Intracultural Travel or Adventures at Home in The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

Rather than look at children as they move between cultures, this article examines the child protagonists of The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm as they move within their own culture. Although this multi-cultural novel is from the science fiction genre, the psychological reality of encountering different peoples holds true. Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are unique characters: they live in isolation within their own culture. This isolation allows the children to experience each segment of their culture as if they were outsiders to it. Both the narrator and narrative are set up to help the reader find the various subcultures visited as lacking—this despite several overt statements about not making judgments. In the end, what could be a novel of understanding and acceptance turns out to be a terrific adventure story, but rather typical in that any culture that is not the protagonist's own is dangerous and inferior.     

国际化背景下的大学生思想政治教育

文章介绍了国际化进程中思想政治教育面临的新形势以及高校在此方面的教学改革,高校在与国外大学合办的过程中应当积极吸取国外的经验,最终要与国内的思想政治教育的实际情况结合来提出改进策略,培养全方位的人才。     

Multi/intercultural education in Australia and the Netherlands

In this article, the authors tease out the constructions of multi/intercultural education in Australia and the Netherlands through a comparative study of the two contexts including the population, scope of diversity, policies of multiculturalism and the policy and practice of multi/intercultural education. The comparison highlights commonalities and context‐bound differences. The article then discusses some dilemmas in the practice of multi/intercultural education based on findings from the authors' recent empirical research in both countries using a critical multiculturalism framework. The dilemmas discussed include the interwoven dimensions of culturalism and individualism and the tendency towards social agnosticism among teachers and teacher education students.     

Multiculturalism and Inter-Faith Understanding at Teaching Colleges in Israel: Minority vs. Majority Perspectives

Abstract

Living in a pluralistic society where groups are ethnically, nationally and religiously different and sometimes live in conflict with one another requires teachers to be prepared to deal with conflict-laden issues. In such societies, educational institutions in general and especially teaching colleges should not be ethnocentric but should acknowledge the experiences, cultures, and histories of different minority groups to educate for multiculturalism and to promote multi-cultural and inter-faith education. For this reason, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the manifestations of multiculturalism and multicultural and inter-faith education in two teaching colleges in Israel, one that belongs to the Arab minority and one that belongs to the Jewish majority. Seven senior staff members of each college were interviewed and asked about the way multiculturalism is demonstrated in their college and how multicultural and inter-faith education are expressed. The findings confirm that multicultural and inter-faith education have not penetrated all realms of activity in the two colleges and the gap existing between preaching multiculturalism and practicing it is still deep.     

The cosmopolitan turn in Literature education and its resulting tensions in Singapore schools

ABSTRACT

In this article, I highlight the emergence of a cosmopolitan turn in Literature education as observed in teachers’ beliefs and practices in Singapore schools. Central to the cosmopolitan turn is the view that Literature education should not be disengaged from real-world connections to others particularly those who are marginalized and oppressed in the world. In the first part of this article, I describe core principles informing a cosmopolitan approach to teaching Literature that is distinct from previous movements. In the second part, I utilize case studies of Literature teachers from four secondary schools in Singapore to discuss key tensions resulting from teachers’ attempts to foster cosmopolitan sensitivities. These tensions point to the propensity for Literature education to prioritize a form of universalism that neglects the dynamic interconnections between national and global identity; to encourage a human capital approach to education where cosmopolitanism is co-opted to strategically benefit elites and to perpetuate passive rather than active cosmopolitan engagement with justice. I suggest that awareness of these tensions can enable educators to develop more holistic and ethically grounded cosmopolitan Literature education where all students can be equipped with critical and empathetic capacities to navigate diverse and conflicting values in our global age.     

美国多元文化主义背景下的异族通婚

二十世纪八十年代以来，在多元化主义背景下，美国异族通婚从异族裔通婚，异教通婚，进入到异种族通婚阶段。其主要原因有三，第三次移民潮中有色种族移民的爆炸性增加以及早期有色种族移民后代的同化；二十世纪六十年代以来美国社会的逐步宽容和开放；多元化主义的倡导。     

Science Education: Multicultural and Universal

In this paper, I first explore the reasons for embracing multiculturalism, arguing that multiculturalism is best conceived and defended in universalistic moral, rather than epistemic, terms. I then criticize the common view that multiculturalism is incompatible with a universalistic conception of science, and argue that multiculturalism is compatible with a suitably characterized epistemic universalism. Finally, I consider whether or not that sort of universalism is itself morally objectionable, and argue that it is not. The upshot is that science educators ought to embrace both a universalistic conception of multiculturalism (on moral grounds), and a universalistic conception of science (on epistemic grounds).     

通识教育是什么?

本文是<新标准>杂志五月号文科教育专题中的首篇,简要介绍了当代通识教育背离传承文明的本质和目标这个传统理想而造成的恶果,揭露"多元文化主义"和"政治正确"的实质,指出了过去美国"教育改革"的失败,并探讨了失败的原因.     

Education in the Sudan: the privileging of an Islamic discourse

This article examines the educational discourse in the part of the Sudan administered by the Government of the Sudan. It first analyses the value system upon which the Sudanese education is based by focusing on the nature of Islamism. Such a discussion is necessary because the dominant discourse is a discourse where power and Islamic theocracy legitimise each other and spill over into the educational discourse. Given the ethnic and religious complexity in the Sudan the imposition of a fundamentalist Islamic discourse is fiercely contested. The second part of the article, therefore, discusses the educational discourse of the government and relates it to the oppositional discourses in the country. It pays particular attention to the homogenising efforts of the dominant discourse to eradicate difference as a constituting factor in the Sudanese education system. The attempts to recognise difference have not led to a fundamental negotiation of the consequences of Islamism in the official school system.     

Multicultural education through child-constructed games

Children all over the world enjoy learning and playing games. Involving children in the process of creating games from other cultures can increase an authentic interest in learning about other cultures. It also increases cognitive, social, and interpersonal skills. Activities that stress multicultural awareness seem to work best when they are part of the daily routine. Many board games, matching games, and sidewalk games are played in several cultures with slight variations. Stressing commonalities by making games rather than differences can foster sensitivity and a greater understanding of others.