(Porto, Portugal): EECERA 2012 CONFERENCE, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR de ENGENHARIA do PORTO, PORTUGAL:
Early Education for Diversity – Interculturalism and Multilingualism
1. Transition & Multiculturalism – Strategies to meet educational challenges in multilingual societies
Anja Seifert, Ludwigsburg Univ of Education, Germany
Heterogeneity as opportunity.
Pedagogues acquire competencies: transitions, parent participation, interculturality, & language acquisition
TRAM (Transitions and Multilingualism) professional development curriculum materials: 7 modules; to stimulate the language development of bilingual children; links between language, culture, & perceptions.
Diversity wheel by M. Loden (1996) illustrates categories of diversity. Inner circle: age, ethnic heritage, race, mental & physical abilities, gender, & sexual orientation. Outer circle: elements that are less visible and have some elements of choice (first language, religion, income, military experience, work experience, geographic location, education, communication style, family status, work styles, organizational role & level).
2. Cultural Awareness as Knowledge and/or Skill
Birtes Simonsen, Univ of Agder, Norway; Eva Maagero, Vestfold Univ College, Norway birte.simonsen@uia.no
Children who have more than 1 language are resources for other children & teachers.
Say hello in at last 5 different languages every day.
National Qualification Framework (Norway teacher standards)
Teach to standards by incorporating cultural diversity into teaching methodologies and various content areas. (Multimodal pedagogy)
See book: Orientalism
Arlene Archer, 2012, Social Justice and Multimodal Pedagogy. Archer recognizes resources that each child has in order to develop democratic kindergartens with social justice. All children have bodies and voices as important meaning-making resources. Every meaning-making resource has a potential for development. Vygotsky emphasized that language is the most important tool for mastering mental processes.
The aim is to continually empower each child in order to develop participating agents in a multicultural society.
3. Development of Interculturalism /Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Teacher Education in Sweden – a critical discussion
Lena Rubinstein Reich, Malmo Univ., Sweden lena.rubinstein-reich@mah.se
Benhaib, 2002, identifies faulty assumptions about the concept of “culture” (e.g., cultures may be specifically delineated; there is one right way to understand a cultural label; one child can represent a specific group; categorizing ‘them’ by homogenizing the specific group).
Words: multicultural education, intercultural perspectives, cultural sensitivity, antiracist pedagogy, inclusive education, equal opportunities, education in plural societies, teaching for social justice, understanding social differences.
“Multiculturalism” is a diffuse concept that covers things up so that people can project whatever is currently politically opportune (Muller, 2011, p. 56)
“Multiculturalism” is a broad and diluted concept that may win widespread support among teacher educators, but it is inadequate as an organizing principle capable of giving direction to program development (Larkin, 1995, p. 2)
Recommendations from Reich:
a. Refrain from broad concepts (e.g., Interculturalism) and be more specific in what students need to learn.
b. Defend complexity. Go beyond regular educational contexts to provide students with experiences and lessons learned from the ‘other.’
c. Use the students’ political opinions, which go beyond groups and which are different within specific groups. This will show compexity.
d. Work concretely & precisely with perspective-taking (the missing link between theory and practice).