Educating ‘the new Norwegian we’: an examination of national and cosmopolitan education policy discourses in the context of extremism and Islamophobia

Across Europe there are growing concerns about Islamophobia and far-right and anti-democratic movements. Until Anders Behring Breivik’s July 2011 attacks in which 77 died, Norway’s vulnerability was not perceived as great as that of other jurisdictions. Breivik declared his abhorrence of multiculturalism but also drew the world’s attention to intolerance and xenophobia in Europe, increasingly directed towards Muslims. In response, Prime Minister Stoltenberg spoke widely of ‘the new Norwegian we’, cautioning against exclusionary discourses and underlining that minorities are an equal part of Norwegian society. This paper examines education policy in the context both of extreme right political activity and national and international debates about nationalism and cosmopolitanism, considering ways in which policy supports an inclusive notion of nationhood, and ways in which it promotes an exclusive model of national identity. Drawing on framing questions from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s 1995 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (1995). National case studies final guidelines. Amsterdam: IEA. [Google Scholar] civic education study, relating to national identity and social cohesion, it examines how programmes address social cohesion, human rights, cultural diversity, and conceptualise minorities. It assesses the effectiveness of cross-curricular approaches to contribute to justice and equality and challenge racism in a multicultural society, proposing an inclusive model of education for cosmopolitan citizenship, which incorporates diversity.     

Becoming an urban science teacher: How beginning teachers negotiate contradictory school contexts

Teacher attrition rates are high in urban schools, particularly for new science teachers. Little research has addressed how science teachers can be prepared to effectively bridge the divide between preparation and urban teaching. We utilized the theoretical frameworks of social justice, identity, and structure-agency to investigate this transition. Specifically, we examined the Urban Science Teacher Preparation (USTP) program as a critical case of “well-prepared” urban science teachers. Study participants included one cohort of four teachers. Data, primarily from individual interviews, a focus group, and written reflections, were collected from participants during pre-service preparation and their first year of teaching. The USTP program nurtured the development of a professional identity aligned with teaching science for social justice, with a unique emphasis on identifying structural injustices in schools. Findings indicate all four teachers used their identities to negotiate school policies and procedures that restricted student opportunities to learn science through three processes: deconstructing the context, positioning themselves within and against the context, and enacting their identities. These findings suggest the importance of USTP programs to provide teacher candidates with political clarity for teaching for social justice and sustained induction support to resist school socialization pressures.     

Networks of Passing: Experiences of Undocumented Latin American Immigrants’ Identity Negotiation

Undocumented Latin American immigrants are one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States, and they are one of the most vulnerable. Due to constant fear of deportation, these immigrants have to communicatively “pass” for documented in a variety of situations, and they might be likely to use informal network ties (social capital) to do so. Through eight diverse focus group interviews of undocumented immigrants, this study explores how this population passes. Undocumented immigrants used talk, the body, or documents to pass either individually or through network members. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.     

The promise and peril of education: the teaching of in/tolerance in an era of globalisation

This article addresses the pedagogical implications and possibilities that globalisation poses for educational policy and praxis as it relates to teaching about difference in an ever more diverse world. Among the most salient questions in an era of accelerated globalisation is how seemingly different cultures, civilisations, nationalities, ethnicities and races are to coexist peacefully in an increasingly borderless world, or whether they are forever destined to experience conflict based on cultural chasms in the guise of a ‘clash of civilisations’. This article highlights the tension between two perspectives on education: education as a force in cultivating intolerance and education as a panacea for intolerance. While not negating the potential for education to remedy social ills, we consider the extent to which education can produce change in the opposite direction. In the following pages, we present a context for our discussion of in/tolerance by providing an overview of the double‐edged, or Janus‐faced, qualities that both education and globalisation possess. We then draw on social‐psychological, anthropological and sociological literatures in bringing together three theoretical constructs—moral exclusion, the genocidal continuum and symbolic violence—in examining how intolerance is created and reproduced within educational settings. Following this overview, we present three vignettes to exemplify the teaching of intolerance in different historical and geo‐political contexts, namely, Nazi Germany, Rwanda and Israel. Finally, we conclude with recommendations that pay particular attention to the kind of education that that teaching of tolerance necessitates.     

A Comparison of Score Level Estimates of the Standard Error of Measurement

Numerous methods have been proposed and investigated for estimating · the standard error of measurement (SEM) at specific score levels. Consensus on the preferred method has not been obtained, in part because there is no standard criterion. The criterion procedure in previous investigations has been a single test occasion procedure. This study compares six estimation techniques. Two criteria were calculated by using test results obtained from a test-retest or parallel forms design. The relationship between estimated score level standard errors and the score scale was similar for the six procedures. These relationships were also congruent to findings from previous investigations. Similarity between estimates and criteria varied over methods and criteria. For test-retest conditions, the estimation techniques are interchangeable. The user's selection could be based on personal preference. However, for parallel forms conditions, the procedures resulted in estimates that were meaningfully different. The preferred estimation technique would be Feldt's method (cited in Gupta, 1965; Feldt, 1984).     

民主公民的教育：1995-2005年公民教育的研究、政策与实践述评

公民教育在2002年已经成为英格兰中学阶段的国家法定课程。最近,在全英国,以至欧洲和全球范围内也正在开展类似的改革。我们考察了欧洲和全球背景下国家课程的发展,探究不断增长的内在支撑民主公民教育(EDC)的人权方面的国际共识;确立了一些小的主题开展研究,如:多元性与一元性、世界公民教育、作为公民的儿童、民主的学校教育、学生对民主和公民社会的理解、学校和社区的当代角色、欧洲公民身份、学校层面公民教育的实施,等等。     

A new context for understanding civic responsibility: Relating Culture to Action at a Research University

Civic responsibility as an ideal of higher education is rarely considered through a cultural and theoretical lens. Swidler’s (1986, American Sociological Review, 51: 273–286) framework linking ideology, culture and action was used in this ethnographic study of a research university (a) to understand dominant institutional beliefs about civic responsibility and (b) to understand how institutional culture contributes to a unique approach to civic responsibility. This study examined campus ideologies and cultural forms that addressed five dimensions of civic responsibility: (a) knowledge and support of democratic values, systems and processes, (b) desire to act beneficially in community and for its members, (c) use of knowledge and skills for societal benefit, (d) appreciation for and interest in those unlike oneself, and (e) personal accountability. The “role model” approach emerged as a unique institutional approach to civic responsibility and aligned with Swidler’s framework. Findings are significant for both organization studies and student development research.