for
Australia. Australian universities are increasingly relying upon overseas students for their revenue, but these
institutions are not adequately addressing the special learning, linguistic, cultural and religious needs of these
students. Despite their Australian education, international students experience various difficulties in finding
work in their field of study after they graduate. Poor English-language, communication and problem-solving
skills are the biggest obstacles to securing ongoing and satisfying jobs. Employer biases regarding international
students are equally a problem. This paper provides a demographic context of the international student
population in Australia and it also addresses the gaps impeding their full social participation in Australian
educational institutions. This paper argues that a stronger focus on the socialisation of international students is
likely to increase their educational and career satisfaction. Educational providers would better serve
international students by focusing on practical learning, career-planning and reinforcing the social and cultural
skills valued by Australian employers.
Los estudiantes internacionales representan una gran inversión económica así como de relaciones
internacionales para Australia. Las universidades Australianas dependen financieramente cada vez mas del
ingreso de estudiantes de ultramar, sin embargo no responden adecuadamente a las necesidades culturales,
lingüísticas y religiosas de estos estudiantes. No obstante su formación universitaria, los estudiantes
internacionales encuentran barreras para la obtención de empleo en su campo profesional luego de su
graduación en universidades australianas. Este artículo presenta el contexto demográfico general de la población
estudiantil internacional en Australia e identifica las barreras para su integración social. El argumento central en
el presente artículo es que una mayor atención a la organización social de estos estudiantes puede no solamente
mejorar su satisfacción educacional sino también profesional. Las instituciones educativas Australianas podrían
ofrecer mejores servicios a los estudiantes internacionales si avocaran recursos para el entrenamiento de
habilidades prácticas que ayudaran a estos estudiantes a planear su carrera y mejorar sus capacidades sociales y
culturales.
Keywords: international students; intercultural learning; employment; Australian labour market; graduate
career planning.
A peer-to-peer support model for developing graduate students’
career and employability skills
Narelle Jones, Silvia Torezani and Joseph Luca
Abstract Career opportunities for Australian research graduates have expanded in recent years into
areas outside academia. However, the employment market is highly competitive, and Australian
universities have recognised the need to produce graduates with transferable skills across all sectors, not
just academia. The need to provide an infrastructure to support the career and skill development of
research students has become essential, with funding from the Australian government hinging on
institutions providing explicit graduate outcomes. This paper presents a research student peer-to-peer
support program as a model that contributes to the development of graduate career planning and
employability skills.
Keywords: peer-to-peer, career development, employability skills
Online Learning Community (OLC): A case study of teacher
professional development in Indonesia
Eunice Ratna Sari
This paper investigates the concept of Online Learning Community (OLC) to address the issues of teacher
professional development practice in 21st century Indonesia. Teachers in Indonesia are trained in a
“conventional way”, hence, not ready to prepare the younger generations for entrance into the 21 st Century
complex life and work environment. The pedagogical transformation of a teacher can be facilitated through
teacher professional development. Recent studies show that OLC holds great promise in improving teachers’
professional practice. This paper presents key results of the introduction and trialling of OLC with Indonesian
teachers and teacher educators between 2009 and 2010 and aims to explore the feasibility of this model to
support professional development of teachers in this era. The social learning interactions among community
members were examined using Scardamalia’s Twelve Socio-Cognitive Determinants of Knowledge Building
and Hoftsede’s Cultural Dimension Review for Indonesia.
Keywords: online learning community (OLC); teacher professional development (TPD); teacher
education; Indonesia; co-construction of knowledge, knowledge building
Volume 23.2
Feedback in a Multiethnic Classroom Discussion: A Case Study
Max Strandberg & Viveca Lindberg
Abstract This article focuses on teaching about and for cultural diversity. More specifically, we look at the
manner in which different types of teacher feedback either support or hinder student interaction and student
learning. We identified seven types of feedback that were used in classroom discussions with 14-15 year old
students. The discussions and the feedback in these discussions provide insight into teaching about cultural
diversity and also the impact of specific content that is focused on a sensitive topic. In this case, content of
discussions related to a homework assignment about fear in different contexts.
Keywords:
Learning to live together: An exploration and analysis of managing
cultural diversity in centre-based Early Childhood Development
programmesˡ
Jaclyn Murray
Abstract This paper explores how Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners running centre-based
programmes with children aged three to six years address the needs of an increasing number of children from
diverse cultural backgrounds in their care. This is important as early childhood is a critical moment in which to
create a positive awareness about diversity. A qualitative and interactive research design was employed to
identify what values, attitudes, knowledge and strategies practitioners and families believe are important to
promote the social integration of children from diverse backgrounds. In-depth interviews and participant
observation were used to collect data from ten practitioners working in two urban settlements in two provinces
of South Africa, while focus group interviews were carried out with the families of children attending two of the
centres. The findings showed that an intercultural education approach provides the necessary tools to address
challenges faced by practitioners including promoting social integration, respect for diversity and
multilingualism, and the prevention of racist, xenophobic and discriminatory attitudes and actions.
Keywords: cultural diversity, intercultural education approach, Early Childhood Development, practitioners,
South Africa.
Turkish German access to higher education: An historical and
democratic theory analysis, 1960-2010
Roger Geertz Gonzalez
Abstract This article looks at access to higher education in Germany. For a number of reasons, explained in
this article, higher education is presently an elite system that privileges ethnic Germans while preventing
Turkish-Germans from gaining sufficient access into academe. If Germany is to become a fully functioning
multicultural democracy with equal rights for all it will have to revamp its higher education system so that
Turkish-Germans can gain better access to such institutions and consequently feel included into the German
social and political system.
Keywords: Turkish-Germans, Germany, Higher Education Access, Democratic Theory, Tracking, Ethnicity
Creation of culturally responsive classrooms: Teachers’
conceptualization of a new rationale for cultural responsiveness and
management of diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools
Hue, M.T. & Kennedy, J.K.
Abstract Presently, there is a growing number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong schools. This article
examines teachers’ views of the cross-cultural experience of ethnic minority students, their influence on the
performance of these students and how the diverse learning needs of these students are being addressed.
Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with thirty-two teachers from three secondary
schools. This study shows that teachers struggle to conceptualize a new rationale for responding to cultural
diversity. They develop a sense of inter-cultural sensitivity, promote cultural responsiveness to diversity, and
strengthen the home-school connection. This article argues that, like students, teachers simultaneously engage in
a cross-cultural process through which they learn the culture of ethnic minority students, re-learn their own
culture and re-examine the relevant rationale underlying cultural responsiveness. Finally, a framework for the
creation of culturally responsive classrooms, based upon the teachers’ new rationale of cultural responsiveness,
is proposed.
Keywords: Cultural responsiveness, Ethnic minority, Cross-cultural experience, Intercultural sensitivity,
Management of Diversity
Intercultural education set forward: Operational strategies and
procedures in Cypriot classrooms
C. Hajisoteriou
Teachers in Cyprus are being called upon for the first time to teach within culturally diverse educational
settings. Given the substantial role teachers play in the implementation of intercultural education, this
paper explores the intercultural strategies and procedures adopted by primary school teachers in Cyprus.
Interviews were carried out with 30 teachers, from four different schools. Findings show that participants
held conflicting perceptions of intercultural education, while they lacked sufficient awareness of their
immigrant students’ cultural backgrounds. Participants adopted individualised and collaborative
strategies, classroom discussions on intercultural issues and attempted to raise immigrant students’ selfesteem in order to promote intercultural education. However, their own lack of intercultural preparation,
along with lack of language proficiency of immigrant students, the inadequacy of the Cypriot national
curriculum and time constraints, worked against efforts to promote greater inclusion.
Keywords: intercultural education; Cyprus; teacher strategies; classroom procedures
He, She, It: Gender Bias in Teacher-Student Interaction at
University
Marija Bartulović, Barbara Kušević & Ana Markovinović,
Abstract Starting from an intercultural education framework, this paper examines whether students at two
Zagreb University universities perceive interactions with their teachers to be gender influenced. In the first part
of the paper, we outline the context of the research and the two theoretical constructs which correspond to
traditionally male and female teachers’ performances at university. In the second part of the paper we present
the results of the survey we conducted. The results show that the students recognized some aspects of gender
bias in interaction with their teachers, and that gendered cultures reflected in the dominantly female or male
teachers’ performances were indeed present at the universities included in the survey.
Keywords: gender bias, teacher-student interaction, Zagreb University, reproduction of traditional gender
roles
International education in secondary schools explored: A mixedmethod examination of one Midwestern state in the United States
Debora Hinderliter Ortloff, Payal Shah, Jingjing Lou & Evelyn Hamilton
Abstract Researchers generated results from a two-part empirical study of international education in
Connecticut’s secondary schools, the only state in the USA that, at this point, has dedicated significant resources
to the development of measurable student outcomes in international education. Results show that international
education does not appear to be a priority for school principals mainly because it is not an integral and necessary
component of the core curriculum required by the state. They saw few incentives to allocate great efforts and
resources in this area. They were also less clear and even mistaken about what constitute key aspects of
international education. Many schools with robust programs relied on the goodwill of a single teacher to start
and maintain exchange programs, after school clubs, and units on international topics.
Keywords: