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.

Intercultural language education has redefined the modern languages agenda in Europe and North America. Now intercultural learning is also beginning to impact on English Language Teaching. This accessible book introduces teachers of EFL to intercultural language education by describing its history and theoretical principles, and by giving examples of classroom tasks.

The studies in this volume investigate how multilingual education involves a critical engagement with questions of identity and culture, and a movement towards new ways of being and belonging. It addresses previously under-explored issues, in particular the integration of theories like ‘thirdness’, and practices of language education and maintenance with relevance to the Asia-Pacific region. The analyses reveal the delicate balance of interests of all stakeholders and offer detailed insights into the reality of multilingual education, with specific examples of Chinese, English, Japanese and Tamil. In a globalised world, effective language education has become increasingly important, and the studies presented here have the potential to inform and advance evidence-based multilingual education through adding important dimensions of theoretical exploration and refreshing empirical resources.

This book brings together research on multilingualism, identity and intercultural understanding from a range of locations across the globe to explore the intersection of these key ideas in education. It addresses the need to better understand how multilingual, identity, and intercultural approaches intersect for multilingual learners in complex and varied settings. Through global examples, it explores how identities and multilingualism are situated within, and surrounding intercultural experiences. This book examines the different theoretical interpretations as encountered and used in different contexts. By doing so, it helps readers better understand how teachers approach multilingualism and diversity in a range of contexts.

This volume is the first authoritative reference work to provide a truly comprehensive international description and analysis of multicultural education around the world. It is organized around key concepts and uses case studies from various nations in different parts of the world to exemplify and illustrate the concepts. Case studies are from many nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Bulgaria, Russia, South Africa, Japan, China, India, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico. Two chapters focus on regions – Latin America and the French-speaking nations in Africa. The book is divided into ten sections, covering theory and research pertaining to curriculum reform, immigration and citizenship, language, religion, and the education of ethnic and cultural minority groups among other topics. With fortynewly commissioned pieces written by a prestigious group of internationally renowned scholars, The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education provides the definitive statement on the state of multicultural education and on its possibilities for the future.

The topic of this book is in congruence with the current trends in foreign language education worldwide. On the one hand, it tackles the concept and implementation of intercultural language teaching; on the other, it analyses the circumstances in which information and communication technology may be utilised in the contemporary EFL classroom. Both intercultural teaching and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) have been promoted by national/international educational documents in Europe, the USA and Asia, and endorsed by international organisations, including the Council of Europe and UNESCO. This book constitutes a pioneering attempt at establishing the role of ICT in English language and culture teaching within the Polish education system. However, the research instruments used within both research modules are applicable to other education systems worldwide, while the results obtained have implications for intercultural and computer-assisted language education in international contexts. The research results presented in the book highlight to the broad EFL profession a wide range of issues relating to the use of ICT in the foreign language classroom. They also offer materials writers, software designers and EFL teachers criteria with which to evaluate the intercultural component of CALL software.

This volume aims to stimulate interest in the under?researched role of silent partners (SPs) in multicultural education. Silent partners include formal and informal places?spaces in schools (e.g. architecture, classroom facilities, libraries, corridors, playgrounds, canteens), objects (e.g. teaching aids, furniture, wall decorations and overall interior design), interactive technologies (use of devices and applications) but also often taken?for?granted and not immediately visible patterns of thought, ideologies and assumptions. People involved in education all engage and work with a number of SPs that contribute to the delivery of curricula, but also to social life and well?being in and out of schools. The way places?spaces, objects and technologies influence the school community’s experiences of learning, well?being and social justice is rarely observed and problematised in education – hence the adjective ‘silent’ in the term ‘silent partners’. This book not only fills a significant empirical gap, but it can also inject public debate over future working environments in schools for multicultural education. It will be relevant to both researchers interested in developing their knowledge on these issues from a different perspective but also educators in search of inspiration for multicultural education. Praise for Silent Partners in Multicultural Education: “How to organize your classroom’s configuration in such a manner that all pupils feel welcome and comfortable? While most of those invested in multicultural education focus on the optimization of various linguistic aspects, Itkonen, Dervin and their colleagues give voice to the non?verbal aspects of education. In this book they elaborate how formal and informal places?spaces in schools can unintentionally reflect ideologies and cultural assumptions. They illustrate this perspective with telling examples that come from what is widely perceived as one of the best educational systems in the world. This book is an important, innovative contribution to the question of inclusion of all pupils in our school systems. It provides an eye?opening perspective to researchers in the field, teachers, principals and stakeholders willing to work for social justice in their schools”. ~ Emmanuelle Le Pichon, Vorstman, Researcher and Assistant Professor, Languages, Literature and Communication Department, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics “Congratulations are in order for this ground breaking and significant book. As the editors and authors convey convincingly and often poignantly, multicultural education is an increasingly politicised phenomenon that needs all the friends and allies that it can garner. The book's coverage of silent partners in education ? objects and technologies operating in specific places and spaces ? is therefore timely. Yet, as the book also highlights, these silent partners can exert negative power as well as positive influence on educational outcomes. The book presents a compelling account of the fundamental ambivalence framing these partners and formal educational provision more broadly. Rendering these silent educational partners visible and open to scrutiny is a significant scholarly achievement by the Education for Diversities Research Group in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland, building on their well?deserved reputation for exploring the implicit and tacit and yet impactful dimensions of intercultural education and understanding. The book is appropriately diverse and inclusive in its concerns, with attention being directed at education in Finland, France, and the United States. Likewise the coverage traverses international and national schools, higher education, teacher education and productive methodologies for researching silent partners. This innovative and thought?provoking volume is highly recommended for its originality in helping us to see education for diversities in a new and powerful light.” ~ Patrick Alan Danaher, Professor in Educational Research in the School of Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education, Associate Dean (Research and Research Training) in the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts, Toowoomba campus of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia; Adjunct Professor in the School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, Australia. “Silent partners do not only reflect the ways we conceive of education but they also influence our practices as educators. Being silent, they are often taken for granted. The strength of this book lies in its critical questioning of the notion of silent partners. The chapters enlighten about the untold and the effects they have in an educational environment. The readers, especially in the fields of education and social justice, will definitely acquire a more sensitive perception of how silent partners affect our approaches to multicultural education.” ~ Dr. Regis Machart, Senior Lecturer, Universiti Putra Malaysia; Adjunct Professor, University of Helsinki, Finland

Giving voice to researchers, policy-makers and practitioners through a range of international case studies, Educational Approaches to Internationalization through Intercultural Dialogue interrogates processes of internationalization strategy and practice, from an educational and intercultural dialogue perspective. Addressing this important, under-discussed area of internationalization – the role of intercultural dialogue – this book provides theoretical reflections and applicable, practical case studies that focus on: Support for integration programmes for international and home students Mobility programmes and initiatives which use an intercultural dialogue approach The place of local languages and cultures in foreign language policies The possibilities within a higher education context The multilingual perspective Student and staff perspectives Focusing on teaching and learning, and exploring the latest research within the context of internationalization, Educational Approaches to Internationalization through Intercultural Dialogue is a must-read for anyone interested in, or currently involved in designing and implementing internationalization strategies within a higher education institution.

Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Latins, and Armenians have been the primary historical communities that make up the multicultural landscape of Cyprus. However, the continuing conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots has geographically, socially and psychologically segregated these communities, while the influx of economic migrants, especially after Cyprus’s accession to the EU in 2004, has, in turn, contributed to Cyprus’s challenges, arising from multiculturalism, in an altogether different perspective. How has education, over time, addressed and re-examined all these issues introduced by Cyprus’ complex evolving multiculturalism and ethnic diversity? How can education better attend to current problems of coexistence in Cyprus, and what kind of role can it play in a federal re-united country? This collection of essays introduces an innovative and critical examination of these questions in order to provide relevant answers. More specifically, it examines how formal, non-formal and informal education contributed to the creation and perpetuation of the Cyprus conflict, as well as to prejudices, inter-ethnic stereotypes, and misperceptions. The book also discusses how education could contribute to conflict transformation, empathy and peaceful coexistence amongst the different Cypriot communities, and how this has been possible in other multi-ethnic societies. The volume will be of interest to students, practitioners, and researchers interested in peace education, multiculturalism and conflict transformation.