Session Information
20 SES 06 A, Intercultural learning environments (part II)
Paper Session
Contribution
Like many other European countries, the Netherlands has an increasingly multicultural society. In education 15% of the school population has a non-Western background. Especially in the main urban areas schools have very heterogenic multicultural populations, often with more than 50% pupils from immigrant families. This growing ethnic diversity provides two main challenges for schools (Vedder, Horenzcyk & Liebkind, 2006): (i) to cater for the educational needs of students with a large variety of social and cultural backgrounds, and (ii) to prepare students for participation in a pluriform society. Both perspectives of inclusive education - a learning environment that welcomes cultural diversity and is inclusive of all leaners (Unesco, 2008) - and citizenship education - education that promotes common democratic values that allow for diversity (Banks, 2009) - urge schools to develop innovative intercultural learning environments. This requires a well thought out balance between individual differentiation and identity development on the one hand, and fostering intercultural relationships and social cohesion on the other. Balancing unity and diversity is a complex challenge for schools (Banks, 2009).
In Dutch education law a stipulation has recently been included that obliges schools to emphasize 'active citizenship' and 'social integration' in education. From this perspective strengthening pupils' skills in dealing with cultural diversity is an important issue (Hooghoff, 2008). In practice schools take different approaches to intercultural education: some schools emphasize a shared school culture and common democratic values, while others take diversity as a focal point for education (Educational Council of the Netherlands, 2007). Both approaches provide challenges for schools. While teachers often have a positive attitude towards the ethno-cultural diversity in their classroom, they do not feel sufficiently equipped to deal with it in a fruitful way (Derriks & Ledoux, 2000; Thijs, Langberg & Berlet, 2009). Literature provides some guidelines on curriculum interventions that add to intercultural learning: based on Allport's (1954) theory of intergroup contact several studies have emphasized the importance of cooperative learning environments and setting clear curricular goals (cf. Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). According to Banks (2009) and Vedder et al. (2006) such classroom-based activites should be integrated in a more comprehensive approach including curriculm development, school development and teacher development. To support schools in developing such a comprehensive intercultural learning environment, more insight is needed in promising characteristics of this approach (cf. OECD, 2009). This leads to the central research question for this study: What are characteristics of a promising approach to develop an intercultural learning environment that strengthens pupils' skills in dealing with cultural diversity?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Allport, G. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley. Banks, J. A. et al. (2005). Democracy and diversity. Principles and concepts for educating citizens in a global age. Seattle: University of Washington. Education Council of the Netherlands (2007). De verbindende schoolcultuur. [Cohesive school cultures]. Den Haag: Onderwijsraad. Hooghoff, H. (2008). Education implies citizenship: developing a global dimension in Dutch education. In: M.A. Peters, A. Britton, & H. Blee (Eds.), Global citizenship education. Philosophy, theory and pedagogy (pp.445-459). Rotterdam/Taipei: Sense Publishers. Inspectorate of Education (2008). De staat van het onderwijs, onderwijsverslag 2006/2007 [The state of education, education report 2006/2007]. Utrecht: Inspectorate of Education. OECD (2009). What works in migrant education? A review of evidence and policy options. Paris: Pettigrew, T.F., & Tropp, L.R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751-783. Thijs, A., Langberg, & Berlet, I. (2009). Leren omgaan met culturele diversiteit. [Learning to deal with cultural diversity]. Enschede: SLO. Thijs, A., van Leeuwen, B., Zandbergen, M. (2008). Inclusive education in the Netherlands. Enschede/Den Haag: SLO/Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Unesco (2008). Inclusive education: the way of the future. Final report of the International Conference on Education, Geneva, 25-28 November 2008. Paris/Geneva: Unesco/IBE. Vedder, P., Horenczyk, G., & Liebkind, K. (2006). Ethno-culturally diverse education settings. Problems, challenges and solutions. Educational Research Review, 2(1), 157-188.
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