Germany has historically been a country where peoples from various countries have worked and settled, and diverse cultures have existed. Yet, German schools still adhere to what could be described as assimilative and deficit-oriented practices (Gogolin & Krüger-Potratz, 2006; Schanz, 2006). In addition, the German education system has a high degree of social selection (Auernheimer, 2006a) that creates severe educational inequities between German and immigrant students. After four years of primary school, students are streamed into one of the three major secondary school types Gymnasium, Realschule, and Hauptschule, based on achievement. Since these schools provide education of varying quality, students are denied equal opportunities. The purpose of this study is to explore and critically analyze possible ways to alleviate the existing inequities in the German school system, which are reflected in the achievement gap between immigrant and German mainstream students (Hormel & Scherr, 2004; Schofield, 2006). Using a case study approach, I analyze the educational work of the award-winning German primary school “Kleine Kielstraße” located in Dortmund with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population, situated in a socially disadvantaged district. My purpose was to gain insight into the school’s practices and strategies for recognizing diverse students and for striving to provide equitable education for all students. Despite the strategic steps taken by this school based on the competence and the enthusiasm of the principal and staff, it is quite evident that structural changes in the highly selective, three-tiered German secondary school system are required before educators can effectively challenge the built-in inequities. Though the German school system is designed and programmed to discriminate and deny equal opportunity, the participating school demonstrates a pedagogical approach that provides more equitable education for all students regardless of their cultural background and ethnicity. This thesis explores these strategies of the school to create an understanding that a progressive “Intercultural Pedagogy” can go a long way in providing a better education despite structural inequities. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-03 15:00:06.839

<p>This essay is a study about the school introduction of immigrant pupils in the Swedish compulsory school. The purpose if this study is to examine the organisation municipal school introduction for immigrant pupils in the compulsory school in Södertälje. The method I have used is qualitative research method which depends on interviews and analysis of documents.</p><p>The result shows that the municipal is without a plan for the school introduction of the immigrant pupils and that the individual compulsory school has the main responsibility for the school introduction of the immigrant pupils. The result also shows that there is a need of increased teaching of mother tongue. There is also a need of competence development within intercultural pedagogy.</p><p>My conclusions are that a municipal plan for the school introduction of immigrant pupils should increase the immigrant pupils’ possibility to a shorter time of introduction to the compulsory school.</p>

This essay is a study about the school introduction of immigrant pupils in the Swedish compulsory school. The purpose if this study is to examine the organisation municipal school introduction for immigrant pupils in the compulsory school in Södertälje. The method I have used is qualitative research method which depends on interviews and analysis of documents. The result shows that the municipal is without a plan for the school introduction of the immigrant pupils and that the individual compulsory school has the main responsibility for the school introduction of the immigrant pupils. The result also shows that there is a need of increased teaching of mother tongue. There is also a need of competence development within intercultural pedagogy. My conclusions are that a municipal plan for the school introduction of immigrant pupils should increase the immigrant pupils’ possibility to a shorter time of introduction to the compulsory school.

The aim of this essay is to study five teachers' perceptions and experiences of a multicultural class. I want to find out how they relate to intercultural education and how they experience that they may apply it. Sweden is a multicultural society. This fact is even reflected in the school and this imposes on teachers finding new ways to educate and prepare their students for the multicultural society. I chose to carry out a qualitative survey and interviewed five teachers having contact with a multicultural class. The study also offers suggestions to future teachers who can benefit from it in terms of adopting convenient attitudes in multicultural classes with better understanding. The outcome reached shows that the interviewed teachers try to make use of intercultural pedagogy by addressing differences between students, adapting teaching to supply for the needs of students, and also by having good contact with parents. But teachers also experience difficulties. For example, they neither receive enough training in the research area nor have sufficient contact with native teachers who are important resources in multicultural schools.

That the Swedish society looks different depending on the location is a fact and that in turn means different schools with different conditions and resources depending on the localization. We have in this study interviewed four teachers in a high-status school and four teachers at a low-status school in a municipality south of Stockholm. The purpose of our study is to find out how teachers / educators perceive children's physical and psychological safety in their workplaces, and if there is a difference between the schools in resource allocation. In order to answer our purpose of the study, we chose to interview teachers about how the school looks for the kids in order of enough resources such as books for all, enough facilities and competent and even skilled teachers. To take into account and consider people´s backgrounds, experiences, and cultural frames of reference is a way to interact within a respectful world, and as a good approach to educating children from all parts of the world and with all the different mental and physical difficulties. The two schools in our study show lack of resources but of different kinds. The low-status school is located in a segregated area, a segregation that consists of multiculturalism, adults with little or no education at all and high unemployment. The high-status school is the opposite; it consists of highly educated parents who have good relationships with their children. The parent’s backgrounds are important in several ways for the children’s schooling. We concluded that an intercultural perspective is and should be the fundamental respect in cultural meetings with other people.

I läroplanen för förskolan (Lpfö98) beskrivs förskolan som en social och kulturell mötesplats som skall stärka och förbereda barnen för ett liv i ett allt mer internationaliserat samhälle (Lpfö98). Syftet med denna studie är att jag med detta som utgångspunkt har tittat närmre på förskolelärares egna tankar och funderingar kring detta, hur förskolelärare känner inför de mångkulturella direktiven som läroplanen anger och hur de tycker att man rent praktiskt skall uppfylla dessa mål. Studien tar även upp hur förskolelärarna upplever sina egna kunskaper för att bidra till att barnen utvecklar sin förmåga att förstå och leva sig in i andras kulturer och värderingar. Det är en kvalitativ studie där fyra intervjuer har gjorts med slumpvalda förskolelärare från en förutbestämd stadsdel. I studien framkom att samtliga förskolelärare ser att förskolan besitter en mångfald som de ser positivt på. Denna mångfald ställer krav på en interkulturell pedagogik hos förskolelärarna, för att man på ett mer effektivt och medvetet sätt skall kunna arbeta för de mångkulturella direktiven som anges i Lpfö98. Slutsatserna av studien är att förskolelärarna upplever ett behov av fortbildningar i strävan mot ett mer interkulturellt förhållningssätt. Vad gäller att förskolan skall förbereda barnen för ett mer internationaliserat samhälle, som Lpfö98 omtalar, anser informanterna att det viktigaste är att hela tiden lyfta olikheter och dess positiva innebörd. En annan viktig sak är att acceptera och visa respekt för varandras olikheter. För att kunna arbeta för detta ansåg de sig behöva mer tid och mindre barngrupper, för att ha möjlighet till att snappa upp barnens egna tankar och funderingar och ha tid till diskussion kring detta. Inte förrän då kan det interkulturella arbetet genomsyra det fortlöpande verksamheten. Det gäller att hitta ett arbetssätt som fungerar i arbetslaget och för den specifika barngruppen. Man måste arbeta mer medvetet med läroplanen och dess mångkulturella direktiv samt diskutera läroplanen mer aktivt i arbetsgruppen för att kunna bryta ner den till en mer praktiskt nivå. På det sättet blir det möjligt att lyfta läroplanen till ett mer medvetet plan. / In the teachers´ plan for preschool (Lpfö98) the preschool is described as a social and cultural meeting point that shall prepare the children for an international society. The aim of this study is to use this as a starting point for a closer investigation of the preschool teachers’ own thoughts about this. Furthermore, studies have been made on how the preschool teachers feel about these multicultural directives, and how they think they can practically fulfill their goals. The study also covers the preschool teachers´ experience and their own knowledge when it comes to work for a cultural understanding among the children, in order for them to develop their own ability to understand and have empathy for other cultures and valuations. It is a qualitative study where four interviews have been made with random preschool teachers from a predetermined section of a city. It emerged in the study that all the preschool teachers perceive that the preschool possesses a multitude of people, which they consider very positive. This multitude of people demands an intercultural pedagogy among the preschool teachers, so that they can work in a more effective and deliberate way with the multicultural directives of lpfö98. The conclusions of this study are that the preschool teachers experienced a need of further education in ambition to strive for a more intercultural way of teaching. When it comes to the preschool preparing the children for a more international community, according to lpfö98, the informants consider lifting differences and it´s positive meaning the most important issue. Another important thing is to accept and show respect for each other’s differences. To be able to do this they would need more time and smaller groups of children. This in order to have a possibility to reach the children’s own thoughts and ideas and also get time to have a discussion around it. Then the intercultural work could be a part of the daily work. It´s all about finding a way of work that is suitable for the staff and the specific group of children. One have to work more deliberately with the teachers´ plan and it´s multicultural directive and discuss the plan more actively among colleges to break it into a more practical meaning. That way it will be possible to lift it to a more conscious level.

<p>I läroplanen för förskolan (Lpfö98) beskrivs förskolan som en social och kulturell mötesplats som skall stärka och förbereda barnen för ett liv i ett allt mer internationaliserat samhälle (Lpfö98). Syftet med denna studie är att jag med detta som utgångspunkt har tittat närmre på förskolelärares egna tankar och funderingar kring detta, hur förskolelärare känner inför de mångkulturella direktiven som läroplanen anger och hur de tycker att man rent praktiskt skall uppfylla dessa mål. Studien tar även upp hur förskolelärarna upplever sina egna kunskaper för att bidra till att barnen utvecklar sin förmåga att förstå och leva sig in i andras kulturer och värderingar.</p><p>Det är en kvalitativ studie där fyra intervjuer har gjorts med slumpvalda förskolelärare från en förutbestämd stadsdel. I studien framkom att samtliga förskolelärare ser att förskolan besitter en mångfald som de ser positivt på. Denna mångfald ställer krav på en interkulturell pedagogik hos förskolelärarna, för att man på ett mer effektivt och medvetet sätt skall kunna arbeta för de mångkulturella direktiven som anges i Lpfö98.</p><p>Slutsatserna av studien är att förskolelärarna upplever ett behov av fortbildningar i strävan mot ett mer interkulturellt förhållningssätt. Vad gäller att förskolan skall förbereda barnen för ett mer internationaliserat samhälle, som Lpfö98 omtalar, anser informanterna att det viktigaste är att hela tiden lyfta olikheter och dess positiva innebörd. En annan viktig sak är att acceptera och visa respekt för varandras olikheter. För att kunna arbeta för detta ansåg de sig behöva mer tid och mindre barngrupper, för att ha möjlighet till att snappa upp barnens egna tankar och funderingar och ha tid till diskussion kring detta. Inte förrän då kan det interkulturella arbetet genomsyra det fortlöpande verksamheten.</p><p>Det gäller att hitta ett arbetssätt som fungerar i arbetslaget och för den specifika barngruppen. Man måste arbeta mer medvetet med läroplanen och dess mångkulturella direktiv samt diskutera läroplanen mer aktivt i arbetsgruppen för att kunna bryta ner den till en mer praktiskt nivå. På det sättet blir det möjligt att lyfta läroplanen till ett mer medvetet plan.</p> / <p>In the teachers´ plan for preschool (Lpfö98) the preschool is described as a social and cultural meeting point that shall prepare the children for an international society. The aim of this study is to use this as a starting point for a closer investigation of the preschool teachers’ own thoughts about this. Furthermore, studies have been made on how the preschool teachers feel about these multicultural directives, and how they think they can practically fulfill their goals. The study also covers the preschool teachers´ experience and their own knowledge when it comes to work for a cultural understanding among the children, in order for them to develop their own ability to understand and have empathy for other cultures and valuations.</p><p>It is a qualitative study where four interviews have been made with random preschool teachers from a predetermined section of a city. It emerged in the study that all the preschool teachers perceive that the preschool possesses a multitude of people, which they consider very positive. This multitude of people demands an intercultural pedagogy among the preschool teachers, so that they can work in a more effective and deliberate way with the multicultural directives of lpfö98.</p><p>The conclusions of this study are that the preschool teachers experienced a need of further education in ambition to strive for a more intercultural way of teaching. When it comes to the preschool preparing the children for a more international community, according to lpfö98, the informants consider lifting differences and it´s positive meaning the most important issue. Another important thing is to accept and show respect for each other’s differences. To be able to do this they would need more time and smaller groups of children. This in order to have a possibility to reach the children’s own thoughts and ideas and also get time to have a discussion around it. Then the intercultural work could be a part of the daily work.</p><p>It´s all about finding a way of work that is suitable for the staff and the specific group of children. One have to work more deliberately with the teachers´ plan and it´s multicultural directive and discuss the plan more actively among colleges to break it into a more practical meaning. That way it will be possible to lift it to a more conscious level.</p>

Mediante una descripción vivencial de la construcción de la Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo, este trabajo presenta importantes decisiones tomadas y caminos andados para la implementación de un modelo educativo, intercultural, en un contexto de alto rezago y pobreza de los indígenas mayas en Quintana Roo. Sin descuidar las normas y políticas que aplican a instituciones públicas en México, los esquemas de financiamiento, arreglo institucional y pedagogía intercultural, desarrollados en la UIMQRoo, tomaron en cuenta elementos de aprendizaje/transmisión y de construcción/ innovación de conocimiento que combinan aspectos de la cultura local con la educación convencional. Altos indicadores de retención, titulación, empleabilidad y calidad de los programas educativos, así como opiniones de egresados, alcanzados de febrero 2007 a febrero 2015, hacen pensar que las decisiones condujeron hacia la dirección correcta. / This work presents important decisions made during the implementationof the intercultural educational model at the UniversidadIntercultural Maya de Quintana Roo, Mexico, in a context of povertyand conditions of lagging behind the rest of the society of theindigenous Yucatec Maya population. Within the legal frameworkof public universities in Mexico, the financing of projects, thedeveloping of intercultural pedagogy and designing the institutionalsettings, rested on elements that included learning/transmission andconstruction/innovation of knowledge that combined aspects of thelocal culture with conventional education. High figures on indicatorssuch as retention, graduation rate, employability, and quality ofthe academic programs, along with opinions from alumni, achievedduring the period of February 2007 to February 2015, indicate thatthe decisions and actions taken in the beginning of the constructionof the intercultural model at UIMQRoo, were in the right direction.

The aim of this study is to explore the perception and experience of treatment and inclusion that Afroswedish parents have of the Swedish preschool. There are a few similar studies on the subject, but they are either coming in from another perspective or are focused on the theoretical aspect of the matter.  The study has been performed through semi structured, qualitative interviews with seven caregivers with an afroswedish background, who have children in the Swedish preschool, or that just have finished it. Throughout the study we have been using a phenomenographic method among an intercultural theory and Foucault’s theory to analyse and understand how different factors are associated and interact with each other, and how they affect the intercultural encounter. The study shows that their experiences vary depending on numerous factors. One of the most significant is that the individual preschools work for inclusion and diversity is dependent for the parent’s perceptions of the preschool and the pedagogues. The experiences of how the pedagogues treat and talk with the parents and the children are also important for the overall impression of the preschools. The study points out the awareness among the preschool staff and their approach to the matter of diversity as the main important factor for equal treatment and inlcusion.

The aim of this thesis is to examine English language teachers’ choices and uses of literary texts, and more particularly, multicultural forms of literature from an intercultural pedagogical angle. Drawing on a qualitative approach, six English teachers’ experiences were explored using interviews. The interviews were semi-structured which gave the English teachers the opportunity to share their reasonings behind working interculturally with multicultural literature. The English teachers perceived both potentials and problems when dealing with multicultural literature, both of which were analysed through content analysis.   The results revealed that the English teachers made conscious decisions when choosing multicultural literature for their classes. They based their curricula on the different backgrounds and nationalities found in their classroom in order to represent voices outside of the traditional canon and mainstream culture. It was also found that the teachers were positive towards working interculturally with multicultural literature as it aided in promoting social harmony as well as negotiating conflict and new perspectives on foreign cultures and identities. However, it was also found that the English teachers experienced challenges due to several issues, such as not being an expert on a particular culture, silence among students, and censorship issues. The findings from the study indicate that teachers need to be trained on and provided with the necessary pedagogical tools on how to represent different cultures, as well as how to approach sensitive topics on race and culture included in multicultural literature.