Multiculturalism, for many educational connotations, will play a decisive role in shaping the future education system and European society. Such education is called a multicultural education system, which will provide equal opportunity for all students with different social and cultural backgrounds to acculturate and develop skills leading to an increasingly multicultural European society. However, for such a high-quality education system, it is essential to minimize differences and avoid polarization within itself.
At first, during the 70s, immigrant education was proposed by emphasizing on cultural assimilation (e.g. removing the cultural background of the students). Thus it focused on language learning intending to remove the shortcomings of the migrant students.
There were two major problems: due to heavy importance on learning the new language, children lagged in the academic subjects and as the classrooms were organized outside of the majority group, assimilation also failed. Thus, immigrant education was an utter failure.
During the 80s, multicultural education was proposed in many European countries. It was the prelude to intercultural education. It also aimed to separate education for migrant children but it focused much on integration than assimilation.
Students were given the chances to celebrate cultural diversity through different cultural events. However, the national culture of the concerned country was imposed upon all students leaving the minority cultures to the corners. Thus, instead of inclusion, it brought further separation.
During the 1990s, intercultural education system began to develop. The positive aspect of this approach was to convince the students of both the majority and of minority groups that there were advantages for them all. This led to the acceptance of diversity minimizing the immigrant issues.
Thus, at least theoretically, all schools and teachers turned to intercultural education regardless of the size and types of the classroom and school.
The advocates of this approach mainly aim to:
1. View all students as the elements of the intercultural classroom,
2. Lead all students to accept diversity to avail advantage of it,
3. Fit all students in an inclusive modern society,
4. Provide equal access for all to learning materials, etc.
What are the most important competencies to work with the young migrants?
1. language and communication skills
2. interpersonal skills and teamwork
3. aboveboard
4. wide caliber
5. flexibility and creativity
6. decisive thinking
7. ability to address conflict and take the initiative
Research from Elizabeth Cohen
Elizabeth Cohen, a sociologist at Stanford University California wanted to find out the social aspects that caused some students to lag behind others although they had the same level of academic skills and did not have any learning disabilities. She hypothesized that students’ status could significantly affect the students access to the available learning materials.
She observed interactions in classrooms and group work for several years and found that the more active the students were the more they learned. But, she concluded that some students did not have the entry or forced by other students to keep away from group tasks. These students talk less and gradually become inactive. Cohen called such students, low-status students.
The purpose of Cohen’s research is to devise such an intercultural classroom where all students would be equally active and would go through the learning process equally. Therefore, she has proposed an idea called the Complex Instruction, which has three main components:
What is intercultural education?
Intercultural education provides a common ground for all students (future citizens). It helps them accept and admire the diversity in society. By ensuring equal opportunity for all, intercultural education seeks to change both individuals and the institutions towards the making of a culturally plural yet mentally singular society.It is all about the advantages of diversity
All methods and materials will fail if prejudice or partiality persists. For the successful intercultural classroom, it is essential to change the mindset of teachers and mentors beforehand. So, they should be convinced that there are obvious advantages to them.The pluralism in society is called multiculturalism
Intercultural education comes in discussion with migration to Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, however, Antonio Perotti notes otherwise. In his book “The case for intercultural education,” he asks, “Was it really necessary to wait for the settlement of millions of immigrants from other continents in Western Europe in the 1970s and 1980s to acknowledge the multicultural nature of society? Did people who were “different” not exist well before the recent arrival and settlement of immigrants?” Perotti’s point of the argument is that pluralism has been in Europe earlier before migration. Such pluralism is called multiculturalism.How do we define intercultural education?
During the period from the '70s to the '90s, the concept of pluralistic education originated. Many approaches were proposed but most common of them include “immigrant education,” “multicultural education,” and “intercultural education.”At first, during the 70s, immigrant education was proposed by emphasizing on cultural assimilation (e.g. removing the cultural background of the students). Thus it focused on language learning intending to remove the shortcomings of the migrant students.
There were two major problems: due to heavy importance on learning the new language, children lagged in the academic subjects and as the classrooms were organized outside of the majority group, assimilation also failed. Thus, immigrant education was an utter failure.
During the 80s, multicultural education was proposed in many European countries. It was the prelude to intercultural education. It also aimed to separate education for migrant children but it focused much on integration than assimilation.
Students were given the chances to celebrate cultural diversity through different cultural events. However, the national culture of the concerned country was imposed upon all students leaving the minority cultures to the corners. Thus, instead of inclusion, it brought further separation.
During the 1990s, intercultural education system began to develop. The positive aspect of this approach was to convince the students of both the majority and of minority groups that there were advantages for them all. This led to the acceptance of diversity minimizing the immigrant issues.
Thus, at least theoretically, all schools and teachers turned to intercultural education regardless of the size and types of the classroom and school.
What are the differences between intercultural education and culture?
Intercultural education focuses on all students irrespective of migrant or local backgrounds and culture is delineated widely. As a result, it leads all to believe that a child born to foreign parents is not different from a child born to local parents.The advocates of this approach mainly aim to:
1. View all students as the elements of the intercultural classroom,
2. Lead all students to accept diversity to avail advantage of it,
3. Fit all students in an inclusive modern society,
4. Provide equal access for all to learning materials, etc.
What are the most important competencies to work with the young migrants?
1. language and communication skills
2. interpersonal skills and teamwork
3. aboveboard
4. wide caliber
5. flexibility and creativity
6. decisive thinking
7. ability to address conflict and take the initiative
Cooperative learning
To make intercultural education successful, European educationalists and teachers were in search of appropriate teaching methods and cooperative learning soon proved to be fruitful for them. It improved the intercultural competencies of all students in general by breaking down stereotypes and removing prejudices. It also enabled students to see things from different points of view and to settle conflict or difference peacefully.Research from Elizabeth Cohen
Elizabeth Cohen, a sociologist at Stanford University California wanted to find out the social aspects that caused some students to lag behind others although they had the same level of academic skills and did not have any learning disabilities. She hypothesized that students’ status could significantly affect the students access to the available learning materials.
She observed interactions in classrooms and group work for several years and found that the more active the students were the more they learned. But, she concluded that some students did not have the entry or forced by other students to keep away from group tasks. These students talk less and gradually become inactive. Cohen called such students, low-status students.
The purpose of Cohen’s research is to devise such an intercultural classroom where all students would be equally active and would go through the learning process equally. Therefore, she has proposed an idea called the Complex Instruction, which has three main components:
- Multiple ability curricula: These are designed to elevate students’ thinking ability through group activities on a central concept or big idea and the students of diverse backgrounds are facilitated to work reciprocally to solve problems;
- Special instructional strategies: The students are instructed to use cooperative standards and play precise roles to control their groups themselves; as such, the teachers can freely watch them and give feedback and address status problems, if necessary.
- Equal access to learning: Teachers learn to identify and address status problems among students to ensure all students learn equally. They also learn to use status treatments to change students’ perceptions of being smart and to convince that each student has the intellectual ability to contribute to the groups’ success.
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