Precarious International Multicultural Education Hegemony Dissent And Rising Alternatives

Multiculturalism and multicultural education are at a paradoxical moment. There is work that continues as if the multicultural hegemony was still intact and on the other hand work articulated as if multiculturalism was decidedly passe. The essays in this collection will be of considerable interest to academics, policy makers and students of both multiculturalism and multicultural education principally because they touch on both perspectives but concentrate for the most part on the thorny problematic of the workings of multicultural education in its present precarious moment. Given the renewed, urgent attacks in various western countries, the cottage industry of “death of multiculturalism” texts and the rise of the interculturalism, transnationalism, diaspora alternatives, is multiculturalism dying? Are the ends of multiculturalism- the management or celebration of diversity; representation and recognition for all in society; creation of just and equitable communities at the global, national and local school classroom levels- better theorized and realized through the ascendant alternatives? Representing the precarious moment in Canada, Ireland, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, the essays in this collection address these questions and both depict and trouble hegemonic multicultural education and contrast it with its supposed successor regimes.

In 1971 Canada was the first nation in the world to establish an official multiculturalism policy with an objective to assist cultural groups to overcome barriers to integrate into Canadian society while maintaining their heritage language and culture. Since then Canada s practice and policy of multiculturalism have endured and been deemed as successful by many Canadians. As well, Canada s multiculturalism policy has also enjoyed international recognition as being pioneering and effectual. Recent public opinion suggests that an increasing majority of Canadians identify multiculturalism as one of the most important symbols of Canada s national identity. On the other hand, this apparent successful record has not gone unchallenged. Debates, critiques, and challenges to Canadian multiculturalism by academics and politicians have always existed to some degree since its policy inception over four decades ago. In the current international context there has been a growing assault on, and subsequent retreat from, multiculturalism in many countries. In Canada debates about multiculturalism continue to emerge and percolate particularly over the past decade or so. In this context, we are grappling with the following questions: What is the future of multiculturalism and is it sustainable in Canada? How is multiculturalism related to egalitarianism, interculturalism, racism, national identity, belonging and loyalties? What role does multiculturalism play for youth in terms of their identities including racialization? How does multiculturalism play out in educational policy and the classroom in Canada? These central questions are addressed by contributions from some of Canada s leading scholars and researchers in philosophy, psychology, sociology, history, education, religious studies, youth studies, and Canadian studies. The authors theorize and discuss the debates and critiques surrounding multiculturalism in Canada and include some very important case studi

This conceptually rich and empirically grounded book draws upon expertise from a panel of emerging and established international scholars to explore the institutionalization and effect of multicultural education on a global scale. Previous studies of multicultural education have largely ignored the significance of understanding the combination of multiple sociopolitical influences on multicultural education in both policy and practice. Filling this void, this book sheds light on the two main reasons for taking a “glocal” perspective on multicultural education. First, children should be provided with meaningful learning opportunities to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to live in a culturally and ethno-linguistically diverse society, where the distinction between the local and the global is becoming blurred. Second, understanding both the “global grammar” and the “local semantics” of multicultural education helps researchers and policy-makers grasp the whole picture of multicultural education as an evolving social construct and phenomenon. This new book provokes a new round of discussion and research to expand and enrich our inquiry into cultural diversity and educational inclusion.

· What drives school leaders? · What do they do on a day to day basis? · What helps or constrains their decision-making? · What keeps them focused amidst challenges? Rather than applying theory to practice, Exploring School Leadership in England and the Caribbean draws on how school leaders practice and experience their own leadership. Paul Miller draws on case studies from Jamaica and England to explore what it means to be a school leader and explores a wide-range of issues, including accountability, performativity, inclusion and multiculturalism, technology, staffing and resourcing decisions. While no two school leaders will have identical experiences as a school leader, Paul Miller draws on the first-hand accounts of school leaders to show that regardless of school size, type and location there are a number of common experiences and themes. Miller acknowledges that the practice of school leadership is occurring in an uncertain economic environment, buoyed by a fast paced policy context where by targets linked to national economic development are the new normal. He concludes that school leadership is a continuous balancing act driven by and experienced through an “Economic-motor model” of schooling- which he proposes.

This book explores pedagogical concepts, metaphors and images of non-white, non-western researchers and research students on the inter/nationalization of education. Specifically, this book draws on the intellectual resources of China and India to explore the pedagogical dynamics and dimensions of the localization/globalization of education with non-Western characteristics. It introduces theoretic-linguistic non-Western concepts from the Tamil, Sanskrit and Chinese languages for use in Western, English-only education and redefines the intellectual basis for internationalising education. Debating whether ‘international education’ is Western-centric in terms of its privileging and promotion of Euro-American theoretical knowledge, this book contends that the internationalisation of Western-centric education can benefit from the intellectual power and powerfully relevant theorising performed by non-Western international students. It formulates a democratic vision for the internationalisation of education, with the potential to create transnational solidarity and constitute a forum for mobilising debates about global knowledge and power structures. It also provides key tools to use non-Western theoretic-linguistic tools and modes of critique in research undertaken in Anglophone Western universities.

In this book, Phan Le-Ha identifies and discusses four growing self-sustained/sustaining fundamental phenomena in transnational education (TNE), namely (1) the planned, evolving and transformative mediocrity behind the endorsement of English-medium education legitimized by the interactive Asia-the West relationship; (2) the strategic employment of the terms ‘Asia/Asian’ and ‘West/Western’ by all stakeholders in their perceptions and construction of choice, quality, rigour, reliability and attractiveness of programs, courses, and locations; (3) the adjusted desire for an imagined (and often misinformed) ‘West’ among various stakeholders of transnational education; and (4) the assigned and self-realized ownership of English by otherwise normally on-the-margin groups of speakers. A focus on how these phenomena impact questions of identity and desire in TNE is a running theme. The above phenomena are discussed against the backdrop of ‘the rise of Asia’ sentiment and how this sentiment has played out in interactions and relationships between ‘the West’ and ‘Asia’ and among Asian institutions and various entities. Phan Le-Ha’s examination of the identified phenomena in TNE has been informed by her multi-layered engagement with the dialectic of the Asia-the West relationship, her critical take on certain pro-Asia and decolonisation scholarship, and her interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to theorise the field and the specific topic under scrutiny. Phan Le-Ha shows that the current Asia chooses (not necessarily by force but largely by will and often with an informed and well-articulated agency) to go with the idea of the West and often desires an affiliation with the West either directly or indirectly, something that is getting more intense in the context of globalization, regionalization, and commercialization of education. The rise of Asia has made the idea of the West even more looked-for in Asia. TNE in Asia, in many ways, is the transforming and dynamic transit point, a layover that facilitates entry into a wanted destination – the West and/or the idea of the West. The West and Asia need one another more than ever in the context of the internationalization and commercialization of higher education. What’s more, the West and Asia have hardly ever been mutually exclusive but have rather been in an eventful love-and-obsession relationship with each other. This is the very dialectic proposition that Phan Le Ha takes throughout this book while paying specific attention to transnational higher education in the greater Asian region including the Middle East, following her several research projects conducted in the region since 2005 to date. Transnational Education Crossing 'the West' and 'Asia' explores: • English, Internationalisation of Higher Education, and Identity: Increasing Academic Monolingualism and English-only Package • Transnational Education and Dream Realization: From the Philippines to Vietnam, From Afghanistan to Dubai, From Everywhere in Asia to Thailand • Desiring International /Transnational Education: Theorisation of Key Concepts and Next Steps from Here The book will be of interest to researchers in the field of transnational education, Asia education and education policy.

This book interrogates politics and practices of multiculturalism and multicultural education in contexts where liberal and critical multiculturalism is under pressure. It examines and interrogates perspectives on multiculturalism and the political and social to diversity in societies in Asia and Europe. It is set against a background of increasing right wing radicalism and pervasive authoritarianism in different parts of the world. These ideologies not only undermine multiculturalism but the potential of democracy itself. The book includes chapters from leading scholars on multiculturalism, interculturalism and diversity around the world. It examines the challenges to multicultural diversity in the Global North, and makes a distinctive contribution by addressing this issue in the Global South societies of Asia, including Myanmar, China, and Pakistan. As such, this book opens up international debate about multiculturalism by providing exchanges rarely heard across borders.

Introduces students to theories that have stood the test of time and those that have provided the historical foundation for the best of contemporary educational theory and practice.