The Funds of Knowledge Approach: An Opportunity to Access Education for Ethnic Minority Students in Vietnam

The funds of knowledge approach has been increasingly studied and applied to teaching practices in many developed countries. Learning about students’ funds of knowledge and incorporation into their learning enables teachers to increase relevant learning experiences, empowering a socio-constructivist approach to teaching and learning. It is acknowledged to help students learn meaningfully by connecting lessons to students’ funds of knowledge, especially to ethnic minority students, color, immigrant students, or disadvantaged students. However, there is a lack of studies and papers on the funds of knowledge approach in education in Vietnam. This article aims to introduce this educational approach and contribute to solving the challenges that ethnic minority education in Vietnam is facing. The article also suggests further studies to promote the application of the Funds of knowledge approach in Vietnam, thereby improving the quality of ethnic minority education in Vietnam and value the cultural resources, languages, and local knowledge of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam.

Less-standard claims to justice through the lens of media debates on minority education

The coexistence, not always peaceful, of multiple and often rival, conceptions of justice in education policy and practice is well recognized and problematized in the academic literature. Relatively little is known, however, about what kind of justice-related considerations occupy the ‘public mind’ and/or inform what Nancy Fraser calls ‘folk paradigms of justice’. The current article seeks to shed light on the public construction of the ‘what’ of justice in the realm of education by analysing selected debates on minority education politics that occur in news and social media in five European countries. Fraser’s tripartite model of justice as redistribution, recognition and representation constituted the starting point of the investigation. The results of a qualitative analysis of selected media content show that while Fraser’s framework resonates well with the popular understandings of justice, the tripartite typology is not exhaustive in accounting for all justice claims evoked in the public domain. In the light of the debates analysed, three types of ‘alternative’ claims seem particularly relevant for theorizing justice in education and/or seeking legitimacy for education policy: claims that appeal to civil rights and liberties, claims that appeal to procedural justice and claims that appeal to epistemic justice.

THE MAIN FACTORS OF HUNGARIAN-SLOVAK BILINGULAISM

The study briefly describes the bilingual language situation of Hungarian minority communities living outside Hungary. It deals with the fact that for the Hungarian communities discussed, the Hungarian language is the primary identity-forming factor, briefly covering the effects of bilingualism on the language of the Hungarian minorities in the Carpathian Basin. It shows the close connection between language maintenance and minority education, arguing that one of the most important issues for minority education policy is how bilingual development works. The paper analyzes the educational situation of the Hungarian minority communities in the Carpathian Basin and states that the basic condition for the survival of the language and culture of the Hungarian minorities living outside Hungary is adequate minority education.

Exploring the Frontier of Chinese Ethnic Minority Education: An Interview With Prof. Xing Teng

Xing Teng has spearheaded ethnic minority education and educational anthropology in China. As a member of the Han majority and an ally to ethnic minority groups, he has endeavored to open space for ethnic minority education in China. I sat down with Professor Teng in the summer of 2018. After transcribing the original interview into Chinese and in consultation with Professor Teng, four segments from the interview are translated for this Special Issue, with added footnotes. Statements are also included in the text for clarity. The final version has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Language – identity – culture – minority (Sociolinguistic analysis of situational use of a minority language on the example of Slovak university youth in Hungaria)

Language plays an important role between identity, culture and minority relations. The knowledge and use of the minority language by the elite is an authoritative attribute of language position in the whole minority. The education of elites in the Slovak minority in Hungary is determined by minority education (teaching the Slovak language, history and culture). The top of this kind of education is the university study of Slovak studies at several universities in Hungary. Graduates gain the legitimacy to become the intellectual elite of the Slovak minority in Hungary. Sociolinguistic situation analysis shows their relationship to Slovak language and real aspects of its use.

Thoughts on Educational Issues of Chinese Minority Nationalities

Education is an important way to deliver high-quality talents to the country. The smooth progress of ethnic minority education is not only directly related to the country’s cultural life, political structure and national culture, but also has an important impact on the country’s long-term development. This article discusses the education of ethnic minorities from multiple angles, hoping to provide references for other educators while promoting the rapid development of ethnic minority education in my country.