Kristn Birta Jnsdttir Robert Berman GSS457G 21 November 2013 Intercultural Education

In the article Intercultural Education better education for everyone, written by Gurn Ptursdttir, she covers some of the basics of Intercultural Education as well as making some interesting points on student diversity. In fact, Gurn claims that a classroom is multicultural whether there is a student of ethnic minority in it or not, simply because students come from various backgrounds and should therefore be thought of as multicultural. While not everyone might agree with this statement, I believe that Gurn makes an interesting argument here. In this essay, I will touch on the subject of student diversity and how the methods of intercultural education can benefit those students that do not conform to traditional teaching methods. Goals for the twenty-first century, identified by The International Commission on Education, are as follows: Learning to learn, learning to be, learning to do, and learning to live together. From a non-educational standing point, one might ask if it is really the role of the teacher, and not the parents, to teach students these things. However, most teachers do believe that it is their job to prepare their students for all of these things; that is, building their social skills as well as teaching them how to read and write (Ptursdttir, p. 34). Also, teachers want to find a way to build on their students individual competences, making room for individuality. However, a lot of them are unsure of how to do this and struggle with following the curriculum and syllabus as well as trying to prepare their students for the world that awaits them (Ptursdttir, p. 35).

Teachers are finding that more and more students do not conform to traditional methods of teaching. Because of this, many students are struggling to make it through their education instead of enjoying it and taking something from it (Ptursdttir, p. 37). As a result, it is necessary for us as teachers to accept that traditional methods need to be used alongside an open mind and with the adaptations needed to meet students needs. However, Gurn suggests is her article that by using intercultural education teachers can achieve better results with a larger number of students as well as making the whole process of education more tolerable. Since, intercultural education aims at dealing with diversity with a positive attitude as well as building a more positive attitude towards it, it makes sense that intercultural education is a good choice for a larger variety of the student body (Ptursdttir, p. 36). Before, we can determine if intercultural education a good choice, in the modern day classroom, we need to examine it in further detail. According to Gurns article, the first sign of intercultural education can probably be traced back to the 1970s, when people started immigrating to Europe. At this stage, it was called immigration education which, despite its best intentions, focused mainly students faults instead of their assets (Ptursdttir, p. 35). Immigrant education then turned to multicultural education, which despite its best efforts to increase tolerance, by introducing different cultures and religion in the general classroom, failed to provide the diverse student body with the help they needed (Ptursdttir, p. 36). According to UNESCO, the intercultural education approach should adhere to the guidelines of learning to live, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. Further definition of these pillars tells us that education should not only bring us into contact with other languages and knowledge but with other people and teach us communication. Intercultural education, not only emphasizes the learning of practical occupational skills but also social interaction and team work. Also, it supports peace and effective conflict management as well as individuality, which is based on

the individuals right to be different and encourages teachers to nurture their students individual potential (UNESCO, p. 19). Since the 1990s, intercultural education has become a commonly used and accepted educational approach. What sets it aside from its similar approaches is the fact that intercultural education allows for great diversity and is aimed at all students, regardless of their race, gender and religion. It serves to produce students that are equipped with adequate tools to take on the multicultural world they live in and provide them with what is called intercultural competence (Ptursdttir, p. 37). However beneficial the intercultural educational approach may be, there is no use if we cannot get teachers involved. The fact is, frontal teaching (which requires the teacher to speak and the students to sit and listen) requires less effort on the teachers part but an even bigger effort on the students. None the less, this method is not effective for some of students but of course there are students which find it helpful. However, even if students find this method effective, it does lack the ability to teach students a most of skills listed by USESCO, which they will require in a multicultural society. As most teachers told Gurn, it is important for students to learn adequate communication skills, cooperation, conflict management and initiative, to name a few. However, traditional education allows little room for adequate training of any of these abilities and as a result students have a hard time finding the motivation they need to succeed. Similarly to their students, it is hard to get teachers to care about methods like intercultural education, when they do not seem to serve a purpose when it comes to enforcing worldwide curriculums (Ptursdttir, p. 37). The fact of the matter is that there is not a single method of teaching that will work for everyone. As a result, teachers need to tailor their teaching methods and approaches to every class because everyone is different and therefore needs to be approached in a certain manner. Here is where the intercultural approach can be of good use (Ptursdttir, p. 37). Because of its approach to

individuality, intercultural education allows for diversity and even prompts students to make use of their intelligences (referring to Gardners theory of multiple intelligences) (Armstrong, 1994 , pp. 2628). Various methods can be used to achieve the best end results, but many teachers have chosen to use cooperative teaching methods like Complex Instruction (CI) and Cooperative learning in multicultural groups (CLIM). These methods allow students to be actively involved in the lesson as well as training them to take on life like situations (Ptursdttir, p. 37). In conclusion, it is apparent to me, now more than ever, that we are in desperate need of educational reform and intercultural education is certainly able to provide us with the proper skills needed for change. However, there are many factors that come into play here and a system as large as the educational system will certainly not be altered overnight. However, I believe that it is important if we want to be able to produce successful students that are also happy and productive human beings. I think that the approach provided by intercultural education can aid students of various backgrounds to take active take part in their own education, allowing them a chance to shine.

References Armstrong. T. (1994). Multiple Intelligences: Seven Ways to Approach Curriculum. Educational Leadership, 52, 26-28. Ptursdttir, Gurn. Intercultural Education - Better for Everyone? Mlfrur 25.2 (2009). Mlfrur. Web. 23.Nov. 2013. "UNECSO Guidelines to Intercultural Education." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

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