Multicultural Initial Teacher Training in Greece

Greece's demography has changed rapidly over the last 30 years. Migrants now form a sizable population but are still persistently excluded from mainstream conceptualizations and representations of the national ‘we'. Moreover, although multicultural classrooms have also become the norm, migrant students still face significant educational inequities. This chapter argues that a major stepping stone towards changing this adverse reality can come from the initial teacher training provided to future educators in Greece. Drawing upon teacher trainees' narratives, this chapter critically reflects upon the multicultural initial teacher training currently offered in Greece in an attempt to highlight how multicultural experiential learning contributes to the preparation of more multiculturally competent future educators. Illustrating good practice examples and areas in need of improvement in the training currently offered, this chapter also provides transferable guidelines for the creation of effective multicultural teacher training, based on equity and social justice principles.

Investigating the roles of first language (L1) speakers in lingua franca communication in multicultural classrooms: a case study of Japanese as a Lingua Franca (JLF)

In the Expanding Circle (i.e. countries where English is traditionally learned as a “foreign language”), the concept lingua franca cannot be limited to English. Conducted in a Japanese university, this study reports on the perceptions of verbal behaviours by students in multicultural courses where international and Japanese students studied together. These behaviours were analysed and the findings from English medium instruction courses and those of Japanese-medium instruction (JMI) courses were compared. Then, further analysis centred on JMI courses to explore the roles of Japanese L1 speakers in the co-construction of Japanese as a lingua franca with a focus on cognitive and psychological, rather than linguistic, perspectives. Rapport building, accommodation strategies, often initiated by L1 Japanese speakers, and the spontaneous interactions of second language (L2) speakers in discussions, are assumed to have been the keys to more inclusive interactions in JMI courses. The findings emphasize the importance of students’ attitudes and imply that intercultural education in the context, including both L1 speakers and L2 speakers, will have potential to foster effective lingua franca users.

Review of the Classroom Implications Discussed in Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools: Bridging Learning for Students from Non-Dominant Groups Edited by Inmaculada García-Sánchez & Marjorie Faulstich Orellana

This review provides a summary of the classroom implications discussed in Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools: Bridging for Students from Non-Dominant Groups edited by Inmaculada García-Sánchez and Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (2019). Although there are thirteen chapters in this book written by different scholars, they are related to each other and provide teachers with some research-based guidelines on how to integrate different sources of knowledge—such as students’ funds of knowledge—into their instructions in multicultural classrooms. The review of the classroom implications discussed in this book highlights the important role of the teacher once more in providing minority students with the equitable education that they deserve. Therefore, teachers need to be familiarized with culturally responsive teaching approaches in general and, in particular, with different teaching methods and strategies of multicultural education. This will allow teachers to prepare their students to live successfully and peacefully in non-native cultural settings and societies.

Teaching in superdiverse multicultural classrooms: Ideas from New Zealand secondary school teachers

Increased migration in recent years means that New Zealand classrooms are growing in cultural diversity—and in some communities, the extent and complexity of this has reached levels of “superdiversity”. This article reports on how teachers (n = 23) in four superdiverse secondary schools in New Zealand were responding to the growing cultural diversity in their classrooms. Four key approaches that were used by teachers in all schools to develop supportive relationships and foster greater inclusion are outlined. In addition, several teaching strategies are provided to help support teachers to face the growing complexity of mixed, hybrid, and evolving identities of multi-ethnic students in their classrooms.

Sensibilidad intercultural, clima escolar y contacto intergrupal en estudiantes de educación primaria y secundaria de la Región Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile

En este estudio se evaluó la sensibilidad intercultural, el clima escolar y contacto intergrupal de 1729 adolescentes de escuelas municipales de la comuna de Santiago, 74,4% de los cuales nacidos en Chile. Se realizó un estudio cuantitativo transversal, con cuestionarios autoadministrados, analizando luego los datos con t de Student, ANOVA y análisis regresión múltiple. Los resultados dan cuenta de que el alumnado presenta niveles aceptables de sensibilidad intercultural sin diferenciarse por edad. Las adolescentes y el alumnado extranjero presentan mayor sensibilidad intercultural que sus pares. Los resultados también indican que la presencia de estudiantes de distintas nacionalidades, por sí sola, no favorece la sensibilidad intercultural. Es el clima escolar, a través del apoyo al pluralismo cultural en las escuelas, las interacciones positivas y negativas entre estudiantes, junto con el contacto intergrupal en forma de tareas conjuntas, las dimensiones que inciden en la sensibilidad intercultural, explicando un 23% de su varianza. Los resultados son concordantes con estudios internacionales y suponen un insumo para el desarrollo de intervenciones en aulas multiculturales enfocadas a favorecer la comunicación intercultural entre estudiantes de distintas nacionalidades. In this study the intercultural sensitivity was assessed together with school climate and intergroup contact of 1729 primary and secondary students from Santiago de Chile, 74,4% were born in Chile. The study was a cross-sectional quantitative study with self-administered questionnaires. Data was analysed using T-Students, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. The results show that students have intercultural sensitivity with no difference by age. At the same time, girls and foreign-born children present more intercultural sensitivity than their peers. The results also show that the mere presence of students from different nationalities does not favour intercultural sensitivity. It is the school climate, especially through support to cultural pluralism, positive and negative interactions with peers, together with intercultural contact in the form of doing homework together, that affect intercultural sensitivity, explaining 23% of its variance. The results are in line with international studies and are an input for multicultural classrooms focused in intercultural communication between students of different nationalities.