21AP.

European Educational Research Journal

Volume 7 Number 1 2008
===========================
Section: 9

Title: Effects of International Comparative Studies on Educational Quality on the Quality of

Educational Research

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 1-17.

Author:
Jan-Eric Gustafsson (Sweden)

Keywords:
Sweden
International comparative studies
Educational quality
Educational research
Large-scale survey
Educational achievement

‫תמצית‬

Strengths and weaknesses of different research approaches are discussed, and it is

proposed that the dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative approaches should be
replaced with distinctions between low- and high-level inference approaches with respect to
data, generalization and explanation. It is concluded that while the international studies easily
invite misuse and misinterpretation, they also offer possibilities for improving the quality of
educational research, because the high-quality data generated by these studies can be taken
advantage of in research on causal effects of factors in and out of educational systems.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 1-17.

Large-scale survey studies of educational achievement are becoming increasingly frequent,

and they are visibly present in both educational policy debates and within the educational
research community. One main aim of these studies is to provide descriptions of inputs,
processes and outcomes, and another aim is to provide explanations of how different factors
interrelate to produce educational outcomes.

These aims are difficult to reach, which in combination with the fact that the comparative
studies are typically more policy driven than theory driven, are reasons why these studies are
contested on quality grounds. In this article, a set of fundamental methodological challenges
related to the validity of the measurement instruments and to the possibility of making
inferences about causality are identified and discussed in relation to examples of different
studies.

Strengths and weaknesses of different research approaches are discussed, and it is

proposed that the dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative approaches should be
replaced with distinctions between low- and high-level inference approaches with respect to
data, generalization and explanation. It is concluded that while the international studies easily
invite misuse and misinterpretation, they also offer possibilities for improving the quality of
educational research, because the high-quality data generated by these studies can be taken
advantage of in research on causal effects of factors in and out of educational systems.
-----------------------
Section: 12

Title: Race, Ethnicity and Difference versus Imagined Homogeneity within the European
Union
Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 23-38.

Author:
Chris Gaine (UK)

Keywords:
UK
Race
Ethnicity
Imagined homogeneity
EU
Perception of diversity

‫תמצית‬

This article argues three things. First, it argues that the perception of diversity being
problematic in Europe has been generated largely by non-European immigration into urban
areas. This has been Britain’s experience for 50 years and Spain’s for barely ,15 but whether
the immigrants are ex-colonial, Turkish or Balkan migrant labour, or Africans escaping
economic despair, they are likely to be seen as troublingly ‘other’.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 23-38.

This article argues three things. First, it argues that the perception of diversity being
problematic in Europe has been generated largely by non-European immigration into urban
areas. This has been Britain’s experience for 50 years and Spain’s for barely 15, but whether
the immigrants are ex-colonial, Turkish or Balkan migrant labour, or Africans escaping
economic despair, they are likely to be seen as troublingly ‘other’.

The second argument is that partly in response to this there is a degree of policy convergence
about protection from discrimination, although it is complex, has several motives and is
subject to many local variations.

Thirdly, the article reviews the existing diversity within Europe before the immigration of the
late twentieth century and argues that historic ‘indigenous’ minorities have received less
recognition and legal protection, primarily because of the very notions of national identity now
troubled by immigration.
-------------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: Taking Identity Seriously: dilemmas for education policy and practice

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 39-49.

Authors:
Sharon Gewirtz
Alan Cribb (UK)

Keywords:
UK
Identity
Dilemmas
Education policy
Education practice
Multicultural question
‫תמצית‬

If we are to fully understand and adequately respond to the multicultural question in European
education, it is necessary to develop rich empirical descriptions and theoretically rigorous
explanations of policy processes and effects. For example, we need to be able to characterise
and explain the differentiated ways in which education policies and practices do or do not
recognise, support or undermine diverse cultural identities and do or do not reproduce various
kinds of educational and social inequality.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 39-49.

If we are to fully understand and adequately respond to the multicultural question in European
education, it is necessary to develop rich empirical descriptions and theoretically rigorous
explanations of policy processes and effects.

For example, we need to be able to characterise and explain the differentiated ways in which
education policies and practices do or do not recognise, support or undermine diverse cultural
identities and do or do not reproduce various kinds of educational and social inequality.

But we also need to be able to produce some kind of account of what ought to be going on.
The latter involves confronting a number of important questions: Why does identity matter?
What is ethically entailed by – and what are the limits to – recognising and supporting diverse
cultural identities?

In what ways are the various currents of multiculturalism an adequate response to these
complex normative questions? In this article, the authors begin to respond to these questions
by mapping out some of the dilemmas involved in taking both identity and equality seriously.
-------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: Education and Diversity in the Netherlands

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 50-59.

Author:
Yvonne Leeman (Netherlands)

Keywords:
Netherlands
Religious diversity
Multicultural question
National policies
Teacher educators
Cultural diversity

‫תמצית‬

The article shows how the Netherlands has partly accommodated itself to greater cultural
diversity through compulsory reforms like intercultural education and citizenship education
and through its long-established structure of public funding for pedagogically and religiously
diverse schools. It also shows the double standards applied to Christian and Islamic schools
in the media and public debate.
‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 50-59.

This article sets out the Dutch approach to the multicultural question. It focuses on how
national policies, schools, teachers and teacher educators are addressing and making sense
of questions of cultural and religious diversity.

The article shows how the Netherlands has partly accommodated itself to greater cultural
diversity through compulsory reforms like intercultural education and citizenship education
and through its long-established structure of public funding for pedagogically and religiously
diverse schools.

It also shows the double standards applied to Christian and Islamic schools in the media and
public debate. Drawing on interview data with teachers and case study material on teacher
educators, the article describes their daily dilemmas with regard to diversity and commonality
in contemporary classrooms and concludes that these teachers do not have the professional
expertise needed to respond effectively to such dilemmas.
------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: Teachers’ Ideas about Multicultural Education in a Changing Society: the case of the
Czech Republic

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 60-73.

Authors:
Dana Moree (Czech Republic)
Cees Klaassen
Wiel Veugelers

Keywords:
Czech republic
Teachers’ ideas
Multicultural education
Changing society
Secondary schools
Primary schools

‫תמצית‬

This article draws on Czech teachers’ ideas about multicultural education at a time when the
teaching of multicultural education has become obligatory for primary and secondary schools.
The authors present results of a qualitative research study of Czech teachers’ ideas about
multicultural education.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 60-73.

This article draws on Czech teachers’ ideas about multicultural education at a time when the
teaching of multicultural education has become obligatory for primary and secondary schools.
After describing the broader context within which this reform has taken place – specifically,
the transformation of the educational system and the changing ethnic mosaic of the Czech
Republic – the authors present results of a qualitative research study of Czech teachers’
ideas about multicultural education.
----------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: Culture-Blind? Parental Discourse on Religion, Ethnicity and Secularism in the French
Educational Context

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 74-88.

Author:
Maroussia Raveaud (France)

Keywords:
France
Culture-blind
Parental discourse
Religion
Ethnicity
Secularism

‫תמצית‬

This article examines policy mediation and adaptation in a context where religious, ethnic and
other cultural identities are not officially recognised in the public sphere but considered part of
the private sphere. French educational policy is firmly rooted within a secular Republican
framework which relies on a colour-blind approach to promote equality.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 74-88.

This article examines policy mediation and adaptation in a context where religious, ethnic and
other cultural identities are not officially recognised in the public sphere but considered part of
the private sphere. French educational policy is firmly rooted within a secular Republican
framework which relies on a colour-blind approach to promote equality.

The article draws on 53 interviews with parents in Greater Paris, which were undertaken as
part of a comparative study of urban parents’ values and attitudes regarding education and
school choice, conducted in collaboration with the London Institute of Education in 2004-05.

The focus is on parents’ perceptions of religious and ethnic diversity at school, and the
interview data is contrasted to the Republican ideology dominant in official rhetoric. What is
seen playing across and through these interviews is how the range of discourse available to
parents is embedded in and constrained by cultural, political and educational traditions and
values.

However, far from endorsing official rhetoric wholesale, many parents question, adapt and
mediate secular Republican ideals, raising the issue of the relevance and durability of the
French model of integration.
--------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: The Impossibility of Minority Ethnic Educational ‘Success’? An Examination of the

Discourses of Teachers and Pupils in British Secondary Schools

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 89-107.

Author:
Louise Archer (UK)

Keywords:
UK
British secondary schools
Educational success
Minority
Discourses
Ideal pupil

‫תמצית‬

This article argues that in Britain dominant educational discourses of ‘the ideal pupil’ exclude
minority ethnic pupils and prevent them from inhabiting a position of authentic ‘success’. It
suggests that ‘the successful pupil’ is a desired yet refused subject position for many minority
ethnic young people – even for those who are (to some extent) performing educational
success.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages 89-107.

This article argues that in Britain dominant educational discourses of ‘the ideal pupil’ exclude
minority ethnic pupils and prevent them from inhabiting a position of authentic ‘success’. It
suggests that ‘the successful pupil’ is a desired yet refused subject position for many minority
ethnic young people – even for those who are (to some extent) performing educational
success.

The article draws on interview and discussion group data from teachers, minority ethnic
parents and minority ethnic pupils (aged 14-16- years) that were collected across four
separate studies. All the studies were conducted in British secondary schools and focused on
the identities and experiences of British Chinese, British Muslim and ethnically diverse
samples of young people.

The article engages in an unpicking of the multiple ways in which minority ethnic pupils are
Othered in relation to the dominant identity of the ‘ideal pupil’ as White, male, middle class,
and so on. The article moves beyond the notion of a singular Other position, engaging with
the slipperiness of power and entanglements of ‘race’, gender, class and sexuality through the
conceptual device of a trichotomy.

This integrated model moves beyond notions of simplistic ‘stereotyping’ to explain how
complexly located minority ethnic pupils are always-already positioned as ‘other’ within British
educational discourse, such that even ‘high-achieving’ minority ethnic pupils may experience
success as precarious.
-------------------------------
Section: 12

Title: From Foreigner Pedagogy to Intercultural Education: an analysis of the German

responses to diversity and its impact on schools and students

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages

108-123.

Daniel Faas

Keywords:
Germany
Foreigner pedagogy
Intercultural education
Diversity
Minority ethnic students
Immigration country

‫תמצית‬
This article first provides a socio-historical analysis of the German responses to migration-
related cultural and religious diversity by tracing the development of educational policies from
assimilationist notions of ‘foreigner pedagogy’ in the 1960s and 1970s to intercultural
education, which slowly emerged in schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

‫מאמר‬

Source: . European Educational Research Journal, Volume 7 Number 1 2008, pages

108-123.

Germany has been reluctant to adapt its education systems to the growing number of minority
ethnic students, and politicians and policy makers have only recently officially acknowledged
that Germany is an immigration country despite decades of mass immigration.

This article first provides a socio-historical analysis of the German responses to migration-
related cultural and religious diversity by tracing the development of educational policies from
assimilationist notions of ‘foreigner pedagogy’ in the 1960s and 1970s to intercultural
education, which slowly emerged in schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, unlike European education, intercultural education still lacks official support in some
German federal states. Drawing upon qualitative data collected in two Stuttgart secondary
schools, the article then discusses the ways in which schools and students have mediated
such macro-level policies. Goethe Gymnasium (a university-track school) promoted European
values alongside multicultural values whereas Tannberg Hauptschule (a vocational-track
school) was close to being Eurocentric and positioned minority ethnic students as the ‘Other’.

The findings suggest that Germany still has some way to go to overcome cultural
insensitivities, to increase minority ethnic representation amongst teachers and to promote
both diversity and civic cohesion.
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