Intercultural education in Europe: epistemological and semantic aspects

Abstract

This article analyses the role of educational opportunity in a time of globalisation, a new economy and life in a multicultural society, and gives an epistemological and semantic account of the concept 'intercultural education', distinguishing it from multicultural and transcultural education. Starting with a historic overview of various conceptualisations of meetings/clashes among people with different linguistic, religious, cultural or ethnic features, distinctive theoretical elaborations are reviewed, above all in a European context and in the educational field. After outlining the development of intercultural education (main contents, methods and objectives, as well as limits), this article supports the thesis that education, in an intercultural sense, is currently the most appropriate answer to globalisation and interdependence. IntroductionThe new millennium has begun with dramatic and at times violent changes that affect humanity in profound ways. Globalisation, the rise of new economies, and life in a multicultural society, challenges the very nature of educational institutions around the world. Many schools and families seem to lack the ability to cope with the risks and opportunities that accompany such revolutionary changes.The spread of the mass media in our daily lives, the growth of information technology, profound geo-political changes, and the establishment of new markets, variously described as 'globalisation', 'new economy' or 'computer-information revolution', imply a reduction in distance, stronger ties between different geographical areas, greater mobility, as well as new and diversified migration flows. Emigration is no longer a prerequisite for interaction across ethnic groups characterised by different languages and religions. In a scenario of globalisation, a person's life is directly or indirectly influenced by other cultures and by contemporaneous events in the rest of the world. We can assume that the present increase in migration flows will not diminish in the near future. As a consequence of globalisation, the development of relations between nation states and people with different cultural backgrounds seems to give a new connotation to the phenomenon of migration, inasmuch as its transient, marginal or even 'disease-inducing' overtone gives way to its proper structural and systemic features.On the other hand, in Western and most industrialised societies, post-modernist culture is prone to promote an inward-looking human being, a person imbued with an individualistic

Interculturality and intercultural education – representations and practices of a group of educational partners

“…The answers were varied, but broadly within two categories: one group of partners links interculturality with cultural diversity in human societies. This group is closer to the perspective of multiculturality (Portera 2008). The other group is closer to the intercultural perspective, because it focuses on a dynamic perspective of cultures, intercultural relations and intercultural competences, rather than static representations and stereotypes.…”

“…It is often mistaken for "multicultural" (Portera, 2008), thus proving the need for better understanding of this concept (Beacco, 2011). While the multicultural perspective "denotes the empirical fact that the different cultures exist and may interact within a given space and social organisation" (Council of Europe, 2008, p.11) and refers to the knowledge of other cultures (which then leads to stereotyping and emphasizes cultural differences), the intercultural perspective goes beyond that and relates to the dynamics between cultures, to cooperation and sharing, to the attempt to attain unity in diversity.…”

“…While the multicultural perspective "denotes the empirical fact that the different cultures exist and may interact within a given space and social organisation" (Council of Europe, 2008, p.11) and refers to the knowledge of other cultures (which then leads to stereotyping and emphasizes cultural differences), the intercultural perspective goes beyond that and relates to the dynamics between cultures, to cooperation and sharing, to the attempt to attain unity in diversity. The term intercultural, as the prefix inter suggests, refers to exchange, interaction and mutual development between groups or individuals, and to the need for reflection on these relations (Abdallah-Pretceille, 2003;Blaszynska, 2008;Byram, Gribkova & Starkey, 2002;Portera, 2008).…”

Öğretmen Adaylarının Çok Kültürlü Eğitime Yönelik Tutumlarında Kültürel Zekânın Rolü

“…Dönüşümün yol açtığı toplumsal sorunların ve kültürel farklılıklardan kaynaklanan çatışmaların çözümünde, okullar önemli bir görev üstlenmektedir (Bryan, 2009;Portera, 2008). Bu nedenle kimi araştırmacılar, günümüz toplumlarında eğitim programlarının çok kültürlü eğitim doğrultusunda yeniden yapılandırılmasına ihtiyaç duyulduğunu (Cogan ve Morris, 2001;Balay, 2004) ifade etmektedirler.…”

“…Ancak okulların ve ailelerin bu farklılıklarla baş etmede yetersiz kaldıkları ifade edilmektedir (Portera, 2008). Dolayısıyla öğretmenlerin yetiştirilmesinden sorumlu olan kurumlara, çok kültürlülüğe yönelik bilgi ve beceri kazandırılması anlamında önemli sorumluluklar düştüğü belirtilmektedir (Ambe, 2006).…”