Acculturation in a globalised world: implications for theory and educational policy and practice

PurposeThis article examines the existing body of knowledge on acculturation, identifies the gaps, discusses its potential consequences for theory and proposes a possible way forward for educational policy and practice in the globalised world.Design/methodology/approachThe body of knowledge on acculturation has developed tremendously during the last century. However, some scholars are critical of its impact on acculturating people, particularly in the societies of settlement. This paper adopted an integrative literature review approach to critique and synthesise the published text on acculturation and education in the era of globalisation.FindingsDespite phenomenal growth in acculturation research and theory, the dominant perspectives and research methodologies hardly help to respond to the emerging trends in intercultural contact and its associated issues in education. A culture learning approach to the study of acculturation can help address the existing gaps, extend the theory, draw contextualised conclusions and take appropriate steps in education to prepare younger generations for an interconnected and interdependent world.Research limitations/implicationsResearchers and practitioners in education may need to be sensitive to the sociopolitical realities in a given context and contextualise their educational endeavours in preparing younger generations for an ever-changing social world.Practical implicationsThis narrative review suggests that an intercultural learning approach to education in contemporary times may better facilitate acculturation processes amongst immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Educational systems in multicultural societies may need to undertake context-specific interventions for immigrant children and adolescents in helping them acculturate to the societies of their settlement.Social implicationsAn intercultural approach to education in general and social studies education, in particular, can help younger generations better respond to the emerging trends of acculturation in the multicultural societies of their residence.Originality/valueGiven that young people follow diverse trajectories of acculturation, irrespective of their status of immigration, researchers in cross-cultural studies may need to reflect on existing theories, approaches, frameworks and methodologies with greater sensitiveness to the ecological context, cultural distance hypothesis and the nature of intercultural contact for a deeper understanding of immigrants' acculturation in plural societies.

Call for Special Issue on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in Rural Schools and Communities

In this special issue of TPRE, we aim to highlight research, teaching, and curriculum that operates as resistance to neoliberal and oppressive educational policy and practice by inquiring into issues of social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in rural education.

‘El PISA preescolar’: Un nuevo paradigma para la evaluación de los alumnos y alumnas de educación infantil

The aim of this article is to review, discuss and critique the OECD’s International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study (IELS), as a new standardised international evaluation for children’s education, which could be seen as a PISA test at preschool level. The article analyses the predominant discourse of quality in child education in which new global policies suggest what is best for children, and offers a review of the OECD’s previous work in the field of child education. We present the main criticisms of the IELS project, its possible consequences, and its impact on educational policy and practice. In our conclusions we emphasize that, although research is necessary in the field of child education in order to identify the remaining challenges, the IELS is not the best way forward, inasmuch as it involves the risk of accepting its findings made by quantitative methods as a representation of reality, without subjecting them to the different questions and interpretations of each national context.