Education as Transcultural Education: A Global Challenge (original) (raw)
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2012
AbstractThis multi-voiced paper explores the micro-level dimensions of human learning and becoming from transcultural encounters, lessons and/or curriculum under heightened transnationalism. It posits that mainstream approaches to conceptualizing the 'education' of international education lack sufficient theorization of difference, sociality, history and learning in trans-local spaces and suggests that there are expanding networks of transcultural engagements to be examined under the umbrella of international education. To explore this reconceived pedagogical landscape of international education three specific cases are presented: an auto-ethnographic reflection on coming into and making sense of one's international experience, a conceptual framing of internationalizing preservice education curriculum and a qualitative analysis of the pedagogical impacts of undergraduates' international internships. Each case illustrates the complexities, possibilities and challenges...
The differentiation of transnational education in Europe (and beyond)
The differentiation of transnational education in Europe (and beyond), 2018
In 2014 the European Commission introduced a reform of its previous funding efforts in the realm of education, which grouped them together under a single banner, baptised ‘Erasmus+’. With this new instrument, it funds a wide array of educational activities that range far beyond the institutional limits of what Guy Vincent once termed the ‘school form’. The programme thus gives articulate expression to Europe’s credo that ‘no single institution, school or company, can claim to be able to develop the skills needed’ for life in the new learning society. This paper starts from the curious coincidence of the establishment of a European educational space with the active corrosion of the institutional contours of school in order to examine how such transnational education thus mirrors, therefore both mimics and deviates from, the morphogenesis of the national school system. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Niklas Luhmann, it argues for understanding the Europeanisation of education as a means for growth by internal disjunction. That is: as an internal differentiation of the global education system, which surpasses the limits the former developed in reference to the nation-state, thus resettling and dramatically expanding the limits of what counts as meaningful education.
Education in Europe - Cultures, Values, Institutions in Transition
SSRN Electronic Journal
come to know the other inside of oneself is an important prerequisite to cope with the other in the outside world. A mimetic approach towards the other is suggested for further elaboration. In the process of migration and immigration, the other, such as people belonging to different ethnic groups and cultures, is of central importance. Schools are confronted with the task of helping students from different ethnic backgrounds find their way into the society they live in (Leeman). Preparatory arrangements for new arrivals, language programmes, multicultural policies, compensations and enrichment strategies are offered. In spite of these common efforts, approaches to dealing with students from various minorities may vary largely. In the Netherlands there is a strong tendency to allow multiculturalism and to stimulate intercultural education. This has created a shift in the focus of intercultural education, from 'getting to know' immigrants to 'learning how to associate with others'. In this situation multiculturalism is the result of a process of negotiation on cultural and ethnic differences in an ethnically heterogeneous society. Here, major issues are the policy of the school, the school climate, the communication and the contact between school and parents. The problems of 'communication in the school' and of the 'relationship between school and parents' are dealt with in detail. In the context of intercultural education, school motivation, hture perspectives and the well-being of high school students play a central role (Peetsmal Wagenaarlde Kat). In the reported research on pupils in segregated and integrated schools in the Netherlands the findings are evident. The students' motivation and well-being rate higher in an integrated or a black segregated situation in comparison to a segregated white situation. With regard to pupils' motivation, the black segregated situation offers the most positive results for migrant children, whereas native pupils are better motivated in an integrated situation. With regard to well-being, on the other hand, the integrated school offers the best conditions. With regard to 'motivation' and 'well-being', ethnic self-description was of no influence, a finding which calls for M e r research. To develop a positive hture perspective black girls seem to need school more than black boys. On the whole, migrant youngsters adapt easier to their new country than older people. This and other research show that in intercultural education the historical perspective is of central importance. Social phenomena like racism, xenophobia and nationalism can only be dealt with in their historical context (Gundara). History helps to come us to be aware of the development and specificity of different cultures and to perceive their commonalities and differences; art history is an especially important field for intercultural learning, since it allows a non violent mimetic assimilation of a specific culture and permits one to grasp its beauty and value. The production of textbooks, maps and monuments must take this into consideration. What is required in this context is therefore an education oriented towards social integration (Lenzen). Social integration has to cope with four types of disintegration due to national dispositions, ethnic, religious and cultural bonds, physical characteristics and characteristics that stem from social statuses that threaten European integration. Integration as the state of being of a societal system may be distinguished from integration as a social act integrating people in a society. Furthermore, discourse on European integration concerns systemic integration, which can only be observed but not be created. Finally, discourse on the integration of underprivileged groups in the European nations refers to integration as a social act of integration. To achieve European integration the societal system requires at least one code which can be used to decide whether an operation is affiliated to the system or not. Moreover, the participants of the system need a common system of symbols, in which the system can be communicated; they have to be prepared to refrain from those options which are not affiliated with the operation licensed by the system code. A system code communicated through a shared system of symbols must therefore be developed, in which participants are prepared to refrain from certain options. The system must also be self-reflexive. Finally, the question of whether pedagogy has a role to play in establishing these conditions is examined. In intercultural education, as well as in education in general, values play an important role. Issues related to values and value conflicts are central within a pluralistic society. They result from the cohabitation of different ethnic and social groups and are related to the freedom of individuals. What and how something is to be taught are controversial issues in education. This raises the problem of to what extent values can be taught and how value differences and conflicts can be dealt with? All societal and educational transformations imply value changes. To understand them requires sociological imagination (Whitty). Drawing on this, societal and educational alternatives can be conceived and developed, which implies a challenge to many school effectiveness studies that do not pay sufficient attention to alternatives to the existing school system. More than ever must the goals, methods and contents of education in transition be discussed. European unification and globalisation constitute challenges to education by which the traditional character and values thereof might be changed. From the perspective of market-oriented education, values of individualism, competition, performativity and differentiation play an important role. The growth of self-managing schools and the promotion of a decentred market identity go hand in hand. Deregulation of the economic field produces new demands and values for education, engendering changes of 'foreign', as well as the history of relation between them. If to question othemess is necessarily also to question one's self, and vice versa, then understanding the other necessarily involves processes of selfexamination, self-recognition and development. As the 'foreign' becomes more familiar, there is an increased sense of self-estrangement or self-for-References
For an Education that Makes the Most out of Globalization A Critical Interculturalist Approach
Current Sociology, Vol 58 (4), pp 642-660, 2010
As our world is becoming increasingly globalized, education-being part of the social sphere-cannot remain unaffected. This article explores the impact that the intermingling of culturally mixed populations and of diverse worldviews has on learning in postindustrial societies. Having reviewed the educational approaches that have so far ineffectively endeavoured to deal with Otherness, this article proposes the application of the 'critical interculturalist approach'-an approach that challenges the excluding patterns in postindustrial globalized societies , while at the same time building on globalization's potential for generating a more pluralistic and inclusive society. keywords: critical education ✦ globalization ✦ interculturalism ✦ lifelong learning ✦ pluralism ✦ social inclusion Globalization, more than an economic force, is a social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements diminish (Waters, 1995). Three main characteristics of globalization are specifically related to social structures and therefore, to education. First, globalization questions the notion of the relative autonomy of the nation-state, breaking the territorial principle, the nexus between power and place. This leads to the undermining of the ideology of distinct and relatively autonomous cultures. Additionally, there is the international movement-the most practically manifest aspect of globalization-which is not restricted to capital and products, but is also followed by the rapidly increasing mobility of people across national borders (Castles and Davidson, 2000). These processes lead to large-scale structural changes on all financial, technological, environmental, political and cultural levels. The degree and wider implications of these challenges is beyond the purposes of this article. CS
Critical intercultural perspectives on the place of education in Europe
The texts mentioned in this work are an insights into social, economic, political and cultural impacts on education and modern understanding of diversities in our societies. The analysis points to which extent cultural differences have been evolving into scope of strategies through a time period which connects the past and the present. This represents several references - cultural differences, racism and activism of progressive change - to critical questioning of how it was previously and how it is nowadays a picture of multicultural societies through educational lenses.
Principles of Transversality in Globalization and Education
This chapter sets out the principles of transversality in globalization and education that underpin the contributions in this book. These principles are derived from the oeuvre of the French theorist and activist, Félix Guattari. For too long, Guattari has been overshadowed by his co-author, Gilles Deleuze, with whom he wrote four major works, as well as publishing at least a dozen or more on his own or with other authors. Furthermore, Guattari did not lead the life of an isolated scholar, or reclusive academic. Indeed, he traveled extensively to Brazil, Japan, Poland, and Mexico, for example, and made it plain that he wanted his theories to work practically and in real situations, to really make a difference. There is then a political, social, and applied edge to Guattari's transversality that makes it absolutely relevant to the many ways in which globalization impinges upon and can negatively transform educational practice today. Even though Guattari was writing between the 1960s and 1990s, it is the conviction of this book that the principles that can be derived from his concept of transversality are timely, critical, and in need of extensive exploration and elaboration in order to make inroads into the unfolding, contemporary global educational landscape. In sum, it is argued in this chapter that Guattari's transversality could be included in the central theoretical architecture of the field of globalization studies in education, due to the crucial link to activism which it provides.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2010
The aim of this study is to focus the attention on a specific dimension of scholastic experience of the new generation of immigrants, that is to say that of school as a place where it is possible to build cross-cultural relations, to promote cross-cultural dialogue, and images of the world concerning the creation of living together citizenship in a plural society are learnt, that is of a citizenship that respects the differences and at the same time is based on respect of common values and fundamental human rights. The choice to focus on this topic, that is the one of cross-cultural education, is an answer to the need to develop an aspect of the scholastic experience of the new generation of immigrants less studied compared to the dimension of the school as a place of cognitive learning and scholastic success, but today it appears to be particularly significant. Indeed, western societies are undergoing significant changes, these are due to globalisation processes and to international migrations. Such societies are characterized by the multiethnic aspect and are shaped by conflicting forces between the recognition of the differences on one hand and the creation of social integration on the other (Featherstone, 1996; Bauman, 1998; 1999; 2000; Besozzi, 1999; Cesareo, 2000; 2001; Ambrosini, 2008; Ambrosini and Abbatecola, 2009). In such a scenario, the school is characterized in an increasing way for a plural experience and for the existence in the class of a variety of languages, different cultural perspectives and different scholastic levels. This means that school is at the centre of the issue of the quality of the future living together in a multiethnic society, because it creates a key institution for the promotion of social cohesion, as well as for the acquisition of the necessary competence for the social and economic integration of tomorrow’s citizens.
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT: ANALYSIS OF SELECTED EUROPEAN CURRICULA
The fi rst part of the article analyzes the most important stages in developing intercultural education and looks into the theoretical background of this specifi cally European educational concept. The author emphasizes the declarative orientation of European countries towards an intercultural approach (primarily through the work of the Council of Europe and other European institutions), but at the same time the approach is not yet well-established in practice, which can be seen from the fact that there is no common European model of intercultural education yet. Starting from this observation, the second part of the article provides an analysis of the way several national curricula in Europe promote cultural diversitiy in their own contexts. On the basis of the analysis of elements of intercultural education in the selected curricula, the author emphasizes the diversity of approaches and classifi es them into three basic types: liberal, multicultural and intercultural. According to the author, this typology corroborates the thesis that intercultural policies are still the by-product of the respective general national educational and cultural policies.
Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions, 2018
The book chapter provides a definition and discussion about transnational education. Citation: Wilkins, S., & Juusola, K. (2018), Transnational Higher Education, In P. Teixeira and J. C. Shin (Eds.), Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Dordrecht: Springer Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1\_249-1.