Education at the Junction of Cultures

Foreword

2007-10-17T18:07:00.000+02:00

We are pleased to present the publication “Education at the Junction of Cultures”, which comprises 7 papers from 5 different countries – Poland, Lithuania, Russia, the USA and Japan. The goal of this publication is to show and discuss education in situations, where two or more “cultures” meet each other. By culture in the aspect of education we understand not only students' cultural capital, but also rules of educational institutions and the influence of the dominant culture.

In the call for papers for this publication we asked both for articles concerning relations between ethnic groups in education, approaches to multiculturalism, interculturalism or assimilation of cultures, and education in cultures where the old meets the new.

Intercultural education, the main research area of this work is not a new concept in educational studies. However, the domination of the discourse focused on multiculturalism, ethnicity and problems with immigrants' integration is criticised (Žižek, 2007; Bourdieu, 2001) as being a substitute for real problems, such as burdening democratic societies with costs of training employees for corporations. The notion of social change, previously regarded as one of the essential functions of education, is gradually being replaced by the socialisation to the capricious needs of the market economy.

We do not ignore the perspective, that education nowadays might only be a preparation to the precarity of the labour market and that conflicts of interests are too often reduced to cultural problems. However, it would be hard to ignore the increasing migration all over the world. Living in the “age of migration” (Castles and Miller, 2003), we face significant demographic changes in our societies. Educational institutions handle with more and more students with different cultural backgrounds and our assumption is, that there is a need of coexisting peacefully at school and in the society with respect to each other's rights. Thus, talking about culture is not a political manipulation, it is the daily and widely experienced cultural shock - caused both by meeting the others and coming back to the previously known culture - that makes it more difficult to see other social strata.

The cultural change happening in the societies is broad, including diffusion of cultures, transculturation and culture loss. The changes are not only caused by migration, they occur even within one culture, especially when the local meets the global. Globalization is often counteracted by concentrating on the local, hence tendencies in education to focus on place, such as critical pedagogy of place (Gruenwald, 2003). Also other changes influence culture and, subsequently, education – for example changes of political order. All those aspects are linked with each other, they often happen at the same time. Our publication aims at showing the change in culture from those different, but sometimes inseparable perspectives.

Another level of learning at the junction of cultures is this publication itself. We were trying to look at the changes happening in different parts of the world. The papers that we managed to gather present research on such remote places from each other as Iran, Greenland and the USA. However, the intercultural education occurs here not only because of the background of the authors, but also because of the research questions. The assumption underlying some of the papers presented here is, that we can compare systems of education and learn from this comparison. Looking at the Swedish educational system, Elkhan Ismailov tried to draw conclusions for Russia; Magdalena Prusinowska attempted to warn Poles not to follow the example of Iran in treating the minorities, while Jill Rachele Stucker wanted to set an example for the USA, drawing on the Canadian example. This intercultural learning was one of the goals of this publication – the editors believe, that by showing other cultures' practices and reflecting on their effects, we can come a little bit closer to answering the question of how to deal with cultural differences in the field of education.

This publication was only possible due to the Internet – first of all, because it was used to collect and present the papers, but also as it enabled at least two of the authors – Magdalena Prusinowska and Małgorzata Zielińska – to conduct their research. Analysing on-line documents and discussions (e.g. fora) is quite a new method of research, possible thanks to modern technologies and the relative transparency of the research subjects. Consequently, research is possible even without traveling and financial support. The condition of the independent researcher was one of the issues discussed in the papers. On the one hand while analysing data on the Internet, the researcher is dependent on the materials that are “within click”, but on the other hand, if the research is to be conducted in the place being scrutinized, it will be dependent on sufficient financial and organisational support, as it was in Elkhan Ismailov's case.

The editiors are Poles, but we did not focus on the changes happening here, not because it was not interesting to us. Contrary to this, we believe that looking at other countries and learning from their perspective can be a way to reinhabit (Gruenwald, 2003) our place, which also undergoes serious changes. We are aware of the Levi-Strauss' (1970) suggestion that the interest in other cultures can result from a hidden presumption that something is wrong with our own one. This may be supported by the fact that almost twenty years after Poland's turning into capitalism, one of the key categories used in describing our reality is postcommunism.

In the papers presented here, the authors look at education mostly from the macro perspective, aiming at showing a vital part of a country's system of education. The exception is Escape to trivial tourism, where an educational institution is analysed from its student's perspective.

We have divided the papers into three chapters. The division is sometimes vague and some works may well contribute to other areas.

The first chapter, called Learning from the others comprises two papers - Evolution of Language of Instruction Policy in Canada, by Jill Rachele Stucker and Adult Education in Sweden and Russia, by Elkhan Ismailov. The former work discusses the tolerant language policy in Canadian schools and it contrasts it to the “English-only” policy in the United States. The latter compares teaching of modern languages in Russian and Swedish pre-university educational institutions.

Chapter 2, Cultural diversity in schools, consists of three articles. In the first one, The Education of Minorities in Iran, Magdalena Prusinowska shows the gap between regulations concerning minorities' rights in Iranian education and the everyday practice. The next paper, The Effects of Multiculturalism within the Parameters of Instructional Course Design by David Blunt discusses the need of reflecting cultural changes in teacher training in the USA. The third and final part of this chapter is Escape to trivial tourism written by Piotr Kowzan, in which he presents a pedagogical analysis of the activities and goals of the folk high schools and the intercultural learning that occurs on several levels of the schools' daily activities.

The last part of this publication is called Local and global factors affecting education. It starts with Małgorzata Zielińska's work, Critical Pedagogy of Place and the case of Education in Greenland, showing educational challenges on the island, where Danish, indigenous and global cultures meet each other. The final paper, Citizenship and Adult Education as Prerequisite for Civic Society, by Vaiva Zuzevičiūtė, Margarita Teresevičienė and Ligija Kaminskienė, is based on the case of the rapidly changing Lithuanian society, and - thus - the changes in the goals of education. The paper shows also adult education as means of integration with other cultures.

It is our hope, that this publication will be a contribution to discussions about the condition and future of education at the junction of cultures and that the conclusions drawn here will be of value to other researchers and decision makers.

Małgorzata Zielińska
Piotr Kowzan
Dagmara Przyborowska

Gdańsk, 2007

References

Bourdieu, P., Wacquant, L., (2001). Neoliberal Newspeak: Notes on the New Planetary Vulgate, in: Radical Philosophy, no 108

Castles, S. & Miller, M.J. (2003), The Age of Migration, Third Edition: International Population Movements in the Modern World, New York: The Gilford Press

Gruenwald, D.A., (2003). The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place, Educational Researcher, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 3–12

Levi-Strauss, C. (1970). Antropologia strukturalna Warszawa: Państ. Instytut Wydawniczy

Žižek, S. (2007). Can One Really Tolerate A Neighbor, [Motion picture] Available from: http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=604463677

Evolution of Language of Instruction Policy in Canada: Lessons for the United States?

2007-10-16T18:14:00.000+02:00

Jill Rachele Stucker, Institute of
Language and Culture Studies,
Hokkaido University, Sapporo,
Japan

download pdf

Introduction

In November of 2000, the American state of Arizona joined California in voting to prohibit bilingual education. “English-only” proponents and lobbying groups have indicated their intentions to pursue similar ballot propositions and/or legislation in other states.^¹ The country is currently engulfed in a public discourse and policy debate about the “problems” of immigration and language. Recent massive protests by both legal and undocumented, largely Spanish-speaking, immigrants have caused economic and social disruption, and have polarized the nation.^²

However, just over the border in Canada, it is a completely different story. Canada, like the United States, is a nation comprised of immigrants and a marginalized indigenous population. But instead of a de facto official language, as English is in the United States, Canada has two de jure official languages, English and French. In spite of the legal status of both English and French, provisions have been made in various provinces to accommodate other, non-official, languages in the schools. I would argue that this stems from the accommodations that must be made for minority Francophones in central and western Canada, and Anglophones in Québec; as well as Canada’s perception of itself as a “mosaic,” where multiculturalism is valued; as opposed to the American ideal of a “melting pot,” where immigrant and minority groups are expected to assimilate into the dominant culture as quickly as possible.^³ Additionally, many Anglophone children have been through French immersion programs with good results. I believe that this too may contribute to a favorable disposition towards education in other languages—many parents seem to recognize an intrinsic value in multiculturalism and multilingualism. While there are of course some detractors, by and large bi- or multilingual education possesses a level of support in Canada unfathomable in the United States. This support and these accommodating language policies are important, because as David Corson writes:

“Language policies in schools can play a real role in three ways. First, by creating innovative, ingenious and emancipatory structures in schools, language policies can help students from marginal backgrounds to escape the unreasonable pressures to conform that schools place on them. Second, language policies offer a vehicle for educators to use in challenging unfair practices and structures. Finally, language policies provide a planned way for schools to extend high-quality education to all their students without discrimination.”^⁴

Below I will examine various changes in language of instruction policy in Canada by type (provisions for official languages in a minority area and French immersion programs for non-Francophones; provisions for languages of immigrants; provisions for indigenous languages). Because Canadian provinces and municipalities have a considerable degree of control over education, many policy initiatives were on a provincial or more local level, though others were instituted on a national level.

Provisions for instruction in official languages

French speakers are a majority in Québec, and a minority in all other provinces, though the size of Francophone groups in other provinces varies greatly: they are a sizeable minority of over 30% in both Ontario and New Brunswick (which is officially bilingual); and a much smaller minority—lower than the national average of 17% English-French bilingualism--in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.^⁵ The Anglophone minority in Québec is sizable, and is situated primarily in and around Montréal. The rural areas of Québec have very few Anglophones; in fact, there are more native speakers of indigenous languages than Anglophones in rural Québec^⁶.

In addition to the minority groups of Francophones outside of Québec who wish for French-language education for their children; and the Anglophones in Québec who wish for English education; there is a large contingency of parents in Anglophone Canada who wish for their children to be educated partially or entirely in French. Therefore, French immersion programs exist in all provinces outside of Québec, and also within Québec for the children of parents for whom French is not a first language. These programs will be explained at the end of the section.

The situation has changed dramatically since 1912, when Regulation 17 in Ontario decreed English to be the only language of instruction in Ontario’s schools from Grade 3 and above^⁷. In the 1960s, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism published a report recommending multiculturalism in federal policy. The federal government decreed both English and French to be official languages for all federal government business in the “Official Languages Act” of 1969^⁸. But since the provinces exert more authority in education than the federal government, changes, even in regard to the official languages of English and French, were not quick to happen. However, in the “Declaration of St. Andrews” of 1977, the premiers of Anglophone provinces agreed to guarantee French language of instruction in primary and secondary schools in areas where there was a sizable enough population of Francophone students to warrant this. The mid-1970s also saw the first complete French school networks in provinces other than Québec.^⁹

In 1982 the cause was strengthened with Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which granted the right to an education in their native language to official-language minorities. Although some provinces were slow to make changes accordingly, language minority individuals and groups were then able to make challenges in the courts for minority language education on the basis of this law. An example of this is the Mahe decision in 1990, in which the supreme court ruled that not only are official language minorities entitled to an education in their native language, but that management of these schools by the minority language group is necessary, since “the majority cannot be trusted to act in the best interests of the minority and that the best guarantee against assimilation is direct minority control of institutions.”^¹⁰

English in Québec

Perphaps because of Francophone Canada’s perception of its language and culture as being threatened, and its status as a minority in spite of its official status, the situation for Anglophones within Québec has been more problematic than the situation for Francophones in many of the other provinces. With the separatist Parti Québecois in power, Bill 101, which stipulated that only the children of parents who had attended English-medium schools within Québec could receive instruction in English, was enacted in 1977. This meant that all children whose parents had attended French-medium schools, as well as all immigrants, and all Canadians from other provinces, had to attend French-language schools. Only temporary residents and indigenous groups were exempt.^¹¹

Because there is still a strong separatist element in Québec, the tension between the two official language groups has not been resolved. Most likely, policies will continue to be challenged and introduced regarding the situations of official language minorities.

Immersion programs

Immersion programs in Canada generally refer to a school in Anglophone Canada that primarily uses French as a language of instruction with students whose home language is not French. In spite of the paucity of Francophones outside of Québec, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick, these French immersion programs are very popular throughout the country, and have been growing, both in number of schools offering the programs as well as students enrolled, since their inception.^¹²

One of the first French immersion projects was the Toronto French School, which was begun in 1962 by W. H. Giles, an Anglophone. He started the school with other Anglophone parents who desired that their children grow up bilingual. The Toronto French School has been regarded as a pioneer in bilingual education in Ontario.^¹³

A study conducted from 1972 to 1975 by The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education examined primary school French immersion programs in the Ottawa area, and the cognitive development of children in these programs compared to children in English programs. It was determined that the students in the French immersion program were doing just as well as those in the English program in all subjects tested in English, even though they had not learned the subjects in English.^¹⁴ And, as expected, those in the French immersion program scored much higher on tests of French, compared to those students in the general curriculum, who were receiving 20 to 40 minutes a day of instruction in French as a second language. The only difference was a lower average on tests of English-language word discrimination and knowledge. However, this difference was only evident in kindergarteners and first graders, and disappeared from the second grade.^¹⁵

Results such as these, in addition to federal policies that favor bilinguals for federal employment, have resulted in increased enrollment in French immersion programs outside of Québec. Catherine Martini, then a trustee on the Calgary Board of Education, described the demand for this type of instruction thus:

“’The causes may have been rooted initially in federal employment policies, maybe in a few instances a kind of intellectual snobbery, but very quickly these requests have become more profound and therefore they have moved from a fad to a need.’”^¹⁶

Between the 1983-84 and 1988-89 school years, enrollment in these programs grew annually from 10 to 20%. Over this six-year period, enrollment doubled or more in these programs in grades three through 12.^¹⁷

In addition to the immersion programs, the official languages are often taught as a second language in both primary and secondary schools. In 1989-90, over half of the students in English-language schools were enrolled in French as a second language programs. This represents an increase of over 30% from 1970-71.^¹⁸ In Québec, English is a required subject for students in French-language schools from fourth grade through graduation. Some schools offer English prior to grade four.^¹⁹

Instruction in Heritage Languages

Heritage languages refer to both native languages of indigenous groups, as well as languages spoken by immigrant groups. As mentioned earlier, the Royal Commission of Bilingualism and Biculturalism made recommendations favoring multiculturalism back in the 1960s. Their recommendations were heeded in 1971 with the adoption of a federal policy of “’multiculturalism within a bilingual framework’”^²⁰. This policy restates the official language status of English and French, “…but all ethnic groups are encouraged to enrich Canadian society by continuing to develop their unique cultures.”^²¹ At the time, this policy represented “…a major shift in federal policy regarding ethnic diversity. In contrast to ‘Anglo-Conformity,’ no one culture is ‘official’ or dominant; instead, all cultural groups are seen as contributing to building the Canadian identity.”^²²

Cummins goes on to explain how the benefits of linguistic diversity were emphasized in the Report. It recommended the “’…teaching of languages other than English and French, and cultural subjects related to them, be incorporated as options in the public elementary school programme, where there is sufficient demand for such classes.’”^²³ Therefore, the goal of these bilingual programs is not to be a bridge to linguistic and cultural assimilation as generally intended in the United States, but instead are a means for cultural enrichment.^²⁴

These suggestions were implemented as policy first in Alberta in 1971. Ukrainian, German, and Hebrew were introduced as mediums of instruction in bilingual programs in Edmonton. The heritage language was used for 50% of the school day, and English was used for the other half. Later in the 1970s, programs involving Yiddish, Polish, Chinese, and Arabic were also introduced. Saskatchewan also passed similar legislation and introduced Ukrainian/English programs. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, began its “Heritage Language Program” in 1977. This program differed from those offered in Alberta and Saskatchewan—although public funds were designated for the teaching of heritage languages, this teaching occurred outside the regular five-hour school day.^²⁵

In 1979, Manitoba enacted legislation “…permitting the use of non-official languages as languages of instruction for up to 50 percent of the school day.”^²⁶ Ukrainian/English programs were introduced.

The Ukrainian/English programs in Alberta and Manitoba were assessed as successes. It was found that participating children acquired “considerable proficiency” in the heritage language “at no cost to their development of English or other academic skills.”^²⁷ Cummins and Dansei argue that the success of these programs is analogous to the success of French immersion programs, with one key difference: the socioeconomic status of students in French immersion programs is generally quite high, while those served by the Ukrainian/English programs were generally from a group much lower on the socioeconomic scale. Therefore, “…the Ukrainian program evaluations suggest that bilingual education is not just for an elite group of students but is appropriate for a large proportion of the school population.”^²⁸

The various provinces had similar goals in instituting these heritage language policies. In Saskatchewan, the stated goals included:

“…deeper appreciation of human intelligence and the human capacity for speech; enhanced intellectual development; better communication within family, community, nation and the world; greater understanding and appreciation of one’s first language; and greater understanding and appreciation of one’s cultural roots.”^²⁹

The Ontario Ministry of Education cited similar objectives, with the addition of the improvement of “…communication with parents and grandparents, allow[ing] students to use skills they already possess; and provid[ing] experiences in learning that they may prove a valuable basis for credit courses at the high school level.” Similarly, a survey conducted by the Toronto Board of Education in 1986 showed that 88 percent of respondents (principals, teachers, and parents) favored heritage language instruction “…for the following major reasons: to improve communication with relatives; to enhance pride in heritage; to maintain and revitalize culture and religion; and because languages are best learned when young.”^³⁰

However, in spite of these government policies recognizing the advantages of heritage language education, and general public support, these programs sometimes face hostility from certain segments of the population. According to Cummins and Dansei, some Canadians “vehemently oppose” heritage language programs. These programs face opposition both because of their cost to the public in the form of tax dollars, and also because some people worry that “’these ethnic children’” may not assimilate and integrate into the “’Canadian culture stream.’”^³¹

The case of Québec

Policies and attitudes towards heritage language instruction have been problematic in Québec. Due to its extremely low birthrate and high rate of migration to other parts of Canada (due largely to economic depression resulting from corporate flight because of political instability and hostility towards English, the language of business), Québec has increased its share of new immigrants to Canada. In 1987, more than 36% of these immigrants spoke neither French nor English, and 27% spoke English only.^³² But as mentioned in the section on official languages above, English-medium schools were limited to the children of those parents who had attended English-medium schools in Québec. Therefore, the children of new immigrants are technically not eligible to attend these schools, regardless of their native language. Protests from ethnic groups have been numerous and many students continue to attend English-language schools in defiance of the law. Québec justified this legislation in a 1981 government plan of action for ethnocultural groups entitled “Autant de Facons d’etre Québecois” (Quebecers Each and Every One). In this document, the stated aims of the provincial government were:

“…to ensure the maintenance and development of the cultural communities as well as their uniqueness; to sensitize Québec Francophones to the contributions of the cultural communities to the common heritage of Québec; and to assist the cultural communities to integrate into Québec society and particularly in those sectors where they have previously been underrepresented.”^³³

So while Québec did not seek to ignore the language of the immigrant groups entirely, there was a stated goal of integration, which in Québec involves becoming proficient in French. Programs such as those in the prairie provinces in which half of the students’ study time is spent in the heritage language were rejected in Québec in favor of programs in which all classroom instruction was given in French, and heritage languages were only seen as something to be maintained, not a medium of instruction. Two programs of heritage language instruction were developed for the province: the “Programme des Langues Ethniques” (PLE) and the “Projet d”Enseignement des Langues d’Origine” (PELO). The PLE was established in 1970 and involves the teaching of heritage languages outside of the regular school day (usually after school or on Saturdays) by members of the ethnic communities themselves. While some funding for this program comes from the government, the bulk of it comes from the ethnic communities themselves in the form of fees paid by parents, and some even comes from governments of the countries of origin. Students in these programs can apply to have their work counted towards high school credit. As of 1986, there were 11 different languages being taught in these programs.^³⁴

The PELCO program was established in 1977. It differs from the PLE in that the languages are taught during the regular school day in some instances (though often outside the school day), and that the Ministry of Education pays for the instructors’ salaries and the materials. The Ministry has also developed curricula for the courses, and offers professional development courses for the teachers involved.^³⁵

Native languages

Speakers of indigenous languages faced perhaps the most intense repression of any linguistic minority in Canada’s past. Up until the 1980s, boarding schools were operated for Native students, in which they were separated from their families, punished for speaking Native languages, and taught that their cultures and religions were “beneath contempt.”^³⁶ But with the continued emphasis on multiculturalism, Native languages and cultures have started to be recognized as an important part of the “mosaic.” Programs and policies addressing indigenous languages are more recent and less numerous than those concerning official language minorities and immigrants, but they are being created and implemented.

In 1972, indigenous peoples started to demand their rights in regards to education with the publication of a paper entitled, “Indian Control of Indian Education,” by the National Indian Brotherhood. In 1977, the Ordinance Respecting Education in the Northwest Territories gave each Local Education Authority in the Territories the right to decide upon and direct the type of bilingual program it wants. The problem in implementation has been a shortage of qualified teachers. The resulting Northwest Territories Teacher Education Program is a project aiming to train bilingual Native teachers who can teach in Inuktitut as the language of instruction. Innovative teacher training schemes that involve field-based work as a classroom assistant in conjunction with coursework have succeeded in attracting more young Natives to the teaching profession. However, even with the teachers from this program, there is still a severe shortage. There is also a shortage of teaching materials in the Native languages.^³⁷ Therefore, of the schools in Native communities where indigenous languages are used, Native languages are usually offered as a subject, but not as a medium of instruction. In less than 4% of these schools was a Native language used as a medium of instruction, mainly in primary schools in the Northwest Territories.^³⁸

Because many Native languages are threatened with extinction, their inclusion in the schools is being regarded with a sense of urgency. A program on Walpole Island in western Ontario is attempting to save the Native language of the community by including it in the schools, as well as by establishing a community program to teach and promote it. The program has been regarded as a success.^³⁹

Conclusion

It is evident that the perception of Canada as a “mosaic” as opposed to a “melting pot” has been influential in spawning language of instruction policies that are more tolerant of minority language groups, be they official languages or not, than those that are being pursued and instituted in the United States. In spite of some tensions between the Francophone minority and the Anglophone majority, the bulk of the population has the opportunity to study a second language, either in an immersion program, a bilingual program, or as a second language.

In Language Policy in Schools, Corson discusses the impact of the federal policy of bilingualism in Canada, and the effects a monolingual policy could have in the United States:

“Canada’s policy of bilingualism deliberately raised the status of speakers of French, and it did so in ways that are more consistent with modern ideas about social justice. In contrast, an English-only policy in the United States would reduce the status of Spanish speakers in that country by privileging speakers of English.”^⁴⁰

Canada could serve as an example for the United States. Instead of expecting rapid assimilation, perhaps American policy-makers and voters should study the Canadian case for ways in which to take advantage of the wealth of cultures and languages represented in their country.

Appendix:

Chronology of events related to language of instruction policy in Canada

1912: Ontario legislation prevents instruction in any language other than English

1962: creation of the Toronto French School

1963: first meeting of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

1969: Official Language Act

1970: PLE established in Québec

1971: Federal Multiculturalism Policy decreed

1971: Alberta becomes first province to pass legislation enabling languages other than English and French to be the medium of instruction

1972: teaching of Native languages is begun in Saskatchewan

1972: “Indian Control of Indian Schools” is published

Mid-1970s: first complete French school networks for minority French speakers in provinces other than Québec

1974: Multicultural Act of Saskatchewan

1976: Bill 101 made law in Québec: only the children of parents educated in English-medium schools within Québec can receive instruction in English

1977: Declaration of St. Andrews: premiers of Anglophone provinces agree to guarantee French-language teaching in primary and secondary schools for Francophone students anywhere in Canada that the number of Francophone students warrants this instruction

1977: Ontario provincial government starts the “Heritage Languages Program,” which provides funds for the teaching of heritage languages outside of the regular five-hour school day

1977: the Québec government institutes the Programme d’Enseignement des Langues d’Origine, which allowed for 30 minutes per day of instruction in children’s mother tongue Portuguese, Italian, Greek)

1979: Manitoba passes legislation permitting the use of non-official languages for instruction

1981: Québec’s “Plan of Action”

1982: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms assures right of official-language minorities to an education in their mother tongue

1990: Mahe supreme court decision reasserts rights for official-language minority education as well as the right of minorities to control their own schools

1 J Crawford, ‘Bilingual Education: Strike Two, Arizona voters follow California’s lead and mandate English-only programs,’ Rethinking Schools Online, Winter 2000/2001, retrieved 13 May 2006, http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/Az152.shtml.

2 “Thousands march for immigrant rights: Schools, businesses feel impact as students, workers walk out,” CNN.com, retrieved 13 May 2006, http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/01/immigrant.day/.

3 S Dicker, Languages in America: A Pluralist View, 2^nd Edition, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, 2003, pp. 275-278.

4 D Corson, Language Policy in Schools, Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1999, pp. 16-17.

5 Natural Resources Canada, The Atlas of Canada: English-French Bilingualism, 2004, retrieved 13 May 2006, http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/peopleandsociety/lang/officiallanguages/englishfrenchbilingualism.

6 Statistique Canada website, retrieved 3 January 2001, http://www.statcan.ca/francais.

7 D Corson & S Lemay, Social Justice and Language Policy in Education: The Canadian Research, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, 1996, p. 60.

8 Dicker, p. 265.

9 Corson & Lemay, p. 62.

10 Corson & Lemay, p. 62.

11 D Kelly, Bilingual/Multicultural Education in Canada: Interpretation and Bibliography, State University of New York Press, Buffalo, 1986, pp. 6-7.

12 Statistique Canada, Division de l’ education, de la culture et du tourisme, Section de l’enseignement élémentaire et secondaire, Langue de la minorité et langue seconde dans l’enseignement, nivaux élémentaire et secondaire, Ottawa, 1991, p. 10.

13 W Giles, The Toronto French School, paper presented at the “Bilingual Education Conference,” Toronto, March 1971, p. 30.

14 M Swain & H Barik, Five Years of Primary French Immersion: Annual Reports of the Bilingual Education Project to the Carleton Board of Education and the Ottawa Board of Education up to 1975, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, 1976, p. 27.

15 Swain & Barik, pp. 45-46.

16 J Cummins, Heritage Language Education: Issues and Directions (Proceedings of a Conference Organized by the Multiculturalism Directorate of the Department of the Secretary of State, Saskatoon June 1981), Minister of Supply and Services Canada, Ottawa, 1983, p. 20.

17 Statistique Canada, Langue, p. 10.

18 Statistique Canada, Langue, p. 5.

19 Statistique Canada, Langue, p. 11.

20 J Cummins, Bilingualism and Minority-Language Children, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, 1981, p. 9.

21 J Cummins, Bilingualism, p. 9.

22 J Cummins, Bilingualism, p. 9.

23 J Cummins, Bilingualism, p. 9.

24 S Dicker, p. 275.

25 J Cummins & M Dansei, Heritage Languages: The development and denial of Canada’s linguistic resources, Our Schools/Our Selves Foundation, Toronto, 1990, p. 44.

26 J Cummins, Bilingualism, p. 9.

27 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 44.

28 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 44.

29 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 54.

30 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 55.

31 J Cummins & M Dansei, pp. 2-3.

32 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 28.

33 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 29.

34 J Cummins & M Dansei, pp. 32-33.

35 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 31.

36 J Cummins & M Dansei, p. 11.

37 D Wilman, Towards Bilingual Education in the Northwest Territories, paper presented at “Heritage Language Education: Direction for the 1980s,” Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, June 1981, pp. 56-57.

38 D Corson & S Lemay, p. 31.

39 L White, Native Language Revival Program on Walpole Island, paper presented at “Heritage Language Education: Direction for the 1980s,” Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, June 1981, pp. 73-74.

40 D Corson, p. 12.

Bibliography

Corson D, Language Policy in Schools, Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1999.

Corson D & Lemay S, Social Justice and Language Policy in Education: The Canadian Research, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, 1996.

Crawford J, ‘Bilingual Education: Strike Two, Arizona voters follow California’s lead and mandate English-only programs,’ Rethinking Schools Online, Winter 2000/2001, retrieved 13 May 2006, <http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/Az152.shtml>.

Cummins J, Bilingualism and Minority-Language Children, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, 1981.

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Adult Education in Sweden and Russia: Some Results of a Comparative Research

2007-10-15T18:13:00.000+02:00

Elkhan Ismailov Associate Professor, Senior Researcher
Baltic Fishing Fleet State Academy (Kaliningrad, Russia)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Elkhan Ismailov holds a scientific degree “Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences” and a scientific tittle “Associate Professor”, his current position is a Senior Researcher in Baltic Fishing Fleet State Academy (Kaliningrad, Russia). He graduated from Baku Foreign Languages Institute in 1981. Mr. Ismailov completed his Candidate dissertation in the field of methods of teaching national languages in Russian language environment. Since 1998 up to present time he has been studying Swedish education system. Last year with Törnströmska Gymnasiet’s (Karlskrona,) technical and financial assistance he published in Sweden a Monograph named “Swedish system of pre-university professional training”. This year Mr. Ismailov has completed his comparative research related to Swedish and Russian systems of pre-university professional training. The Report elucidates some of the details and discoveries of his comparative study.

RUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS IN TRANSITION

After the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia, as all former member states, has been keen to integrate into the European and world economic, cultural, socio-political arena. The integration processes, among the other things, objectively require the Russian Federation to adopt international educational concepts, strategies and standards commonly used in most developed countries.

Russian educational system (as the entire country) is in transition now and has been reformed several times over the last 10 years. A number of measures have been taken to improve the system but unfortunately not all of them have been fully realised and succeeded: transition from 11-year to 12-year secondary schooling, introduction of nation-wide combined school-leaving and university entrance examinations are among those projects that still wait for their implementation.

According to some Russian academics such basic education acts as “The national doctrine of education in the Russian Federation” and “The concept of the structure and the content of general secondary education (in 12-year school)” fail to give a clear picture of the current state of the national educational system and do not provide efficient recommendations how to improve it [5].

COMPARATIVE STUDIES AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF EDUCATION

As it is commonly known, one of the driving forces of a progress in almost every field of human activity is the synthesis of accumulated world expertise. Under the circumstances when Russian educational system undergoes series of modifications it becomes extremely important to study and analyse present tendencies in the development of education in world leading countries. The activities and achievements of contemporary foreign scientists and scholars aimed at modernising national systems of education undoubtedly present a big interest to Russian academics.

Comparative analyses of existing national systems of education (or their components) is a common practice now and are carried out by international organisations (for example, UNESCO), in most world research centres and educational institutions as well as by individual scientists and scholars. Comparative studies pursue the following main goals:

• To investigate the present state of educational systems (or their components) in different countries and identify the important tendencies in their development;

• To specify similar and distinctive features in compared systems as well as to explain the grounds for those similarities and differences;

• To work out recommendations how to use the international expertise in order to improve the efficiency of education in home country.

Comparative studies as an effective method of pedagogical investigations go back to the early 19th century. French scientist Marc-Antoine Jullien de Paris (1775-1848) is considered to be one of the original founders of comparative research. He was one of the first to introduce scientific approaches in comparative analyses. His work “Esquisse et Vues préliminaires d’un Ouvrage sur L’Education comparée” (Paris, 1817) is regarded as classical.

During the last century comparative studies were conducted in conditions of internationalisation of pedagogical theory and practice. The investigations became more comprehensive and large-scaled. The scientists who have made a considerable contribution to the development of the theory and practice of comparative analyses are: G.Z.F. Bereday, V. Mallinson (the USA), C.A. Anderson, B. Holmes, N. Hans, E.J. Nicolas (the UK), J. Schriewer (Germany), B. Suchodolski (Poland), etc. [1, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16].

Due to political reasons, comparative pedagogical studies in the former USSR (with rare exceptions) were not carried out at all. The Marxist-Leninist ideology proclaimed the superiority of the socialist system of education over the capitalist one. That political dogma excluded any necessity in comparative studies.

Nowadays in modern Russia the situation in this respect has changed dramatically. The Board of Comparative Pedagogy is functioning within the structure of the Russian Academy of Education. In the works of renowned Russian academics and professors, such as V.P. Borisenkov, B.L. Vulfson, A.N. Dzhurinsky, V.P. Lapchinskaya, Z.A. Malkova, I.B. Martsinkovsky, N.D. Nikandrov, V.Ya. Pilipovsky, K.I. Salimova, K.I. Tseykovich and others, different aspects of world educational systems have been profoundly studied [6, 12, 18].

WHY SWEDISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AS A RESEARCH AREA?

There are at least tree major reasons why I have preferred to take Swedish pre-university educational system as a research area.

The first reason is an objective one: Sweden is famous for its old traditions and high standards in education. For information, the compulsory school education was officially introduced in the Kingdom in 1842 just 19 years before the serfdom was abolished in Russia (by the imperial order of 19 February 1861). Although the country in 19th century was not as rich as the leading European states, the literacy of Swedish population used to astonish visitors from the continent and at the same time (as it often happens in human history) arose their jealousy. So in a nasty way they called the Swedes “the nation of well-educated paupers” [9]. Nowadays the country holds a leading position in the field of education among developed states. According to the latest statistical data in 1995 Sweden spent over 6,7 % of its GDP on education (for comparison, the UK spent – 5,3 %, the USA – 6,6 %, Germany – 5,8 %, France – 6,2 % and Russia in 2000 – 3,6 %) [13].

The second reason is subjective or, to be more precise, personal: starting from 1998 up to 2001 I, as the Head of International Department of Baltic State Academy (in Kaliningrad), co-ordinated all co-operation projects between the Academy and the educational institutions of Southern Sweden (mainly Karlskrona and Kalmar municipalities). That allowed me to visit Sweden quite frequently and to get first-hand information about Swedish pre-university, university and post-university systems of education.

The third reason is banal and as old as the world: lack of money. It is obvious that to carry out a comparative investigation in education a researcher must spend some time in a foreign country: to meet colleagues, observe classes, travel to visit different institutions, and finally have a place to live in and food to eat. I searched hard, but at the beginning all my attempts to find in Sweden (let alone in Russia) an institution or an organisation, which might be interested in my research and support me financially, were doomed to failure. Törnströmska gymnasiet was the only Swedish educational institution that expressed a genuine interest in my scientific activity and supported me both financially and morally. That is how I came to Swedish professional training in gymnasiums.

When I occasionally visited Sweden I was kindly offered free meals and lodging on board of “Wartena” (the training vessel belonging to the gymnasium). Thanks to personal support and kindness of the gymnasium administration I was given a green light to visit and observe as often as I like different classes, meet and interview my Swedish colleagues, study educational materials and documentation, etc.

In May-June and November-December 2002 I was a guest researcher at Törnströmska gymnasiet, during which time I had absolute peace and quite to spend on nothing but my dissertation. And finally with Törnströmska gymnasium’s financial and technical assistance I published last year my Monograph named “Swedish system of pre-university professional training”.

RESEARCH: GENERAL INFORMATION

At the initial stage of the research in order to know if similar investigations have ever been conducted by other Russian researchers I have reviewed the country’s major pedagogical, educational and psychological journals (such as “Pedagogy”, “Higher Education in Russia”, “Alma mater”, “School Technologies”, “Professional”, etc.) published over the past 10 years as well as the National Catalogue of defended doctoral and professorial dissertations covering the period of 1995-2003. As a result I found out that Swedish educational system is almost undiscovered in Russia.

However, there were sporadic publications of some small articles of an informative nature dealing with specific issues of Swedish educational system [2, 3, 15].

Starting from 1998 I began collecting necessary data concerning the Swedish compulsory basic as well as upper-secondary (or gymnasium) educational systems. By the time I came to Törnströmska gymnasiet I had already identified the specific area of my research – the pre-university education as a whole and with special focuses on upper-secondary (or gymnasium) education that provides both general education and vocational training. My research covered a wide range of issues, including compulsory schooling in Sweden and Russia, welfare of school-aged children, gender equality in national educational systems, pre-university vocational training and pre-university adult education in both countries, etc.

One of the important objectives of the research was to compare national systems of teaching/learning modern languages in compulsory basic and upper-secondary schools and Russian technical schools.
At the very initial stage, prior to conducting the comparative analyses I developed a mechanism of investigation. I called that mechanism “the Synthetic Model”. According to that synthetic model the investigation was divided into the following four stages:

At the first stage I:

• collected factual material and data;
• reviewed Russia’s major pedagogical, educational and psychological journals over the past 10 years to find out to what extent the Swedish educational system is known and studied in the country, as well as
• worked out the scientific vocabulary (or the conceptual and categorial apparatus) of the research.

At the second stage I:

• developed the methodological and theoretical foundation of the research, which contained main principles, approaches, concepts and methods of the investigation;
• identified the types of schools I was going to compare from Russian and Swedish sides (Russian technical schools and Swedish gymnasieskola)
• determined the elements of comparison, i.e. what actually I have to compare; the elements included such spheres as management, economy and vocational training in compared schools as well as all didactic components of teaching modern languages in compared educational institutions: theoretical bases, objectives, contents, methods and means (including IT) of teaching.

At the third stage I:

• carried out two comparative analyses: general and specific; the general included: description of current states of compared vocational training systems, specification of key tendencies in their development, as well as identification of similarities and differences in compared systems, their weaknesses and strengths; specific comparative analyses was aimed at studying the models of teaching/learning modern languages in Russian and Swedish schools, specification of key tendencies in their development, as well as identification of similarities and differences in compared systems, their weaknesses and strengths.

At the fourth stage I:

• drew the conclusions and tested their soundness;
• made practical recommendations how to adapt Swedish expertise to Russian environment in order to modernise Russian system of vocational training in technical schools, in general, and raise the efficiency of teaching/learning modern languages in those schools, in particular.

To test the soundness of my scientific conclusions and findings I organised number of round-table discussions with Swedish and Russian colleagues (both in Sweden and Russia); made several presentations in Sweden: at Törnströmska, of Chapman and Ehrensvärdska upper-secondary schools (Karlskrona kommun), Torsås korrespondensgymnasiet (Torsås kommun), Pedagogical Department of Växjö University; in Poland - Institute of Pedagogy and Scandinavian Department of Gdańsk University; in Russia – Kaliningrad State University, Kaliningrad Technical College, Kaliningrad Trade and Economy College, Baltic Fishing Fleet State Academy, etc.

To conduct the study, I used a combination of the following research methods:

• historical, logical, theoretical analyses and syntheses of original educational literature as well as documentation such as: laws, ordinances, regulations, etc.;
• statistical analyses;
• study and generalisation of results of pedagogical and psychological theoretical and practical researches, etc.

Introduction and wide usage of the historical principle as one of the leading principles in my studies enabled me to take into account the so-called “external factors”, such as current political, socio-economic and cultural conditions of the two countries, their historical and national traditions, which greatly influence their educational systems.

While staying in Sweden I:

visited many educational institutions, including: Törnströmska, of Chapman and Ehrensvärdska upper-secondary schools and Blekinge Institute of Technology, Litorina Folk high school (in Karlskrona), Torsås korrespondensgymnasiet (in Blekinge county); Västra Funkaboskolan, Östra Funkaboskolan, Stagnelius upper-secondary school and Pedagogical Institute (in Kalmar), Växjö University, Lund University, etc.

reviewed educational literature and documentation in innumerable municipal, university and school libraries;

met and interviewed Swedish academics, school principals and teachers, administrators, university professors, responsible officers from municipal educational departments, politicians and board members of different schools, pupils, university students as well as post-graduate students, etc.

observed classes.

All that enabled me to obtain interesting factual material and data, which formed the foundation of both my professorial dissertation and Monograph.

ADULT EDUCATION IN SWEDEN AND RUSSIA

Pre-University vocational adult education in Sweden is provided in many different forms and under many different auspices, ranging from national or municipal adult education to labour market and staff training and competence development at work. The state school system for adults includes municipal adult education (komvux), adult education for the mentally handicapped (särvux), Swedish language teaching for immigrants (SFI) and the National Schools for Adults (SSV). In our research we chose upper secondary schools (gymnasieskola) within komvux as an institution to be studied from Swedish side. Komvux started up in 1968 and includes both basic and upper secondary adult education. Due to the following reasons I selected the so called technical schools from Russian side to compare with Swedish gymnasieskola:

• firstly, both gymnasieskola and technical schools are voluntary and provide general education and vocational training;
• secondly, both gymnasieskola and technical schools provide necessary training programmes for students to continue their education at Universities;
• thirdly, gymnasieskola and technical schools accept both young people (15-16 years old) and adults (over 20 years old)
• fourthly, the duration of training in both types of schools is practically the same; it varies from 2 to 4 years.

Russian technical schools (nowadays mostly renamed into colleges) are medium level educational institutions designed to train professionals for differnt branches of national economy, healthcare, culture and education. Established in 1920, they were originally meant to provide mainly technical training (that is where the name comes from).

DIFFERENCES & SIMILARITIES IN SWEDISH & RUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS

In this chapter I would like to present in a very general form some of the results of my comparative analyses.

I’ve specified the following major similar and distinctive features in Swedish and Russian systems of pre-university education, in general and in teaching/learning modern languages, in particular:

I
On the whole, Swedish pre-university educational system is decentralised. The decentralisation processes started in Sweden in the early 1990’s. At present Riksdag, the Government and local municipalities are major parties in organising the national system of education. The roles and responsibilities are shared between Riksdag, the Government and local municipalities (kommun) in the following way:

• Riksdag is responsible for legislation in the national education and determines the size of state subsidies for education;

• the Government adopts ordinances, regulations, develops general guidelines for different sectors of the national education. It also approves curricula, syllabuses and assessment criteria for compulsory (9 years of study) and voluntary schools or gymnasiums (another 3 years of study). Skolverket is the central governmental body that controls the functioning of all compulsory and voluntary schools of the country;

• local authorities play a major role in organising the educational process in municipalities. They are to a large extent independent in determining the ways of organising the compulsory and voluntary schooling so as to meet the state educational requirements and standards

As it is probably well known in the West, Russian educational system used to be in Soviet era extremely centralised (so was Swedish system before reforms of the early1990’s). Thanks to measures taken by the State Duma (the lower chamber of Russian Parliament) and the Government over the past 10 years, decentralisation processes also take place in the country’s educational system. The pattern of sharing responsibilities in Russian educational system is more or less similar to the Swedish one. But in my opinion Russian local authorities are not as independent from governmental bodies as Swedish municipalities in organising education in their territories.

Speaking about management of Swedish educational institutions, I found it rather politicised. It is a well-known fact that most schools in Sweden (if not all) are governed by Boards. More often than not Boards include people whose day-to-day activities are usually far away from education. Board members are normally representatives of power party (they constitute the majority) , politicians belonging to opposition parties, well-known businessmen. And there are only few professionals in education among Board members. In my opinion, such a big percentage of “non-professionals” (non-academics) in a steering Board of a school could negatively affect its efficiency.

Russian educational institutions, on the other hand, are governed by Pedagogical Councils (in compulsory schools and colleges) or Scientific Councils (in Institutes and Universities). Employees and students (small percentage) of a school form its Council. The Chairman of the Council is always Director (Rector) of the school. Of course, all those people are academics, professionals and know educational business very well. But as I witnessed it many times in my career in a decision-making process at the Council meeting the Chairman (Chairwoman) could manipulate the situation to his/her own advantage. Since all Council members are his/her direct subordinates, they do not dare to raise their voices against the Chairman.

II
The way in which many schools (for both young people and adults) in Sweden ensure the social rehabilitation of students with physical disabilities (for example, with impaired hearing or dyslexia , etc.) is very humane and kind: the students with disabilities are placed in regular groups; they have the same educational programmes. In the process of training the only difference between them and the normal students is that the former take additional individual programmes after classes and get assistance from qualified tutors who have passed a special training to deal with this type of students. In Russia this contingent of students is isolated from early age in special schools, where they feel that they are unwanted and treated as second-class citizens. Many of them develop a sense of inferiority, the feeling they cannot get rid of throughout their lives. However, to be fully honest, I must admit that in Sweden there are also serious critics of the practice of integration of students with physical disabilities into regular groups. The opponents bring the following argument against the integral tutoring: since teaching of disabled students requires more time and energy, the teacher will inevitably concentrate his efforts on them at the cost of normal students.

III
The extent of involvement of Swedish students in planning and training process, taking responsibilities for their own education, as well as assessing the achievements is incredible. This important principle is applied practically at all levels of the national educational system. Pupils do not obediently and submissively execute the will and instructions of grown-ups (as it seldom is the case in Russian schools) but on the contrary they actively participate in training process. Young children from early ages share responsibility for their education with grown-ups – teachers, parents, etc.

Another example: all national programmes in Swedish upper-secondary school (for both young people and adults) consist of different types of courses, which include core subjects (that are compulsory for all programmes), programme-specific subjects and student’s individual options. It is up to a student how to design his training programme. Of course, students are always supported in this regard by schools’ carrier advisors who give them professional advice about the selection of subjects for building up the most suitable and appropriate training programmes.

Russian system of education in this respect is not as flexible as Swedish one and does not give students much freedom in building up their own training programmes. Training programmes in Russian technical schools are built up on the basis of state standards, regional and schools’ requirements and are accepted by students as a set block of subjects which they have to take. All national programmes of professional specialisation in Russian technical schools are divided into main and supplementary subjects. The formers are compulsory for all schools and programmes. They include state (or federal) and regional components:

• the state component contains the minimum requirements for the contents of the subjects; the requirements are specified in the form of state standards;

• the regional component contains the requirements reflecting regional, professional, national and ethnic peculiarities and features of training in each specific educational institution of Russia. The regional component also includes the ideas and preferences of individual designers and authors of specific educational courses.

IV
The Swedish system of grades in compulsory basic school (grundskola - 9 years of study) and upper-secondary school (gymnasieskola - another 3 years of study) is different from Russian system. In Swedish school system there are 3 grades: G (Pass), VG (Pass with Distinction) and MVG (Pass with Special Distinction). In upper-secondary school they use the same grades, plus IG (Fail).

In Russian system, starting from primary school up to University level, teachers assess students’ knowledge in the form of grades: 1 (very poor), 2 (poor), 3 (satisfactory), 4 (good) and 5 (excellent). I was very much surprised when I got to know that in Sweden in compulsory basic schools teachers start giving marks to pupils from the spring term of the 8-th form. However, the pupil’s performance is seriously assessed by teachers and mentors in both compulsory school and gymnasiums.

A regular class in a Russian technical school is usually divided into 3 main parts: revision of the previous lesson/lessons, assessing pupils’ knowledge and skills and presentation of a new lesson. More often than not these 3 components take place in almost every class, however their sequences might vary. As it was mentioned before, teachers assess students’ knowledge and skills at almost every class and give them marks (grades), which are put in Class Register (a book containing students’ names and in which teachers keep records about their attendance and progress). At least once a semester/ term teachers hold a parents’ meeting, where questions like student’s performance, behaviour, failures and successes, etc. are discussed openly and in public. Students normally do not attend those meetings.

Toughness and strictness in terms of assessing students’ progress in learning and an enormous amount of examinations and tests students have to go through at all stages of the national education are, in my opinion, some of the major characteristic features of Russian education system.

Starting from primary school and throughout secondary school, college and university Russian students take hundreds of examinations:

- to be transferred from one form to the next one young children have to pass examinations (both oral and written);

- to get the school-leaving certificate pupils have to pass final examinations;

- to enter a college or a university after secondary school young people have to pass entrance examinations, and then

- at the college or university students have to pass semester (term), course, final (state) and diploma examinations.

Most of those examinations are rather difficult, painful and even traumatic and they on the whole negatively affect students’ (especially young children’) psychology.

On the other hand, Swedish system in this respect sometimes is too liberal and “user-friendly”. The happy medium is as always somewhere in between.

V
Assessing educational programmes in both types of schools as well as the level of vocational training they offer, I have discovered that Russian technical schools/colleges compared with Swedish upper-secondary schools offer much wider variety of fields of training as well as bigger number of vocational qualifications. To back up my conclusion I would like to give one example. Nowadays the Swedish upper-secondary school provides 17 national programmes (out of which – 15 are professional and 2 - theoretical). Russian State Educational Standard for Medium-Level Professional Schools (i.e. colleges, technical schools) contains the list of at least 29 professional qualifications; each of them is further subdivided into 5-9 more specific areas of specialisation. On the other hand, I should also admit that in Swedish system along with the national programmes many municipalities run local programmes.

As to the level of professional training it is hard to make an unequivocal and definite judgement whether the two systems are equal or one of them provides a higher professional level of training than the other. Nevertheless, I am inclined to think that only in few cases Swedish and Russian schools provide equal level of professional training and in most instances technical schools are higher than gymnasiums. For example, maritime programmes in both types of schools are aimed at training low rank personnel (i.e. motormen and able seamen) for the Merchant Navy. But if we take, for example, construction programmes or other technical programmes, Russian colleges train primarily medium level technicians, designers, managers, constructors and other professionals at the managerial level but definitely not carpenters, nor welders or plumbers, or bricklayers or whatsoever as Swedish gymnasiums do.

VI
Speaking about the organisation of training process in Swedish upper-secondary school, 2 features (of course, among other things) impressed me immensely:

- the policy of schools to give all kinds of assistance to students who have academic difficulties (to the so called “poor” students), and
- a well-thought and competent professional orientation activity in both compulsory and upper-secondary schools.

At Törnströmska gymnasiet I had detailed discussions with the staff of a special Department dealing with “poor” students and I was much surprised at the programmes and a broad range of techniques and methods my Swedish colleagues use to help students to improve their academic performance.

As a guest researcher at Törnströmska gymnasiet I had also a series of meetings with the carrier advisor, who familiarised me with the steps and measures he takes to inform regularly students about the demands in the national labour market, consult them about future employment possibilities and give them advice about the selection of subjects for building up most suitable and appropriate training programmes.

In this respect I would also like to mention that I have even had once a privilege to participate in a seminar for the carrier advisors of the whole Blekinge county. I was given comprehensive information about professional orientation programmes run in compulsory and upper-secondary schools of the county.

We should certainly borrow and apply to Russian system of pre-university professional/vocational training these two excellent practices.

CNCLUSIONS RELATED TO TEACHING/LEARNING MODERN LANGUAGES

My conclusions about teaching/learning modern languages in Swedish and Russian pre-university educational institutions in a very general way could be presented in the following form:

• in both Russian and Swedish systems of teaching/learning modern languages there is an objective to develop the learner’s autonomy;

• both Russian and Swedish systems have a communicative orientation, i.e. the main goal of learning is to develop the student’s skills to use the language (in oral and written forms) as a means of communication. Both systems are based on Communicative Approach;

• unlike Sweden (and most other European countries) in Russia there is not an official state policy to start teaching/learning foreign languages in compulsory schools at an early age. At least I have not found a single Russian Ministry of Education document setting that goal;

• In both Russian and Swedish systems there is a “bilingual model” of teaching/learning modern languages;

• in Curricula and Syllabuses of both systems there are no recommendations concerning methods or concepts of teaching/learning foreign languages; teachers are quite independent in selection of methods as long as they fulfil the state requirements and meet national standards;

• in Curricula and Syllabuses of both systems the goals of teaching/learning foreign languages are too general and loose. In my opinion, with the manner the objectives are presented in those documents they cannot possibly convey clear guidelines to school teacher;

• according to my observations, both in Sweden and Russia foreign language teachers and students (regardless of their level) use in class very much of their native language and very little of the foreign language;

• the same textbooks are used in most Swedish compulsory schools and gymnasiums throughout the country. Nowadays in Russian schools there is a, great variety of textbooks written mainly by foreign authors. As I have found out, most of those books do not contain any methodological or practical guidelines and recommendations how to use the materials to get the maximum effect. Russian teachers without clear understanding of main concepts and ideas of the authors of those books very often use them by intuition.

• as to the existing textbooks of Russian authors, most of them are out of date and contain Soviet realities. The same criticism can be addressed to the content of some Swedish textbooks for teaching Russian. I was taken aback when I found out that some of those books had pictures depicting life of people during Soviet time and even contain photographs of communist leaders such as Lenin, Stalin, Khruschev. Instead of helping younger generation to develop a truthful understanding of modern Russia (with its problems and achievements), those books continue spreading cold war stereotypes and prejudice about Russia.

It is obvious that in one Report I could not possibly touch upon all the issues I dealt with in my dissertation. Due to the restrictions on the size of the report I have highlighted in my present work only some of my findings related to teaching /learning modern languages in Swedish and Russian pre-university educational institutions. I hope I shall have an opportunity to present in a detailed way my ideas about teaching/learning foreign languages in both countries in my future publications. And lastly, I would appreciate any feedback: comments, viewpoints, criticism, etc. concerning the ideas expressed in this Report.

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18. Suchodolski B. Pedagogika porównawcza i polityka szkolna/Studia z pedagogiki porównawczej. Studia Pedagogiczne T. XXVI, 1972.

19. The New Oxford Dictionary of English. - P. 578.

20. Vulfson B.L., Malkova Z.A. Comparative Pedagogy. - Moscow. – Voronezh, 1996.

The Education of Minorities in Iran

2007-10-14T19:08:00.000+02:00

Magdalena Prusinowska
University of Gdansk

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All must rise, the illiterate to learn and the literate sisters and brothers

to teach. Education for all is one of the basic needs of every nation.

Imam Khomeini^¹

The aim of this Article

The purpose of this article is to present the educational situation of minorities (religious, ethnic and other groups endangered with exclusion, and the disadvantaged) in Iran. Iran was chosen due to the lack of printed publications about the country's educational issues. It was a challenge to collect and analyse material with minorities as the main focus.^²

Iran is thought not to be important in the Polish educational debate due to cultural differences and its remoteness. Nevertheless, there are Polish politicians who give the Iranian theocratic republic as a good example of the changes they would like to implement in Poland. The main difference is the religion they choose to base their system upon, for M. Giertych for example, it should only be the Catholic Faith.^³

If one realises this aspirational function in Polish politics exists, the choice of Iran is not so exotic as it might seem. What is more, the issue of education of minorities in Iran becomes an important topic to present, in order to gain greater insight into the above-mentioned aspirations.

Method

A variety of methods could be used to collect information on this particular issue, however, I have chosen the most accessible - Internet research.

The main advantage of collecting information on the Internet is the fact that the most up-to-date documents are published there. What is more, some documents are available only on the Internet, which is especially important when looking for data about a country which is as remote as Iran is from Poland. Printed publications concerning educational issues in Iran were simply out of my reach.

In this investigation there is one major source for error or limitation. This is the question of sources in terms of objectivity and reliability. To minimise this risk, data gathered by international organisations (such as UNESCO, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch) were used.

General information

The Islamic Republic of Iran (Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran), known as Persia until 1935, is a country located by the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, in the Middle East region, with a total area of

1,648,195 sq km (for comparison: Poland - 312,685sq km). It is bordered by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. ^⁴

The country is divided into 28 provinces. The capital city is Tehran with a population of ca. 6,800,000. The total population numbers - 71,4 million – and makes Iran the most densely populated country of the Middle East region, and sixteenth in the world.^⁵

The population growth rate was 3,2% during the period 1976-1986. However, efforts have been made to lower the rate so as to minimise obstacles to social progress and sustainable development. The result was a 1,5% decline in urban and 2% decline in rural areas. In 1998 the average population growth rate was 1,47%.^⁶

UNESCO report⁷ indicates an essential demographic factor – population age. More than half of Iran's population is within the age group 15-64 and about 39,5% of the total population are under 14. According to this data Iran's population is one of the youngest in the world.

Another factor immensely influential on education is ethnic diversity. In Iran the range of diversity is easily noticeable: Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2% and other 1%.

In Iran ethnic diversity is also combined with language diversity. 58 % of the population uses Persian and Persian dialects, 26% uses Turkic and Turkic dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Balochi, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish and others 2%.

On the other hand, there is not such a diverse range as far as religion is concerned.

The majority are Shiite Muslims – 89% (NB other sources estimate the number to be 80%^⁸). The second religious group are Sunni Muslims – 9%. Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i account for 2% of the population. ^⁹

A characteristic of Iran is the influence of Islam on the political system. The Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979 by Imam Khomeini and since then the supreme leader is both the highest political and religious figure in the country. In addition to this, the Constitution and civil laws are based on Islam which can affect the balance in such a diverse society. ^¹⁰

System of education

The basic regulations for education have been enshrined in The Constitution of the I.R. of Iran since 1979. Article 30 of the Constitution states that education is free of charge for all.

Furthermore the article runs as follows:

"The Government is obliged to provide the required facilities for free education for all people up to the end of secondary level. It is also liable for the expansion of a higher education which is free of charge, in order to achieve self-sufficiency in the country."

(However, the law also allows the establishment of private schools and universities charging school and tuition fees.) ^¹¹

Compulsory education covers 6 to 10 year old children. However, there are attempts to extend the length of compulsory schooling to 8 years (lower secondary education would be compulsory too) .^¹²

One of the visible changes in the education system of Iran is the fact that primary education is completely within the framework of the "Education for All" programme.^¹³

Government statistics show that more than 95% of Iranian children are enrolled in primary or secondary education. Taking into consideration the great number of this youthful population and economic difficulties in remote regions of the country (e.g. nomadic communities), this is a great achievement.

The total number of schools is estimated to be over 113,000 and there are over 18 million students enrolled in them. The number of teachers is estimated to be around 1 million in the whole educational system. ^¹⁴

Since the Iranian system of education is still undergoing formal changes I have decided to leave out a detailed description of the system and to focus on the issue of educational justice.

Equity in Education

Iranian plans for educational development are presented in various documents by international organisations.^¹⁵ Some of the plans reveal aspirations to political correctness:

“The I.R. of Iran has been trying hard, during recent years, to increase the enrolment rate, in other words, to increase the chances of schooling for various groups of people regardless of their gender , age, tribal and ethnic diversities (...)” ^¹⁶

However, how in a theocratic republic (which is the case with Iran) is the idea of equity in education going to be introduced? Firstly, let us look closely at plans which focus on enrolment rate as the main equity factor.

Implementation of the plan "Attraction of out-of school children" – the target group were children from rural areas (in the academic year 2000-2001, 37,500 children were enrolled).
Introduction of the plan "Establishing classes for students having especial needs (slow learners)." - the focus was on providing an educated workforce.
Plan for expanding the network of boarding schools and state exemplary schools in deprived and remote regions.
Development of tribal schools (primary, lower and upper secondary) and schools for nomadic communities etc.^¹⁷

Ethnic and religious minorities

Iran is obliged by international agreements to respect citizens rights regardless of their race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other attitudes, nationality, origin or any other status. These regulations are supposed to guarantee everyone the basic right of equality before the law, as well as equal access to education, health care and so on.

Iran's Constitution includes many articles prohibiting discrimination because of race or origin (for example Articles 3 and 19). There are also regulations concerning the freedom of religious minorities. But in fact they concern only Zoroastrian, Jewish and Christian communities, as only these minorities are granted the right to perform religious rites and religious education in Iran (Article 13). What is more Article 14 states:

“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all Muslims are duty bound to treat non-Muslims in conformity with equitable norms and the principles of Islamic justice and equity and to respect their human rights. This principle applies to all who refrain from engaging in conspiracy or activity against Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In addition, Article 15 grants the right to the local or ethnic language and the possibility of teaching ethnic literature in schools under condition of establishing Persian as the official language.^¹⁸

Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities seems to be widespread in Iran, even examples of the breaking of basic Human Rights have been noticed by international organisations.^¹⁹ This paper is limited to only some of the practices of discrimination in education.

The Education of Ethnic Minorities

There are some examples of practices planned to help ethnic minorities. One of these are pre-primary courses. The main aim of kindergartens is to prepare children for education in primary school. Due to the ethnic diversity of Iran in bilingual regions this objective was extended by adding a one-month preparatory course. The course was provided to deal with the high repetition rate (first grade) in these bilingual areas where children have problems with Persian language proficiency, often due to lack of pre-primary education centres. These preparatory courses have been held annually since 1989, with The Ministry of Education being responsible for their organisation. ^²⁰

In spite of this, international organisations warn that discrimination is a big problem in Iran.

For instance the Azeri minority, 24% of the Iranian population, faces problems of discrimination, and mainly in the field of culture. According to a Human Rights Watch Report, in schools there is no instruction in the Azeri language, at universities there is no Azeri literature institute (it is interesting with regard to this that the less numerous Armenian minority has such an institute).

The Azeri are however undertaking actions aiming to introduce the Azeri language as a second language in regions inhabited by the Azeri minority, instead of Arabic.^²¹

The Beloch minority also encounters repression. In this case the repression started under the rule of Pahlavi. The reason was fear of the Beloch movement which could have threatened the integrity of the Iranian state. Discriminatory practices comprised of a ban on the Belochi language, a prohibition on wearing Belochi clothes in schools, while the publishing of Belochi books and newspapers was considered a criminal act. What is more, a government controlled density rate of the Beloch population was imposed to hinder their consolidation.

After the revolution of 1979 not much has changed. The new government has continued to ignore the Beloch language and its culture in the educational system. The majority of teachers are of non-Baloch origin and the Beloch minority is poorly represented at universities (in the academic year 1995-96, only 9 out of 2000 students at Zahedan University originated from this minority and it is a region where the Beloch population is in the majority).^²²

The Arab minority is not an exception as far as cultural discrimination is concerned. The representatives of this minority claim that the present government is acting in the same way as the old regime in order to uproot Arabic culture. The facts seem to support their claims: there is no Arabic newspaper dealing with Khuzestan regional issues (it is a region with a large Arab population), Arabic newspapers printed in Iran are designed for Arabs abroad, in primary schools the Arabic language is absent, while in secondary schools the focus is set only on religious texts. What is more, the Arab minority does not feel properly represented in the government and the administration.^²³

The Religious Education of Minorities

Unfortunately, no matter how many liberal regulations can be found in Iranian law (even the Constitution) the fact is that religious minorities are suffering from officially sanctioned discrimination and education is one of the most affected areas. The Ministry of Education clearly states its main goal:

“Strengthening and stabilising students' spiritual and religious fundamental beliefs by explaining and teaching Islamic and Shiite principles and culture on the basis of the Holy Quran , the Prophet's tradition and his 13 innocent family members' actions (P.B.U.T)”^²⁴

Restrictions also apply to teachers, as the Ministry of Education assuring Islamic education a special place in the Iranian education system, demands that teachers fit into the pattern of Islamic “high and supreme attributes”.^²⁵

The basic religious conflict is between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, which are the largest religious minority in the country. The Sunni Muslims’ estimated membership is around 10 million, a majority of which live in the south west, south east, and north west. The Constitution provides Sunni Muslims a high degree of religious freedom but the fact that the Shiite doctrine is the official religion causes some discrimination.

This is fully visible for example during entrance examinations to universities – all candidates must take an exam in Islamic theology (based on the Shiite doctrine). Such practices restrict access to higher education for religious minorities. In addition to this all students of public schools (including non-Muslims) must study Islam.^²⁶

Religious discrimination especially affects the Baha'i minority which is defined by the government as a counter-revolutionary political “sect”. As a result different official decisions have been made to eliminate the Baha'i as a religious community. One of the documents stated that Baha'is “would be permitted to enrol in schools only if they did not identify themselves as Baha'is”. In addition to this the government recommended special kinds of segregation: Baha'is should be enrolled only in schools with “a strong and imposing religious ideology”. The same document ordered the expelling of Baha'is from universities when their identity becomes known. ²⁷

Non-formal education is also not allowed for the Baha'i community, while Baha'i meetings and religious education, even when taking place in private houses, is strongly restricted. Nevertheless, there are some changes. For example the government has eased the restrictions and allowed Baha'i children to enrol in public primary and secondary schools.²⁸

The problem of discrimination also affects the religious minorities acknowledged by the government. Zoroastrian, Jew and Christian have the right to private religious education but the right is limited by such regulations as the content of religious textbooks (and not just religious textbooks) having to be accepted by the Ministry of Education. An additional impediment is the order to control all non-Persian religious texts by the Ministry which often results in cancellation of the publication (because of translation costs which are too high).^²⁹

Conclusions

The Islamic Republic of Iran has legal regulations concerning the protection of not only ethnic and religious minorities but also other disadvantaged groups (e.g. women, disabled children). What is more, in the international arena, Iran seems to promote documents which include evidence for such liberal laws. However, in practice all the above mentioned groups suffer different degrees of discrimination. The reasons for this situation are diverse:

economic (e.g. to develop the infrastructure of schools and institutions for disabled children and nomad tribes a lot of funds are needed)
religious (Iran is a theocratic republic with only one official religion – the Shiite doctrine - the government and administration is obliged to promote it actively; already such a situation is discriminatory but there are also documents revealing actions aimed at subordinating other religions)
political (e.g. the political conflict between Iran and Israel causes hostility towards the Jewish minority)

Fortunately, changes in the government's attitude toward minorities are visible. International organisations like Human Rights Watch have contributed immensely but constant involvement in protection of the rights of minorities is a necessary factor for further change.

Bibliography

Armanios F., Islamic Religious Schools, Madrasas: Background, retrieved 28.01.2006
British Council Documents <> retrieved 14.01.2006
CIA World Factbook 2006, <> retrieved 15.01.2006
Education System at the End of the Twentieth Century in the of I.R of IRAN, UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001, retrieved 15.01.2006 ,
Education system in Iran, retrieved 14.01.2006
Giertych M., Czas na kontrliberalizm, Opoka w Kraju 2001/38, <> retrieved 15.01.2006
Godazgar H., Islamic ideology and its formative influence on education in contemporary Iran retrieved 27.01.2006
International Religious Freedom Report 2004, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, retrieved 07.01.2006
Iran Chamber Society, <> retrieved 14.01.2006
Iran religious and ethnic minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice, Human Rights Watch Report, retrieved 09.01.2006
Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000 ,
retrieved 15.01.2006
Kako Joibari A.A., Perspectives on Inclusive Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
<> retrieved 21.01.2006
Kamguian A. , Stifled Steps: Islam and Education,
retrieved 27.01.2006
The Making of a Weak State: The Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1906, retrieved 28.01.2006
National profiles technical and vocational education in Asia and the Pacific
<> retrieved 12.01.2006
Průcha J. , Pedagogika porównawcza, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2004
UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001
<> retrieved 07.01.2006
<> retrieved 15.01.2006
UNICEF documents, retrieved 14.01.2006

Endnotes

1Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000 , <http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/iran/rapport_1.html> retrieved 15.01.2006,

2The idea for this article appeared during my work on a comparative pedagogy paper (a comparison of the Iranian and Polish educational systems) and for this reason some parts of the two articles may overlap. See M. Prusinowska, System oświatowy w Iranie, retrieved 06.05.2006,

3 M. Giertych, Czas na kontrliberalizm, Opoka w Kraju 2001/38, <> retrieved 15.01.2006

4CIA World Factbook 2006, <> retrieved 15.01.2006

5UNICEF documents, retrieved 14.01.2006

6Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

7Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

8Iran religious and ethnic minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice, Human Rights Watch Report,

retrieved 09.01.2006

9CIA World Factbook 2006, op.cit.

10Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

11Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

12UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001 ,

13Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

14British Council Documents <> retrieved 14.01.2006

15See Bibliography

16UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001 , op.cit.

17UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001 , op.cit.

18Iran religious and ethnic minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice, Human Rights Watch Report, retrieved 09.01.2006

19Iran religious and ethnic minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice, Human Rights Watch Report, op.cit.

20UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001 , op.cit.

21Iran religious and ethnic minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice, Human Rights Watch Report, op.cit.

22ibidem

23ibidem

24Islamic Republic of Iran: Report of Education for All Assessment The year 2000, op.cit.

25UNESCO National Reports on the Development of Education, 2001 , <http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE/natrap/Iran_2.pdf> retrieved 15.01.2006

26International Religious Freedom Report 2004, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, retrieved 07.01.2006

27ibidem

28ibidem

29ibidem

The Effects of Multiculturalism within the Parameters of Instructional Course Design

2007-10-13T18:12:00.000+02:00

David R. Blunt, PhD (candidate)
Walden University

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March 1, 2006 Abstract
The communication of an effective curriculum finds its dependency within the multicultural environment of the classroom, and efficacy of the professional educator while embracing student diversity. Successful student assimilation may depend upon the accuracy of an established curriculum that appropriately adapts to a flexible teaching and learning environment, in which both instructor and student benefit. Furthermore, the students’ cultural orientation and home community socio-influences become problematic for a historically White, middle class, monocultural teacher who lacks adequate diversity training techniques. Preparation requires multicultural
training, one in which teachers do not perceive students of color with views of low academic expectations. Therefore, multicultural educational course design must account for the stereotype, ethical, and racial myths that abound throughout the education system.

The Effects of Multiculturalism within the
Parameters of Instructional Course Design

Bruch, Jehangir, Jacobs, & Ghere (2004, pp. 12-14) hypothesized that there is a major gap between theory and practice which continually burdens the progress of multicultural education process. Their hypothesis supports a generalized theory that classroom dynamics and student assimilation depend upon the accuracy of an established multicultural curriculum design.

Furthermore, course design needs to appropriately adapt to a flexible teaching and learning environment, in which both instructor and student benefit. Dynamics such as these, although unique in a sense remain constant with respect to certain goals, namely, that content be presented in a fashion readily understood within a multicultural classroom, and the information learned is valuable to the student in supporting real life application.

The general acceptance of multicultural education seems to play an important role in providing equal access to education across cultural groups, social, gender, and racial classes. Therefore, exploring the constructs of effective classroom instructional design in a multicultural environment, is one in which strategies can be formulated while understanding its implications, the limitations that encompass a multicultural educational course design, and the value of enhanced teacher efficacy when working with culturally diverse students.

The Impetus to Change
The Brown v. Board of Education^¹ Supreme Court case on May 17, 1954, set in motion an opportunity for education desegregation to formally begin throughout the country (J. A. Banks, 2004). This decision presented educators with the legal tools necessary, which could provide a connection between colorless instructional designs interpreted from a multicultural perspective that might effect social change. The need for multicultural education has surged over the years, and while America, on the surface may give the appearance of a tight-knit community, underneath its evolving cultural demographic, there continues to be a change in the face of America, affecting the present day curricula formation (Huang, 2002).

The ethnic makeup of America is more females than males (96.3/100), with over seventy-five percent of the nation White (Hobbs & Stroops, 2000). However, multicultural acculturation continues on the rise, such that those arriving and staying in U.S., now makeup 25% of the nations color (non-White). Thus, one might expect to see the changing of the educational landscape that will be less historically rigid with outdated philosophical ideologies (Lopez, Freed, & Kijai, 2003).

While it may seem apparent, by the “browning of America" that the traditional cultural teaching techniques, methodologies, and curriculums have been strained, according to Bruch et al. (2004), multiculturalism is a difficult term to define, with various meanings and applications that contribute to the meandering of the historical educational delivery system (p. 12). On the other hand, multiculturalism described by Carignan, Sanders, and Pourdavood (2005), are political positions that strive for an equitable society, by recognizing the enthocultural differences and challenge the ethnocentrism perspectives of historical education (p. 3).

Unfortunately, this ethnocentrism type of philosophy is one that generates a we attitude, whose source is mono-cultural in design and teaching, and centers upon the negative stereotypes, “hierarchy of physical differences”, racism, prejudice, and a subconscious approach toward cultural group exclusion (Carignan et al., 2005, p. 3). Thus, a contributory element wrapped in the expectation that students will learn the teacher’s way, instead of the students’, continues to widen the gap between teacher and student (Knapp, 2005).

Recognizing Teacher Adversity
Ethnic disparity within the teacher workforce, in comparison to the student body makeup, is not a hidden causal factor. In some underserved inter-school districts, the White students presence is barely visible (less than 3%), largely saturated with those of color in excess of sixty percent (Orfield & Monfort, 1992). Furthermore, less than five percent of the educators are other than White in these inter-city schools, while students of diverse backgrounds still continue to prevail (Ladson-Billings, 1994, p. 26). Bissgaard (2005, p. 43) found as a norm, individuals live their lives apart from multicultural exposure, and gravitate or move in a direction that is comfortable, and in compliance with their cultural traditions. This lifestyle then has a reflection on how professional educators teach and how well students academically perform.

Accepting lower academic standards and poor instructional designs because administrators and staff are culturally untrained, places a void between those who have and those who have not. It is as though ones’ teaching style has superseded the diverse learning methodologies that provide cross culture acceptance, in exchange for self perpetuation of a unbeknown personalized agenda which creates distance between the two groups (Liem, Lim, & Liem, 2000). This traditional education delivery system leaves the student population with a continuous growth of under qualified teachers who have received less than their fair share of cultural diversity training (Sawyer, 2000).

Consequently, the expectation one can avoid a “pedagogy-of-poverty", or one in which there is the anticipation students of color perform poorly, is difficult to avoid where teachers lack the appropriate, "urban based training" (p. 344). These multicultural differences, Liem et al. (2000) suggests, serve as a catalysts for potential teaching - learning conflicts, and the difficulties one might face because of new cultural exchanges. Even though acculturation may play a limited role in this conflict, the collision of cultural diversity does not.

Tharp (1989) argued that students became underachievers, partly because the course design failed to consider cultural specific classroom environments, settings, and specifically designed curriculum, which assist in the process of educational learning. Miller-Jones (1989) provided support for Tharp's (1989) observations by suggesting an opposition to classroom curriculum standardization might conflict with a multicultural specific course design. They argued that a design such as this must provide unbiased content, which specifically cites cultural diversity accurately and according to ethnic traditions students recognize. Noting those of other cultures may have non-traditional and specific ways of responding to learning according to their own traditional and cultural understanding (Miller-Jones, 1989).

Other difficulties may exist are noted in a recent study by Banks (2004), who surveyed Canadian and American elementary school teachers (N = 1246, 74.6% female, 81% Caucasian, 61.2% over 40 years of age). The researcher found although most (80.3%) had taught in a culturally diverse classroom, 61% reported they were only “somewhat” interested in learning more about multicultural teaching strategies (p. 58). The value of this study is in noting the underlying philosophy of the teachers. The inference is when one designs multicultural courses; a factor in its implementation is the recognition of one’s own personal beliefs may not be similar to the diverse content needed during its implementation. For Carignan et al. (2005), failing to recognize these factors continues to subordinate cultures and oppress the likelihood of stopping the antagonistic educational policies that persist (p. 4).

The expectation of cultural education among the teacher workforce still is slow to change as barely one-half of the colleges in the U.S. surveyed offer a multicultural training course (Smith, Echols, & Thomas, 2001). Teachers who lack multicultural training are reluctant to talk about ethnicity in class because they have limited historical views commonly supported by underrepresented – stereotyped text books (Bolgatz, 2005, pp. 259-260). Characterized by such descriptive phraseology about cultural issues as, loath to talk, often steer clear, resistant, fear of allowing discussion, too complex for students to understand, may ultimately limit culturally diverse historical inquires and the discovery of blacks, as an example, brought to this country as slaves and then little is said thereafter (p. 260).

When multiculturalism is not at the forefront of instructional design, teachers find the tactical means to avoid subjects which fall outside the standard guidelines of most traditional textbooks that pay little or no attention toward African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and other ethnic entities and cultural traditions (Bolgatz, 2005, p. 260, ¶ 263). It is as though teachers are unaware of how different their lives are from the students (Knapp, 2005, p. 203). Thus, they enter unprepared, and finds ways to avoid dealing with the cultural differences when confronted.

Additional Historical Diversities
Traditionally, the campus faculty has remained constant throughout the decades. According to the American Council on Education (ACE, 2000b), Whites, as an ethnic class, still maintain an overwhelming presence in the school system (83.9%), while other ethnic groups, make up the balance of teacher population (which was has decreased slightly from the 87.1% saturation in 1995). Current 2004 ethnic and gender data indicate females now make up 38% of the faculty population. Fifty percent of these females are Black, non-Hispanic (ACE, 2004, p. 1).

ACE (1999b) also reported 47% of the faculty believed the schools direction were to focus on community togetherness, and more importantly a noticeable trend by females in attending college increased (ACE, 2000a), marked by higher enrollments by students of color (ACE, 1999a). These gains seem minimal at best compared to the rapid increase in the American population cultural diversity as Day (2001) noted; those of Hispanic-origin for example, can expect to see their population double by 2015 from 1990, contributing to the Nation's population growth by nearly 32 percent (¶1, section 6).

A MetLife (2001) study administered over a six month period in 2001 included students (N = 2049), teachers (N = 1273), and principles (N = 1004) from intermediate public schools near Rochester, New York. The MetLife study results indicated teachers and principals do not have very high academic expectations from students of color, even though nearly a third of the multicultural students think education is a vital part of their future career goals.

Secondly, only 27% of the students surveyed were satisfied with the relationship with their teachers, principles (25%), and 39% of the students trusted their teacher little or not at all (MetLife, 2001, p. 17). Shakespear, Beardsley, and Newton (2003) noted that these figures are not unusual because students feel their educational learning environments have all but lost the caring, respectful, and trusting teachers who understood their culture and can identify with their at-home culturally diverse environments and situations (p. 5). The implication suggests, although course curriculum design may remain adverse to diverse cultural acknowledgement, students in this study were still able to overcome the apparent learning obstacles and academically perform at or above average.

Pluralist Preparation
The need for cross-cultural experience and training seems to be an overwhelming attribute missing from the culturally deprived, mostly White professional workforce (Melnick & Zeichner, 1995). Teacher candidates continue to come from mainstream backgrounds with idealistic teaching goals and lack the culturally diverse foundational exposure to "interracial and intercultural" experiences (p. 5). This in turn leaves the instructor with an assumption about student diversity that is erroneous, which contributes to the creation of ill-fated curriculums falling academically short (p. 5).

Melnick and Zeichner (1995) found this short sightedness could have been adequately addressed years ago, but the educational teaching industry had a cultural-specific approach that was inherently misaligned. Explained in this fashion, teachers are grouped according to an infusion approach whereby exposure to diversity is highlighted throughout their educational courses; or alternatively, through a segregation philosophy in which cultural diversity is touched upon in a single, isolated course (pp. 6-7).

These two approaches seem to leave little room for alternative theories, as the researchers argue mono-cultural educators are resistant in a sense, because they innately possess "cultural-general" views normally untouched by multicultural diversity (Melnick & Zeichner, 1995, p. 11). Changing such a view may at times fall upon deaf ears; nonetheless, the importance of cultural curriculum design may be one that stops "teaching propaganda based upon some narrow perspective and a distorted collection of facts" (Bruch et al., 2004, p. 18, ¶ 12).

Curriculum Difference in Cultural Adaptation
Sawyer (2000) identified curriculum as an interactive process and supports cultural differences within a learning environment. Yet, it is the teacher’s lack of knowledge about diversity, as previously reported by Bruch et al. (2004), which seemed to impede a student's learning process. Addressing these differences and learning from them may produce measured positive results. Cultural curriculum adaptation inhibits the effective delivery of valuable content to a student-body constituency, and the perceived expectation entering the classroom academically apart from the objectives, which appear concise and straightforward from the educator’s perspective (Shakespear et al., 2003).

Ladson-Billings (Ladson-Billings, 1994, pp. 22-26) suggested the elements for incorporating a multicultural design should consider: (a) educational settings, (b) curriculum content and material, (c) teacher education, (d) teachers’ beliefs about students, and (e) instructional design approaches. Therefore, a strategic approach in curriculum adaptation is finding the mutual benefit in multicultural course design by removing the group differences that inequities might reflect (Tella, 1997, p. 16).

Tella (1997) recommended teachers establish a non-oppressive democratic approach where there is equal access while maintaining cultural diversity, in which the curriculum is centered on the cultural adaptation of the individual, thus tying both teacher and student together into a meaningful experience (pp. 18-19). This experience, defined by the student’s diversity, and applied by their cultural approach to learning stimulates unique thinkers and learners, in effect, "de-emphasising [sic]" the stigma of diversity (p. 19). Adapting receptive multicultural curriculum for diverse insistent learners can be hindered by the false perceptions and beliefs of teachers, evident in classroom practice which is less student-oriented, and lacks the "specific literacy and interactive skills" needed to engage the student in active learning (Sawyer, 2000, pp. 345-346).

Active Multicultural Learning
The MetLife (2001) study reported a student's primary desire of a teacher was one who could teach and respect there own customs and traditions, plus feel confident in the teachers ability in understanding the material they were teaching (p. 23). This student desire is also supported by Tella (1997) who argued that teachers need to approach curriculum design in an inclusive manner, supporting multicultural diversity while maintaining the academic standards of meaningful content.

McKeachie and Svinicki (2006) suggest facilitating an active and meaningful learning experience is the professional educator's responsibility while establishing a proactive classroom (p. 265). This proactive theory of learning or active learning as some suggest (e.g., Blair, 2004), cumulates when the curriculum design intersects a multicultural perspective and the course learning objectives focus on the process rather than the material itself (p. 266). Additionally, it brings to light the importance of assembling multicultural curriculum techniques designed to encompass diverse learning environments as a primary goal.

It is not the intention, of active learning within a multicultural setting, to divert the historical responsibility of the primary acquisition of knowledge in traditional forms (e.g., book reading, memorization, and teacher facilitation). Rather its cultural specific curriculum is deigned to empower, and then propel the students toward a new appreciation of learning via a methodological system that is not foreign in the social circles they know. The classroom dynamics of problem-based activities and collaborations draw the student into an active investigative approach while considering their cultural diversity, begins to supersede the static lecturing modules of the past, and now can motivate the student, which transcends the static and historical curriculum objectives (Blair, 2004).

Although the active learning concept is not new, as it is foundational to the earlier learning years of student engagement on a personal basis, in which the teacher is actively involved, down-on-their-knees helping students gain an appreciation for their new found learning skills and fascination of the multicultural world that embraces them (Cookson Jr, 2005, p. 10). The lower grade levels, according to Cookson, involve a substantial amount of student class activities, yet it is difficult to place one's finger on why such a transition exists toward the upper grade levels of student passiveness in learning as the instructor takes on a one-way approach toward teaching. Should one view their classroom full of students, as a host of restless learners desiring some form of educational entertainment? Or have we succumbed to the expectation from the education system that adolescents can now absorb the content from the top-down, without multicultural intervention, as they are then left to ponder the value of its' meaning at a later moment?

In answer to these rhetorical queries, lies the possibility that such student passiveness involves the assertion of content meaningfulness. That is, student’s may see the instructional design as one that is not personal, lacks a multicultural present day application, and is a topic for the other student. Huang (2002) suggests that students need to identify with the curriculum and understand its content in light of their own heritage, taking on a colorless perspective.

An alternate response, as suggested by Naidoo and Searle (1999), is one in which the students are passively dependent upon the teacher dominate educational process. This process adversely promotes a single-phase or one-directional approach to learning (e.g., teacher lecture – student note taking), and leaves little room for a self-reflective, culturally enhanced learning opportunities. They argue that building a course design, which does not offer culturally sensitive content involving active student participation, in effect, spoon-feeds their intellectual experience (pp. 171-173).

Vision of Multicultural Curriculum Design
There continues to be a movement, although slow, that reflects the intent of visionary steps toward multicultural teaching and the recognition of its importance. Zeichner et al. (1998) support three categorical areas of reform emphasize the issues involving pre-service teacher education. First, provide an institutional and programmatic reform, which shows the importance of a cultural education. Second, address personnel staffing issues and include student input (e.g., teacher admissions requirements supporting standardized multicultural teacher training). Third, establish a program centered curriculum valuing diversity and embrace cultural exposure (e.g., a saturation of multicultural perspectives reflected throughout the curriculum).

Melnick and Zeichner (1998) simplified this approach, narrowing it down to a single cause by placing the lack of cultural training back upon the experienced teaching professional. Their findings shift the teacher learning responsibilities toward tenured teaching educators, in locating ways to acquire the necessary training, which will assist them in properly instructing the diverse student population. Although the increasing teaching population is “White, monolingual, [and] middle class" (p. 88), these leaders compromise their daily teaching styles because the curriculum and the diverse student body cannot connect academically.

As a partial solution, integrating various multicultural curriculum approaches is one-step suggested by Bruch et al. (2004). Transform curriculum into a sensitive multiculturalism delivery system enabling students the opportunity to find operationalized meaningful access (p. 14). Access to curriculum, which is not longer distant or White, and can reach over the walls of diversity if properly designed. The researcher’s strategy is to develop overall curriculum goal enhancement, and include (a) academic skills that have future collegiate applicability; (b) build an underlying structural framework to solve identifiable problems; and (c) formulate attitudes of success that can develop as "learning interests", thus, generating a guiding path toward career success (p. 16-17).

Curriculum Design Perspectives
The Sawyer (2000) study results of teacher’s attitudes toward multicultural adaptation, suggested there is still a diverse group of students lacking a consistent multicultural curriculum designed with a meaningful pedagogical perspective (p. 360). Teachers, according to Sawyer, still continually lack the support necessary to make curriculum changes in providing consistent avenues of dialog with their multicultural students. Multicultural educational course design must account for the stereotypes, ethical, and racial myths that abound throughout the educational system; because it is common for educational professionals to teach in an environment surrounded by interpersonal cultural conflicts and inequities associated with ethnic group differences (Tella, 1997, pp. 6-7).

Although formulating an academic strategy that affords the student with classroom fairness and learning opportunity equality, Chamberlain, Guerra, and Garcia (1999) found this may be a difficult task for the teacher as the student body becomes more ethnically diverse, and the teacher work force remains mono-cultural (K. M. Zeichner, 1993).

Finding Resolution in Curriculum Design
When curriculum design embraces multiculturalism, teachers can initiate classroom discussions allowing students to address cultural issues that otherwise might be foreign. Furthermore, believing these discussions may be controversial if they are opened for student engagement, prohibits teachers from looking beyond the conversation, and finding resolution to complex issues regularly challenging the student (Bolgatz, 2005, p. 263). Ryan (2002) argued that students enter a classroom bringing with them problems of their "socio-economic inequities" so deeply rooted, regardless of the teacher training, the "crisis of access and equity in education" would still play a critical role in the existing barriers between those who learn and those who do not (p. 4).

Teacher preparation is an important element in deigning a diverse curriculum. Preparation requires multicultural training, and one in which they do not perceive students of color with views of low academic expectations. This type of training seems to be the first step toward successful educational access, according to Ryan (2002), while addressing academia socio-inequities, and effectively responding to the "White identity" stereotyped teacher confronting multicultural insensitivity issues (p. 5).

By taking an alternative approach to teaching that clearly defines the role of multiculturalism in curriculum, K. M. Zeichner (1993) analysis suggested education can counter the perceived low expectations from students and give the teacher a "framework for organizing classroom learning environments" sensitive to "language, culture, and learning" (p. 15). Culture has a significant impact in the classroom as Chamberlain et al. (1999) argues, and this impact can be a positive one in which both teacher and student gain insight into worlds that otherwise might be foreign (p. 12). This process is not magical, but one of training and continuous hard work in which the teacher is dedicated to specific curriculum changes that are diverse in nature and sensitive to classroom cultural demands.

Teacher Enhanced Curriculum
One might argue for a standardized teaching design and methodology, however, a cursory view of today’s cross-cultural classroom of diversity suggests, one style does not fit all. Cultural academic engagement includes thinking critically, solving problems, and providing activities which help create a challenging and rewarding learning environment, and include additional factors outside the classroom that influence learning trends (Cookson Jr, 2005, p. 10). Naidoo and Searle (1999) supported this hypothesis by suggesting the co-determining achievement factors involved influential elements that are a combination of both school and the student’s home environment (pp. 169-170).

Naidoo and Searle (1999) argued that the students home environment acts as a type of academic filtration system, taking into account the cultural learning experiences, habits, and available resources (p. 171). The student’s perceptions of meaningful course design are based upon the academic climate of the home, influential peer group attitudes, adaptation (despite a non-supportive culture), and parental expectations related to academic achievement (based upon their own educational success).

Generating learning opportunities among culturally challenged students and within their social context is sometimes a difficult and lengthy process (Tharp, 1989). This requires multicultural course design which includes parental involvement, that otherwise might be non-existent. This also might help one locate the valuable learning tools that many students of color value and provide support for the differences that emerge (Miller-Jones, 1989).

Some design experts suggest that a multicultural problem exists in the school system because we are looking from the top down instead of the bottom up (Carignan et al., 2005; Miller-Jones, 1989). School systems fill the teaching vacancies before they fill the classrooms. Teachers are class assigned according to their tenure, rather than their compatibility, while failing to ask, is the instructor right for the students? From a homeland perspective, the students are already culturally prepared, but they lack the educational understanding that influences the dynamics of their cultures and other traditions.

Furthermore, students resist the assimilation of cultural bonding because some teachers enter the classroom lacking the multicultural training; teach with poorly designed curriculums, and use outdated textbooks that fail to reflect the traditional multicultural values that demand a voice. For Knapp (2005), this approach is all wrong because teachers must know about their students before they enter the classroom.

The school administration needs to supply an ethnic and cultural breakdown and make notes regarding specific cultural traditions. Clear, concise, and published guidelines should offer problem resolution remedies, easily accessible by staff. Faculty in-box suggestions must de-emphasize mono-cultural attitudes, which impede the students learning experience. They need to be reminded that multicultural course design remains in flux, according to Bolgatz (2005), and the growth of classroom diversity can out pace the necessary course design changes that need to be made in a timely manner.

Multicultural Design Goals
A goal of multicultural lesson design should include text books which illustrate cultural diversity by experienced authors who have lived with oppression and discrimination (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Books that tell the whole story and are not mono-cultural specific can help students develop and understand multicultural diversity and traditions. Huang (2002) agreed by suggesting that lessons on diversity generate multiple perspectives and help students not only understand their differences, but also provide an opportunity to realize their “sameness” (p. 20).

Chamberlain et al. (1999) endorsed a similar diverse teacher-enhancing style and curriculum design approach by knowing, (a) cultures have both similarities and differences; (b) it takes skill and practice to develop a culturally responsive classroom; (c) recognizing one's own cultural awareness, and then (d) understanding the student's cultural background (pp. 55-56). Furthermore, Chamberlain et al. prompts teachers to gain an accurate knowledge of the classroom diversity from their students then practical and useable curriculum application may be taught with some predictability (p. 54).

While one needs to consider issues of accessibility, sound multicultural design must find a way to address the cultural needs of all students in the classroom. Daily intercultural exchanges should be the norm, with an effort toward understanding the impact the world plays on the school environment and the interactions of the students and faculty. Becoming a multi- or interculturally proficient teacher, with a commitment toward educational equality, denouncing prejudice and cultural discrimination should be an underlying theme and requirement. This must be the standard for all professional educators to seek and obtain in curriculum course design (Carignan et al., 2005, p. 6)

Discussion
Multicultural course design provides for a more interdisciplinary approach that utilize the fundamental skills in reading and writing necessary to teach a diverse perspective (Whalon & Karr-Kidwell, 1993, p. 9). Without this type of approach, the qualitative experience in education becomes an unrealistic goal because it lacks the ethnically relevant content that helps culturally diverse students identify with their cultural values and choices (Whalon & Karr-Kidwell, 1993).

Designing instructional courses, within a multicultural framework as an integral part of its implementation, requires one outline specific teacher related challenges that influence the culturally diverse student’s ability to learn. Challenges such as:

Ladson-Billings (1994) argued for the hiring of bilingual teaching professionals that have the ability to confront cultural prejudice rampant throughout the Western textbooks. This in turn provides students with an additional opportunity to gain a unique insight into recognizing the value of their culture, the traditions of others, and the existing connection with humankind (p. 26).

Multicultural education as described by the National Association for Multicultural Education (2003) is a design process which seeks to find the highest academic standards possible while teaching the diverse cultural origins, traditions and beliefs associated with other cultures. Multicultural design incorporates life histories and experiences, which help one, understand the unique differences and still find purpose in the commonness shared.

Multicultural course design needs to adapt to the current needs of the students, as one can rest assured, by tomorrow it will change. This design seeks to find the similarities and differences without “trivializing and folklorizing” the cultures it is deigned to help (Carignan et al., 2005, p. 5). Cultural instructional design helps the teacher re-visit the perspectives and re-evaluate their personal bias and prejudice in multicultural instruction.

The Cho and DeCastro (2005) study, similar to the Banks (2004) research noted earlier, involved secondary pre-service teachers in California, and assessed their attitudes toward multicultural training and teaching. The test correlation results found between multicultural education training and an increased awareness, understanding, and appreciation for other cultures were significant (p. 26). This is a valuable finding, as Banks, while citing the dismal figures and poor attitudes toward multicultural training, Cho and DeCastro results noted that despite teacher’s initial negative attitude toward multicultural training, many found, based upon their classroom post-course exposure, both of the groups (i.e., teacher and student) had a favorable view of each others culture and traditions (p. 26).

Multicultural course curriculum designers should keep these results in mind when posting issues of concern related to initial course construction. As these primary variables in course design are training, preparedness, and attitude of the teacher. One additional note regarding both studies (i.e., J. A. Banks, 2004; Cho & DeCastro-Ambrosetti, 2005), the teachers reported they still felt the need for more training even though they had been involved or taken multicultural course training .

As teachers who have had training still at times feel inadequate or would like more training, course designers may need to devise a pre-test system that evaluates the multicultural propensities that may be pervasive, while addressing issues of specific cultural training for the type of student diversity expected in the classroom. Thus, it would appear when addressing teacher bias, prejudice, and apathy toward multicultural educational training, required training may the only recourse, and in the end, resolves some of these issues and produces a more cohesive mainstream approach toward fundamental cultural teaching.

Conclusion
J.A. Banks (1991) wrote nearly fifteen years ago, that it was the educational systems responsibility, to teach students the “values of the people” (p. 34); and by recognizing the importance in learning other multicultural traditions that have added to the total experience we feel and share. Professional educational designers can add value to the learning experience by thwarting the misconceptions, bias, and stereotypes accepted since childbirth (p. 35).

Multicultural education can open the door to the past with a new set of attitudes and perspectives. This educational perspective is one that understands what it means when textbooks describe who was moving west. As an example, J. Banks (1991) provided an interesting vignette by posing rhetorical questions that ask which west? When the Sioux considered the West home, was it central to them? On the other hand, west in relation to the Alaskans, because the West was south, or the Mexicans, where the West was North (pp. 2-3). Designing a multicultural course helps students from all nations embrace their own cultural origin, while giving them a historical perspective that does not colorize these accounts and pastel paints the canvas of accuracy, fairness, and accountability in education.

Appropriate multicultural education, is a design concept that includes diversity and a construction process leading to knowledge. It embraces empathy for all groups that have been omitted, left out, and characterized in such a fashion, that students cannibalize the historical reality of the truth (J. Banks, 1991, p. 2). The Sioux reported by J. Banks were called savages, the original Spanish inhabitants of California are now called immigrants, and the biological perpetuation of genetic theoretical intelligence is left to scientific racism that has “influenced the interpretations of mental ability tests” (p. 2).

The lack of multicultural influence within the instructional design course which excludes cultural diversity can distort the reality of the event and misinform those who read those accounts. It may leave the reader with a misinterpreted biased opinion, conjuring up false realities about these diverse cultures. When there is a misunderstanding of the biased historical accounts, it generates an illusion that appears factual. Cho and DeCastro (2005) described a similar modern day stereotype in this fashion:

Cho and DeCastro (2005) argued that proper educational design which included diverse cultural views would have laid to rest these types of stereotypes years ago. The researchers cite the lack of teacher preparation, poorly constructed educational programs, and an overall disbelief that there is an assimilation problem in the school system (p. 25). Some still think knowledge is static, moves at a slow pace, and can reach the masses based upon the original one-directional educational process (J. A. Banks, 1991).

Knapp (2005) succinctly wrote, “there really are no ‘unmotivated’ students, there are just students who are motivated by different means and toward difference ends than the teacher had in mind” (p. 203). Although our focus as professional educators is to design and provide a product that is content relevant, dynamic in its presentation while maintaining multicultural sensitivity, the final decision of applicability may still rest in the hands of the students, in which multicultural course design motivates them to seek social change.

1 See http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html for a review of the decision.

References

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[Fianal version received 27.04.2006]

Escape to trivial tourism

2007-10-12T18:12:00.000+02:00

Piotr Kowzan
University of Gdansk

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1. Introduction

In the European arena there are many different forms of adult education. Folk high schools (called “folkehøjskoler” in Danish) are one of them. They are aimed at young adults preparing for university. Nevertheless they are open to any adult regardless of their age or nationality. Thus, a reflection upon folk high schools' proposals can be placed within the growing field of “gap year” activities, as well as within the field of intercultural education.

I will present and analyze a part of the 3 month experience I had as a student of the only Danish folk high school to be found in Germany. This visit was possible thanks to the Danish Foundation Cirius which covers the costs of education for students coming from the new EU member states. Choosing this location I expected the school to be more international than other domestic ones. I wanted to know how cultural problems might interfere with all of the school's activities and to discover for myself what the impact of foreign students and the 'place' itself would have upon the curriculum.

Studying in a school where teachers do not have any standardized knowledge to transfer, where the weekly-settled programs can be negotiable as well as rules of coexistence makes students ponder as well as rethink their previous educational experience. The problems of what the folk high school is for, and what it means for students to be there were alive in everyday discussions in the school and were crucial for me personally. Reflection upon these issues accompanied my stay in Jaruplund and was an inspiration for further written inquiries and a literature search after my return.

The aim of this paper is a pedagogical reflection upon the activities and goals of the folk high school nowadays. This reflection is based upon the reality offered to students.

It is not the personal value nor impact upon students' lives (which was significant to me and my interlocutors) that will be considered here, but the answer to the question of why the folk high school works as it does. It is worth reiterating that studying at the Jaruplund school had a vast impact on students' attitudes towards life and their future plans. Studying there was important and students got the chance to develop an intrinsic motivation for further learning, and I must state that it is not my intention to depreciate neither the methods nor school practice at any point in this paper.

Every semester different people come to the school. The group I was part of was unique but the range of problems and phenomena to deal with them will be the features out of which the picture of the contemporary condition of this kind of education will be drawn. Though only a single unique winter course in this particular school will be analyzed, the meaning of things which people agreed or disagreed upon can be shared in broader contexts.

3. Method

In this paper a detailed account of the kind of key events that transpired during the stay at the school will be given. Subsequently, the source of the problems, meanings and if possible the historical background of its beginnings will be appraised. The collection of these discoveries will be the basis upon which the history of the current attitude to pedagogy in the folk high school will be reconstructed. Even though the selection of key events will be as objective as possible (mostly taken from chronicles made by students), it is obvious that presented together they will change into a narrative story – this means a more subjective view.

4. Presentation of the school

The first folk high school was established in Denmark in 1844^¹. Jaruplund højskole was founded in 1950 and is situated by a small lake. Jaruplund is the Danish version of the village's name which on maps is called Jarplund. It lies close to Flensburg (Flensborg in Danish) in the Schleswig-Holstein region (Sydslesvig in Danish). There are more than 85 folk high schools in Denmark but the Jaruplund højskole is the only one found in Germany.

Some of the schools offer specialized programs focused upon sport, art, languages or trips, and which cause differences in prices, but most of them combine several different courses within their program. “Some Folk High Schools focus upon creative activity, some focus upon sports, academicism or communication, while others cover everything.”^²The program in Jaruplund consists of modules among which one can find art, music, philosophy, outdoor activities, the Danish language, culture, archeology and regional trips etc. Furthermore, in the school building one can find among other facilities a cinema, a computer lab, a sauna, as well as a gymnastics hall.

In January 2005 21 students came to the school. Only 2 of them were from Denmark, 4 from Lithuania and 15(!) from Poland. The youngest student was 17 but the oldest was over 60. Among the students there were people who spoke no foreign language at all, while a few spoke Danish or German.

5. Examples

The following samples from a short history of Jaruplund school life gives insight into the school's curriculum as well as its approach to problems. These examples also help to understand how 'Danishness' is constructed and how its validity is often shown.

5.1 The Nightingale Musical

The main event during the first month of staying in Jaruplund was “The Nightingale Musical”. In the Winter Course's Chronicle it was described as follows:

The old man H.C. Andersen had his 200th birthday this year. It was decided, that we were to make a musical based on one of his fairy tales – The Nightingale. [...] The biggest problem was singing – our musical talents were somewhat smaller than the teachers' ambitions. [...] We showed The Nightingale three times: first for the children from the Jaruplund kindergarten, then (which was the most stressful) for højskolen Østersøen which visited us especially to see the show, and at the end we visited a secondary school in Helved.”^³

A fact that is not mentioned above is that all the songs were in Danish.

This project exposed that, even though students finally succeeded in singing in Danish, English was established as the basis of communication in the school. Previously only Danish and German were used. Thus an English course appeared as an emergency and it was led successfully by the trainee who fortunately could also speak some Polish. This was of great help. Even though the team of teachers consisted of 5 people, this number could temporarily increase when new needs appeared. Learning Danish for example was so hard that a Polish immigrant was invited to lead the course. Besides this, the teachers evaluated the students' skills and gave up conducting some advance classes in music and decided to start some very basic ones.

It seemed that the aim of implementing the Danish language and culture collapsed at the very beginning of the course. The teachers' team was forced to establish bridges e.g. a common language between their program and the almost homogeneous group of students. Therefore, a question about the reason for inviting that many people from one country arose. Surprisingly, Danish folk high schools, according to teachers I talked to, are not popular among young Danes. If somebody decides to attend any of them, they usually choose the “expensive ones”, because they offer long-distance and long-duration travel. Moreover, the prices of trips offered by schools are much lower than the ones that can be found in tourist agencies. Scholarships from Cirisus for international students just cover the basic costs of studying. More traditional schools had to open themselves up to sponsored foreigners in order to survive. Before the Winter Course of 2005 the Jaruplund højskole received applications mainly from Poland. Therefore there was no possibility to make the group of students more diverse.

5.2 Danish morning songs

Classes started after breakfast. The teacher responsible for each day's activities rang the bell to gather everybody into the main room. While waiting for latecomers, students were singing a few songs. All songs were all from a special songbook called “Den Blaa Sangbog”. Students followed the teacher in regards to pronunciation and the meaning of the text was unveiled after singing or by a short introduction.

The songs were mostly old and were about peasants, God, being together with other Danes etc. Danes were singing these songs with commitment regardless of their age or status (student, teacher or guest) in the school.

With time it was explained to the students that the songs collected in songbooks historically played an important role when the Danes were resisting Germanization. One teacher, when asked about these old-fashioned songs, said that the morning songs are the only things that had survived from Grundtvig's ideas. It seems to be an exaggeration, because the core of the idea of the folk highschools was not to have any exams. Grundtvig maintained that it had to either resign from exams, or from the idea of folk high schools.^⁴
Nevertheless, these schools serve different people nowadays. Danes are not peasants any longer, they do not need emancipation to have access to culture and democracy. Some of them are farmers but it is more a question of choice rather than a burden. Hence, young Danes do not need neither an assimilation nor emancipation program in the sense of Grundtvig's project.

Singing old Danish songs survived probably because on the one hand this part of the assimilation (to Danish culture) is directed towards international students nowadays. On the other hand, retired Danes, who attend short courses more frequently than before, are interested in experiencing some sort of community in this way.

5.3 The poster

In front of the main staircase in the school students are faced with an old poster protected by a glass panel. The only understandable part of it was the name of the city Flensburg written in the Danish way. The main sentence was “I 1000 år var du Danmarks by. Du barn af Danmark, bliv dansk påny”. After some time students could translate this sentence and discover a meaning that may be seen as nationalistic: “For a 1000 years you were a Danish city. You, Denmark's child become Danish again.”

It was a kind of exhibit, a remembrance from the campaign before the plebiscites about the national status of the region dating back to 1920. This fossil, shown without any comment within the environment of the school, can be recognized as a symbol which places this folk high school within the tradition of democratic struggle between nations. The school stands on one side of the expired conflict. This poster also shows that some Danes think that there is nothing strange in the fact that they built the school in Germany. Going beyond the problem of international law, they have the right to place their school near Flensburg, because this is their land.

5.4 Excursions

On the school's Internet site one can read:

“Regional workshops. Discovering the borderland between Germany and Denmark. During weekly excursions we try to have a closer look at the culture and art of the region. Design in Kolding - German Expressionism at the Nolde Museum – Gothic and Baroque art at the Gottorp castle – the Viking Age in Hedeby. Three cultures – German, Danish and Frisian - meet each other in the region. Differences between the German and Danish models of society are studied during visits to social institutions, schools and kindergartens. The regional workshop is a cultural-political study trip to Sønderjylland and Slesvig-Holsten.”^⁵

There were many trips around the region. There were weeks when students traveled by school bus almost every day to visit places, institutions, interesting people etc. Museum staff in the region were usually bilingual, as well as people in other places. As students were exposed almost only to the Danish language and they traveled by bus without looking at maps, they were often confused as to which side of the border they were on.

As a result students on the one hand could sometimes be a little bit confused but on the other they could experience the vivid life of the Danish minority in Germany. It can be understood as a self-sustaining relationship. Perhaps, the minority would not be as animated if the students were not to play the role of a mirror. Students experience the Danish culture probably more intensively than the inhabitants of the region. For example, the taxi drivers from Flensburg do not even know where the Danish folk high school is, though it was not very far from the center.

5.5 Short courses

As it has already been mentioned above, young Danes are not very interested in spending time in folk high schools in general, unless schools offer attractions at competitive prices. However, Danish society is getting older and there are plenty of retired people who want to stay active. Folk high schools offer short-time courses for them. The teachers from Jaruplund told students that the short courses that are focused on this age group are the future of folk high schools. Therefore, usually during weekends, the school deals with the coexistence of two different groups of people in its building. Even though this offers a chance to learn something from each other, this process pivots around small conflicts, mostly because both groups try to live normally. Problems include noise in the evenings and in the mornings, more diverse food when guests visit, differences in desserts etc. Students do not feel equal, because apart from conflicts they have to deal with their own assumption that it is worse to have all costs covered by the government rather than pay themselves.

The problem “Who does the school belong to?” in the micro-scale could be understood as a communication problem. That means that the problem is, if not solvable, at least temporary, because nobody except the teachers will stay there for years. However, teachers have declared (even if it was just a joke) that they know what the future of the folk high school is. Young, demanding and choosy students, even if international, are in decline. The schools are more widely open for people deeply interested in the classes, because their money will decide whether the schools survive.

5.6 The trip to Africa

The winter course was supposed to finish with a one-week excursion. In the report written by a Danish student and approved by others before being sent off, we can find the following description:

“The program for 2005 included a visit to Berlin and Hamburg. We never went. Not even Copenhagen was on the list of cities to be visited?! A Danish school! Someone probably has a clever answer as to why. I don’t really know why the trip to Berlin was even up for discussion – but it was! We decided one thing one day (not Berlin but Copenhagen and the south of Sweden), and the next day the school, in spite of a very clear wish from the pupils, decided to offer us a trip to Tunisia instead.”^⁶

As a result, the Danish students objected to taking part in the trip. During the week before the trip to Tunisia two specialists in Islamic and Arabic dances were invited to give us an insight into the Muslim culture. Students were divided into groups and chose places to visit in Tunisia and prepared information about them.

The problem with choosing a place to visit and its result can be considered and explained within the wider context of previous experiences and decisions taken throughout the course. Danish folk high schools from the perspective of Polish students can be seen as a place where everything is negotiable. Anything can be taken from the agenda and changed. It would be hard to invalidate that it was not true. However, the scale of changes e.g. choosing English as a common language, depended mostly on a close, almost homogeneous group of students. As a result it was signaled that the planned trip to Berlin was not an attraction, because Berlin lies too close... to Poland. Copenhagen was unknown to the Poles, but too expensive to spend a whole week there. Besides, the teachers were probably tired of trying to present 'Danishness'. The need for a happy and not too expensive end to the course was broadly but not completely shared.

The trip integrated the participants well. Being between the hotel, markets and ruins of the Roman Empire without knowing the language, visitors were generally isolated from the locals. Trying to find out about places worth seeing in Tunisia, surprisingly all groups chose mostly Roman ruins. Then, trying to escape from the ruins, everybody went shopping to 'medinas'^⁷. The exposure to the aggressive selling customs in 'medinas' ensured the maintained belief in huge differences between people. It was impossible to become neutral or anonymous in such an environment. Thus, the new sense of 'togetherness' constructed out of the visible difference between We (the Europeans) and Them (the Arabs). Finally, it appeared that only in the hotel restaurant, on the superficial grounds of folk dancing, were the students competent enough to accept^⁸ the cultural differences.

6. Interpretation

The history of the course includes the whole history of the idea of folk high schools. On the other hand, it can be understood as a drift towards attractions. The day-to-day inter-cultural education (socialization and cultural exchanges between students) in Jaruplund, which sprang from the assimilation project of Danish folk high schools (in general), was temporarily replaced by the impression of a kind of limited multiculturalism: We, equal Europeans, can live together in peace with all our differences (multiculturalism), because these differences are trivial compared to the ones between us and non-Europeans (limitation). It is not even important if multiculturalism is understood as a politically organised and subsidized order or just as a (future) condition of societies nowadays^⁹, because – for those who choose certain schools – educational tourism offers a foretaste of the 'melting pot', being a narrower version of it. The notion that schools should prepare people for their future life in a multicultural society has been reached, because the curriculum was drastically reduced, becoming entertainment. Simultaneously, other cultures were reduced to trivial folklore.

7. Conclusions

Danish folk high schools – influenced by changes in Danish society and by the neo-liberal evaluative approach to educational institutions – are changing. They have started to offer attractions to clients with education becoming a side-line to the clients' entertainment. Similar changes (e.g. university fees, differences in curriculum depend upon the wealth of students, the need of quasi-market competition with profit-oriented organizations) are observed in many countries. It appears that these processes can influence a schools' approach to cultural education even in the unique realms of adult education which folk high schools still seem to be.

References

1. Bennett, M. J., Deane, B. R., 'A model for personal change: Developing intercultural sensitivity.' in E. Cross et al. (eds) The promise of diversity, Irvin, New York, 1994.

2. Bron-Wojciechowska, A., Grundtvig, PW Wiedza Powszechna, Warszawa, 1986.

3. Folk High School, Wikipedia, retrieved 13 December 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_high_school#History

4. Iversen T., Jaruplund Højskole, Denmark, Unpublished report, 2005.

5. Jaruplund Hojskole, Regionalt værksted, trans. M. Zielińska, retrieved 3 September 2006 from http://www.jaruplund-hoejskole.de/show.php?id=61

6. Kargulowa A., Kwiatkowski S., Szkudlarek T.,Rynek i kultura neoliberalna a edukacja, Impuls, Kraków, 2005.

7. Możejko E., 'Wielka szansa czy iluzja: wielokulturowość w dobie ponowczesności' in W. Kalaga (eds) Dylematy wielokulturowości, Universitas, Kraków, 2004.

8. What is the Danish Folk High School Course?, retrieved 13 December 2006 fromhttp://www.folkehojskoler.dk/english.aspx

9. Winter course students, The winter course chronicle 2005, unpublished

1Folk High School, Wikipedia, Retrieved 13.12.2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_high_school#History

2What is the Danish Folk High School Course?, retrieved 13.12.2006 from http://www.folkehojskoler.dk/english.aspx

3“The winter course chronicle” 2005, unpublished

4„Grundtvig”, Bron-Wojciechowska, A., PW Wiedza Powszechna, Warszawa 1986, p.76

5http://www.jaruplund-hoejskole.de/show.php?id=61 09.2006, Translated from Danish by Małgorzata Zielińska

6 Jaruplund Højskole, 2005 by student T. Iversen (Denmark) Unpublished report

7Medina is the Arabic name for the old part of the city where many small shops are placed

8Compare with acceptance as the first stage on the ethno-relativist approach in the Milton J. Bennett developmental model of intercultural sensitivity in
Bennett, M. J. and Deane, B. R. (1994). A model for personal change: Developing intercultural sensitivity. In E. Cross et. al. (Eds.) The promise of diversity. Irvin, New York, 1994.

9The origins of the term multiculturalism are explained in “Wielka szansa czy iluzja: wielokulturowość w dobie ponowczesności” Możejko, E. [in:] “Dylematy wielokulturowości” red. Kalaga W., Universitas, Kraków 2004

Critical Pedagogy of Place and the case of Education in Greenland

2007-10-11T18:11:00.000+02:00

Małgorzata Zielińska
University of Gdańsk

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In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in analysing education from the local perspective and in connection with the places in which it occurs (e.g. Angayuqaq & Barnhardt, n.d.; Mendel, 2006). This trend could partly be seen as a response to globalisation. An example of this is the establishment of a new type of pedagogy – the critical pedagogy of place, which David A. Gruenwald (2003) has described as “the best of both worlds” (p.3) – one of them being the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy with its interest in social justice and challenging the dominant culture; while the second one is place-based education, which emphasises and strengthens the relation between people and their human and non-human environment, local knowledge, culture and nature. The aims of this new pedagogy can be seen as to “(a) identify, recover, and create material spaces and places that teach us how to live well in our total environments (re-inhabitation); and (b) identify and change ways of thinking that injure and exploit other people and places (de-colonisation).” (p. 9)

Analysing the case of Greenland, the largest island in the world and a self-governed Danish territory, may be an interesting contribution to this discussion. Lying on the peripheries of the world, covered mostly by ice and inhabited by only about 56 000 people ^¹ it tends to be overlooked in global discussions. However, it is here where the local needs of the people meet another culture's influence - namely, Danish – and global processes, such as for example, the spread of the global economy, climate change and the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Education, as a sphere where all these factors meet and a tool enabling change, is therefore a vital issue here and a subject of debate.

This paper aims at showing the current situation of education in Greenland and the challenges it faces, as well as analysing it in the context of critical pedagogy of place. Before I do this however, it is important to point out that since critical pedagogy of place is a relatively new trend, many of the authors that I am going to refer to have only written about one of the traditions it consists of, and therefore, I will sometimes separate these traditions. What is more, the two components, that is, critical pedagogy and place-based education, are of a slightly different nature. Critical pedagogy is mostly a theoretical framework used for analysing educational practices, while place-based education creates practices and, to some extent, can be seen as a methodology. Thus, I will apply the former mainly to analyse the situation of Greenlandic education, while the latter will be more useful to suggest possibly beneficial practices.

I will start with a brief description of Greenland’s historical and cultural background in order to give more insight into life on the island. After that I will go on to analyse the challenges which Greenlandic education faces and, with the help of critical pedagogy of place, I will try to suggest what might be done to improve it.

Historical background
The history of Greenland and its people is complicated and - as it is for most countries - it is not certain who were the first inhabitants of the island. Some of the first cultures that are known to have settled in Greenland were the Sarqqaq, Dorset and Thule people (Erngaard, 1973). However, when the Vikings came to Greenland in 982, it is most likely that they found the island empty. Later, in 1260 the Norwegian king claimed the territory and after the union between Norway and Denmark in 1536, Greenland was declared to be Danish. For a long time contact between Greenland and Europe was discontinued, not being re-established until 1721. In this particular year a Dano-Norwegian missionary, Hans Egede came to Greenland, expecting to find a Norse settlement. However, the Norse culture had collapsed in Greenland in the 15th century – for unknown reasons – and instead of the Norsemen, he found Inuits on the island.

From this time on, the history of Greenland was the history of colonisation and – later and to some extent - de-colonisation, interrupted only by the Norwegian occupation of the Eastern part of the island in 1931 and the German engagement in war operations around Greenland during World War II. After the war, Denmark signed a treaty and allowed US military bases onto the island. In 1953 Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark and in 1979 it started to be self-governing. At that time, Denmark was already a part of the European Community, but in 1982 the majority of Greenlanders voted to leave it, which they did in 1985. However, Greenland still maintains economic relations with European countries, as well as with Canada, the USA, Japan, China and Russia. It also takes part in European programmes, such as the Northern Periphery Programme and Socrates/Erasmus.

Greenland – a part of the Danish Realm (Rigsfællesskabet) – is no longer a colony, however it is not independent either. It has been granted home rule - “a form of being according to which some functions of the state of the sovereign independent nation, the colonial power, have been taken over and institutionalised locally by the colonised nation, but which, at the same time are intended to secure the ideological hegemony and territorial and military rule of the colonial power” (Jonsson, 1999, p.3). Most researchers (Jonsson, 1999; Jensen, 2003) agree however, that home rule is only a temporary status for Greenland and a step towards independence. There has been an ongoing debate on the island whether it should become an independent state or not, the strongest drawback of a change in its status being the loss of huge Danish subsidies. Jonsson (2003) has also pointed to the problems of “voluntary colonialism, organisational dependency and institutional racism” (p.23) while Finn Lynge (n.d. a) has criticised his society for being too passive. He has argued that Greenlanders having learned through the centuries to listen to orders from Copenhagen, have to change their colonial mentality and dare to decide for themselves. The discussion still continues and it is difficult to say if Greenland will become an independents state and, if so, when it might happen. However, even those who are in favour of staying in the Danish Realm see the need of increasing Greenland's sovereignty within the framework of home rule.

Culture and language
After World War II the island underwent very quick modernisation and industrialisation. It changed from a very traditional society to a modern welfare state (Rasmussen, n.d.). In as little as one generation, people moved from tents and igloos to blocks of flats and the traditional lifestyle was changed. This quick change has resulted in an identity crisis among many inhabitants, large numbers of alcohol-addicts, as well as suicides. In 1992 there were 88,2 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 22,3 in Denmark and 8,7 in the Faroe Islands in 1993 (Jonsson, 1999, p.20). Another figure showing indirectly dissatisfaction with what is happening on the island, is the net migration rate. With -8,37 migrants/1000 people it is tenth in the world among the countries with the largest out-migration^².

Today, Greenlandic culture is to some extent a mixture of two realities. One is the indigenous culture, where fishing and hunting are important parts of one's identity and where there is respect for ancestors and traditional values. The other reality is the (post)modern lifestyle brought by Danes, with Scandinavian welfare and middle-class values, as well as the more global western pop-culture and commodification. It has brought to Greenland a division between the poor and the rich, where people living in traditional dwellings and hunting, instead of buying food in the supermarket, suddenly start to be seen as poverty-stricken and unemployed^³.

It may be therefore concluded that the struggle is not only between the indigenous Greenlandic culture and colonial Danish influence, but also more generally between the global culture and economy, and local traditions.

Similar factors – that is, local, colonial and global – also influence the linguistic situation on the island. Greenlandic, which comes from the same language family as the languages of the Inuits living in Canada and the USA, is the language commonly used by the population in Greenland. At the same time, Danish dominates administration and the media (Olsen, n.d.). Greenlandic society, consisting of around 88% Greenlanders, is practically bilingual, even though the two languages are diametrically opposed. However, there is also a third part to this equation, namely the English language, which Greenlanders need to learn if they want to compete in the global economy, as well as communicate with Americans from the military base in Qaanaaq (Thule).

On top of this, Greenland is severely affected by global warming. Decisions taken in other countries (e.g. about the emission of greenhouse gases in the USA) have a strong impact on the climate of the planet and, subsequently, on the condition of the ice cap in Greenland. There is no doubt now about the dramatic consequences it might have for the whole planet (for example floods), but it is also important to notice that it is also changing the Greenlandic environment and life on the island – all of this as a result of global problems rather than the Greenlanders' own actions. Paradoxically, at the same time as Greenland is gaining more and more political independence, it is also losing control over what is happening on the island. Looking at this issue from the point of view of the critical pedagogy of place, which is interested, among other things, in eco-justice (Gruenwald, 2003), and thus in “addressing environmental racism, including geographical injustice and environmental pollution” (p.6), we may see that this situation violates the “Principles of Environmental Justice” (1991). Signed at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in October 1991 in Washington DC, they emphasise: “the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples.” (article 5).

This cultural, linguistic and environmental situation also finds its reflection in education, which can be seen as a theatre of struggle and the means of change. One of its goals has been formulated in the “Principles of Environmental Justice” (1991):

Environmental Justice calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasises social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives. (article 16)

Does Greenlandic education fulfil this aim?

Education in Greenland
The first known educational institutions in Greenland were schools founded by missionaries. Their aim was to enable people to read religious writings. Apart from their religious role, they had some impact on the literacy of the society, though it was limited by the lack of teaching qualifications and language skills of its Danish educators (Olsen, n.d.). Taking this into consideration and adding the fact that it was not until the second half of the 19th century that Samuel Kleinschmidt translated the Bible into Greenlandic and formulated the orthography of this language (Bricka, 1887-1905), the first students were most likely learning how to write and read in Danish and not in their own language. Moreover, in 1724, Greenlandic students started to be sent for their education to Denmark. Cultural assimilation by means of education began.

In 1845 a teachers' college was established, where Greenlanders were educated to become teachers. Karl Kristian Olsen, the director of Inerisaavik, the Greenlandic Institute of Educational Sciences, quotes in his article about education on the island (n.d.) Peter Berliner's book Skole og Samfund, where Christian Berthelsen, the first Greenlandic head of a school, gives an account of his education:

Our teacher didn't neglect geography, and in Danish history we learnt the succession of Danish kings. World history with the migration of ethnic groups and the first World War were also among the subjects. On the other hand we didn't hear so much concerning the history of Greenland. We learned little in mathematics over and above the four arithmetical skills. (as cited in Olsen, n.d.)

In the 1930's education on the island was strongly criticised by those Greenlanders who travelled to Denmark. In their opinion it was “too antiquated to rise to the challenges facing Greenland in conjunction with the transition from traditional hunting activity to a fishing industry. There was the desire for more and better instruction in the Danish language and for increased academic performance in the educational system.“ (Olsen, n.d.)

Later, these demands were modified and after the establishment of the home rule system, the contents of education were altered to adjust “to the needs of Greenlandic society” (Olsen, n.d.). Also, the language of instruction in schools was changed to Greenlandic, as it is nowadays. Even Danish students are integrated into Greenlandic-speaking classes. However, higher education is conducted “primarily in Danish.”^⁴ Danish is the first foreign language that children learn - it is compulsory in classes 4 to 11 ^⁵ and optional in class 12. English, which according to Tommerup Jensen (n.d.) is more popular among students, is introduced in the seventh grade.

Challenges for education
Since the 1970's, attempts at the “Greenlandization” of education have been strengthened, but not enough to overcome the obstacles. One of the major problems has been the lack of Greenlandic teachers. Even though teachers have possibilities of professional training, there are not enough candidates. Educated youth who study in Denmark, often choose to stay there instead of coming back. Therefore, around 20% of the teachers in Greenlandic schools are Danes, who meet language and culture barriers when they come to the island and who transmit their own culture rather than teaching to live in the indigenous one.

Apart from employing foreigners, other solutions to the problem of the lack of teachers include hiring people without any qualifications (Lynge, n.d. b) and making the teachers work more. The latter option results in most of them being overworked (Christiansen & El-Salanti, n.d.).

There is also a lack of teaching materials, as not enough have been printed, probably because of the low numbers of potential readers (Guldberg, n.d.). Many teachers have to develop their own instructional materials, while some use Danish ones.

One of the biggest problems for Greenlandic education and a consequence of the two factors mentioned above, is that while primary and secondary education are held in Greenlandic, the language of instruction in tertiary education is mostly Danish. Students need to speak it very well to be able to study. Therefore, there have been voices that by “the excessive concentration on Greenlandic and the respective downgrading of Danish language skills” (“Greenland's School System,” 2003) Greenlandic government policy has lead to a high dropout rate in higher education - in 2003 there were only 3 newly graduated social workers, out of 13 accepted onto the programme. In other high schools the numbers are also alarming (ibid.).

Consequently, there are not enough highly educated workers born in Greenland, while in the labour market “the emphasis is on formal educational degrees rather than on native knowledge, local personal contacts and networks, as well as the local language” (Jonsson, 1999, p.19). This leads to hiring Danish professionals instead of Greenlanders, which Jonsson calls “institutionalised racism,” and which further hinders the “accumulation of work experience of native workers and hence the accumulation of local know-how and skills” (Jonsson, 1999, p.22). Another result of this situation is the maintenance of dependence on Denmark and delay in the potential sovereignty of the island.

Improving the Danish language skills of the students might help with the dropout rate, it does not however seem to be the way of overcoming Danish dominance and empowering Greenlanders. We can also look at the high dropout rate differently - Angayuqaq and Barnhardt (n.d.) suggest:

Students in indigenous societies around the world have, for the most part, demonstrated a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the experience of schooling in its conventional form - an aversion that is most often attributable to an alien school culture, rather than any lack of innate intelligence, ingenuity, or problem-solving skills on the part of the students. The curricula, teaching methodologies, and often the teacher training associated with schooling are based on a worldview that does not always recognise or appreciate indigenous notions of an interdependent universe and the importance of place in their societies.

A critical pedagogy of place, starting from the very beginning of children's education, can possibly be the answer to this problem. Looking first at one of its parts, place-based pedagogy, we may conclude that it is not only experiential, so the students are more likely to become engaged in what they learn, but it also relates to the environment they live in, to the local culture and traditions. It is much broader then just “learning to earn” (Woodhouse & Knapp, 2000, p.4). It is rather “learning to be where we are” (Smith, 2002, p. 584).

Smith (2002) has emphasised that there is no settled curriculum in place-based education, as it depends on the characteristics of each location and the teachers themselves. However, he has listed five general “thematic patterns that can be adapted to different settings” (p. 587):

cultural studies (getting to know the local culture and history, for example by interviewing local people)
nature studies (observation of local nature)
real-world problem solving (students identify problems at school or in the local community and try to solve them)
internships and entrepreneurial opportunities offered to students, so that they see employment possibilities after graduation and do not drop out of school or consider migration as their only chance to find a satisfying occupation
induction into community processes, which can teach children how they can contribute to the life of the community, by engaging them in various projects, for example ecological ones.

All of these ideas would seem to be able to improve Greenlandic education. By including local (indigenous) knowledge and relating education to the human and non-human environment, place-based education can strengthen students' engagement in learning and their relation to the place they live in. If joined with showing possibilities of employment in the local community (for example as teachers), students might be less likely to abandon the island.

Another vital part of the pedagogy of place is environmental education. Sobel (1999) has emphasised the importance of first helping children to love nature by exploring it and later, approximately at the age of 12, to start social actions to save it. However, it is essential to notice the specific environmental situation of Greenland. If most of the environmental problems come from outside the island, action is of particular significance, not merely in one's local community, but on an international scale as well. That is why not only identifying the problems and trying to find solutions, but also learning to effectively express one's needs, are the skills that should be found in the curriculum. In other words, Greenlanders should learn to “re-inhabit” their places, that is, they should learn to “pursue the kind of social action that improves the social and ecological life of places, near and far, now and in the future” (Gruenwald, 2003, p.7).

Conclusion
Looking at the present situation of Greenland, it may be concluded that if Greenlanders want to become more independent and overcome cultural and social inequalities in the place where they live, they need to make some changes to their education. Firstly, more students should be encouraged to finish their studies and stay on the island. This could partly be done by means of a consistent policy towards languages in schools, that is for example, encouraging students to learn foreign languages, but without making their whole success at school contingent upon this one factor.

Secondly, it seems vital on the one hand, to keep the level of schools similar to those in Denmark, so that students are able to study abroad, but on the other hand, to include more elements of indigenous knowledge into the education the Greenlanders receive. This may not only strengthen pupils' relations to the place they live in and, possibly, decrease the number of emigrants, but also support de-colonisation by showing the value of the local culture.

Critical pedagogy of place, that is, analysing education in terms of social, cultural and ecological justice joined with using the methodology suggested by place-based education might help with both re-inhabiting and de-colonising the island. Whatever its inhabitants decide – staying in the Danish Realm or leaving it - being able to generally “live well” (Gruenwald, 2003, p.9) on the island and to change whatever they find harmful to themselves or their environment are vital skills to be learned.

1 Data from July 2006

2 Data for 2006, from: Immigration Statistics, Retrieved: April 11, 2007 from: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/imm_net_mig_rat-immigration-net-migration-rate&int=-1

3 This point of view is presented for example in Grønland i Tusinde År by Erik Erngaard, (Erngaard, 1973) pp.194-195, “Det rige land og det fattige” (“The rich land and the poor”) where we have two pictures presented – one of a “woman in her modern kitchen enjoying coffee” and the other of a woman, who cuts ice and boils it in a kettle. The latter “doesn't belong to the rich society” (“hører ikke til det rige samfund”), says the text.

4 From the University of Greenland's website. Retrieved April 05, 2007, from http://www.ilisimatusarfik.gl/Home/OmIlisimatusarfik/tabid/60/Default.aspx

5 In Greenland children start primary school at the age of six.

References

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Bricka, C.F. (1887-1905). Kleinschmidt, Samuel Petrus. Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, 1st edition [Electronic version] p.218

Christiansen, J.M. & El-Salanti, N. (n.d.). Hverdagen i folkeskolen - om undervisernes og inspektørernes psykiske arbejdsmiljø, trivsel og samarbejde: Rapport om den grønlandske folkeskole. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://www.casa-analyse.dk/2667

Erngaard, E. (1973). Grønland i tusinde år. Lademann Forlagsaktieselskab, Copenhagen: Lademann Forlagsselskabet.

Goldbach, I. (2000). Greenland: education and society between tradition and innovation [Electronic version]. Intercultural Education; Nov2000, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p259-271, 13p

“Greenland's school system buckles under dropout rate” (2003). Retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,692393&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Gruenewald, D.A. (2003). The best of both worlds: a critical pedagogy of place [Electronic version]. Educational Researcher, 32, 3-12.

Guldberg, H. (n.d.). Hvor går grænsen i Grønland?- indtryk fra en danskers undervisning i Grønland. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://udd.uvm.dk/199810/udd9.htm?menuid=4515

Jensen, J.A. (2003). The position of Greenland and the Faroe Islands within the Danish Realm. European Public Law; June 2003, Vol. 9 Issue 2, pp. 170-178

Jonsson, I. (1999). Greenland. From Home Rule to Independence: New opportunities for a new generation in Greenland [Electronic version]. In H. Petersen & B. Poppel (Eds.), Dependency, Autonomy and Conditions for Sustainability in the Arctic, Aldershot: Ashgate.

“Histoire du peuplement du Groenland de l'Est et du Nord - Les Eskimos,” (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2007, from http://www.alainbidart.fr/OLD/peuple/g2.htm

Lynge, F. (n.d. a). Selvstyre for Grønland. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from http://www.nanoq.gl/

Lynge, F. (n.d. b). Selvstyre: Gå-på-mod. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://www.namminersorneq.gl/dk/dk_gen3-02.htm

Mendel, M., (Ed.), (2006). Pedagogika miejsca. Wrocław : Wydawnictwo Naukowe Dolnośląskiej Szkoły Wyższej Edukacji TWP

Olsen, K.K. (n.d.). Education in Greenland. Retrieved January 2006, from http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/IEW/edgreen.html

“Principles of Environmental Justice” (1991). Retrieved April 18, 2007, from: http://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html

Rasmussen, R.O., (n.d.). Factsheet Denmark: Greenland, Retrieved December 10, 2005 from http://www.nanoq.gl/English.aspx

Smith, G.A. (2002). Place-based education: Learning to be where we are. Phi Delta Kappan, 83, pp. 584-594

Sobel, D. (1999). Beyond Ecophobia. Yes!, Winter 1999 Issue: Education for Life. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=803

Tommerup Jensen, K. (n.d.). Danish in Greenland: From curriculum to reality. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://home.scarlet.be/~giedoc/tino/tomme_en.htm

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Citizenship and Adult Education as Prerequisite for Civic Society

2007-10-10T17:10:00.001+02:00

Vaiva Zuzevičiūtė
Doctoral student, Department of Education, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Margarita Teresevičienė
Professor, Department of Education, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Ligija Kaminskienė,
Associated Professor, Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies, Vilnius University, Lithuania

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For Lithuania*, the last fourteen years are marked by an intense social change and development, which enables authors suggesting an assumption for this paper, namely, that learning and being a citizen are two closely related processes (Katus, 2002). Moreover, an analysis of the influence of adult education upon the development of civic society should be interpreted in broader social and historical contexts.

As a new member of the European Union, our state is challenged by a number of international obligations, its citizens are also challenged by a number of new responsibilities; and the ability to exercise these responsibilities is to be acquired. One of such responsibilities is to exercise national and global citizenship adequately. According to Katus (Katus, 2002, 7 p.) “we learn how to be citizens by practicing it. Citizenship is, therefore, a matter of lifelong learning, and the place where this for the greatest part takes place is civil society”

A claim of the primary importance of education and lifelong learning as a way of promoting civic society is defended in this paper; an intrinsic interrelationship between these two processes is also pointed out. The aim of this paper is to identify those features of Lithuanian society, which characterize it as learning, and, therefore, a civic society.
Literature and document analysis, empiric qualitative study and meta analysis of studies are employed as methods of this paper

For further analysis, at least two contexts are discerned here: international and national. International context acts as a significant catalyst of change as it preconditions global integration and integration into the EU. At the national level interrelated process of iterative relationship between development of adult education and social initiatives is identified.

CHART 1. Citizenship and Adult Education as Prerequisite for Civic Society

Citizenship, Social initiatives and Education: Contemporary Issues
Analysis of the influence of adult education towards the development of civic society is based upon the investigation of a number of processes that take place in Lithuanian and global societies. For cultural purposes it may be reasonable to present a short glimpse of ideas on citizenship at its dawn and compare it with contemporary contemplations on the theme. The overview is aimed at developing (i) mutual framework for further analysis and (ii) for pointing out a certain specificity of Lithuanian society and its initiatives of learning.

The birth of the concept and the very phenomenon of citizenship in the West, it is generally agreed, come from the Classical Greece. Greeks were profoundly concerned with establishment of order against chaos, as they were at frontier of establishing civilised: regulated and managed by reason world, as opposed to the world, which was regulated by unknown forces. This concern is reflected in their philosophy, literature and understanding of what social cohabitation is. As a social dimension, order for Greeks seems to be intimately related to citizenship. The most widely spread and acknowledged model of ‘citizenship’ seems to include the following factors:

Common law should be established to protect [the citizen] against internal and external threats;
Appropriate and negotiated systems of governance are the best way to ensure the common law is administered properly;
Norms and values of the community should serve as benchmarks of citizens’ behaviour. (Castles, Davidson, 2000)

Law, securing of its functioning, and norms/values are at focus in this model; therefore, those are several themes at least, which might be pursued in our paper in order to disclose the phenomenon of being a citizen and of acting as one. Legislation concerning equal rights and duties, as well as systems and prevailing norms seems to be an integral part of the concept of citizenship.

However, contemporary discussions on citizenship seem to be focused on the context of citizenship. If for an ancient Greek ‘citizenship’ meant order, security and relative freedom in a very specific, geographically, socially, and politically defined area, it is not the case today, or at least it is debatable.

Though citizenship, as Field (2002) notes, is a complex idea, which has its roots in antiquity, it acquired its contemporary significance during the 18 century revolutions and due to the Enlightenment movement. The idea of “citizenship” refers to conditions under which people participate in the wider community. Usually, and historically, the wider community is related to the entity - nation state. This relation was reflected and even emphasised during the processes of development of nation states in 19 century. In a number of instances relating an individual to one’s political/economic/social context by means of identification as a ‘citizen’ of a certain entity, proved to be a powerful means of building those political/economic/social entities (Giddens, 1993). On the other hand, the means of relating through “citizenship’, was also corrupted in many instances (Brookfield, 1995). It seems, citizenship has lost its intrinsic, un-reflected relatedness to values. Though historically ‘citizenship’ was equated to loyalty and responsibility, the equation sometimes lacked equilibrium. Duties and rights should be equally represented in the equation. If duties are overemphasised, individuals lose the ability to voice their authentic needs (Brookfield, 1995). Even if historical importance of citizenship in the formation of national states cannot be overestimated, recent tendencies, referred to as postmodernism or late modernity, sometimes question the importance of national state for citizenship. It is widely argued that citizenship is being transformed, and possibly has lost its original meaning, under the impact of globalising trends. Proponents of the idea note a shift of economic power particularly (Hargreaves, 1999). Increasingly, decisions are taken at the level of trans-national corporations; these decisions affect across national boundaries, and quite often decisions are unaffected by nation states. However, Field notes the controversy of these arguments. Even if there are clear signs that globalising tendencies are weakening some roles of the nation state, there are also signs that nation states can regain their roles. One of the examples is formation of trans-national coalitions such as the EU. The coalition, sometimes referred to as supra-nation, assists in retaining and even strengthening capacities of national states. Field points out that these tendencies exemplify the strengthening of national states, rather than their weakening. Thus the claim that the strength of globalising tendencies has changed the terms of engagement, and that nation states are therefore in an extremely unstable and uncertain situation can be viewed with some reservation.

In this context, the situation of the Lithuanian state exemplifies the issues revealed by the analysis. According to Article 17 of the Treaty establishing the European Community: “Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship”. Therefore, Lithuanian society faces multiple challenges, one of these being to balance nationally and internationally valid initiatives.

As it was argued before, globalisation has not negated the role of nation. Therefore, tendencies noticeable at the national level remain to be monitored and managed in order to anticipate and design the directions of meaningful social initiatives on a broader scale. In Lithuania, as well as in other countries, e.g., the US, and many European countries, the decline of voters in elections is evident, as it was proved on 13 June, 2004 (election to the European Parliament), with participation being the lowest in 20 years. The same applies to participation in various social movements. Though there are no significant political movements that advocate a class-based revolution, there are a number of movements based on religious, national or other interests. It seems the nature of movements has shifted from integrating to segmenting: though separate movements seem to integrate less people, there are more kinds of movements (Giddens, 1992). Individuals seem to have lost unified identity; rather, we can identify the shift to a multiple identity, and, sometimes, the confusion of identity.

Summing up, we can conclude that post modernist pluralisation (Field, 2002) of political life seems to be developing, and this seem to be the most articulated characteristics of a contemporary civic society. Contemporary citizenship seems to be related to individual rights more than it has ever been before. More often the process of pluralisation is accompanied by the withdrawal of individuals from the exercise of traditional activities and by the engagement in new forms of activities, which also entails the design and administration of these new activities. It seems that in a contemporary society a balance between individualism and social integration should be sought. Retaining the personally meaningful and socially operative equilibrium of civil rights and duties (responsibility), considering wider contexts (international, historical) seems to be a possible starting working definition for citizenship, CHART 2.

CHA

CHART 2 Working concept of Citizenship

Legal basis for adult education
First and foremost, the national legal basis for education deserves thorough analysis, as, on the one hand, legal documents can be treated as indicators of socio-economic and cultural achievements of the State, and, on the other hand, they can be interpreted as guidelines for further change and development. Moreover, the classical model of citizenship indicates ‘common law’ as its first constituent.

The evolution of laws that constitute legal foundation for continued formal and non-formal education and the philosophy behind it are of primary importance for revealing Lithuanian social engagement. The documents are analysed in a chronological order.

Law on Education of the Republic of Lithuania (1991), which established the foundations governing the structure, activities and management of educational institutions (with the exception of the institutions of higher education) of the Republic of Lithuania should be mentioned as the one of primary importance. Article 1 defines major goals of the educational system, while Article No3 seeks "to provide possibilities of a continuing education for the residents of Lithuania" (VET-Related, p.5, 1997). A recently (2002) updated draft of the law emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning as prerequisite for national prosperity. It was developed by the Ministry of Education and Science and now is under debate in the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania). It determines the goals of education, establishes principles underlying the system of education, foundations underpinning the structure of the system as well as responsibilities of the state in the field of education. It also states that separate laws regulate educational activities in different sectors: the Law on Vocational Education, the Law on Higher Education, the Law on Non-formal Adult Education, etc.

General Concept of Education of Lithuania (1992) points out: "adult education is the largest part of the continuous education system and encompasses persons who are usually above the age of 18 and not studying in the sequential education school system" (1992).

One of the major developments in the field of promoting adult education was introduction of the Concept of the System of Adult Education in 1993. It recognizes adult learning and adult education both as themes to be discussed and as phenomena to be promoted at the national level. As the main theme of this paper is broad and complex interrelationship between education and being a citizen, it is important to point out that the Concept outlines both structure of formal and non-formal adult education. The concept also emphasizes two types of formal and non-formal adult education. The first is directly related to needs of the labour market (training of unemployed and employer-initiated employee training). The other is for disadvantaged social groups like disabled, soldiers in the mandatory military service, immigrants and convicts, therefore adult education in Lithuania seems to be viewed as a means of social inclusion.

Both Law on Vocational Education and Training (1997) and Law on Non- formal Adult Education (30 June, 1998) should be mentioned. In the Law on Non- formal Adult Education objectives for non-formal education are enumerated. These are:

To assist the individual in a process of self-actualisation and education,
To provide the individual with the possibilities to acquire competences necessary to compete in labour market,
To develop individual potential, and, which is in the focus of our analysis,
To assist the individual in becoming an active citizen of democratic society

The legal basis, as it was stated previously, both illustrates the current situation in the society and indicates the guidelines for development, therefore the process of unfolding of policies for future actions is worth observing.

Policy documents under discussion.
In May-June 2001 the consultation on the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning was carried out in Lithuania. In discussions it was concluded that Lithuania does not have coherent and integrated Lifelong Learning strategy, and that this issue should be given a special attention. In response to that Strategy on Lifelong Learning was developed in 2003. It states that Vocational Education & Training (VET) is a major component of Lifelong Learning, because it seeks to maximize the value of the country's greatest asset: people, human resources.

Drafts of three more important documents are under discussion at present: the Law on Education, mentioned above, and Guidelines for Education for the period of 2003-2012. The Task Force set up by the President of the Republic of Lithuania drafted Guidelines for Education. It is an exhaustive document built up of four chapters:

Educational reform: a necessity of the present time (in the international and national context).
Effective and coherent system (a vision of the development of education system).
Ensuring access, social fairness and sustainability.
Quality assurance.

The role of the third sector: participation, social inclusion and decision-making
NGOs for adult education
As it was argued earlier, contemporary – or post-modernist - society is characterised by the decline of massive movements and decline of political engagement. On the other hand, it is characterised by engagement in personally meaningful and socially operative activities. At the moment there are approximately 8000 NGOs in Lithuania. As one of the first and most important indicators of contemporary civil society is pluralism, the development of the third sector is a highly positive process.

Participation in NGOs is voluntary, and is based on activity and initiative of participators, which is a prerequisite for a more effective learning (Tereseviciene, Zemaitaityte, 2000). Moreover, the majority of NGOs in Lithuania (60 %) indicate educational activities as a priority or one of the activities they undertake. One of the most active organizations in the field is Lithuanian Association of Adult Education. It was founded in 1992; at that time, only 25 individuals and 4 corporate members participated. Today, there are 23 corporate members, the list includes organizations, schools, other NGOs, etc. Dienys (2002) notes that the movement has been spreading all over Lithuania: if in 1993 73% of all members were from Vilnius and Kaunas (Lithuania’s major cities), in 2001 only 27% of all members come from those cities. As the main aim of this organization is to promote active, conscious learning, which meets the socio-economic needs of each individual, this dynamics is positive. Lithuanian Association of Adult Education enables to get in touch with those who suffer social exclusion or who are threatened by it, i.e. those, for whom this social educational initiative may become a new chance for survival.

The problem of social inclusion and the role of adult education in the field is another major theme when social initiatives are discussed. Governments do apply policies for reduction of unemployment and provision of educational services. Agencies like Lithuanian Labour Market Training Authority, Territorial Labour Market Training and Counselling Service (6 of them), Information and Counselling Centres (40 of them) work actively in Lithuania. However, social initiatives provide people with better-targeted services. Zemaitaityte (2001) points out, that 37.7% of interviewed respondents/adult educators reported themselves as initiators and promoters of courses for adults. Adult education seems to be needed, because most often participants finance it themselves, CHART 3. It can be explained by both the quality of services provided by educators and the pursuit for educational experiences that adult learners exhibit.

CHART 3. Financing of adult education in Lithuania (Zemaitaityte, 2001; p.96)

Folk high schools in Lithuania
Folk high schools were established as another effective and attractive form of adult education, which is not directly related to socio-economic needs, but is, rather, related to an individual’s strive for authenticity. The function of these schools is to meet personal needs of self-actualization. At first the initiative was small scaled, which, as we have argued, exemplifies one of the main characteristics of contemporary civic society – attention to individual needs as opposed to mass needs.

Folk high schools were established after the re-establishment of Lithuania’s Independence. This process was triggered and supported by the activities of certain individuals, who were attracted to the ideas popular in Scandinavian countries and Germany. In 1998 Lithuanian enthusiasts who worked in the sphere of adult education founded first three institutions (Seaside Folk High School, Sintautai Academy and Rumsiskes Estate Museum Academy). The success of these schools encouraged the establishment of NALMA (National Association of Folk High Schools). The establishment of the Association exemplifies, among other things, institutionalisation of successful initiatives.

Folk high schools fulfil their functions successfully, though during the five years of history, there have been ups and downs. The schools make a strong point of meeting the individual demands of their clients. Perhaps the most important feature of this social initiative is the atmosphere, which prevails in schools: co-operation and collaboration between educators and participants is based on principles of equality and mutual support. Human interaction is considered to be the crucial part of learning processes. Authenticity and human interaction which lead to self fulfilment in personal/family/work life are the main themes to be discussed in order to make the life of each individual’s worth living (Jarvis, 2002).

Informal education – dynamics and problems
Informal education comprises a larger part of people’s life. Though informal education traces its origins in the very beginning of human history, its role during the Soviet period cannot be underestimated. The ideas of Lithuanian national identity, culture and language were fostered through various cultural activities: amateur folk dance, song and craft groups and circles.
Today informal learning takes place in culture centres 1023 cultural centres (these institutions function mainly in rural areas; one of two full or part time organisers of cultural activities work there: they organise activities of bands, choruses, groups, folk group etc.) all over Lithuania, adult amateur art groups/bands (more than 3000) and in other forms; on the whole more than 30,000 people participate in those activities. There were 3571 libraries in Lithuania in the end of 2003, (www. http://www.lrkm.lt/index.php?ItemId=19134). Unfortunately, the number of readers declines, CHART. 4.

CHART 4. Negative dynamics of readers, in thousands

As studies show (Tereseviciene, 2002) people are not always aware of participating in a learning activity, however, participation stimulates the activity, and, therefore, the ability to voice their needs and strive for them.

Role of underrepresented groups
Another indicator of civil society is participation of formerly underrepresented groups in certain social activities; as an example women’s movement is analysed in this paper.

Women comprise 52.8% of the population in Lithuania; however, their participation in different forms of social activities is uneven.

On the one hand, adult educators (89.5% or respondents) report women to be actively involved in adult education (Zemaitaityte, 2001). Women’s participation in NGOs, various educational activities is high, and this fact is emphasized in paper.

On the other hand, their participation in political life is still misbalanced. In 2000, only 17.6% of women were elected to local authorities, and their participation in the Seimas (Parliament) has not ever exceeded 20%. Though many political parties claim to have quotas for members – women in the election lists, it is often recognized to be rhetoric rather than reality. Even socio-democrats, who claimed to have a 20 % quota for the last elections to local authorities, admitted to have failed to adhere to the standard (State News). Equal political participation and representation seems to be a serious issue in the process of the development of civic society. Establishment of Women’s Party in 1999 can exemplify one of such initiatives. It is perhaps worth noting that 40% of members of this party are men (Economic and Social Development, 2002). The fact might illustrate the ability of women to co-operate and to effectively apply joint effort.

As studies reveal, often the rights of women are violated: 92.4% of respondents reported this to be the case (Mecajeva, 2003). Respondents indicated spheres, where violation is most evident and frequent: economics (unemployment); economics (poverty); family (violence; studies reveal that up to 50% of women suffer from harassment in family); social/public life (inadequate participation in decision making processes) and others (Mecajeva, 2003). However, women seem to be very conscious about their situation: respondents report the need for female quota at local and national level elections, they also support the idea of positive discrimination: e.g., the necessity to organize non-formal women’s education on issues of equality and rights. Respondents also mentioned the importance of educational measures for the support of mothers with young children, disabled children, or children with special needs, also for women, who have to update their professional qualification. The majority of respondents (women) indicated education and learning to be the key means for changing the quality of their lives; they would choose education opportunities rather than social benefits provided by any level of authority. Respondents seemed to be fully aware of the significance of their personal responsibility in achieving personal/professional goals. Social initiatives (e.g., engagement in various educational activities, joint social activities for solving common problems, such as optimizing the quality of life for women with disabled children and the like) were highly ranked.

Participation in formal education
Participation in formal education should be considered to be an important indicator of civic society, because it reflects both the role of the national state, and the role of institutionalised initiatives in the development of civic society.

In this paper participation in formal education is presented with greater emphasis on higher education (HE), because of global and European trends. Higher education enables active participation in socio-economic life at national and international levels. With Lithuania joining multinational organizations this aspect is of crucial importance. An ability to participate in decision-making, express opinions and, therefore, participate in democracy requires personal and social competence. Otherwise, people are unable to make motivated decisions or voice their needs.

It also should be noted, that educational ambitions for career advancement are traditional in Lithuania. The majority of secondary school graduates wish to continue their studies: 63.5% of all secondary school graduates continued studies at colleges or universities in 2002 (10). In 2002, 107,000 students began their studies at different institutions of HE. It is a major increase (59.7%) in a comparison with 1993/4, when there were 67,000 students in Lithuania. In 2001/3here were 345 students per 10,000 inhabitants, and in 200/3 the number has reached 378 students per 10,000 inhabitants (note – if number of students in colleges is included, the indicator in 2002/3 is 495) (11).

A recent change that should be noted in relation to adult education concept is that many people come back for further (HE included) education later in their lives (CHART 5).

CHART 5. Dynamics of an average age of students at institutions of HE
Unemployment is one of the most widely spread aspects of social exclusion. A short historical overview reveals the difference between the situation in Western countries and Lithuania. In 1970 – 1980 the tendency of unemployment of people with higher education was noticed in Western Europe and the US. According to the official statistics, which at that time was somewhat unreliable, the problem was not evident in Lithuania. The conclusion could be made that either everyone with higher education got employed or that the problem revealed itself later, though it had existed. It is important to note that employability and the role of HE became an issue of discussions in Western Europe earlier than in Lithuania. Nowadays the possibility for a graduate to be employed has become a major issue in any discussion on the strategies of HE.

In this context the changing role and perception of social responsibility of formal education is worth mentioning. Today more and more institutions of formal education provide adults with the variety of services. These services are tailored for adults’ needs and are designed to meet their patterns of work/family/personal lives. Vocational schools, colleges and universities increasingly find adult learner’s educational needs to be a catalyst of the institutional development. Table 1 (11) presents data about adult participation in services, provided by institutions of formal education. It is evident that participation has increased by 30% in two academic years This tendency is worth noting because of two reasons. The first is the change of the role of institutions of HE: earlier they seemed to rely on the ‘ivory tower’ status; today these institutions more and more engage in market-based interactions with community. Study forms are directed towards being ‘user friendly’ and flexible.

On the other hand, the social shift of participants brings about increasing demands posed by the labour market. Professional development is increasingly viewed as an inevitable necessity

TABLE 1. Education for Adults in Vocational Schools, Colleges and Universities

Accessibility of Lithuanian higher education for national minorities and people from neighbouring European and other countries is an important issue, because it involves intercultural and international decisions. With globalisation process ahead of us, this will turn out to be a necessary competence and regular practice. It should be mentioned that Lithuania is still a very homogeneous society, i.e., according to the last census (Spring 2001), there are more than 82% Lithuanians, 9% Poles, 7% Russians; people of other nationalities comprise 2% of total population (State News, 2002). This homogeneity, most probably, accounts for the relatively small number of those who study in HE in Russian or Polish languages. However, according to The Law of Education of the Republic of Lithuania (2001), article No 30, every citizen of the Republic of Lithuania has the right to study in Lithuanian or the person’s native language. Table 2 (11) presents data of the language of studies.

TABLE 2. Students in Lithuania according to their language of studies

However, the number of those studying in a foreign language does not reflect the number of EU citizens in Lithuanian higher education institutions. Most of the students adopt English, French or German languages as their study languages for the sake of convenience. At present students from 42 countries of the world are studying in Lithuanian HE institutions. A greater part of them comes from Lebanon – 151 (or 22 % of all foreigners), from China – 55 (of 8%), Pakistan – 59 (9%), Poland – 36 (6%), Byelorussia – 67 (10%) students (11).

Women’s activity in education was mentioned earlier, in the context of their rights and issues of equality. In the context of formal education women’s activity is also evident: 57.7% of women in 30 – 39 age group acquired higher education; among 25 – 29 year-olds the indicator is over 60%. However, the misbalance of situation in cities (89 % of all women have acquired higher education) and rural areas (only 11% have higher education) poses another challenge for adult education: to provide compensational and supportive measures, so that equal access to education could be ensured.

In 2002, OECD completed its survey of Lithuanian educational system and submitted its conclusions. Recommendations for further reform were enumerated, as for further employment of flexible study forms (modules), appropriate teaching/learning methods (andragogical approach), also, more active engagement of social partners (employers, professional associations). Significantly, the progress, which institutions of formal education have achieved towards flexible, reactive, and - sometimes – proactive services, was noted.

Participation in project activities
As the last aspect of social initiatives in our society of change, participation in projects may be discussed. Though the majority of projects is developed internationally, we chose to view those activities at both national and international levels. CHART 1 (see above) outlines the sequence of the paper: in the chart, project development can be perceived as an integrating activity, which relates activities at national level to activities at international level.

Participatory activities in projects are indicators of both individual activity and the ability of co-operation in small groups. Co-operation in small, voluntary groups, with an emphasis on task, with no permanent structure except the collaborative one, is, according to authors, one of the most articulated features of being a citizen. Features of these social initiatives: ability to co-operate, collaborate, allocate time and human recourses, describe citizens as actively involved in the development of their socio-economic reality. This is of extreme importance in the light of international integration processes challenging Lithuanian society. As projects involve participation at international level, skills of collaboration will be of crucial importance with the processes of European and global integration at face.

European Union funded Socrates / Grundtvig projects focus on adult education and learning. Therefore, twofold and intrinsically interconnected processes: adult education and learning take place in the course of co-operation of individuals when they seek to promote adult education and learning, CHART 6:

CHART 6. Project activities: two fold development

To illustrate growing social activity and individual initiative, we collected some data related to project proposal selection for ‘Grundtvig 2’ educational initiatives. It turned out that in 2002 Lithuanian National Agency received 26 project proposals, 12 of which were selected for funding by the EU Socrates / Grundtvig head office. Moreover, the number of institutions submitting project proposals increased: from 21 organization in 2001 to 33 organisations in 2002 (Treciokiene, 2002).

At the moment 35 Grundtvig projects are being carried out in Lithuania (Treciokiene, 2003). 27 Lithuanian institutions participate (or have participated) in these projects together with 126 institutions from foreign countries; an average number of participating countries per project is 4 to 5.

Lithuanian institutions participating in educational restructuring represent a variety of adult education sources: a museum, a library, a research institute, four local authorities, four adult education/further education institutions, four institutions of higher education, twelve non-profit NGOs.

CHART 7. Lithuanian institutions involved in educational projects, according to type

The analysis of Grundtvig projects reveals the contents that reflect the aspirations of civic society: promotion of EU relevant policies and culture, integration of socially marginalized (disabled) people, education of people in rural areas, education of parents and fostering of generations‘ communication, development of specific curriculum and modules, professional development of adult educators, IT literacy, foreign language instruction, women’s education, education of retired people, development of information networks. Social initiatives enable more effective and deeper social communication both by providing themes and means for communication.
Our analysis has revealed that in some instances adult education is a direct prerequisite for social initiatives, which trigger further socially engaged activities. The founding of folk high schools, as well as projects, designed to assist integration, education of disabled people, women, are examples of social initiatives intertwined with adult education.

Development of new competencies through participation in education-related social movements or project development were highlighted as examples of social initiatives.

Concept of Citizenship Today
In order to find out the current state in this field, a preliminary study has been completed in spring, 2004, Kaunas city, where two groups of respondents were asked to continue the open ended sentence: “To be a citizen for me…..”:.

The first group of respondents (58; 49 of them - girls) was comprised of students at a vocational school, aged 17 – 19. The second group of respondents (39; 17 of them – women) was comprised of unemployed adults, aged 37 – 58, who participated in specially designed courses, provided by college.

Open-ended contributions revealed at least four groups of concepts, which would fall under headings, identified in an above analysis:

Me – my needs and my rights (or Individual rights as in CHART 2); one of these contributions goes as follows: “To be a citizen for me means to be protected, and it also means that I can do whatever I want”. This contribution comes from a seventeen years old boy.

Next group of contributions can be identified as
Me and others (or Civic duties/responsibilities), understanding of duties can be identified; as an example, a contribution of an eighteen years old girl can be quoted: “To be a citizen for me is to comply to rules, because then I may demand others to comply to rules as well (for example – teachers! If I don’t use mobile phone in class, I may expect my teachers to do the same)”. A 38 years old woman states: “To be a citizen for me means to live in a state where my family and I are protected by laws, therefore I am ready to comply to laws, though sometimes they seem so foolish! And also democracy is important; it is not perfect in Lithuania however; but I always vote, even if it is cold (last year, on the day of president’s elections it was minus 20, but I am proud I went, and encouraged my husband to go – at least I know I did everything I could! I am not a part of this scandal!”.

The third group includes contributions that take the EU (or Consideration of a wider context) into consideration, as one of the 18 years old girls stated: “…is both to work hard to have opportunities, especially with the European Union at hand, I think I will try to work in another country, but I have to know language and proper ways of conduct, also know basic rules in order to be acceptable”. And the fourth group includes opinions, based on history and legacy. It is interesting to note that respondents of both groups contributed ideas that fall under the heading. A 17 years old girl notes: “…is to respect what my grandparents have fought for, and also my parents (probably the events of 1991 were meant, as by that time her parents must have been in their early thirties – M.T., and V.Z); I think that good thinks – for example to live in a democracy and have a right to speak out one’s opinions – cost a lot.”, and a 56 years old man notes that “… means hard work. It was hard for our parents; it was hard for us to stand for independency. But I never thought it would be hard to stand for democracy every day, and that what’s needed! I think I owe for those who died or where deported to vote, to speak to my children about these things, however they are not interested, they are interested in other things now…”
Contributions like “To have a passport”, were not considered in the analysis, they were allocated into the fourth group.

Analysis of these findings enables preliminary conclusions: it seems that age is not the main factor for the depth of concept: respondents in both groups noted legacy, international aspect, balance of rights and duties. However, younger respondents mentioned, “passport”, “right to do whatever I want” several times, though older respondent did not share similar views. We may also conclude that older respondents communicate their ideas with other people (primarily – family members), therefore consistency of ideas, continuation of commitments seem to lie firmly within families, and education system has the foundation to build on.

Conclusions
The analysis is built upon the assumption that adult education, as a prerequisite for civic society, should be viewed in the context of contemporary post modernist trends, namely: pluralisation and segmentation. Lithuania, an Eastern European country of long history of democracy and a turbulent non-democratic recent past, is presented as a case study of social initiatives related to learning and education. The authors assume that Lithuanian society is a typical case of a society in rapid change, a change from a closed to pluralistic, civic society. The role of education in such a society deserves closer attention, as it may reveal tendencies typical of all societies in change, retaining, at the same time, deep-rooted national values and priorities.

1.The analysis indicates that legal basis for adult education has been rapidly developing since 1990. The legislation and requirements posed by processes of integration into multinational organizations promote ideas of life long learning and support active citizenship.
2.In Lithuania NGOs participate actively in different spheres of social life. The majority (60%) of those indicate adult education as their main activity.
3.Non-formal adult education is becoming more popular as the means for both personal self-actualisation and social inclusion.
4.Informal adult education meets the needs of individual’s authenticity, though sometimes it is not accessible due to substantial financial restraints.
5.Formal adult education becomes more inclusive, accessible, and flexible, and provides citizens with the opportunities to acquire necessary competencies in every stage of individual’s life.
6.Formerly underrepresented group – e.g., women – are actively involved in educational activities and socio-economic life; although they are not sufficiently represented in political activities, they are aware of their needs and are able to voice them.
7.Participation in task orientated activities – project development - is viewed as an articulated example of ability to co-operate and collaborate effectively, which is one of the distinct features of active citizenship.
8.Preliminary study revealed that both young and mature people are conscious about them being citizens, and even if they ascribe different contents to the concept, these seems to fall into three groups of equilibrium, formulated as a working definition of citizenship, therefore this seems to be a meaningful framework for further studies.

Institutionalised reflexivity Giddens (1992), characterized by a widely understood need for dialogue and participation in it can be considered as one of the intrinsic features of contemporary society. Therefore Lithuanian society as the one actively involved in education and learning seems to be paving its way towards a socially engaged model of citizenship and making great emphasis on educational activities as a way of establishing a dialogue with world cultures and societies.

References:
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6.Development of Competitiveness of Lithuanian Work Force in the Process of Integration to EU. Research Institute on Work Force and Social Issues. Vilnius, 2001
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14.Giddens, A. (1993) Class and Power (Ed.) The Giddens Reader. Basingstoke. Macmillan.
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17.Katus, J. (2002) Diversity and Democracy Tested...//LLine, No.3. p.131
18.Lukosuniene, Vilija (2000). Tarptautinio bendradarbiavimo poveikis suaugusiųjų švietimo plėtrai Lietuvoje (LSŠA patirtis) (Influence of International Co-operation on Development of Adult Education in Lithuanian). Master degree theses. Kaunas, VMU, LT
19.Mecajeva, Liuda (2003). Lyčių lygiateisiškumo problemų sprendimo galimybės šiuolaikinės moters gyvenime nuolatinio mokymosi aspektu (Possibilities for Solving Problems of Womens‘ Equality – Aspect of Lifelong Learning). Master degree theses. Kaunas, VMU, LT
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25.Treciokiene Edita (2003). ES Socrates/ Grundtvig Projects for the Development of Lithuanian Adult Education//Vocational Education: Research and Reality. P.59 -68. LT
26.Treciokiene, Edita (2002) Lithuanian Continuing Education: Way to the European Union//Europahandbuch weiterbildung-EuHWB, Art. – Nr. 00570.
27.Zemaitaityte, Irena (2001). Neformalusis suaugusiųjų švietimas kaip besimokančios visuomenės veiksnys (Nonforml Adult Education as the Prerequisites for Learning Sodiety). PHD thesis. VMU, Kaunas, LT

At the Meeting of Cultures: An Afterword instead of a Review

2007-10-09T19:28:00.002+02:00

Tomasz Maliszewski
University of Gdansk

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I would like to ask the Editors of this volume to let me “escape” from the role of a typical reviewer. I would like to ask them and the readers to treat this test rather as a handful of miscellaneous thoughts or reflections on their publication. I hope that they will be willing to accept my suggestion. It seems to me that a form of a modest afterword will be more appropriate for such a short text than their original proposal of a very prominent position of a foreword or an introduction.
Let us start from posing a question: What makes us constantly try “to have a look” at what others are doing and then describe what we have seen with all the notional apparatus available to us and analyse it? Curiosity – an inborn quality of human nature? Need – coming from the necessity of “reaching the essence”, justified in one way or another? Or maybe something else as well? It seems that there will be a lot of answers – and they will depend on individual motifs that forced the person answering the question to “have a look”.

First thought. It is enough to go through the texts included in “Education at the Meeting of Cultures”, to find out that each of the authors will provide at least slightly different justification of why he or she has chosen this and not that topic of his or her considerations. The approaches to the selected research subject will also differ. And it is natural as the postulates of developing a uniform methodology of comparisons made in the area of education, voiced by Marc-Antoine Jullien de Paris (1775-1848) – the father of comparative pedagogy, included in his work Esquisse et vues préliminaires d’un ouvrage sur l’éducation comparée /Eng: Outline and Preliminary Views of a Work on Comparative Education, Paris 1817/ two centuries ago have never been put into practice [Průcha, 2004, p. 26]. Actually, today nobody even tries to put forward any proposals on the necessity of universalistic concept of comparative research, which, just a few decades, based on positivistic assumption of the possibility of finding general laws of development of education, was postulated by Pedro Rosselló (1897-1970) or Jean Piaget (1896-1980) – connected for years with the famous International Bureau of Education in Geneva [IBE, 2007]. Even a superficial review of contemporary research approaches to “peeping at the education of others” makes us conclude that there is a great variety of theoretical and methodological positions in this area. [comp.: Barczyk 1998, pp. 11-25, Pachociński 2007, pp. 11-67]. So the lack of methodological similarity of individual papers of the volume does not surely constitute a base for formulating any critical remarks about the volume, but perfectly illustrates the currently existing differences in the area of educational research works both on comparison of various systems and any educational phenomena happening “at the meeting of cultures”. It also seems that (almost) all the papers included in the publication also show well yet another current regularity that in this type of research there is now a clear shift of research emphasis from (self) limitation of the authors coming down to just description and attempts of understanding education, towards taking up challenges connected with explaining educational phenomena. That is why most of the works have acquired a mature, interdisciplinary character.

Second thought. Already in 2nd century B.C. Polybios from Megalopolis (ca 200-118 B.C.), in the opinion of the contemporaries the most distinguished historian of the Hellenic epoch and the author of a forty volume Historiae – the oldest known general history noted down a thought that “hardly ever there was any connection between events that were happening in the world, while now they are all viewed as one whole” [Piszczek (ed.), 1990, p.602]. It was thus a clear signal that in that world, due to Rome, some globalization processes were taking place, the processes that caused flourishing of interdependence between various societies and communities of the ancient world and a gradual integration of different cultures and social, which, in effect, led to the situation which Federico Mayor, UNESCO general director for many years called “the feeling of belonging to the world” [Mayor 2001, p.19]. Since that moment on the societies of our civilisation will always “be forced” to function, in a sense “at the meeting of cultures” – if you let me refer to the name of the Student’s Research Club “At the Meeting [of Cultures]”, operating at the Institute of Education of the University of Gdańsk, from which the editors of the volume come, and often “at the meeting of cultures” – if you let me recall yet another part of a title from this collection. It makes it necessary to constantly resolve the dilemmas of the proportion between locality and globality through the subsequent generations that have inhabited the Earth since Polybios’ times till today. And the methods of settling down the dilemmas themselves will be changing both in vertical direction – historical one, and horizontal – geographical one, each time showing the openness or self-confinement of the society in question, the society living in a given time of history and in a given place of the globe.

Third thought. Let us slightly change the perspective of our considerations. The role of education today, obviously enough, consists mainly in preparing citizens responsible towards the future, that is the necessity of stimulating reflection and teaching the skills of not being influence by others but of independent decision taking. As the above mentioned Mayor noted, being a responsible citizen “means an acquired ability to think, that is to remember, to compare”. And “remembrance and comparison constitute two essential elements of ethics” And “ethics itself is directed towards the future” and cannot satisfy itself with “carrying out the duty towards the present, does not limit itself to a contract”, as it is an ethics that “tells both the decision makers and the citizens to take up activities in due time, that is to anticipate” [Idem, pp. 491-492]. Therefore, it seems pretty obvious that today the main premises for building civic society and the educational practice leading to it are based on the postulates of wisdom and experience, which can be put into practice through referring to native wisdom and experience of the past generations, or to the wisdom and experience of others. It would, of course, be best to make use of those two opportunities at the same time. Many recipes for the future of education are provided by various sorts of experts: “Anchor localism in globalism, and what is individual – in what is collective and civic: emphasise interpersonal relations on the plane of information exchange, create conditions for development of any local and regional specific character inside the global network, so as to prevent formation of a uniform culture” [Idem, 2001, p. 398]. In other words, cognition, understanding, cooperation – yes, but not ahistorical approach and cultural peneplena. The desire to grasp the processes intellectually thus leads to taking up attempts at cognition, description, understanding and – often – explaining of what is going on in the community at the other side of “the borderline”, or in the community that is in an interaction of the type of “at the meeting of cultures” with us. Education of others is sometimes one of desired areas we want to learn about. Attempts at analysing ways of education and bringing up by other communities (enemies, friends, potential allies, etc.) were taken up already in Polybios times. And it was not infrequent that based on that conclusions were drawn on their condition, e.g. moral, intellectual or physical, or the communities tried to introduce elements of educational solutions of others – sometimes transferred uncritically, sometimes – as creative adaptations. Let us also emphasise that yet another motif of “peeping at” should be mentioned here since, as Michael E. Sadler (1861-1943) noted as early as in 1900, better understanding of native educational solutions becomes one of the practical benefits of international comparative studies on education [Pachociński, 2007, p.15]. This volume, with papers of authors from as many as five countries, indirectly but clearly confirms the viability of the arguments of the English educator voiced over a hundred years ago.

Fourth thought. I must admit that the fact the Editors of “Education at the Junction...” point out to my class on “Ideologies of Reforms of Educational Systems” that I had the pleasure of delivering at the Institute of Education of the University of Gdańsk two years ago was one of significant inspirations of making the effort of preparing the publication is of great satisfaction to me. And I hope that they will continue developing their research interests in world’s education. Let us take this opportunity to remind the readers that this publication is not the first study on international problems of education prepared by the students of the Institute of Education. Two books were published in the 1990s: the first one – a presentation of ten different educational systems prepared by student teams [Hovenberg et al. (ed.), 1994], the second one – showing, inter alia, students’ texts on teacher education in eleven countries [Burzyńska et al. (ed.), 1998]. Both books were written and published under Polish-Swedish Education Democratization Project “S/z/koldem”, coordinated jointly by the University of Gdańsk (Institute of Education) and University in Linköping (Centre for Adult Educators) – its partner university from Sweden, and have been used as ancillary material for the class “Comparative Education”. Recalling students’ publication we must at least mention the book by Raul Emilio Soto Sanchez – University of Gdańsk education student from the far Bolivia, whose master thesis on Latin American folk education was published by the efforts of Kashubian regional activists [Soto Sanchez, 1996]. We want to stress the fact that the Institute of Education of the University of Gdańsk has a certain established tradition in publishing students’ papers.

In the above context “Education at the Meeting of Cultures” is a continuation of a certain good tradition of the research community of Gdańsk educators. And what is the difference between the previous books and this one? It is the fact that it is the first in the history of the Institute publication whose concept was developed entirely by the students themselves – members of Student Research Club “At the Meeting [of Cultures]”. It was also them that edited and prepared some of the texts included in the book. There is one more thing that came as a nice surprise - it is really hard to say which texts were written by our students - researchers that have just started their research career, and which by other authors, of much longer research experience.
The publication shows how creative ideas and putting them consistently into practice contributes to a final success. The Editors’ contributions in both areas turned out to be a success, which, I am sure, each of the readers will notice, and will find interesting materials for his/her own studies and reflections on education at the meeting of cultures.

Literature

Barczyk P.P. (1998), Metodologiczne rozumienie heurezy w pedagogice porównawczej /Methodological Understanding of Heuresis in Comparative Education/, [in:] Idem (ed.), Dylematy komparatystyki pedagogicznej /The Dilemmas of Comparative Education Studies/. Kraków: Oficyna Wydawnicza “Impuls”

Burzyńska L., Hovenberg H., Wójtowicz W. J., Żerko J. (eds) (1998), Kształcenie nauczycieli w wybranych krajach świata /Teacher Training in Selected Countries of the World/. Gdańsk-Linköping: Centre for Adult Educators, Linköping University & Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk.

Hovenberg H., Maliszewski T., Wojtowicz W. J. (eds) (1994), Zarys systemów oświatowych wybranych krajów współczesnego świata /An Outline of Educational Systems of SelectedCcountries of Contemporary World/. Gdańsk-Linköping: Instytut Pedagogiki, Uniwersytet Gdański & Centre for Adult Educators, Linköping University.

IBE (21-12- 2007), A Page of History. International Bureau of Education, Geneva: http://www.ibe.unesco.org

Mayor F. (2000), Przyszłość świata /The Future of the World/. Warszawa: Fundacja Studiów i Badań Edukacyjnych

Pachociński R. (2007), Pedagogika porównawcza /Comparative Education/ 2nd edition, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie “Żak”

Piszczek Z. (ed.) (1990), Mała Encyklopedia Kultury Antycznej /Small Encyclopaedia of Ancient Culture/. 8th edition, Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe

Průcha J. (2004), Pedagogika porównawcza. Podręcznik akademicki /Comparative Education. Academic Handbook/. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN

Soto Sanchez R. E. (1996), Edukacja ludowa w Ameryce Łacińskiej /Folk Education in Latin America/. Rumia-Głodnica: Wydawnictwo “Rumina”