CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS
Intercultural vs. Multicultural Education:
The End of Rivalries?
University of Helsinki,
Finland (Europe):
29-30.8.2013
Address: Siltavuorenpenger 5 A, Department of Teacher Education
Helsinki
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KEYNOTES
Michael Byram, Universities of Durham and Luxembourg
Language among the inter/multiculturalists – die grosse Lücke
Whether ‘interculturalist’ or ‘multiculturalist’, research and writing on the general field of
‘communication’ across cultures is too often lacking in attention to language. For ‘language
people’ – whether teachers or researchers – this seems perverse, for it is in their view all too
obvious that language is a crucial factor in descriptions of communication across cultures, large
or small.
I shall therefore in this talk refer to the absence – the ‘great gap’ – of language in theory, in
policy and in politics, all the more perverse when the notion of ‘dialogue’ has become so
fashionable in statements such as those from the European Union and the Council of Europe.
In the more specific field of education, whether ‘inter’ or ‘multi’, the lack of attention to language
is repeated, but language educationists are not beyond criticism either. I shall therefore suggest
that whatever the prefix, we need to take action to ensure the language factor is duly recognised
and acted upon.
Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki, Finland
“Throw away the baby with the bathwater!” – The end of the cultural in the inter/multicultural?
In the scientific debates around the (mis/ab)use of the concept of culture in
intercultural/multicultural education, the metaphor of "throwing away the baby with the bath
water" is often used across geographical and linguistic boundaries to defend a position through
which culture should remain at the centre of theoretical and methodological approaches to
interculturality. Based on a dialogical discourse analysis of formal and informal writings of a
selection of researchers who use the "bathwater alibi", I am interested in how these individuals
justify the importance of culture and construct lines of argumentation. I am also examining the
types of identification that seem to accompany this phenomenon. The paper ends on a
provocative reflection on the fear of the void and the fantasies that "throwing away the baby
(culture) with the bath water" seems to represent in this context.
Gunilla Holm, University of Helsinki, Finland
Intercultural/multicultural education or simply a just education?
Intercultural education and multicultural education are just two of the many terms used to
describe more or less the same kind of curriculum. Anti-racist education and diversity education
are other examples. This presentation will examine the purposes of this kind of curricula and
education. Differences and similarities between the different approaches will be explored.
However, instead of arguing for or against particular approaches, I will suggest a curricular
focus on educational issues of importance for students and parents. What kind of curriculum
will promote learning and a just education?
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Geri Smyth, University of Strathclyde, UK
Achieving equity and social justice in education: pointers for educational research and
teaching practice
Terminology has its place but it is practic which makes a difference. This talk will draw from
practice
to
consider
a
number
of
related
questions:
What are the ends we seek in our research and teaching? What does equitable research look
like? What does a socially just education achieve? How should we be educating teachers to
respond to linguistically and ethnically diverse classrooms? What is the impact of teacher
education approaches and policy directives on young peoples’ attitudes and behaviours?
SESSIONS
(Abstracts in alphabetical order by last name of first presenter):
Daniella Arieli, Victor J. Friedman, Emek Yezreel College, Israel
"Cultural Safety": A contribution to intercultural education from the world of nursing.
The goal of this presentation is to discuss the meanings and implications of the concept "cultural
safety," a unique contribution from the world of nursing and nursing education, to the
repertoire of approaches to cross-cultural/ intercultural education. Since the early 1970's there
is growing attention to the place 'culture' plays in care giving and nursing in particular. Training
students to become "culturally sensitive" has become a major goal of nursing education. Nurse
educators adopted various 'anthropological' concepts like 'cultural sensitivity' and 'cultural
competency'. All these “labels” are widely used and often appear interchangeably – without
always being defined or distinguished. While all the above concepts use culture as a concept
which bear differences, the term "cultural safety', brought by Maori nurses in New Zealand,
presents a different perspective. Cultural safety was raised not from the point of view of the
majority but from that of the minority, and it is critical of the fact that intercultural education
tends to ignore power discrepancies which bear great influence on students, nurses and
patients. Cultural safety education means teaching nursing students to reflect on their own
identity as well as to recognize and understand the dynamics of power in relationships. And it
involves becoming more aware of the role of power, colonialism, racism, and discrimination in
the interaction between nurses and patients.
Michael Berry, TSE/ University of Turku, Finland
Becoming response able via transpersonal cultural experience
Who learns from whom as teacher and researcher? My awareness of a transpersonal-cultural
process came as I turned local and exchange students into teacher-learners of each other in
multicultural groups and became an ethnographic coach. The students start as individuals and
remain individuals. Nevertheless, while communicating with a shared international language
and moving back and forth between English and their native languages, they become aware of
taken-for-granted presumptions related to relationships between their local social practices and
the meanings embedded in their native languages in different contexts. Here I define contexts as
combinations of ‘situations’ and ‘(sub)conscious presumptions in the interlocutors minds’
during which discovery of ‘risk words /false friends/rich points (Agar)’ creates an opportunity
for transpersonal-cultural awareness of self and others.
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This reflection-on-reflection approach brings awareness of the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ in me and
others, which leads to creation of a Shared Third Space (STS): a semi-coherent social space
inhabited by people in transformation who are creating shared frames of reference in order to
explore the diversity and commonality of their ways of communicating and living. When Finns
want to ‘import’ small talk and others want to ‘import’ positive active silence, the goal is to
become ‘intercultural-listeners-speakers’ in a STS.
The theoretical insights of Michael Agar, Michael Byram, Donal Carbaugh and Dell Hymes have
supported a never-ending ethnographic reframing process that offers examples of rather
common personal differences among Finnish business students as well as shared frames of
reference related to the Finnish language, social practices, communication norms and
coordination norms (ways of organizing social relationships). Fred Dervin and Adrian Holliday
have recently raised questions about the ‘individual’, ‘solid’, and ‘fluid’ interpretations of
culture. My learning experience confirms overlap, not only difference, for all the scholars above.
Olesya Chernetsova, Ryazan State University, Russia
Developing Intercultural Competence for Future Teachers in Russia
The political, cultural and economic development of Russia in the context of international
cooperation, global competition, internationalization of higher education is leading to crucial
changes in the way of life and the system of education. The widespread application of the CEFR
in the world over the last decade causes the appearance of a new policy borrowing as a kind of a
many-sided or an international phenomenon. And now processes of adaptation and localization
of the ideas of CEFR, derived from Europe, are clearly observed.
The starting point and purpose of higher education in contemporary Russia is to enable future
teachers to bring up their students as patriots, to develop their national identity and to prepare
them for mobility and communication in a multilingual and pluricultural world.
Communicative tasks are characteristic of everyday activity in public and private life and the
world of work. The intensification of language learning supports more intensive development of
intercultural competence. We can find hundreds of definitions of intercultural competence in
the works of different researchers. But we predominantly speak about intercultural
communicative competence (Michael Byram). Among various approaches to the development of
the intercultural competence the “mélange” or “mixing” approach (Fred Dervin) seems to be
most acceptable for teacher education.
The high degree of complexity of the process demands that at least one generation of teachers in
Russia should acquire patiently the new knowledge of the curriculum development process,
textbooks development, teaching and elaboration of assessment criteria, examinations. The
training may better be realized within either pre-service teacher formation or in-service
education. But in any case, intercultural competence is not permanent, for life, and its practice
and learning never end. It gives extended opportunities for lifelong learning.
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Xiangyun Du and Mads J. Kirkbæk, Aalborg University
Teaching and Learning Culture, Negotiating context - Exploration of alternative pedagogy
- Task-Based PBL - in an intercultural context
This presentation is based on educational research conducted by researchers from Department
of Learning and Philosophy and the Confucius Institute for Innovation and Learning at Aalborg
University. Theoretically our research takes its departure from the complex concept of culture
and constructivism based learning theories. Empirically, it reports how a constructive, studentcentred Task-Based Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach may be applied to teaching and
learning of culture in different educational settings from primary school to university.
A central theme of the presentation is the power of context. Our studies illustrate in multiple
ways, and from different angles, that “culture is not taught in a vacuum or learned in isolation”,
but may be influenced by many factors both inside and outside the classroom and, at the same
time, also influence the context. The context may be “invisible” and hide itself as tacit knowledge
or embedded values or it may be very visible and present itself as a fixed curriculum or an
established tradition. No matter what forms the context takes and shapes it has, our studies
strongly indicate that it is essential to be aware of the power of context in teaching and learning
culture, to understand it and to be able to negotiate it.
Our research suggests that teachers should not try to limit or avoid influences from context, but
instead explore how the context may be integrated into and used constructively in the teaching
and learning of culture so that teachers, students, subject and context may be allowed to enter
into a dialogue and negotiation, enrich each other and cooperate to achieve the established goal:
development of cultural awareness and intercultural understanding.
Most of the works addressed in this presentation are conducted and documented by our
research team including around 15 researchers and 6 of us are present in the conference. These
studies are being published in the book ‘Teaching and Learning Culture, Negotiating context’ –
edited by M. J. Kirkebæk, X-Y. Du and A.A. Jensen, foreword by Fred Dervin, by SENSE
PUBLISHERS. 2013.
Kass Efrat & Reingold Roni, Achva Academic College of Education, Israel
Strengthening the self-efficacy framework of multicultural education: The Case of Israeli
Student Teachers of Ethiopian Descent
As people who can easily cross international cultural borders, lead an intercultural dialogue and
develop critical thinking (Freire, 1998), teachers who are also members of a cultural minority
have the ability to serve as agents of change and as cultural workers (Giroux, 1992). Having a
better perspective of both their community and its needs as well as a perspective of the majority
culture and its attitudes, teachers of Ethiopian descent have the potential to become agents of
change both within their community and in Israeli society in general. However, in order to
become effective, such teachers would need to have a strong sense of professional self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy focuses on the individuals' beliefs about their ability to performance in a particular
domain (Bandura, 1997, 2006; Woolfolk, 2001).
Based on the theory of self-efficacy and the ideology of multiculturalism, the purpose of the
present framework is to suggest several principles of psycho-educational practices for the initial
teacher education program for student-teachers of Ethiopian descent.
Using the proposed principles and encouraging the constructing of a unique multicultural
teacher education climate has several potential contributions, both for the community of
immigrants from Ethiopia and for the general Israeli society. It can help to empower the Israeli
student teachers of Ethiopian descent and help them to succeed in academic life; it can
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encourage a deep inter-cultural dialogue in the colleges of education and improve public image
of the immigrants from Ethiopia. But the main potential contribution for such an initial teacher
education program is that it can help the student teachers of Ethiopian descent to become
leaders of their communities, and to become, as mentioned before, teachers who can serve as
agents of change and as cultural workers (Giroux, 1992)
Kirsten Lauritsen, University College of Nord-Trondelag
Strategies in ‘cross-cultural’ dealings: avoiding, rejecting or highlighting the matter of
origin
In a recent fieldwork in two kindergartens, I experienced: a) that the staff tended two distance
themselves from minority parents and to focus to a large extent on perceptions of the imagined
(large) differences between themselves and these parents, based on 'culture' and 'language'. b)
that children with minority parents, when asked about which languages they spoke, didn't want
to tell that they spoke Arabic or Filipino. As a refugee consultant years ago, different groups of
professionals called on me to help them perform their jobs towards the new groups from Iran
and Somalia, where their professionalism seemed to evaporate in the dealings with persons
with a non-Norwegian background, no matter what educational or social or other
commonalities there might be. As a social scientist I have since interviewed former refugees on
their experiences. The two data sources are more than twenty years apart, but both seem to
imply that when different Norwegian professionals are facing what they perceive of as
differences in origin, a glass wall is raised that prevents or reduces the potential for
communication and professional conduct. Despite more than twenty years of experience with
an increased linguistic and cultural diversity in this region, this tendency seems to be just as
salient today as it was when the region started to receive refugees in 1987.
The theoretical approach draws on Anthropological and other social sciences. In her book
“Plausible prejudice”, the Norwegian Anthropologist Marianne Gullestad asks “if a nation has to
be imagined in terms of ancestry, or if it can be imagined as a political community of
conversation across overlapping multiplicities of origin and identification”. The questions I
would like to try to answer are the following: - Are the statements that are being made about
origins empowering or oppressing the groups or individuals involved? Are origins imposed on
children or students? Do some students reject ‘their’ origins? Why? How?
Giuliana Feri, Institute of Education, University of London, England, UK
A comparative study of intercultural education in Italy and multicultural education in the
UK
According to Tomlinson (2009), a relevant difference between multiculturalism and
interculturalism resides in the fact that they denote two patterns of development in the context
of British education on the one side and continental Europe on the other.Following from this
initial distinction, multicultural education is viewed as a response to the sociological reality of
multiculturalism, designating a multiplicity of cultures that live alongside each other, with
schools playing an important role in educating students forlife in multicultural societies.
Intercultural education differs from multicultural educationin the emphasis placed on the idea
of interaction and cooperation between individuals, towards an ideal unity through dialogue
that is reciprocally transformative (Gundara, 1997, 2000; Allemann-Ghionda, 2009). However, it
can be argued that the emphasis on the ideas of cooperation and dialogue runs the danger of
glossing over the study of the wider historical and economic context that influences cultural
interaction, in particular colonialism, or the history of “conquest, slave trade, genocide” (Coulby,
2006, p.245). My intention in comparing educational policies in Italy and in the UK is not only to
delineate the relevant features of current interpretations of both approaches, but also to initiate
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a dialogue between the two pedagogical traditions. To this end, I will present excerpts from
interviews with a leading teacher in Genova and an advisory EMA teacher in London. I believe
that, considering the roles of both teachers in leading provision in the two contexts, the
conversations allow to consider differing viewpoints regarding multicultural and intercultural
education, and to shed light on aspects that would otherwise be easily overlooked when
analysed on their own.
Antoinette Gagné, Univeristy of Toronto, Canada and Stéphanie Soto Gordon, Toronto
District Board of Education, Canada
Learning to be intercultural citizens: Diverse teens in cultural, religious, and social
justice clubs in Canadian secondary schools
Although there is considerable research on the impact of student involvement in school clubs
(Kort-Butler& Hagewen, 2012; Knifsend & Graham, 2012; Bohnert, Fredricks, & Randall,
2010; Darling, Caldwell & Smith, 2005; McNeil,1998), there is very little on the topic of
involvement in cultural or religious and social justice clubs. According to Peguero (2010), school
club extracurricular activities often establish social networks of peer support with common
interests (Feldman & Matjasko, 2005, 2007). One of the primary goals of school clubs is to
facilitate social interactions among the students who join (Darling, Caldwell, & Smith, 2005).
Fitzgerald-Gersten’s (1998) research highlights the value of cultural clubs as a strategy to break
down barriers and to promote understanding between English language learners (ELLs) /
immigrant students and mainstream students because they create a context where there can be
an exchange of information around “social, academic, and cultural topics.” In addition, Taylor’s
research (2004) suggests the strong positive impact of ELLs’ involvement in leadership and
social justice camp activities.
Our exploratory multiple case study focuses on the nature of adolescents’ experiences in
cultural, religious or social justice clubs, and the effect of club participation on identity and
intercultural citizenship development. In particular, our study conducted in several Toronto
area secondary schools with a wide range of clubs, explores the nature of intercultural
encounters and themes related to relationship building across cultures, honoring one’s roots,
social justice and dealing with discrimination.
Our study contributes to an increased understanding of the nature of co-curricular activities by
more clearly delineating the role of cultural, religious and social justice clubs in a range of
multicultural schools as they pertain to student identity development and formation (Wenger,
1998) as well as the development of intercultural citizenship (Bennett, 1998; Byram, 2006 &
2011).
Videoclips from focus group interviews with diverse teens and the teachers sponsoring these
cultural, religious and social justice clubs will be integrated into the presentation of findings.
The session will conclude with questions related to clubs as spaces for learning about self and
the world beyond. Can multicultural youth engaged in intercultural encounters around a shared
interest in social justice become intercultural citizens?
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Lidija Georgieva, Zoran Velkovski, Lena Damovska, University St Cyril and MethodiusSkopje
The role of higher education in fostering intercultural dialogue and in understanding in
multi-ethnic society- case Macedonia
The Republic of Macedonia is trying to re-design its education system in accordance with its
specific multi-ethnic composition and contemporary international tendencies. These attempts
are in constant collision with the external and internal challenges determining the system of
education and shaping its future development directions. In its efforts to respond to different
demands and build a strong and functional, not only national but also a European “architecture”,
the education system of the Republic of Macedonia is constantly facing the question: How
should the education system be positioned, what kinds of mechanisms should it have at its
disposal and which goals should it strive towards, in order to prepare youth and adults for all
the challenges and changes they face and will face in the course of their lives?
Education today should realise two main goals: one founded on global values and serving
developmental characteristic for the contemporary world (cooperation, compatibility,
competitiveness, integration, etc.), and one rooted in the national culture and values, serving the
resolving of domestic problems and developmental directions. Education needs to seek
fulfilment of its mission through the integration and harmonisation of the “I” – “WE” and “WE” –
“OTHERS” relations.
This paper will address the challenges and the role of high education institutions in Macedonia
in fostering intercultural dialogue and understanding. It will analyse the process of educational
reforms before and after the conflict in 2001 and the impact of high education reforms on interethnic relations.
Bela Gligorova, NOVA International Schools Skopje, Macedonia
Pedagogies of the Home and International Schools: new models for (de)colonized
cultural politics
As an educator at an international school located in a pre-dominantly Balkan cultural milieu, I
see myself crossing several contact zones (sometimes more than one, simultaneously). While
there is a dangerous sense of enjoyment that comes with this sort of ‘cultural ventriloquism’, on
the behalf of said practitioner, I cannot but help and wonder about its long-term effects. Exacted
through the medium of the English language, students are encouraged to live out in what seems
like a cultural safe-haven: as they are continuously reminded of dominant social paradigms
(gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, religion, to name a few) and their operational value within
‘an imagined international community’, the cultural identity of their discourse becomes foreign,
un-Balkan, yet also un-English (perhaps a quiet cosmopolitan? a delocalized ‘other’?). They
seem to remain dwellers of a cushioned ‘non-place’, a cultural contact zone within a larger
contact area, for the duration of their studies, and even beyond.
Thus, I am interested in discussing the following aspects –
1. By attempting a delocalized ‘territory of culture’ through their respective missions and
objectives, do international schools in the Balkans contribute to a (re)creation of a
‘pseudo nation-state scenario’?
2. Even so, could their products (students) legitimately question the unspoken acceptance
and affirmation of culturally determined roles, imposed on Balkan individuality by
various mechanisms of compliance (governmental decisions, communal practices,
tradition and gossip)?
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3. Yet, when all is said and done, who is to implement a newly designed cultural mythos:
individuals or institutions?
Lesley Harbon, The University of Sydney, Australia and Robyn Moloney, Macquarie University,
Australia
‘Intercultural and Multicultural’, Companions not Rivals: The case in schools in NSW
Australia
The word ‘multicultural’ in regard to the Australian nation state has alluded to the great
diversity of groups that make up its society. Following World War 2, the make-up of Australia
changed with European immigration, driven by the need for an increased labour force. The
1970s brought fresh impetus for inclusion, with the Whitlam Government’s Multicultural Policy,
the first ‘naming’ of a more diverse immigration pattern which included many Asian nations,
but failed to include indigenous groups. The ’Multicultural’ social branding focused on the
inclusion and celebration of the visible culture of immigrant groups, largely food, folk-dancing
and fashion. In schools even today, ‘multicultural days’ still may resemble the 1970s model: that
of positive inclusion and celebration, and as anti-racism initiatives.
The word ‘intercultural’ in Australia has emerged only in education contexts, and, outside of
language education is relatively poorly known and understood. Intercultural has been
introduced via the UK / Euro/ North American constructivist educational discourse and is
recognised as a core 21st century learning skill for all students. Most importantly it has become
the conceptual heart of our State Language syllabuses, and soon, our National Language
curriculum (ACARA, 2012).
We believe the nexus between the two terms has not been fully interrogated in Australia.
However, examining our own research to date, we have noted that ‘an intercultural orientation’
in a languages classroom may be a similar notion to Connelly, Phillion and He’s (2003)
‘multiculturalism-as-a-field-of-enquiry’.
To test our assumption that intercultural may be a schooling system’s way of supporting
children’s cognitive inquiry, while multicultural may remain a more amorphous global term, we
have examined two primary school level syllabuses, and posit that the relationship between
these terms is not characterized by rivalry, rather by companionship.
Anette Hellman, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Discourses about the immigrant child in Swedish policy documents for Pre-School 19702010
The Swedish Preschool has since the beginning of the 70s been part of immigration politics, and
since the 90s part of integration politics in Sweden. In the 1972 report from the Swedish Child
Care Commission, preschools are seen as important meeting places, and a first introduction to
Swedish culture and society (SOU 1972:26). In today‘s policy documents, the preschool is
defined in a similar way, namely as an arena for social and cultural interactions, aimed to
strengthen the children and prepare them for a life in an increasingly internationalised society.
The purpose of this paper is to examine how figures such as “the immigrant child” and “the
ethnic minority child” are articulated in the policy documents for preschool and school in
Sweden between 1972 – 2010. Discoursers about children and learning manifested in Swedish
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policy documents for Preschools, shows that discoursers about the developmental child in need
of adults have changed and today children are described as competent, curious, creative as well
as cultural. Notions of children as cultural are especially evident in relations articulations of the
immigrant child. The research questions are as follows: How are notions about "the immigrant
child" articulated in policy documents for preschools in Sweden? How do these notions relate to
specific discoursers in society at a certain time and space?
The presentation builds on data produced in the project “Learning Spaces of Inclusion and
Social Justice: Success Stories from Immigrant Students and School Communities in Four Nordic
Countries” funded by Nordforsk. The selection of texts includes policy documents such as
curriculums as well as reports from the ministry of education and research. Departing from
intersectional perspective (Lykke, 2005; Thurén, 1996 and Hall 2003) the concept of
articulation is employed to analyse how processes of bringing together, chaining and creating a
unity of disparate parts are accomplished in the policy texts (Fairclough 1995, Hall 2003).This
perspective is grounded in a understanding of signs as multi-accentual; that is, a sign could
carry several accents and refer to the world in a number of different ways. This implies that we
examine how identities and representations of “the immigrant child” and “the ethnic minority
child” are linked to a formation of chains of representations and how these representations can
be understand in relation to society as a socially divided space loaded with meanings of gender,
class, sexuality and ethnicity.
The preliminary result shows that the representations of the “the immigrant child” and “the
ethnic minority child” is articulated in different ways during the period from 1972 to 2010.
During the early 1970 the “immigrant child is mainly articulated trough discourses about
language development. In the late 1980 the immigrant children cultural background is made
more visible in terms of cultural clashes. In the 1990 the concept of immigrant child is replaced
by the concept ethnic minority child and the national minorities are given specials right to
education in their own languages (Roma Chib, Finnish, Yiddish Meänkieli, Sami). Diversity is
from the middle of 1990 a key concept and the curriculum stress awareness of cultural heritage
of one‘s own, and participation in cultures of others, is supposed to develop capacities of
children to understand living conditions
and values
of other children.
Anne Huhtala, University of Helsinki, Finland
Plurilingual and pluricultural student teachers on the threshold of working life
This paper deals with Finnish student teachers who are on the threshold of working life. I
examine the diverse challenges they tell about in their narratives, as well as the various
strategies they take up for overcoming these challenges. They are plurilingual, dealing with
several languages in their everyday life, but sometimes wondering if they are “good enough” in
order to teach those languages. In exceptional cases a student may be studying as many as seven
languages at the same time. This is seen as a source of pleasure and happiness, but also as a time
consuming and demanding endeavour. Some of the student teachers worry about the language
combinations they have chosen, and how these combinations could help them in – or prevent
them from – finding a proper job in the future. These student teachers are also pluricultural,
involved in and reflecting on their affinity to different cultural realities. In many ways these
student teachers are at the crossroads. They are (re)constructing their professional identities,
making a transition from student life to the more responsibility-laden life as a language teacher.
Sometimes they wonder about the (im)possibility of combining work and private life. My data
consist of essays written by Finnish speaking student teachers who study Swedish at the
University of Helsinki either as their major or one of their minor subjects.
Something that I see as very positive and encouraging in these essays, is that all the students
seem to be both able and willing to reflect on their choices and actions, as well as on their
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multiple identities. This can be seen as an indication of their ability to solve the problems they
may encounter during this demanding transitional period in their lives.
Ina Juva, University of Helsinki, Finland
Construction of identities in the official intercultural educational programs in Mexico
This paper offers a critical review of the subject positions and identities that are present in the
official intercultural programs in Mexico City. It will analyze the institutional discourses
represented by the General Coordination of the Intercultural and Bilingual Education
(Coordinación General de Educación Intercultural y Bilingüe- CGEIB) and especially identities
that they are constructing and representing and how these constructions have been challenged
by the critical approach of intercultural education.
In Mexico the intercultural educational programs and actions have taken place mainly in the
institutional context. It has been done mainly promoting these programs by establishing new
legal bases, reorganizing the existing institutions or creating new ones, and by transforming
teacher education programs. The non-formal approach of intercultural education has been
represented by the independent indigenous organizations mainly criticizing the official
proposals and in some cases by proposing different models. One of the points of the critic have
been the subjects and the identities represented as normal in the official intercultural
educational programs.
The paper will focus on the subject positions and identities constructed in the discourses of the
official intercultural educational programs and draw attention to the existing power hierarchies
and before anything the hegemony of the modern white western culture as the basis of these
programs. Then it will make a quick review of what have been proposed as an alternative by
some of the projects of the critical approach of intercultural education.
Eduard Khakimov, Udmurt State University, Russian Federation
Multicultural Tools as a Resource for Personal Growth of Students due to Polycultural
Education
Today's societies are becoming more multicultural and open for encounters between people,
but also more turbulent for the identification of the growing person. The main way of
constructing the multidimensional personality identities is education: cross-cultural, metacultural, polycultural, multicultural, intercultural or another. Research question: what personal
changes of students occur due to polycultural education.
We present three cases of polycultural education, highlighting of multicultural tools in the
process of turning into a resource for personal growth of students.
Background is the Cultural historical psychology (L. Vygotsky, A. Leontiev, P. Galperin), which
interprets the process of “higher mental functions” of an individual: active attention, abstract
thinking, verbal and logical memory. According to L. Vygotsky (1978) there are two streams of
individual development: natural and cultural (historical). The natural stream is regarded as
natural physical development since a child’s birth. The cultural stream emerges with the
interaction with surroundings: a child starts to regulate his / her mental processes voluntarily.
It takes place due to the fact that culture has accumulated certain tools – items and signs – so
called “cultural means” to regulate physical regulation of an individual behavior and behaviour
of other individuals. Application of these signs (including words) rearranges all of human
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mental functions: mechanical memory transforms into logical memory, associative imagination
transforms into efficient thinking and artistic imagination, impulsive actions transform into
voluntary actions. Such application of signs is regarded as “mediation”. There are two stages of
each personal mental function. It originally exists as form of human interaction, and later – as an
entirely interior process. The shift from interphysical to introphysical is interpreted as
“interiorisation of signs”.
Research method: interview of 9 students. We have found several circumstances when external
relations of the interacted students were transformed into internal relations, i.e. they turned out
to be higher mental function for behavioral patterns regulation. Three students have started to
use the multicultural tools for their personal free self-direction that were originally applied as
an internal way to regulate relations between students and teachers in polycultural education:
interactive workshops and trips to countryside for meetings with minorities.
Reference
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lotta Kokkonen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Intercultural Communication – what do we teach?
Intercultural communication is being taught as a part of intercultural education, as a separate
subject, and/or a tool for intercultural and/or multicultural learning. What then is being taught
under the title of intercultural communication?
In this presentation I will discuss interpersonal communication relationships as a one element,
or form, of communication that is evidently important in the field of intercultural
communication. An interpersonal relationship, also called social relationship, social tie, or
human relationship, can be considered as an association between two or more people, that is
reciprocal in nature and has developed over some period of time. Interpersonal relationships
are formed in the context of social, cultural and other influences. By using the term
interpersonal communication relationship the interactive nature of the relationship is being
stressed.
Interpersonal communication relationships are seen as one factor affecting the ways in which
immigrants adapt to new environments and cope with the stress to which immigration clearly
gives rise (e.g. Ahmad 2005; Berry 1997; 2006; Forsander 2002; Hautaniemi 2004; JasinskajaLahti, Liebkind, Horenczyk & Shmitz 2003). Studies have shown that immigrants have
interpersonal communication relationships that extend geographical and national borders (Ho
& Bedford 2008; Wiles 2008) However studies where interpersonal communication
relationships are the main focus of the research are rare. There are some studies that do
provide answers to the questions above (see Kokkonen 2010), but how much this is discussed
in detail among scholars teaching intercultural communication?
Cultural dichotomies and binaries such as individualism versus collectivism have proven to be
highly problematic when teaching intercultural communication. Understanding communication
at micro level, at interpersonal level, will act as an alternative for stereotypical, dichotomy
based cultural explanations for one’s communication. In this presentation theories and
theoretical frameworks explaining interpersonal communication relationship initiation,
development, and maintenance are being discussed. Examples from teaching the topic almost a
decade at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and elsewhere are included to illustrate the
theoretical discussion.
12
Lidia Kostikova, Ryazan State University, Russia
Developing “Diversities” Competence through Teaching a Foreign Language to the
University Students in Russia
The question of teaching languages in the context of cultural and social diversity is not new. It
has always been on the agenda at higher education in Russia. But it has been presented
differently depending on the economic, sociological, historical, political and ideological contexts
of interculturality.
The processes of globalization, European integration, migration, travelling, academic mobility,
international scientific conferences, the Internet develop numerous opportunities for diverse
intercultural communication. In this account, the compression of the world and the
intensification of consciousness of the diverse people on the planet is being discussed by many
scholars.
Paradoxically, teaching languages in the context of cultural and social diversity is quite logical
and natural. But at the same time it arises very many questions concerning the subject and
technology of teaching. It reflects the complexity and heterogenization of the cultural and social
fabric, which languages reflect in their vocabulary, grammar and phonetics.
Teaching a foreign language to university students reveals the urgency of gradual changes in the
mission of language education at universities of Russia. Much has been done already in this
direction. But I propose to concentrate more attention and efforts on developing students’
linguosociocultural competence, or in other words, probably, we may say “diversities”
competence.
Our intercultural communication is multisided, changing and complex. That is why it is really
challenging to teach languages, cultures, value judgement, ethnic and national identities, the
conditions for and consequences of "otherising".
Thus “diversities” competence (or linguosociocultural competence) can constitute a filter or a
screen for the students which will help them avoid the communication breakdowns and
misunderstandings in their future personal or professional intercultural communication.
Irina Krutova, Russia
Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Competence in Foreign Language Classes for
Medical Students in Russia
The political, cultural and economic development of Russia in the context of international
cooperation, global competition, internationalization of higher education is leading to crucial
changes in the way of life and the system of education. The widespread application of the CEFR
in the world over the last decade causes the appearance of a new policy borrowing as a kind of a
many-sided or an international phenomenon. And now processes of adaptation and localization
of the ideas of CEFR, derived from Europe, are clearly observed.
The starting point and purpose of higher education in contemporary Russia is to enable future
teachers to bring up their students as patriots, to develop their national identity and to prepare
them for mobility and communication in a multilingual and pluricultural world.
Communicative tasks are characteristic of everyday activity in public and private life and the
world of work. The intensification of language learning supports more intensive development of
intercultural competence. We can find hundreds of definitions of intercultural competence in
the works of different researchers. But we predominantly speak about intercultural
13
communicative competence (Michael Byram). Among various approaches to the development of
the intercultural competence the “mélange” or “mixing” approach (Fred Dervin) seems to be
most acceptable for teacher education.
The high degree of complexity of the process demands that at least one generation of teachers in
Russia should acquire patiently the new knowledge of the curriculum development process,
textbooks development, teaching and elaboration of assessment criteria, examinations. The
training may better be realized within either pre-service teacher formation or in-service
education. But in any case, intercultural competence is not permanent, for life, and its practice
and learning never end. It gives extended opportunities for lifelong learning.
Kaisa Kuoppala, Heini Paavola, University of Helsinki, Finland
STEP students’ employment and adjustment in the Finnish working life
This study examines how subject teacher students have gained employment after graduating
from an English-medium teacher education programme and how they cope with the Finnish
working life. The participants consist of subject teacher students who studied in the new
programme’s first year in 2011–12. They are Finnish or international students who have
completed their Master’s degree either before or after their teacher education studies or who
are still degree students at the University of Helsinki. STEP is a one-year Subject Teacher
Education Programme in English that was launched as part of the department’s
internationalization efforts. The programme gives official qualifications to teach in basic and
upper secondary education in Finland.
The purpose of this study is to find out factors that ease or hinder employment. In addition, it is
of interest to learn how the employed cope with and adjust to their new job and what kind of
support they receive from their work place and colleagues. A comparison of experiences will be
done between the immigrants and Finnish students. This study is qualitative and the research
methods used are an online questionnaire and focus group discussion. This study answers the
following research questions:


What factors ease or hinder a person’s employment?
How does the person cope with the new job?
In the conference we will present the results of this study and discuss the experiences of the
participants and how they see their employability and adjustment in the Finnish working life.
Keywords: Subject Teacher Education Programme (STEP), immigrant, employment
Samúel Lefever, University of Iceland
Opportunities for teachers of foreign background: making inroads?
This paper will look at the findings of a study of teachers of foreign background who have
succeeded in getting teaching jobs in schools in Iceland. The purpose of the study was to shed
light on the difficulties teachers from diverse backgrounds must overcome to be able to work in
their chosen profession. Teachers were asked to describe their experiences, expectations, and
the challenges of becoming a practicing teacher in individual interviews. They also discussed the
teaching role and their interaction with administrators, colleagues, students and parents.
Attention is drawn to hurdles and success the teachers have met along the way and whether
they are making inroads as teachers with diverse backgrounds.
14
This study is part of group project being carried out by members of the Diverse Teachers for
Diverse Learners network with funding from NordForsk Researchers Network.
Muhić Maja and Arta Toci, South East European University, Tetovo, Macedonia
Multicultural and Intercultural Education in Southeast Europe: Vision through the Eye of
Myopia or Utopia?
This paper looks into the level of success, but at the same time, applicability of either
multicultural or intercultural approaches to education in the context of Southeast Europe, with
a more specific focus on the Republic of Macedonia. The last decade has seen the friction
between the proponents of multiculturalism on the one side and interculturalism on the other.
The former has been labeled as a passive concept, which merely promotes the awareness of
different cultures, whereas the latter has been praised more for its supposed dynamic approach
and focus on relation and interaction. While looking at the convoluted concepts of both camps,
the main concern of this paper is to go further and look into the “realistic” state of affairs in
Southeast Europe and Macedonia. It is from this position that we want to ask, how successful
can a multicultural or intercultural education project be, what can be its threats and likelihood
of triumph?
Both multicultural and intercultural concepts will be placed against the backdrop of the events
in the last two decades in the region of Southeast Europe –not only the Western Balkans. This
region has been marked by a politics based on the pronounced primacy of the issue of national
identity over other socio-political questions. National identity as an issue per se entails material
cultural and academic processes aiming at the construction and fixing of an idea and a sense of a
collective. These processes work through the means of recognition, legitimization and symbolic
production that maintains, enriches and perpetuates the representation of the national
self. Artistic production, academic re-creation of the national truth and re-production of the
cultural symbolism in the fields of humanities are at work in the institutions of the state, in
public and private universities and media. Strong evidence in terms of material culture and
recorded public discourse supports our claim that the question of national identity determines
the course of politics, nationally and internationally, in Macedonia but also in the neighboring
countries.
This implies that the issue of political integration of the entire region of SEE, including Western
Balkans, is not one which can be dealt with through merely political means or technocratically.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that the unambiguous interpellation to
fidelity to the national collective unity to which both the political right and left respond in an
almost identical way paralyses any productive political debate on all other social-political
themes. Avoiding the label of a traitor in a country that feels threatened by negation of its very
self becomes the political imperative which conditions the way in which all other issues,
including education, are addressed.
Key words: multiculturalism, interculturalism, national identity, national self, collective
Carola Manter, University of Teacher Education Zug, Swizerland
Diverse teachers and their experience of difference
Teachers with ‘culturally’ diverse backgrounds, including teachers with an immigrant
background, are beginning to gain attention in Switzerland. Attention, however, is coming
particularly from researchers in the field of intercultural/multicultural education and from a
15
political body that is concerned with the special interests in the field of inter- or multiculturality
(Cohep, 2007; see also overview in Mantel & Leutwyler, forthcoming). This emphasis on a
special interest around ‘cultural’, ‘intercultural’ or ‘multicultural’ questions gets researchers
into a dilemma of using categories that inevitably create circularity in the research process.
Defining ‘race’, ‘ethnicity’ or ‘culture’ as a focus of interest may not take sufficiently into account,
that other categories, which are also used in the social process of inclusion and exclusion, may
be just as - or more - relevant in a particular context or situation. Even worse: Researchers may
even make a substantial contribution in creating difference by using and emphasising specific
categories (Koller 2002).
With the proposed paper, a qualitative research design shall be presented that tries to avoid
such categorial ‘traps’. The sample of this research contains teachers with various cultural
backgrounds. According to the process of “Theoretical Sampling” (Glaser& Strauss, 1967),
contrasting cases shall be scrutinised and as a first step of contrasting, teachers with and
teachers without an immigrant background shall be interviewed. With the approach of a
biography research (Schütze, 1983), these teachers shall be investigated upon their experience
of difference (Koller, 2009; Schulze, 2006). By researching on the experience of ‘difference’, we
hope to access an area of implicit and explicit knowledge of the respondents, that gives insight
into their attribution of relevance and their interpretation (including the ‘kind’) of meaningful
experiences of difference.
Pia Mikander, University of Helsinki, Finland
“Our” population growth and mobility and “theirs” – constructions of othering in Finnish
school texts
The population of the world is growing and moving. However, concepts such as population
growth and the mobility of people tend to be depicted differently depending on whether the
movers represent Westerners, “us” or “them”. The Finnish school curriculum promotes key
concepts such as democracy, human rights and equality as the underlying values for education,
however, throughout the 20th century, education and culture helped creating a colonial mindset
in Finland. Today, the colonial mindset is eradicated as an official ideology, but it still shows, as
in words chosen to describe human mobility and population growth. Population growth and
mobility have been theorized by for instance Zygmunt Bauman, who discusses the different
values attributed to different people, and fear of population growth, in Wasted lives (2004) by
looking at the common understanding that the “planet is full”. According to Sara Ahmed, nations
are constructed as subjects that can not put up with the presence of the threatening other, such
as refugees, thereby calling for “control” (Ahmed 2011). Using words such as “floods of
migrants” create sentiments of losing control, besides differentiating between “us” and “them”
as human beings. The aim of the paper is to examine othering and the construction of
“westernness”/whiteness in Finnish contemporary school textbooks in social science, history
and geography, focusing on descriptions of population growth, human mobility and
urbanization. Through a discourse theory analysis inspired by Laclau and Mouffe (1985), I
examine how events described in the books are used in order to create a sense of objectivity,
that of the hegemony of a superior West. Examining this hegemony and ways of deconstructing
it forms the contribution to the debate about multicultural vs intercultural education that the
presentation attempts to make.
16
Taizo Miyachi, Tokai University, Japan and Takashi Furuhata, University of Utah, USA
Intercultural and Multicultural Communication for a Great Disaster with Six Layered
Knowledge
Both rich Rias coasts and nuclear power plants made the have-nots haves in Japan. Great
disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis have given the haves serious damages. Citizens
should learn how to share indispensable knowledge and mutually help by themselves between
areas in different cultures since government and private companies made a safety myth
“nuclear power plant is safe,” and concealed the lack of backup facilities for the accidents.
Government also concealed a map of dangerous radioactive areas when victims had to avoid
them although kind foreign country provided the map.
In case of the accident of nuclear power plants, all citizens in a dangerous town and families of
the plant worker, who move to a safe area away from the worker, should spend multicultural
life. Residents in the safe area should accept them and spend intercultural life. All of them have
to understand both difficult principle of physics, causes of the accidents and strange solutions
for the nuclear plants at the same time when government and companies has been concealed
serious risks.
The Japanese juvenile of Miyagi oyster saved France in 2010 In case of extinction of French
oyster. Hiroshima oyster also saved Miyagi in the disaster area in 2011.
We propose “Ubiquitous Library” with “six layered knowledge" to mutually understand useful
knowledge that is created based on different cultures and local methods. Collaboration by
sharing the layered knowledge enables different groups to understand fresh good ways and
their philosophy. The success by the collaboration would build multicultural society step by
step. Citizens could learn technology assessment from physical, mental, rumors, and
multicultural village society point of views with six layered useful knowledge in the world. The
citizens should also hold consensus conferences with promising preliminary survey in order to
make a good future plan for the city.
Kevin Norley, Bedford College, UK
Language, social class, ethnicity and educational inequality
Language and communication in urban Britain are increasingly suffused with the multilingualism
associated with globalisation and diversity, but to what extent is the learning of English affected by
ESOL learners’ social class, and a reflection of the multicultural environment in which they
learn?
This paper examines, to what extent existing social class, culture and educational inequality within
British society impact on learning and achievement in education? It questions, for example, why it is
that learners from different ethnic groups develop their language skills (and hence integrate into
British society) at different rates.
In reflecting on theory and drawing on findings from actual practice, the chapter offers some possible
solutions to the issues raised, including arguing for the adoption of an educational culture throughout
compulsory education (and post-compulsory education) whereby consistent and constant error
correction, of pronunciation and grammar etc. of learners is encouraged in order to reduce the
dialectic mismatch between them and their teachers, hence enabling greater access to the curriculum
for those learners, and creating a learning environment more conducive for EAL and ESOL learners
17
to develop their language skills and in so doing, reducing the disparity between the disparate ethnic
groups.
In a wider context, this chapter argues that in order for the goals of multicultural education to be
realised, evidence needs to be sought that links the use of Standard English to improved educational
achievement particularly amongst those from social and ethnic groups who are disproportionately
represented amongst those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It is argued that the
implementation of Standard English use would go some way to addressing the issues raised by Sir
Trevor Philips (chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission), who stated, in a speech given
in 2010, that ‘multiculturalism has failed’ and that ‘Britain is becoming an increasingly segregated
society.’
Edda Óskarsdóttir & Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, University of Iceland
Considering children’s perspectives on inclusion
Inclusion in schools is a widely researched concept from a variety of standpoints and listening
to students’ perspectives as valued members of the school community has been emphasized as
significant in a variety of research. However, while many studies have asked disabled students
about their experiences of the inclusive school, fewer have asked non-disabled students about
their understanding of the concept or how they see it in action in their schools.
This paper explains the use of drawings as a strategy to engage with a group of school children
in 4th, 6th and 10th grade on the topic of inclusion in one compulsory school in Iceland. The
research methodology is qualitative. The method will be described and the challenges and
benefits confronted in the process will be discussed. The purpose of involving students is to get
an insight into their perception of inclusive practices in the school and how the school can be
improved from their standpoint.
This paper consists of four main sections. It will begin by discussing the policy of inclusion in
the Icelandic school system, then go on to describing the local context of the research. It gives an
account of the research method used and data analysing. To conclude, it will report on
preliminary findings as well as on implications for research and practice.
Heini Paavola, Mirja Talib, University of Helsinki, Finland
Immigrant background class teachers´ studying, employment and adjustment to
teachers´ work in Finland
Diversity of the students in Finnish classrooms has increased due to immigration since 1990´s
but demographic changes, nevertheless, can´t be seen in staff at the moment. There are only
few class teachers of immigrant background in Finnish schools. Some on them has two
certifications, one from their home country, and one from Finland. Those who have immigrated
to Finland as a child have gone thorough teacher education exclusively in Finland.
Issues concerning teacher certification for internationally educated teachers or teachers of
immigrant background (meaning those who have studied in Finland) have been debated in
Finland as well as abroad. The results of these studies have indicated that some of the
internationally educated teachers and immigrant background teachers have experienced
discrimination and barrier to integration within the educational systems, as well.
Multicultural societies, like Finland, need teachers who have knowledge about the basic issues
concerning ideologies and values for teaching diverse students. Many times
(university)students with immigrant or minority background tend to be more culturally
sensitive than those who have not experienced being outsider or the Other in society
(Merryfield, 2000).
18
In this paper we examine the narratives by immigrant class teachers who have been studying in
their home countries and in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki.
The purpose of this study is to find out factors that may have ease or hinder their studying,
employment or working life.
The target group consisted of six class teachers who had been studying in their home countries
before immigrating to Finland. After immigration they completed their Master’s degree in the
class teacher education programme in the University of Helsinki.
The research questions:
1. What kind of experiences of studying do the immigrant teachers have?
2. What kind of experiences of employment do the immigrant teachers have?
3. How do the immigrant teachers cope with the working life in Finnish schools?
The data was collected during spring 2013 via narrative inquiry. The teachers got guiding
themes which they were supposed to deal with.
Keywords: class teacher education, immigration, discrimination, employment
Andréanne Gélinas Proulx, University of Ottawa, Canada
Intercultural training in Morocco for French-Canadian school principals: Conditions for
improvement and intercultural training model
School principals should possess demonstrated intercultural competence to ensure inclusive
management of ethnocultural, linguistic and religious diversity (Dinnan, 2009). Nevertheless,
Canadian and American researchers state that some of their competency indicators aren’t
developed (Berger & Heller, 2001; Bustamante, Nelson, & Onwuegbuzie, 2009) and that the
current training in those countries doesn’t adequately prepare them to create inclusive schools
that embrace diversity (Ouellet, 2010; Young, Madsen, & Young, 2010). Therefore, the following
question may be asked: how can intercultural competence be developed by principals and
future principals of French-Canadian schools in a linguistic minority context? To answer this
question, we undertook a pragmatic-interpretative study and we used a developmental
research methodology (Van der Maren, 2003) which can be broken down into three phases.
Following the first phase, which is the needs analysis phase, we established the relevance of an
intercultural immersion training session in Morocco. At the conception phase, we developed 13
activities that we will describe during our presentation. They rely on consulted experts and
scientific literature that addresses the question of diversity from intercultural, multicultural,
cultural, cross-cultural, inclusion, social justice, etc. perspectives when it was consistent with
our definition of culture, intercultural education and intercultural competence. At the last phase,
"testing and evaluation", we collected data regarding the perceptions of seven participants
through interviews and exercises completed during the training session. Content analysis
(L’Écuyer, 1990), carried out by using Nvivo 8 software allowed us to identify, amongst other
things, the five conditions required to improve intercultural training. In conclusion, based on all
the trainees’ suggestions, we propose 18 activities and an intercultural training model that
would develop the intercultural competence of principals and future principals of FrenchCanadian schools in a linguistic minority context.
19
Hanna Ragnarsdóttir & Hildur Blöndal, University of Iceland, School of Education, Iceland
Multicultural and Inclusive education in two Icelandic schools
The paper introduces and discusses the findings of two case studies conducted in 2011-2012 in
one preschool and one compulsory schools in the Reykjavík area where both teachers and
students are diverse in terms of ethnicities, languages and religions. The main aim of the case
studies was to explore whether and how the schools have applied multicultural and inclusive
education in order to address student and teacher diversity, to strive for equality and
democratic participation of all and challenges they face. The studies included focus group
interviews with ethnic minority teachers, semi-structured interviews with principals and
document analysis of policies, curricula and evaluation reports in both schools. The case of the
compulsory school illuminates how leadership, pedagogy and home-school collaboration
actively build on diversity and seeks to shed a light on the development of a school culture
where diversity is seen as a valuable feature. The case of the preschool sheds light on the
implementation of inclusive educational policies. The school is innovative in terms of policy and
leadership and actively celebrates diversity, while emphasising equality. The theoretical
background includes writings on equality and participation in diverse school settings (Banks,
2007; Gay, 2010; Nieto, 2010; Ragnarsdóttir, 2012; Santoro, 2007; Schmidt and Block, 2010).
The findings of the case studies indicate that the principals have generally managed to create
multicultural learning communities where they involve all teachers in decision-making and in
developing their schools. The teachers generally experience equality in their schools and
participate actively. Evaluation reports describe inclusive and multicultural school settings and
parents´ satisfaction. In spite of some disagreements on values and pedagogies the principals
have generally resolved these in an inspiring way. The visions of the principals regarding
diversity are generally reflected in the positive experiences of the teachers, parents and
children, revealing a true multicultural learning community.
Roni Reingold & Lea Baratz, Achva Academic College, Israel
Intercultural ethnocentric dialogue: The case of an Israeli bilingual newspaper
This research deals with the bi-lingual newspaper called Nugget News published under the
sponsorship of The Steering Committee of Ethiopian Immigrants that is a branch of the Society
for Advancement of Education of the Immigrant Absorption Department of the Israeli Ministry
of Education. The newspaper has been distributed bi-monthly free of charge in secondary
schools since 1999, comprising a total of 22,000 copies. Two-thirds of the articles in the
newspaper are in Hebrew (the official language of Israel) and one-third is in Amharic (the native
language of the immigrants). "Nugget" in Amharic means "before dawn" and expresses hope for
the future. The newspaper deals with the way of life of immigrants in Israeli society with an
emphasis on integration of immigrants in the educational system.
The articles in the first 59 issues of this newspaper were qualitatively analyzed according to the
principle of critical discourse that focuses on social problems and various forms of misuse of
language towards underprivileged minority groups on the basis of their ethnic background or
social status (Gee, 1992, 2004). The text analysis was aimed at helping us reveal whether a
multicultural educational policy has begun to be implemented in Israel or whether an explicit or
implicit assimilation policy towards the immigrant community is reflected in the journalistic
texts. We found that the Nugget News newspaper reflects an implicit assimilation policy
towards the Ethiopian immigrant community according to the ideology of the State of Israel.
Thus, the newspaper is used as an educational tool for promoting an intercultural, but
ethnocentric, dialogue between the State and the immigrant community.
20
Marjo Räsänen, University of Turku, Finland
Class teacher students’ memories of multicultural art lessons
Visuality is a central mode of multimodal representation systems. However, teaching visual
literacy is not acknowledged in Finnish class teacher education. The role of art as cultural
education is also neglected. This study is a part of the research project in class teacher
students’ views of multicultural art education. In the first part of the research, students
were asked about their conceptions of multiculturalism and memories from school-time art
lessons. A model of visual multiliteracy based on broad view of cultural identity (ethnicity,
residence, world-view, abilities, age, gender, language, and social group) was applied in a
case study executed at the University of Turku. Students’ ability to have constructive
dialogue between different cultural groups through studying visual cultures was explored.
Data (N=73) was collected through an open-ended survey and by working in Moodle.
Students were asked to define the concept of multiculturalism and to tell about memories
from their school years connected to it and art. Then they planned a learning unit which is
based on visuals and promotes multiculturalism. In data-analysis, dimensions of cultural
identity included in students’ answers were explored. The results show that most of the first
year class teacher students have very narrow view on multiculturalism emphasizing ethnic
diversities and problems of immigration. They recognize only few connections between
their school-time art education and multiculturalism. However, introducing the model of
visual multiliteracy helped them to plan learning units based on multiple dimensions of
cultural identity and visual culture. To conclude: multiculturalism should become the core
of art curriculum and an integral part of teacher education. Similarly, understanding the role
of visual literacy in multimodal learning is vital in class teachers’ multidisciplinary
profession. Preservice teachers should learn how multicultural understanding can be
promoted through studying visual culture.
Key words: art lessons, cultural identity, cultural education, multiculturalism, multiliteracy,
multimodality
Yassine Souryana, University of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria
Developing Intercultural Competence in EFL Textbooks
The study highlights the development in attitudes towards cultural contextualization in three
locally
designed Algerian EFL textbooks; Think it Over (1989), Comet (2001), and New
Prospects’ (2007) used in High School to teach pre-university students. While the first two
textbooks broadly aim at developing the learners’ communicative competence, the last one
shifts objectives and aims at developing the learners’ intercultural competence as stated by its
designers in the foreword. Thus, this study tries to explain, through the analysis of the reading
texts used in the materials, how the included cultural content which was mostly targeting the
foreign cultures (Other) changes to include some aspects of the learners’ local culture (Self) in
an attempt to include intercultural aspects. It further investigates how the contact of cultures,
previously seen as negative because leading to the cultural alienation of the learners, is
reinforced in the recent textbook (New Prospects) as a means to develop the learners’
intercultural competence allowing them to function in cross-cultural contexts. The analysis
consists of the examination of the representations of the Self (learners’ local culture) and the
Other (Foreign language culture) as conveyed by the reading texts selected by the designers as
teaching materials.
21
Mirja Tytti Talib, University of Helsinki, Finland & Sari Hosoya, Kanto Gakuin University,
Japain
Teacher Education for Diversities - Multicultural Education v.s. Intercultural Education
Increasing cultural diversity at schools presents urgent needs for teacher education to
effectively prepare culturally responsive teachers who can facilitate the academic success of all
students. Teachers play a central role in the acculturation of immigrant and foreign students
especially in new multicultural societies.
Teachers who work in diverse classrooms need to understand the various issues that are
associated with those students different from the mainstream culture. Not only that, teachers
need to support such students to form positive and healthy identities. Such processes require
teachers to have knowledge of related theories, skills to practice desirable methods, and
intercultural competence, which includes some aspects of education. Teachers’ personal and
professional identities and worldview, teachers’ intercultural sensitivity and their attitude
towards minority students are important elements of intercultural competence.
Preparing teachers for diverse classrooms is not only for the immigrant students but also for the
students within the mainstream culture since as a member of the globalized world everyone
needs to develop competencies and attitudes for sustainable development and social cohesion.
Teacher education, therefore, plays a vital role much more than before. In this paper we would
like to give some suggestions for teacher education with some discussion on multicultural and
intercultural education. We will deal with the differences between two, however, attempt to
mention the goals we need to aim at by taking multicultural/intercultural education into
consideration.
Zerrin Tandogan, Bilken University, Turkey
Communication Skills: Intercultural or not? A Case Study from Turkey.
Developments in communication technologies seem to contribute little to our knowledge about
other cultures. Young people who are equipped with relatively high communication techniques
and skills do not seem to be utilizing these opportunities for opening new cultural windows or
improving intercultural skills. Besides, the new media by detaching individuals from face-toface interaction make it more difficult to promote cross-cultural human contact and thus
undermine the complexity that lies behind this type of communication in daily life. In the light of
these observations, this study will focus on the technologically competent youth and lack of
intercultural skills by providing examples from a university environment in connection with a
senior level course that is given by the author on interculturalism and cultural diversity.
Alena Timofeeva, St. Petersburg State University, Russia
Multicultural vs Intercultural: a post-Soviet case study
When teaching English as an International language one is not supposed to deal with
Intercultural issues, the very essence of the EIL (English as International Language) subject
being multicultural. Moreover, the education process at Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences of
St. Petersburg State University on the whole is multicultural as the program has been effectively
developing in close cooperation with Bard College (New York, USA) for more than 15 years. One
22
of main aims of the EIL course is to enable students to participate in international academic
exchange programs.
While a close study of the teaching situation at the Faculty shows that the majority of the
problems arising in class can be better described in Intercultural or rather Post-colonial terms.
English classes are multinational, where one of three students is from Turkmenistan. The
freshmen from Turkmenistan and Russia demonstrate not only cultural discrepancies but what is more important, if not crucial – dramatic difference in educational experience/
background (programs, methods of teaching, course books used in secondary schools, etc).
Another important issue to be considered in the teaching process is a unique language situation
in the class, where two languages (Russian and English – in that particular order) are used as
lingua franca. For most Turkmen students Russian is L2 these days as most subjects at
secondary schools in Turkmenistan are taught in Russian.
All conditions mentioned above create specific educational environment, which is analyzed in
the paper.
Chin Sin Zi, Universiti Putra, Malaysia
Interculturality and Intercultural Skills: How do foreign language lecturers in Malaysia
understand them?
Many researchers refer to ‘intercultural’ as a macro phenomenon with a rather static approach
to culture, and they neglect the importance of the individual experience or subjectivity. As
foreign language learners or instructors, we should not focus on solid culture, but regard liquid
interculturality as the way for an individual to enter into a successful
interpersonal communication with a speaker of another language.The standpoint of foreign
language instructors on interculturality is very significant because they are the mediators
between two languages (source and target language) and the relationship between language
instructors, learners and knowledge are interrelated (Houssaye, 2000). Therefore, the
instructors’ representations play a very important role in moving from a solid intercultural
approach to that of liquid interculturality. In this communication, I will examine the
representations of interculturality and intercultural skills among native and non-native
language lecturers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 lecturers teaching
foreign languages in two local Malaysian universities. Do native and non-native lecturers have
the same representations and approach of interculturality? How do they define intercultural
skills? And how do they plan to develop them among learners? The data collected show that
there are no significant differences between the representations of interculturality between
native and non-native language lecturers: they share the idea that a minimum knowledge of
interculturality and intercultural skills is needed in order to communicate with native speakers
but their definition of the concepts show big discrepancies and they do not agree on the way to
attain what they understand by ‘interculturality’.
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Yeow E-Lynn, University Putra, Malaysia
The Asian Students in the French Media: Moving away from the East/West Dichotomy?
In literature, in the media and also in some academic papers, it is common to oppose a
collectivist, more traditional East to an individualistic, modern West but the limits between the
two spheres have always been vague. Over the years, East-Asian populations, especially the
Chinese, have become the focus of the representations of an exotic, imagined East, and China has
become a sort of euphemism for Asia (and the East), and vice-versa, at least in the French
speaking area. As a consequence, relations between the West and the East are often seen from
the perspective of a confrontation or at least a sheer opposition, associating individuals with
one of the two static, hegemonic represented ‘cultures’. This contrasts with the concept of
“fluid” culture (Bauman 2004) and intercultural education (Abdallah-Pretceille 2011) where the
place of an individual is emphasised and people are not mere cultural products. In this
presentation, I will analyse how Asians are portrayed in the French media: are they (still) the
archetype of an imagined East (and which one?) or are the media moving away from a
stereotyped categorisation of the East for this diasporic population? Data were collected from
five videos (2 interviews and 3 news reports) on the Asian community in France. The results
show that in the French media, Asians are often depicted as representatives of their community
of origin. They also appear as ‘good’ successful migrants in opposition to people of other origins
(Arabs, Africans) and it seems that the dichotomy gave way to a triangle (local/good
migrants/bad migrants) based on cultural classifications where the individual is still not heard.
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