Multicultural Education in the Dutch Educational System

The problems posed for the Dutch educational system by the phenomenon of migration and immigration are analysed, and the emerging policies of the Dutch government and, particularly, the activities of the Foundation for Curriculum Development (SLO) are discussed. The second part of the article describes the problems and conflicts of approach encountered in the field of teacher training.

Les auteurs analysent les problèmes posés par les migrants et les immigrants dans le système d'enseignement néerlandais; puis ils discutent des politiques issues du gouvernement néerlandais et de la fondation pour le développement du programme d'études (SLO). La deuxième partie de l'article expose les problèmes et conflits rencontrés dans le domaine de la formation des enseignants.     

荷兰的高等教育体系及特征

以职业为导向的荷兰高等教育体系是全方位、开放型的，实行“宽进口”为不同需求层次的适龄青年提供了就学机会，保持“严出口”为社会培养了高素质的实用人才，高校教学体制注重职业技能和创新能力培养，对我国高教体制改革具有借鉴意义。     

Assessing Multicultural Initiatives in Higher Education Institutions

As educational institutions engage in promoting multiculturalism on campuses, it becomes essential to assess the quality and success of those initiatives. In this paper, the plan being implemented at Northern Illinois University to assess multicultural initiatives is described. The plan is to ensure that faculty, staff, and students participate and benefit from multicultural curricular and related program, courses and curricula continue to be multiculturally transformed, multicultural curricular transformation and support program needs are being met, students obtain and demonstrate the necessary multicultural competencies, and the campus is supportive of multicultural initiatives at all levels of the university. The paper describes the range of multicultural initiatives pursued in higher education institutions and the considerations necessary in assessing such initiatives. The plan described in this paper makes use of existing assessment mechanisms and as well as a few new ones designed and implemented in several phases. The results and findings from the assessment along with recommendations for improving the initiatives are discussed in this paper. The paper concludes with a discussion on the real challenges of the plan and issues to consider when assessing multicultural initiatives in a higher education institution.     

The Australian University in a Multicultural Environment

This article describes how the Australian university system has become increasingly multi‐ethnic and multicultural as a reflection of the greater Australian society that is also increasingly multicultural and multi‐ethnic. As the universities have evolved from being elitist institutions, based on a British model and accessible to only a small proportion of the population, to units making up a mass system, they have had to contend with two contradictory forces: government mandated efforts to increase the representation on university campuses of disadvantaged groups and pressures to reduce government spending for higher education. Increasing efforts, after 1990, on the part of Australian universities to recruit full‐fee paying foreign students have intensified student multi‐ethnicity on Australian campuses while providing near windfall sources of extra funds. Yet there are voices being raised regarding the propriety and the ethics of selling higher education in this way.     

Changing Higher Education Curricula for a Global and Multicultural World

Dramatic demographic changes in the cultural and linguistic diversity of people are occurring in many nations throughout the world. These changes have challenged higher education institutions to modify their curricula and instructional strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners and to prepare all graduates to have the awareness, knowledge, and skills to be effective in a diverse society. This article outlines a framework for changing curricula in higher education in order to prepare students to succeed in the culturally diverse, globally interdependent world. It also provides some practical guidance for undertaking such change, placing emphasis on increasing faculty expertise in multicultural and global/international education.     

Higher Education and the Values of Multicultural Civism

Since inter‐ethnic tension and conflict is a potential problem in many parts of east and central Europe, much can be learned from the experience of the Banat region of Romania that is known for its very good inter‐ethnic relations. Efforts to make the study of multi‐ethnicity a part of the university curriculum stimulated the author and a number of other academics at the University of the West in Timi?oara to set up a Center for Comparative East and Central European Studies, a major project of which has been to prepare a multifaceted study of the ethnic and linguistic diversity of the Banat region of Romania. Aspects of this project are described and cited as an example of what can be done elsewhere to link higher education to the furtherance of the aims of civil society, one of which is inter‐ethnic tolerance and peace.     

A Sample Science Education Activity in Multicultural Environment

In this study, a sample activity developed in the workshops called ＂Science education in multicultural environment＂ of the program ＂Integrative teaching in multicultural environment＂ was presented. Workshops about varied subjects were carried out by participants representing four countries and participants developed teaching materials by getting benefit from elements special to their cultures in the ones related to science teaching. Two students from Belgium, one student from Denmark, one student from Latvia and five students from Turkey participated in the study and three Turkish academicians conducted the workshops. The outcomes of the study were evaluated by presenting them to all participants. The workshops were designed to help students learn instructional strategies and draw upon their prior learning experiences in order to apply effective multicultural education teaching activities. Emphasis is also placed on understanding the varied backgrounds and needs of students.     

Ethnic-Specific Achievement in Dutch Higher Education

This study investigates the extent to which ethnic-specific differences occur in higher education and the underlying factors behind them. The research sample was made up of about 7,000 students at universities in the Netherlands. The authors established that ethnic-specific differ ences in achievement do indeed exist, even after background variables such as sex have been corrected. Structural modeling shows that prior education, financial (income) factors, and effort have a significant impact on study success.     

The Unsettled Meaning of Undergraduate Education in a Competitive Higher Education Environment

Access to undergraduate education has expanded rapidly in recent years. This is one manifestation of a rise in the relative importance of market‐based resource allocation in higher education and a weakening of allocation based upon traditional views of merit. This change in priority has influenced the content of the undergraduate curriculum and introduced both content and methods whose legitimacy and educational value some question as universities market their products to attract enrolment. The paper discusses the relationship between allocation mechanism and “curriculum as product” and examines critically some of the more significant implications for undergraduate education such as course rigour and full‐spectrum grading.     

多元文化教育理念与中国的民族高等教育

多元化教育是对民族同化教育的否定，它的一个最本质特征就是只认可各不同民族化相互独立的价值，它对世界民族高等教育的发展功不可没，但又有其自身无法克服的缺陷。中国的民族高等教育不能简单套用多元化教育的模式，多元一体化才是中国民族高等教育发展的最佳选择。     

推动多元文化教育的关键:教师多元文化观

多元文化教育的理念在于肯定人的价值,重视发展个人的潜能,使每个人既能珍惜自己族群的文化,也能欣赏并重视其他族群的文化.培养具有多元文化观和多元教育能力的教师是实践多元文化教育理念的关键,不仅要设计出具有多元文化精神与内涵的教师培训课程,而且要根据教学实际采取恰当的教学策略.     

从多元文化视角看加拿大的高等教育

加拿大是一个多民族、多文化的国家,多元文化的特点使其高等教育颇具特色,主要体现在管理制度、课程设置、培养方式、语言教学及培养目标等方面。加拿大高等教育的特色也给我国高等教育的改革以借鉴,在政府职能、高校办学定位、学生的培养方案等方面都给予我们很多启发。     

高等教育的微生态环境建设

高等教育的微观生态是相对于宏观生态而言的,是以教学为主线,围绕高等教育活动形成的多维环境的综合。高等教育的微生态环境建设即是从高等教育的微观生态视角出发,以教学为主线,运用生态学的整体效应、生态位及耐度与最适度原则,重点进行高等学校校园生态环境、课堂教学生态环境及教育主体生态环境等三个子环境的建设。     

当代中国高等教育管理环境的定位及监测

在当代中国高等教育事业迅猛发展的同时,高等教育管理环境没有受到足够的重视是高等教育管理的一个重要误区和障碍。高等教育管理环境经过分解定位,包含了自然环境、政治环境、经济环境、文化环境、舆情环境等五个类型。每一种类型的环境又有内外之分,对高等教育管理产生较大的影响。为走出误区,扫清障碍,我国高等教育管理领域需要大力构建高等教育管理环境监测系统,为高等教育事业在新时代实现科学发展奠定坚实的基础。     

Questioning The Aloha in a Multicultural Teacher Education Course

Hawaii is often perceived as the “Land of Aloha”, a racial paradise where everyone gets along. But do we? The author explores Hawaii's distinct cultural dynamics with pre-service teachers in a multicultural education course that problematised race and ethnicity. Using an inquiry approach and culturally relevant activities, the class examined the social inequity that exists between privileged “non-minorities” like Japanese, Chinese and Whites, and “disadvantaged minorities” like Filipinos, Native Hawaiians and Samoans. This study found that living among diversity in Hawaii made recognising racism and social inequity difficult. Patterns of student engagement reflected one's positioning in Hawaii's racial and socioeconomic hierarchy. Students from privileged groups minimised and deflected their role in contributing to racism, while students from disadvantaged groups assumed a more critical stance towards society. This study reframes the dialogue on race in education and provides implications for multicultural teacher education.