Diversities And Interculturality In Textbooks

Textbooks are crucial in shaping today’s global and diverse world. They can contribute to making it both ‘better’ and more ‘intercultural’, but also, on occasion, create limited and biased ideas about the ‘Other’. This collected volume undertakes multidisciplinary research into textbooks, taking one of the best education systems in the world – Finland – as an example. The authors investigate the issue of diversities in textbooks from multiple perspectives, disciplines, school levels and content areas. Together, the chapters provide examples of hidden ideologies, (neo-)stereotyping and othering when looking beneath the surface of texts and illustrations. The authors also present concrete tools that can be used for analysing diversities and interculturality in textbooks. In addition, the chapters will serve to develop teachers’ and students’ abilities to encounter diversities and similarities in ways that enhance their sensitivity, self-reflexivity and criticality. This volume will be of interest for students in educational sciences; pre-service teachers and in-service teachers of various school subjects; teacher educators; and researchers in the areas of subject didactics, multicultural and intercultural education, language education, educational leadership, curriculum, and policy. Forewords and Commentary by Jari Lavonen, Karen Risager, Adrian Holliday and Julie S. Byrd Clark.

This reference book is intended to help teachers, teacher administrators, policy makers and others deal with the important issue of religious diversity in Europe's schools. The religious dimension of intercultural education is an issue that affects all schools, whether they are religiously diverse or not, because their pupils live and will work in increasingly diverse societies. The book is the main outcome of the project 1The Challenge of intercultural education today: religious diversity and dialogue in Europe', developed by the Council of Europe between 2002 and 2005. It is in four parts: theoretical and conceptual basis for religious diversity and intercultural education; educational conditions and methodological approaches; religious diversity in schools in different settings; examples of current practice in some member states of the Council of Europe.

Today, students are more familiar with other cultures than ever before because of the media, Internet, local diversity, and their own travels abroad. Using a social constructionist framework, Inter/Cultural Communication provides today's students with a rich understanding of how culture and communication affect and effect each other. Weaving multiple approaches together to provide a comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of cultural and intercultural communication, this text helps students become more aware of their own identities and how powerful their identities can be in facilitating change—both in their own lives and in the lives of others.

This open access book provides an analysis of contemporary societies and schools shaped by cultural diversity, globalization and migration. This diversity is necessarily reflected in education systems and requires the promotion of intercultural approaches able to improve learning processes and the quality of education. From an international and comparative perspective, this book first presents theoretical and conceptual foundations for seriously considering cultural diversity. The book also compares intercultural approaches and debates generated in countries as diverse as the United States, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland and France. For each national context, the book addresses both the historical roots of intercultural approaches and the concrete initiatives driven by educational policies for their implementation in schools and classrooms. Finally, the book presents discussions surrounding the treatment of linguistic or religious diversity in schools, the emergence of global citizenship education and the key role of teachers in intercultural approaches. This is an open access book.

The ability to recognise and understand your own cultural context is a prerequisite to understanding and interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. An intercultural learning approach encourages us to develop an understanding of culture and cultural difference, through reflecting on our own context and experience.

"It is difficult to fathom the myriad changes that have occurred and that influence the content of this book in just three years since the previous edition. As this book goes to press, we have witnessed many nations in Europe as well as the United States that have made dramatic political shifts from open and liberal leanings to more populist, nationalistic and conservative ideologies. These shifts have been accompanied by an increase in xenophobia and stricter actions to reduce immigration, often accompanied by a rise in anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic sentiment. The conflicts and struggles in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria continue, as tensions between the United States and Russia fester. A questioning of Truth, with an onslaught of "fake news," has emerged, having a major influence on the 2016 U.S. presidential election. And we expect numerous changes to occur under the new U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. And these challenges are in the political arena alone. Across the planet people continue to feel the stresses of the seemingly endless changes and challenges they confront on many fronts. Climate change continues to advance resulting in new and unpredictable weather patterns despite a vocal minority that appears to deny its existence. Although making gains, people continue to wrestle with questions surrounding same-sex marriage and gay rights; the question of health care, the accelerated identification of children with autism and other disabilities, as well as our aging population span cultural differences and cut across geographic, political, and social boundaries, continuing to impact us all at the local, national, and global levels. Some people are eager to embrace innovation and change while others struggle through a variety of political and social means to retain older and more traditional ways of doing things. Such challenges continue to enter and impact our increasingly culturally diverse classrooms and communities. To effectively address and solve the multitude of issues we face it is incumbent upon teachers to provide young people with a foundation that will assist them to better understand the complex nature of the world in which they will live while developing the skills that will enable them to be proactive problem solvers in an interdependent, global society. This requires people who have the knowledge, skills, and motivations to reach beyond their own cultural boundaries and a willingness and ability to collaborate with others. If people are not willing and able to do so, these, and other future problems, simply will not be solved. Developing intercultural understanding and competence must be actively addressed throughout the school curriculum. This tenth edition of Human Diversity in Education: An Intercultural Approach, continues to focus on the preparation of teachers and other human-service providers who can interact effectively with the wide diversity of people they are certain to encounter and who are able to transmit this knowledge and skill to the individuals in their charge"--

This edited book provides professionals in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) with a situated and culturally-responsive account of diversity and inclusion in English language education, from primary to higher education and in a wide range of settings. The volume focuses on three overlapping areas: interculturality, special education needs, and gender. The chapters in each section seek to help readers reflect on the opportunities and challenges of diversity as a step towards inclusive practices, and raise awareness of critical topics across the curriculum and beyond by engaging in wider social issues. This book will be of interest to language teachers and teacher trainers, as well as scholars working in applied linguistics, higher education, intercultural studies, and related fields.