=eachersH challen(es re(ardin( cultural diersit+.

)5di16 Arrazola Carballo Ejudith.arrazola@ub.eduF

Consolidated Research 3roupE ESBRINA CContemporar+ Sub<ectiities and educational enironments.D
!"##IS3R ##.#-&. Uniersit+ o: Barcelona
4e"5or's: Cultural diersit+Z teachersH continuin( educationZ teachersH practices.
3eneral *escription
=his paper presents some :indin(s o: the :ieldwor? o: m+ doctoral thesis C^uman Ri(hts Edu,
cation as a =ool :or Social CohesionD o: the *octoral @ro(ram CEducation and Societ+D
=he main research Suestion that arises is: Can ^uman Ri(hts Education be the depar,
ture point to wor? :romE with and :or the cultural diersit+ that characteriJes our societiesG
^uman Ri(hts Education has been introduced in our social politics and amon( them in
educational policies which hae a releant role on the consecution o: a cohesie societ+. Edu,
cationE as a social ri(ht that has to be (uaranteeE :acilitates the social chan(e and the promo,
tion o: alues and attitudes that :aor cohesion.
=he wor? o: seeral or(aniJations li?e United NationsE =he Council o: Europe or Amnes,
t+ international hae deelop a wide ariet+ o: materials re(ardin( human ri(hts education at
schoolsE (uides and manuals :or teachersE coursesE deelopment o: competences and com,
pendium o: actiities.
=he Suestions that arise are:
^ow are these policies translated into the school realit+G
^ow do we teach and how do we learn human ri(htsG
chich methodolo(iesE materials and actiities do we use :or teachin( human ri(htsG
2ethodolo(+
=his inSuir+ was carried out in three di::erent moments. At a :irst moment I did an anal+sis o:
eBistin( reports and documents. In a secondE I too? some courses on teachin( human ri(htsE
and :inall+ I accessed a school sensitie to human ri(hts education and with an intercultural
communit+. All this in order to obsere how is the wor? in the dail+ li:e o: the classroom and
to (et to ?now opinions o: the teachersE the principalss team attitudes and students ision.
In this case I am considerin( the in:ormation re(ardin( some o: the courses I too? in
order to hae a close eBperience o: the teacher trainin( on human ri(hts. I was tr+in( to (et
some answers on how do we teach and learn human ri(hts and I had the opportunit+ to share
with other teachers their worries and concerns.
In this conteBtE I intend to anal+Je some o: the challen(es that are presented in the
da+,to,da+ practice o: teachers re(ardin( cultural diersit+ in their classrooms. At the same
time I consider the wa+ in which the+ are positioned to respond to these challen(es.
=he courses anal+Jed were on di::erent sub<ects and with di::erent ob<ectiesE with se,
eral methodolo(ies and resources :or learnin(E the+ had di::erent ealuation s+stems and
0I
the+ had di::erent durationE :rom "# to %# hours. Also some o: them were distance learnin(
courses.
=he pro:essionals who too? those courses came :rom seeral disciplines !educationE
political sciencesE ps+cholo(+E lan(ua(esE isual artsE etc.&E the+ wor? in di::erent areas !eni,
ronmental educationE special educationE deelopment o: materials :or N3)sE lan(ua(esE
sciencesE ethicsE etc.& and in di::erent leel o: educationE :ormal and non,:ormal and had also
di::erent bac?(rounds and +ears o: eBperience.
All o: them hae in common the will to learnE to ?eep on learnin( to win more eBperien,
ce and achiee new tools that help them in their dail+ wor? in their di::erent realities. =he+
also share the coniction that their behaiors in:luence be+ond its immediate conteBt and
the+ can be chan(e enhancers.
Results obtained
chen considerin( their moment and realitiesE some o: the teachers mention the need to ob,
tain tools to wor? with a chan(in( population that is on constant moementE the+ mar? the
distance between their initial trainin( and what the+ :ind in the centers where the+ deelop
their teachin( eer+ da+. =hese pro:essionals wor? in schools with students comin( :rom di::e,
rent bac?(roundsE not onl+ nationalities but also di::erent :aithsE cultureE li:e eBperiencesE and
rh+thms o: learnin(.
*espite bein( a multicultural societ+ and hain( a substantial trac? record in inclusie
education and diersit+ seems that there are still some di::iculties on copin( with that realit+
in schools and classrooms. Some o: the issues the+ deal with hae to do with pre<udices and
also with classroom per:ormance. An eBample is the tendenc+ o: the students to ma?e (roups
accordin( to their place o: ori(in or other a::initiesE Chinese (roup or 2uslim (roup amon(
others.
Some o: the obserations made b+ the teachers are the lac? o: respect :or the otherE
loss o: aluesE carin( about onesel: onl+ and doin( what the+ want to (et what the+ want wi ,
thout considerin( the other.
=he+ consider that di::erence and diersit+ is wealthE because we can learn so much
:rom other culturesE peopleE situations ... to help us (row as people that con:orm societies.
=hese societies are also alwa+s chan(in( because the politicalE economicE social and cultural ri,
(hts will neer be the same.
chen as?ed about the challen(es the+ :aceE some o: the ones the+ mention are:
Students hae to learn that the+ are di::erent but eSual. And also that men and women
are eSual. ^ow to oercome di::iculties with coeBistence in schoolsG
=he position o: the schools/pro:essionals. Sometimes is hard to tell i: the+ are bein( to,
lerant or loo?in( elsewhere. Sometimes the+ are in contradiction with :amil+ traditions
and the+ tend to aoid con:rontation.
)ur education is not +et horiJontalE we still hae a ertical education where the teacher
transmits and the student assimilates. ^ow to trans:orm traditional education to (ie it
more coherenceE releanceE human aluesE re:lection and Suestionin(E commitment
and participationG
^ow to trans:orm our societ+ into a more :areE eSuitable and sustainable oneG
I#
In order to respond to those challen(es the+ loo? :or an education model that :osters
the :eelin( o: belon(in(E o: solidarit+ and respect and at the same time participator+ mobilit+.
=he+ search :or a model o: education that deelops the studentss human potential and (ies
them the opportunit+ to trans:orm themseles and their societ+. An education that allows
them to lie in harmon+ with the enironment and the communit+E learnin( to leae to(ether
and learnin( to understand social li:e to realiJe positie chan(es.
Education :or a (lobal citiJenship seems to contemplate all these aspects and is shown
as a possible answer to address the arious challen(es.
A 3lobal citiJenship is a compleB challen(eE where there is the possibilit+ that the di::e,
rence coeBist in man+ wa+sE loo?in( :or <ointl+ wa+ o: respectE to ma?e possible the (rowth in
eSualit+. It means solidar+E cooperatie and respect:ul inolement between indiidualsE b+
means o: a necessar+ chan(e o: thou(ht and perceptionE o: the world and onesel:.
It implies an actie participation and social responsibilit+.
It means to accept human ri(hts as an inherent principle o: all human bein(s. And it also
means to promote a culture o: peace and to build a :airer world throu(h non,iolent con:lict
resolution.
3lobal citiJenship is the chance that the teachers :eel the+ hae to in:luence in a cons,
cious and responsible wa+ in the construction o: a critical and re:lectie thin?in( to eents that
are (enerated in di::erent conteBts o: our societ+.
*urin( the course wor? the participant teachers deeloped their proposals o: applica,
tion in educational situations as a part o: the ealuation s+stem o: the course. )nce the pro,
posals were submitted there was a peer reiew ealuation in addition to the ealuation ca,
rried b+ the teachers. =his wa+E one proposal was read b+ di::erent participants who also
made su((estions in other to hae them better deeloped when applied.
=he proposals coered sub<ects li?e lan(ua(eE scienceE attention to diersit+E poert+E
rec+clin(E responsible consumptionE con:lict resolutionE citiJenship and human ri(hts !:rom
concrete lesson plans to school pro<ects&E emotional educationE social scienceE peaceE tutorin(E
student participation amon( others. And some o: them could be applied in di::erent sub<ects.
=his shows that (lobal citiJenship education is an educatie model that can be used in di::e,
rent areas o: the curriculumE which allows (iin( coherence and a social and real sense.
CitiJenship is somethin( that ?eeps on bein( build eer+ da+ as in our constant interac,
tion with ourselesE with societ+E with othersE with di::erent cultural structuresE socialE
political ... we build new modelsE new paradi(ms. An+one :rom whereer wor?in( place the+
hae can contribute to buildin( a :airer realit+ :or all.
=he school is undoubtedl+ the most suitable place to practice and eBercise education
:or (lobal citiJenship. ce must be parta?ers o: a school that trains :ree citiJensE respect:ul and
<udiciousE but especiall+ should be a place :or socialiJation where the students learn to lie
to(etherE in a peace:ul coeBistence o: di::erent cultures. And we need to inole all sta?ehol,
ders in the communit+E parentsE studentsE and teachers.
9inall+E when considerin( these eBperiences we :ound some o: the wa+s in which tea,
chers are positioned to these challen(es re(ardin( cultural diersit+E bein( those:
8in?in( a political compromise to the personal e::ort.
=he+ beliee in (lobal citiJenshipE and trul+ beliee that the+ can in:luence the world.
=he+ beliee that the other is onesel: but di::erent.
=he+ tr+ to show the students a coherent approach b+ (iin( eBample.
I$
=he+ ?eep on trainin( in this area in order to (et more ?nowled(e and tools to use in
their practices.

Re:erences
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)::ice :or *emocratic Institutions and ^uman Ri(hts o: the )r(aniJation :or Securit+ and
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