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The paper focuses on the importance of Internationalisation at Home, access and support mechanisms which are provided and co-created by students and university departments to encourage sanctuary scholarship. The paper gives particular attention to activities that encourage meaningful interaction with local communities and widen international participation of marginalised groups, such as students from the global south and asylum seeker communities. The paper presents two case studies. The first case study focuses on a student-led project developed by the students and staff of Canterbury Christ Church University. The second case study projects students' voices from the global south and refugee communities at The University of Kent and University College London (UCL). The experiences of these students highlight the importance of welcoming and supporting students from marginalised backgrounds. They also demonstrate the need for both curriculum-based and co-curricular activity and student services which provided tailored support and encouragement.

This paper presents findings from a campus climate survey conducted at an Australian university. Unprecedented compositional diversity now exists in higher education, with students enrolled from different religious, socio-economic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds. Despite this diversity, little research has been conducted into the ways that different student groups experience university, including marginalised and 'hidden' groups such as LGBTIQA+ students. The survey aimed to uncover the impact of diversity on student experiences, including the extent to which students associated with others from different backgrounds, the extent to which their own views and beliefs were challenged, and the extent to which they felt safe on campus. Findings suggest a need for more targeted research, particularly into the experiences of marginalised groups, and for reform of both institutional policy and curriculum. Further, we found that students are frequently thinking about identity, diversity, and bias, and their own voices need to be elevated within institutional strategies.

Muslims may not experience integration or assimilation in European countries, as they have certain values regarding hijab, eating restrictions, and lifestyle. They may therefore face more challenges than other migrants. With the insight that religiosity may have an impact on migrants' national and/or ethnic identities, we look at the role of religion in acculturation. The study investigated emerging patterns and challenges in sociocultural adaptation processes, including host-community interactions with (Iranian) migrants and Iranian international PhD students' future intentions. Positive evaluations of the attitudes of Spaniards towards Iranians are thought to improve the drive to seek out intergroup contact and facilitate integration or assimilation in Spain. The paper's key finding is that religion has an impact on Iranian international students. It is possible to imagine religion as a unifying factor that binds many migrant populations under a single ethnic identity. When regarded as a threat to the migrants' ethnic identity, it also appears to create social distance between the migrants and the local population. The results of this study can be used to address factors that threaten successful acculturation and boost those that encourage sociocultural adaptation and learning the local language.

In conducting qualitative research, scholars often grapple with positionality. Researcher positionality refers to how various social identities (i.e. gender, race, class, ethnicity, ability, geographical location) influence research methods. It examines the impact of researchers' social identities on their understanding of the research design, question, context, process, and participants. Scholars of colour who research their own communities have added complexity in this research process, including having to address the question of being an insider-outsider. This duality sometimes has an emotional toll. Two community-centred researchers asked "What is the emotional labor that goes into conducting research with our own communities?" Gerardo Mancilla immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. He was undocumented and grew up in the U.S. with this identity for more than 20 years. Phitsamay Uy came to the United States as a child refugee at the age of six. Her refugee identity influenced her understanding of U.S. schools. In this paper, the two scholars of colour share their methodology and experiences of becoming academics who study their own communities. They discuss commonalities in their shared stories: Being Accidental Academics, Utilising a Relational Approach, Developing Reciprocity with Our Communities, and Experiencing Radical Healing.

Current student development theories are mostly grounded in the experiences of domestic students in North America. The increasing portion of the international students in the post-secondary student population has created a glaring gap for a unique theory of international student development. A unique theory for international student development, with a focus on their intercultural learning experiences, will serve as a necessary theoretical foundation for international student programmes and services that are offered in most hosting universities of international students as an overlay on top of general student services. Through a critical review of existing literature, this paper endeavours to develop a coherent theory of international student development that endorses a critical and post-structural approach to the key issues of intercultural identity, intercultural competence and intercultural adaptation for international students.

Despite clear claims that higher education institutions prepare graduates for a world that is increasingly globalised, diverse and interconnected, how best to develop intercultural competence in places of learning is less clear. Drawing focus to a purpose-built intercultural programme, this paper explores the development of intercultural competence within a group of culturally diverse students at a regional Australian university. Eight students participated in a series of forums that were guided by a dialogic approach to facilitate discussion around cross-cultural topics. Through a fine-grained qualitative analysis of interviews and reflections, students were found to develop a deeper self-awareness and understanding of others' views and reported better seeing themselves in a global context. The programme also promoted greater individual awareness around adjusting communication skills to relate to others, and students reflected on what it might mean to interact in a broader global society. This paper highlights the value of intentionally promoting cross-cultural interactions in higher education learning spaces and offers a dialogic approach as a way forward for universities to produce globally ready students.

This article is a reflection of the author's experiences teaching a course titled 'Women In Islam' [WIS] in an English Department at a medium, public, Masters granting, Liberal Arts university in the Midwestern United States. This paper argues for the importance of teaching WIS through a multi-genre, interdisciplinary, and global approach. The article refers to the following five teaching strategies: Thinking through History, The Lived Realities Lens, The Multi-Genre Approach, Fiction through a Global Lens, and Using VALUE rubrics as an Evaluation Tool

In this paper, an effort is made to explore the authors' involvement as resource persons and facilitators in an exchange programme between Japan and India. The 15-day programme was created to understand the culture and rich heritage of India, particularly Rajasthan, by involving Japanese participants in a Tour based student exchange programme. The programme offered an opportunity for Japanese students to provide an experience of Indian culture through the use of various modules. The paper attempts to explore the impact of learning that took place during the period of the exchange programme, analysed through structured interviews. The findings of this study can facilitate effective creation and development of such exchange programmes in India and elsewhere.

Many workplaces in Vietnam, such as international non-government organisations (INGOs), where Vietnamese staff collaborate with people from different cultures, have become increasingly culturally diverse and interdisciplinary. This paper is based on the findings of broader qualitative research conducted between December 2010 and November 2012 that explored young Vietnamese graduates' experiences of working at the intersection of different cultural worlds in the context of development projects at INGOs in Vietnam. Interviewees were nineteen young Vietnamese graduates and six international directors or deputy directors. This paper discusses their experiences of working for INGOs. Young graduates developed intercultural communication skills, became empathetic with others, and reconciled disparate cultural practices. While helping local communities adapt to development projects, graduates harmoniously combined the cultural values and customs of both sides. They disseminated information, promoted mutual understanding, formed culturally relativistic attitudes, promoted cross-cultural empathy, spread international goodwill and reconciled disparate cultural practices, facilitated communication, and interacted with persons or groups of different cultures.

This paper explores a teaching and learning process as it unfolds in an online offshore classroom. The paper reports on teaching and learning narratives distilled from different cultures, namely the cultures of educators and students in the context of digital learning environments. Drawing on activity theory as a conceptual framework to analyse the narrative, we employ self-study as a methodological tool for capturing the dynamism and complexities that unravel in intercultural and technology-enabled teaching activities. The framework explores the relationships, tensions and opportunities of diverse activity elements that constitute the design and delivery of digital pedagogies. In the networked intercultural system, sustaining the position of activity elements and the specific relational circuit that they institutionalise is a key task for understanding digital technologies as an influential tool for effective learning and teaching practices. We argue that seeing the digital platform from the perspective of its role in creating dynamic interrelationships in a complex activity system is one way to move beyond the cultural confines of any particular element in the system.

This paper draws on an analysis of 2600 study abroad alumni responding to a survey that spans more than 25 years. Our inquiry focuses on evaluating how programme length, housing arrangements, number, and type of co-curricular activities impact alumni's attributions of personal growth and their attitudes towards global engagement and future social relationships. This paper is also informed by a 5-year alumni follow-up study. Our study finds that the type of housing and participation in co-curricular activities have a significant moderating effect on alumni attributions. With rare exception, programme length does not have a significant impact on reported outcome measures. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how these findings can help guide future research and administrative programming.

Insights into local Chinese teacher and student views of an international teaching practicum with Australian pre-service teachers are the focus of this paper. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken on teacher and student accounts captured through individual interviews with four teachers and questionnaire survey with 186 students. The paper uncovers how teachers and students perceived what they experienced in the practice of intercultural communication on teaching and learning. Emphasised in the analysis is the importance of situating discussions within the Chinese social cultural context, acknowledging the influence of traditional Chinese cultural values and educational conceptions on their teaching and learning practice. The findings reveal meaningful insights into intercultural comprehension involving teaching strategies, learning content and assessment and classroom management. The study's findings highlighted that this international teaching practicum was a beneficial and valuable experience for participant Chinese students and teachers. The study also highlighted a potential gap in the preparation of Australian pre-service teachers and the Chinese students and Chinese teachers, regarding culturally specific and culturally aware competencies.

Changing times force us to rethink our academic policies in higher education institutions. Traditional narrow views on students coming to campuses might be problematic for full inclusion. In this paper, we present an innovative model for student inclusion with the goal of producing a new framework for practice in higher education. We suggest re-examining the interactions between student characteristics while taking them into account as a whole and adopting a new holistic view of their identity-derived needs. The New Multimodality Diversified Campus (NMDC) model takes into account multiculturism, multiple technological literacies, multiple identities, multilingualism, multiple religions, and multiple disabilities. This model, based on multiple pedagogies, multiple curricula, multiple evaluations and multiple policies, serves as a compass to reach our desired destination, which is a fully inclusive campus. We present new observations about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a guiding tool that can be used in higher education, contextualising it in the framework of our model.

The aim of this phenomenological study was to explore South Korean university students' views of the importance of intercultural communication. It also sought to obtain participant recommendations on how to improve awareness of intercultural communication in their personal lives, on campus, and in society. Intercultural communicative competence is becoming increasingly important as the world becomes more interconnected online and through intercultural exchanges that take place in a variety of capacities. This study was conducted during the spring semester of 2020 at a university in central South Korea. Participants included 14 South Korean university students who were enrolled in an intercultural communication class that was conducted online and designed for English language learners. Data comprised individual interviews, a focus group, and essays. Data analysis centred on examining commonalities and key statements made by participants. In terms of why it is important to study intercultural communication, results highlighted the need for people to be understanding and knowledgeable about diverse cultures, have respect for other people and cultures, and ensure that past intercultural conflict does not happen in the future. Students provided a wide range of recommendations for improving their awareness of intercultural communication. This paper concludes with practical implications.

Colorism is a salient aspect of race in the knowledge construction and preparation of teachers across the globe. This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated attitudes and experiences of colorism among preservice teachers of color, including their own levels of implicit skin tone bias, and implications for their teaching practice. The results revealed that family background greatly influenced participant understanding and attitudes towards colorism. The results also demonstrated similar experiences across racial groups, highlighting the cross cutting and intercultural nature of colorism. Lastly, intersectionality contributed to participants ability to critically explain how colorism manifests in teaching practices. Implications for policy and practice efforts are discussed.

This paper discusses how I design and teach an Interculturality in Language and Literary Studies (ILLS) Course. In doing this, I am very much influenced by the post-structural and post-colonial and interdisciplinary nature of my PhD study. The course itself is for sixth semester undergraduate students, after they have passed Skilled Courses, Introduction to Literature and Introduction to Linguistics, etc. In these reflections, I utilise a post-structural approach, in which I consider such a practice to never be final. It is always in process.

This paper reflects on the problems faced by refugee students during the COVID-19 pandemic (summer semester 2020) as "calouros," i.e. freshmen during their first year, in a public university in Brazil. Through a content analysis of their personal accounts, collected electronically by their teacher of Portuguese for academic purposes (the first author), we describe how five students (a Syrian, two Haitians, a Venezuelan and a Togolese refugees) (re)visit their experiences, in which several dynamics intersect: being 'calouro', being refugee students, learning the shelter language "in loco," and experiencing social distancing due to the closing of universities. Because learning the language of the host country is not the only factor affected by the pandemic, we also observe how language learning (settings) intersect with other aspects characterising the refugee status: housing conditions, availability of learning materials, and the uncertainty attached to the present and future of their own lives and of other family members.

Following the seminal work of Gloria Ladson-Billings, research on culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) has, in recent years, expanded significantly. Ladson-Billings proposes three elements of CRP: academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. Nevertheless, in mathematics education research on CRP, the sociopolitical consciousness element is often under-explored or even absent. This paper began as an investigation of how Ladson-Billings' three elements could be used to examine prospective and practicing teachers' (PPTs') perspectives on CRP, prior to their participation in a professional development course on CRP in the mathematics classroom. Thirty-one participants from three separate offerings of the course responded in writing to a set of open questions about CRP (in general and in mathematics). Thematic data analysis pointed to the complexities of categorising the data based primarily on Ladson-Billings' three elements. In addition, our analysis indicated five components underpinning participants' responses: challenges; opportunities; fears; resistance; insights. We conclude with a revised conceptualisation of CRP for mathematics teacher education programmes aimed at supporting PPTs' development of their CRP-related knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Due to the recent increase in Australian students undertaking study abroad opportunities, an effect of a neoliberal society, there has been a plethora of literature in this area with the extant literature focusing on students' motivations and subsequent benefits of exchange. This paper examines how the capital acquired during intercultural experiences are performed by Australian exchange students. Interviewed before, during, and after Mexican sojourns, the students initially (re)produced a stylised pastiche of 'Mexico'. Made in urban Australia, this imaginary comprises Frida-Kahlo themed restaurants and Day-of-the-Dead exotica. As a result of geographic distance and limited migration from Mexico, Mexicanidad in Australia operates as a vacant conceptual category into which 'cool' yearnings can be inscribed. Despite problematising their pre-departure constructions at times, the students continued to employ this version of Mexicanidad in their performance of the role of Mexican expert, in Mexico and on their return. This article theorises the functions of such identity performances, proposing that exchange experiences, and the intercultural capital they acquire, serve as a method by which students can construct and perform transnational identities.

This research investigates an intercultural praxis approach to using visual research methods, in Australia and Vietnam, with preservice teachers in a Diploma of Early Childhood (DEC) course. The paper results from limited research with DEC preservice teachers exploring the development of intercultural praxis and limited research in teaching whilst using visual images (photos). The methodology is supported by using Bennett's developmental continuum for intercultural sensitivity and draws on sociocultural theories to consider how these DEC preservice teachers' histories and situational contexts are relevant in understanding the development of intercultural communication. Mixed methods include a comparative analysis of student-produced visual multiliteracy images (photographs) generated in Australia and Vietnam, during 2015 and 2016, annotations on those photos and interviews with two cohorts of students (n = 27) six months after their experiences in Vietnam. Analysis is reinforced with Sorrells' intercultural praxis framework to understand students' capacity to use inquiry, framing, positioning, and dialogue processes as a result of their study tour to Vietnam. The paper outlines and reinforces the importance of being explicit in developing intercultural sensitivity in dynamic teaching contexts and illustrates the increasing awareness of intercultural communication with these DEC students.

Many universities in different parts of the world are seeking to enhance the cultural diversity of their staff and student body and yet repeated studies have shown that good integration can be difficult to achieve. Although several studies have examined the reasons why such integration is difficult, there has been very little research into the actual process of social integration. This paper addresses this gap through a qualitative study of intercultural learning. Students were asked to focus on a behaviour that was personally or professionally important to them but that they were having difficulty adapting to. The paper reports the varying, unfolding experiences of six of these students as they faced the affective, behavioural and cognitive challenges of adjusting to different greeting patterns and the strategies they used for gradually overcoming them. Drawing on the literature and the findings, an intercultural growth model is proposed. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of the findings for enhancing social integration at university.

This research paper deals with intercultural knowledge and knowing as displayed in higher education student portfolios. The portfolios were written by student pairs taking a global education course at Centria University of Applied Sciences, Finland, during seven academic years. Conceptual metaphor theory and metaphor analysis were utilised to explore intercultural knowledge and knowing in the portfolio texts. The study is one of the few metaphor analyses conducted in the context of intercultural/global education. For the analysis, we selected a sample of student portfolios that represented both degree-taking students and exchange students. In this study, interculturality was defined as interaction of people representing various cultural backgrounds, world-views and identities. The research questions were the following: What conceptual metaphors and metonymies do the students utilise when writing about culture and interculturality? What main conceptions of culture and interculturality do the metaphors and metonymies reflect? In the result section of this paper, we provide citations of portfolio text to discuss the four most frequently occurring metaphors and metonymies. We also discuss our interpretations about the underlying conceptions of culture and their significance for the practice of intercultural education.

Among the strategies developed by members of ethnic minorities in an attempt to fight racism, the invisibility strategy of 'playing white' has been particularly noted and seems to be more frequent among those who achieve university studies or have upward social mobility. Invisibility is also a form of structural discrimination since, in Spain, ethnic data are not collected in statistics. In this paper, we outline the results of a research project conducted with Roma university students in Spain, including quantitative data collected through an online questionnaire and student opinions collected through interviews. The participants identified with what they understood it meant to be Roma, but not at all identified with what the majority of society considers to be Roma. Most of the participants had no problem talking about their identity, although we find cases of invisibility due to the fear of rejection. Some expressed their identity, even though their families advised them not to do so, in what we understand as an act of empowerment. They claimed their identity, considering themselves both as a type of Roma that breaks the stereotype and as examples of other ways of being Roma.

This paper examines an intervention using experiential learning and simulations in a virtual world that can promote social proximity, tolerance, and cooperation in diverse societies. The participants in the study were 125 Jewish and Arab students living in Israel. A mixed linear model for repeated measures analysis that included time of measurement (pre and post), ethnicity, and students' age as independent variables revealed a main effect for time for most social groups included in this study; that is, the participants reported more social proximity to other groups after the course, including groups not studied in the course (the LGBTQ community and people of colour). The results of the study suggest that experiential learning has considerable potential in the field of education to help students question their prejudices, experience being someone else, and ultimately feel social proximity for the other, thus reducing stigmas and racism.

Children from Roma communities are consistently among the lowest academic achievers in many European countries and this holds true in Greece. In Greek schools, Roma students experience high dropout rates and low performance compared to their non-Roma peers. Moreover, in Greece, as elsewhere, Roma experience wide-spread discrimination. Drawing on a set of in-depth interviews with 20 Greek Roma who have entered higher education, this paper examines how these participants account for their educational success. In particular, this article analyses the influence of 'community factors' on the participants' academic progression. This article highlights aspects of the Greek case of Roma's educational success that may contribute towards addressing aspects related to Roma's educational exclusion and promoting educational progression in the European context more widely.

This paper argues that the two national components of identity among Palestinian Arab students in Israel--the Arab component and the Palestinian component--are strong, while the civil Israeli component is very weak. This paper also argues that although social relations between Arab students and Jewish students are very limited, the readiness of Arab students for professional and social relations with Jewish students is greater than the perceived readiness of Jewish students for social relations with Arab students. Correlation coefficients between collective identity and readiness for social relations with Jews reveal that there is no connection between the components of collective identity of Arab students and their familiarity with Jewish students and readiness to have professional and social relations with them. (Contains 5 tables.)

The context of this paper is a university-based teacher education course in Melbourne, Australia. The assumption underpinning the course is that it is crucial for trainee teachers to examine the lenses they typically use in terms of common-sense understandings of children and adolescents. We point to the 18th century Western enlightenment period as the source of this thinking. I argue that it is important to be aware of other enlightenments that have shaped the traditions of students in our multicultural mix. In this paper, I explore the writings of the Mahabharata and other early Indian texts to see how they have also influenced ways of thinking about childhood and adolescence. Data for this paper have been drawn from course materials, student responses, translations of early Indian texts and popular stories depicting childhood and adolescence. (Contains 7 notes.)

Higher Education institutions face specific challenges preparing graduates to live and work in transdisciplinary and transcultural environments. It is imperative for these institutions to provide their students with the skill sets that will give them the mobility and flexibility to be able to operate efficiently in different cultural and professional contexts. This position paper proposes that developing proficiency in Cultural Literacy will allow graduates of Higher Education institutions to transcend such cultural and disciplinary boundaries. In this paper we define Cultural Literacy in Higher Education as a modus operandi and a threshold concept, following Meyer and Land's understanding of the term. We also propose "Destabilisation" and "Reflection" as two strategies for teaching Cultural Literacy, and examine three case studies where these strategies were successfully embedded into teaching and learning spaces.

Based on a review of works by Indigenous educators, this paper suggests a four-domain framework for developing course outcome statements that will serve all students, with a focus on better supporting the educational empowerment of Indigenous students. The framework expands the three domains of learning, pioneered by Bloom to a four-domain construction based on the four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel, a teaching/learning framework that has widespread use in the Indigenous communities of North America (Native American, First Nation, Metis, Inuit, etc.). This paper expands on the cognitive (mental), psychomotor (physical) and affective (emotional) domains to add the fourth quadrant, spiritual, as being essential for balance in curricular design that supports students in their learning goals. The description of the spiritual quadrant includes a progression of learning outcomes and suggested verbs for developing learning outcome statements. Evaluation and practical implications are also discussed.

Study Abroad (SA) has often been referred as the ideal means to learn a second language due to the unique opportunities it brings to the learners. SA provides learners access to both formal and communicative learning contexts where they can interact with the members of the target language community. Existing studies identified various contextual and cultural factors that support or hinder language learning during study abroad programmes. This paper focuses on the affordances of the homestay environment in terms of L2 learning experiences in the Turkish SA context. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with the sojourner students indicated that the socio-cultural setting students were exposed to during their time in Turkey played a key role in improving their self-assessed proficiency in Turkish and their understanding of the Turkish culture.

Students' emotions during stays abroad have mainly been treated as "culture shock", where difficulties are interpreted as universal "stages" towards "adaptation". This paper explores how students from different cultural and educational traditions experience studying abroad differently. The study presents a qualitative study of 18 Danish and Chinese students in Chinese and Danish universities and situates itself within the literature on culture shock, student emotions and study-abroad experiences. The study exposes the students' complex emotions throughout their studies abroad and explains how these emotions relate to processes of self-formation, professional and academic development, increase or decrease in freedom, and student agency.

Reflexivity refers to the capacity for individuals to understand the cultural system and manage their own position within it. Reflexivity is a key concept in the understanding of intercultural communication, particularly in recognising the ability for individuals to understand and adapt to new cultural contexts. However, the prevailing methods used in intercultural communication (namely that of intercultural competencies) do not place a great emphasis on the role of reflexivity in achieving cultural adaptation. In this paper, I argue for the central positioning of the concept of reflexivity in intercultural education as a mechanism which mediates between intercultural experiences and individual behaviour. I present evidence of the reflexive sequence (subject-object-subject) from the reflections of a cohort of students (n = 19). Finally, I suggest a pedagogical instrument (a heuristic) for empirically exploring reflexivity in intercultural communication.

This paper reports on a small-scale project involving an online school exchange between two classes of 12-/13-year olds located in the North of England and the Ruhr area of Germany. The overarching aim of the project was to develop intercultural understanding in foreign language learning through communication in an online environment. Analysing data from website posts, lesson observations, student questionnaires and interviews, the paper investigates the extent to which the project realised this goal, and examines emerging practical and pedagogical issues. Comparing the processes and outcomes of this project in secondary education to similar projects in Higher Education (HE), the research found that the young people learnt more than older students about cultural similarities than differences. They were thus less likely to be party to cultural misunderstandings, developing friendly relationships and openness towards a people of a different culture. However, their failure to notice differences may have been due to a lack of in-depth discussion and absence of more demanding student tasks. The paper concludes that in order to develop more sophisticated intercultural learning, expertise derived from telecollaboration in HE needs to be adapted to the lower secondary school context, drawing particularly on auto-ethnography and ethnographic interviewing.

This paper highlights critical pedagogical methods used in a community relations class that introduces intercultural education concepts to current K-12 educators who are enrolled in a Masters of Education program at Northeastern Illinois University, which is located in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The purpose of the class is to teach future school leaders (Kindergarten-12th grade) effective practices on how to build healthy relationships with school stakeholders, with a focus on enhancing the learning environment. A key component of the course is having students understand the history and relations among different cultural groups in the local community in which their school is located. This includes learning how urban planning and the global economy influence the lives of mass populations. This paper is guided by a critical theory framework which is included in the design of the community relations class syllabus for future school leaders. It is broken up into five sections. First, some background information on current controversial decisions by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is presented. Second, a brief summary of racial background demographics on the city of Chicago and the CPS district are displayed. Third, a brief conversation on the absence of cultural studies in teacher education institutions is discussed. Fourth, an elaborate description of the class syllabus for the Community Relations course is presented. And, fifth, a description of one class project is provided.

Roma, today perceived as the most numerous European minority, face marginalisation and exclusion. Education is considered to be one of the focal points for improvement, and numerous studies have analysed and reported on the educational situation of Roma. Several studies have argued that Romani cultural values are not compatible with institutional schooling and that Romani families perceive schools as an alien institution. Other studies have drawn upon cultural-ecological theory (CE theory), developed by Ogbu and colleagues, and argue that the Romani cultural frame of reference is oppositional to academic success and thus suggest that successful Romani students distance themselves from Romani culture. The paper discusses the application of CE theory in the context of the academic discourse about the educational achievement of Romani students. Drawing on interviews with Spanish Romani university students, the paper argues that Romani students themselves challenge the assumption that educational success leads to cultural alienation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine cultural effects on interactions within a Canadian MBA programme delivered in Iran. The analysis helps illuminate some of the important cultural differences between the countries and their importance for international education. The study also illustrates how single cause explanations often provide simplistic interpretations of culturally influenced behaviours. Results indicate that underlying cultural differences create issues for teaching and learning, but that their impact is subtle and complex.

Nine years of experience teaching economics in the Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan provides knowledge on the nuances and challenges of teaching economics across cultures. Particular categories and difficulties are presented with some examples of how to address them. Conclusions and findings are used to form general guiding principles for teaching economics in the increasingly diverse US classroom. The principles offered in the paper are valuable to English speakers providing economic teaching and training in post-Soviet nations and, more broadly, to anyone teaching economics across cultures. Finally, suggestions based these principles are offered to encourage all professors of economics to carefully consider language, illustrations, diversity of views regarding economics and the multi-cultural nature of university classrooms to better relate to students and be more effective teachers.

This paper looks at the development of two similar academic disciplines in Japan, i.e. firstly practiced comparative education and recently flourishing intercultural education. The major focus of this paper is to analyse how these educational studies have been brought to, and practised in, Japan. Both comparative education and intercultural education are relatively young academic disciplines in the country, and their conceptualisation is still ongoing, as is their methodology and future direction. Despite considerable overlap, it is argued that comparative education--which evolved in the form of investigating nationally framed education--and intercultural education--which focuses on diversity in society beyond national frameworks--have grown differently. It is further argued that the development of both comparative and intercultural education is closely related to Japan's positioning of "self" against the "others" in Japanese history. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

Starting from an intercultural education framework, this paper examines whether students at two Zagreb universities perceive interactions with their teachers to be gender influenced. In the first part of the paper, we outline the context of the research and the two theoretical constructs which correspond to traditionally male and female teachers' performances at university. In the second part of the paper, we present the results of the survey we conducted. The results show that the students recognized some aspects of gender bias in interaction with their teachers and that gendered cultures reflected in the dominantly female or male teachers' performances were indeed present at the universities included in the survey. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

International students represent a large economic and international relations investment for Australia. Australian universities are increasingly relying upon overseas students for their revenue, but these institutions are not adequately addressing the special learning, linguistic, cultural and religious needs of these students. Despite their Australian education, international students experience various difficulties in finding work in their field of study after they graduate. Poor English-language, communication and problem-solving skills are the biggest obstacles to securing ongoing and satisfying jobs. Employer biases regarding international students are equally a problem. This paper provides a demographic context of the international student population in Australia and it also addresses the gaps impeding their full social participation in Australian educational institutions. This paper argues that a stronger focus on the socialisation of international students is likely to increase their educational and career satisfaction. Educational providers would better serve international students by focusing on practical learning, career-planning and reinforcing the social and cultural skills valued by Australian employers.

Even in totalitarian regimes, freedom of thought presumably cannot be outlawed, provided that such thought remains unspoken and unwritten. In Australia, freedom of expression is taken-for-granted. This paper sets out to theorise my teaching practice/s, as I enact some of my theories. It emerges from my recent attempts to encourage in my students a greater sense of empathy towards others, and adoption of a multiplicity of perspectives. The contexts in which the study is embedded include immigration (to Australia) and attitudes to Indigenous Australians, but the teaching approaches described here can be applied to other similar contexts internationally. The paper outlines and evaluates related teaching strategies. Questions posed by the paper include: what are the internal mechanisms that limit our thought with regard to social issues such as equality? What are the teaching/learning approaches that we might employ to help our students transcend these limitations? Can freedom of thought only function in the context of self-regulation? In other words, where, if anywhere, are the "natural limits" of freedom of thought, and are there times when freedom of thought is not desirable or acceptable? If so, who decides and how? What are the implications for the power differential between teacher and student? (Contains 1 figure.)

Through a qualitative approach of narrative inquiry, this paper examines how Quebec's distinct society identity interacted with objectives of a Multicultural Education course in Montreal. The authors, one of whom was a teaching assistant in the course and the other a student in the course, interviewed seven students and the professor. The reasonable accommodation debates on how best to integrate Quebec immigrants into a society steeped in distinct society narratives were the backdrop to both the course and the research. This paper contributes to the growing research on how teacher candidates negotiate multicultural education programme objectives. Based on our analysis of two participants' interviews we advocate for a more context-based approach with course content specific to the distinct society element in multicultural courses. (Contains 7 notes and 1 table.)

This paper describes the integration of cooperative learning (CL) activities into a graduate teacher education course, Collaborative Teaching in English as a Second Language (ESL). Because teachers and researchers have both identified discipline status and relationship issues as challenges to collaboration, this course focused on relational dynamics such as respect, trust, reciprocity, and approachability as central to the successful implementation of collaborative practice. CL activities were integrated into the program to encourage ESL teachers to explore their own values and expectations for learning as well as their own communication styles which might facilitate or hinder collegiality. The research question asks how CL contributes to teachers' understanding of themselves as communicators, collaborators, and agents of change. From a qualitative analysis of observer notes, journal entries, classroom discussions, group activities, and autobiographies, this paper highlights how dimensions of CL can be used not only as methodology in second-language teacher education but also as a model for developing collaborative relationships between ESL and content-area teachers. (Contains 1 table.)

Although very little research has been done on cooperative learning (CL) in New Zealand, international research is positive about the educational benefits of working in culturally diverse groups. This paper presents the findings of a research project examining New Zealand experiences with CL in multicultural groups. Data were collected via surveys and focus groups with domestic and international students and with New Zealand tertiary lecturers who use CL techniques in their programmes. The findings indicate a strong cultural conflict in the conceptualization of CL between international students with little prior experience of CL and New Zealand lecturers who are often not trained to help international students to bridge the gaps between their past educational experiences and typical education practices in New Zealand. This conflict reinforces the importance of understanding cultural differences and their impact on student patterns of classroom behaviour. The authors recommend that domestic and international students be prepared more effectively for CL and that lecturers be trained in designing curricula and assessment programmes that are pedagogically sound and culturally accommodating. The paper proposes a model to assist lecturers to achieve this aim. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper describes a long-term research seminar, developed in 2001 by Hertz-Lazarowitz at the University of Haifa (UH). The goal of the seminar was to involve students in a meaningful, experiential and cooperative-interactive learning environment, based on topics relevant to their development as individuals coming from diverse collectives to the university campus, and to prepare them for life in an increasingly multicultural society. The seminar was based on the principles of the Participative Action Research and Group Investigation methods. The researchers aimed to create a model of learning, teaching, and action to bring awareness and enable change within the university's community, so that it could become a place of justice, equality, and recognition of the many cultural groups on campus. Since 2001, the Cooperative Participatory Action Research (CPAR) seminar has been offered to students through UH's Department of Education. This paper describes the theoretical framework and the stages and structures interwoven in the CPAR during its first eight years. The authors call on universities around the world to be committed to CPAR seminars within multicultural and conflict-ridden campuses so that social justice will become an essential part of students' experiences and action.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and explain a cooperative learning technique, Academic Controversy, also known as Cooperative Controversy, Structured Controversy and Structured Academic Controversy. This technique has potential for use in intercultural education and has support in both research and theory. Briefly, the technique involves a cooperative form of debate in which groups of four, divided into pairs, take turns representing two opposing views on an issue before attempting to reach a consensus on the issue. The present paper begins with a brief review of the potential educational benefits of controversy. Next, the Academic Controversy technique is described. In the final part of the paper, variations to the technique are discussed, with some of these variations informed by cooperative learning principles.

The main focus of this paper relates to the conceptualizations of human identity and intercultural relations needed for cooperative learning (CL) to occur. At one extreme, some have argued that the relation between different cultures should be conceptualized in terms of incommensurability. At the other extreme, a standardization and unification along with the trend of globalization is supported at the peril of leaving pluralism aside. This paper argues that neither of the two extreme views can provide a satisfactory theoretical basis for CL at the intercultural level. Such a theoretical basis can be sought in providing a compromise between Donald Davidson's principle of charity and Gadamer's view of understanding in terms of fusion of horizons. Consequently, understanding is neither merely an inner nor an outer endeavour; rather it involves both. Cooperative learning in this framework implies that the material for learning is neither in the hands of the learner nor in those of the so-called "teacher". In fact, this material develops an intercultural relation by means of both poles of the relation. CL involves reciprocal support as well as reciprocal critique.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the complex relations of transnational academic mobility, internationalization and interculturality in higher education. It is argued that, in the contemporaneous relations of the triad, "interculturality" disappears and the other two--transnational academic mobility and internationalization--are both enclosed by the market. The contemporary condition and pattern of transnational academic mobility are also shaped by neoliberal policy and market-framed research competition. This paper offers some critical reflections on the new world of mobilities and interculturalities and the "new strangers" in the university.

This paper explores the potential benefits of education about intercultural issues for improving a student's future job employability. From the perspective of discourse theory, both job employability and intercultural competence as job qualifications may be taken as discursive constructions. This paper delineates understandings of these concepts from the perspective of several social groups concerned, such as European politics, research on human resource management, students and graduates as well as employers. Considering mechanisms from discourse theory, this paper pleads for a growing awareness of constructivist processes involved as a sound basis for an adequate form of intercultural competence enhancing people's employability.

This paper meshes Carr's research on media literacy with Porfilio's research on computer literacy, with both of these areas being focused on the central notion of social justice within a multicultural society. Both researchers teach pre-service teachers, and have an interest in extending multicultural education, which often equates, overlaps with, and complements intercultural education. The key issue probed throughout this paper relates to the potential for (critical) multicultural education to take place in and through attempts to inculcate a media and computer literacy that surpasses simplistic notions of tolerance, respect and basic knowledge of the "Other". The research underscores the need for formal and informal approaches to inculcating media and computing literacy in the classroom, which, ultimately, support a more robust critical multiculturalism in schools.