DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP: ACADEMIC ESSAY

How to use multicultural conflicts, as a resource to teach democratic citizenship, Human Rights and culture in the classroom.

HOW TO START? EVALUATING THE REALITY OF THE CLASSROOM

The first thing we should do as teachers when it comes to starting any planning is to analyze the situation that we are facing in the classroom, so eventually, we can find out what and where is the root of the problem/s. We can do it by gathering information in two levels - individually and as a group- from any possible source within the school (other teachers, principal, records, own experience with the classroom if any...), and spending some time researching about the different cultures coexisting together in the classroom. The experience of teachers in Spain and other countries have shown how important is this research, to be able to plan the lessons where teachers take in consideration aspects of all the cultures present in the classroom, and integrate them in any area (philosophy, arts, history, literature...) to make all pupils feel a part of the community, as well as give them the opportunity to talk about their culture, be appreciated by others, and promote a successful intercultural communicative assessment.

We must consider carefully our conclusions since it will mark their learning goals and the focus of the activities that we will prepare later on. If this fails, teachers and pupils may eventually feel frustrated.

The internal environment of the school and internal features.

First of all, we must gather information about the culture of the target groups, as well as the personal situation of each pupil, and the weaknesses and strengths, individually and as a group, and make a first draft of the description of the cultural conflicts that have emerged between the pupils.

To explain the importance of this previous research, I will put the example of the TCK, which are pupils a sometimes delicate situation, since they have spent “a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture” and have built “relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any”. We should take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of a TCK (Pollock 2009, p. 87-110) so that we can use it as a resource in the classroom, as well as to understand how they feel and deal with their situation. All this information will help us to make the right diagnose. For instance, how can we understand the behavior and feelings of a hidden immigrant, when trying to mask their real nationality? How can we be aware of the root of a conflict between two pupils, if we do not consider that certain behavior can be generated by low self-esteem for a confused identity, or by a constant defensive behavior created by the fear of losing it? (Pollock 2009, p. 105-110) or maybe it is a lake of intercultural communication skills instead? We must notice what is the origin of a conflict before we can take action to help the pupils to find out by themselves how to deal with it: we will not make use of the same strategy if a TCK has prejudices against the others (Jensen 2007, p. 19) because of a reaction of having experiences that caused an insecurity in themselves (permanent identity as being “different”), or a lifestyle surrounded by the elite group, or arrogance (Pollock 2009, p. 105-110), or a summing up of more than one aspect, or maybe because of a lake of information/previous contact with the culture in question. This is very important since “for some TCKs (and those around them) the unrecognized challenges have caused years of frustration as they struggle to deal with matters that have no name, no definition.” (Pollock 2009, p. 88), and it happened the same with many other situations, not related to this case.

The external environment of the school and external features.

We should get as much information as possible about the environment in which each pupil is living, family situation, and the location of the school.

As an example of the last feature, I would point out the situation of some pupils that belonging to the same culture as the country in which the school is located, do have some unnoticed cultural differences from the rest of the students classified within the same culture. Even the situation does not match to the definition of TCK, I think some of the ideas that David C. Pollock expose in his book Third culture kids: Growing up among worlds, may apply to those pupils. Analysing the situation of the country where we are teaching, we might find different ethnic groups that have been living hundreds of years together with the main culture (as gypsies or Kurds), or many communities claiming to be independent for cultural reasons (including language), and exists a huge social tension between them, and some schools might have the same kind of tensions between pupils inside the classroom.

HOW TO USE MULTICULTURAL CONFLICTS AS A RESOURCE TO TEACH CULTURE, DC AND HR?

Teaching culture, DC and HR means to me to teach pupils to be active, committed, and responsible participants at their community, willing to defense pluralism, human rights, and solidarity, while being empathic and interested for other's issues. It means as well to help them to acquire the ability to analyze critically the world thru history, Media and other sources, and give them tools to listen and argue their points of view pacifically, and making a responsible use of power, being aware of how politics influence on the different cultures living within a country, and knowing how to make decisions that can make a difference in the construction of a democratic social system.

I would prepare a program to develop in the classroom, based on The three dimensions in assessing ICC (Lazar 2008, p.25) and The three dimensions of EDC/HRE (Gollob 2011, p. 29 - 31) that integrates theory, activities, and practice in a real performance.

1)The cognitive dimension, learning "about" culture, democracy, and HR while assessing ICC: Knowledge.

The goal of this part of the program is to introduce the theory that will create understandable concepts that will be the base for the activities proposed in the classroom, as well as raise cultural awareness in two ways: about other cultures while breaking stereotypes, and about these aspects of one's own culture that remain tacit. Eventually, raise the interest to know more about their culture and other cultures.

It is a good idea to start every lesson with an introductory activity as “The wall of silence” through a collage of the ideas with the meaning of the words culture, democracy and HR, suggested by the students. This will help the teacher to check the level of knowledge they have, as well as “break the ice” with these students that are “less extrovert and disadvantage in standard, or just [the ones that] wish to think better what they want to say before [talking] in public”(Gollob 2008, p. 61-62)

Democracy and HR are “interdependent and mutually reinforcing” (2005 world summit).

We can present HR as the essential aspect for a democratic system, and relate it to culture by learning about important figures in the history belonging to the target cultures that have fight for the fulfillment of human rights or have fight for a more democratic system, or compare similar situations that the cultures might have had in common through history (for example, by reading stories of war and emigration in different times of the history). Since pupils are focusing on the differences they find between them, we can help them this way to think about common features or feelings.

We could bring intercultural communication into language teaching, by using movies, music, and

literature to present the different cultures in the classroom, as a complement of bringing information and knowledge that will motivate students to understand, appreciate the cultural enrichment, and get closer to each other.

It is a good opportunity to encourage them to bring songs, fairy tales, and other things related to their culture (or talk with their parents if they do not come up with any idea), including personal stories, that they would like to share to the rest of the class. And it could be a great idea as well, to find artifacts that relate both cultures: a singer whose mother belong to one of the cultures, and whose father to the other, a writer belonging to one of the countries but was raised in the other country, and maybe was writing in both languages, etc.

In the assessment, it will not make any sense to the pupils to make a written test about the knowledge that they have learned. I would rather make “summative evaluation”, “continuous, direct, and holistic assessment”, and self-assessment. (Lazar 2008, p. 30)

I would consider that my pupils have acquired the knowledges when they are able to explain the concepts in their own words correctly, and have progress in their way of communicating what they want to express in intercultural communicative terms, considering the three domains of knowledge (humanistic, anthropological, and sociological approach) (Lazar 2008, p. 27)

2)The participative dimension: learning "for" culture, democracy, and HR while assessing ICC: Knowing how.

The goal of this part of the program is to enable the pupils to make a clear picture of what they have learned in the theory and create a “safe zone” where to have the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings to their classmates while building proximity. At the same time, they learn how to carry on debates, reflect on the theory, and acquire group-work skills, self-criticism and expose their opinion through constructive, respectful and valid arguments.

I think it is a great idea to use the philosophical inquiry method making use of the philosophical device known as “thoughts experiments” (Worley 2011, p. 14) to make pupils reflect on two different aspects: their rights, through EDC and HRE, and the actual feelings of both ethnic groups. Eventually, they should understand the importance to communicate and respect each other, motivated by the concept of all of them feeling better in a pleasant environment.

For debates is important to make a comfortable classroom, where the different cultures are mixed together, and preferably in a horse-shoe shape because it facilitates the dialogue, the eye-contact, and enables the facilitator to access the board if necessary (Worley 2011, p.15). We could start by providing an open question, presenting a case, or make a game. For this matter, it is a good idea to search stories from the website “It takes all kinds” or bring real cases from NGO' websites such as International Amnesty.

For activities, it is an opportunity to encourage them to bring songs, movies, fairy tales, and other texts related to their culture (or talk with their parents if they do not come up with any idea), including personal stories. For example, literature is influenced by the social context, and as language and non-verbal communication, is charged by the social and cultural values of society (Lazar 2008, p. 19) being a great way to teach culture to pupils, allowing them to present artifacts of their own culture, expanding or enhancing knowledge about it, while bringing “plausible diversity and emotional involvement straight to” our classroom ( Lazar 2008, p. 20) and having fun with each other. Another activity could be to search about well-known figures that had fight for H.R. (Nelson Mandela, Gandhi...), or less-known activist related to the culture of any of the other cultures present in the classroom. This way, all of them can become omnipresent observers, namely, they can fully encounter other cultures with their customs and social practices (Lazar 2008, p. 20), without necessarily meeting each other out of the classroom.

As an assessment, I would take into account how students adjust to the social and cultural environment in order to integrate experiences in the target language to use efficiently their communicative competence as intercultural speakers. Not only able to function in a language but to interact, adjust, integrate, interpret, and negotiate in different cultural contexts.

I would consider that my pupils have reached the goal when they are able to communicate politely and successfully with each other, respect other's opinion, listen to other's stories, and build arguments that shows an understanding and a willingness to find a democratic solution. “At this stage, intercultural skills imply the ability to use a variety of language strategies in order to communicate with those from other cultures, as well as the capacity to overcome stereotyped relationships”(Lazar 2008, p. 26).

3)The cultural dimension, learning "through" culture, democracy, and HR while assessing ICC: being.

The goal of this part of the program is to learn by doing, and I consider that it is the best way to fully understand what they have learned, while continue developing their empathy and multicultural understanding; have the opportunity to solve new problems that will probably emerge, and create common goals that will eventually give to some of them the opportunity to get closer in terms of relationships, or deal with the reality of coopering sometimes with people that they might not like (for different reasons that do not apply to multicultural misunderstandings or prejudices).

It is the purpose of this part to eventually treat directly the specific conflicts that remain unsolved between the pupils.

The conflicts should be seen as something normal, that happens in every society (Gollob 2008, p. 61-62), and the goal of the teacher is to transform it from an unpleasant situation to something that is seen as useful in democratic decision making, an opportunity to expose their concerns, solving problems, debate and argue without a fear while reconsidering values and ideas is seen as something enriched, and making decisions to participate in building an everyday-better world.

Some ideas are:

The Political party, where pupils can apply the acquired theory into practice, while it becomes a tool to solve their own concerns, gain confidence, and give them a real personal meaning of the concept. It is very important to make sure that both cultures are mixed, so we create a new sense of belonging to a group, reinforced by the idea of sharing one common goal to fight for.

The Integrated project, where pupils research about the theory of each of the subjects (mathematics, history, language...) and integrate all of them in a report that can show to the rest of the class at the end of the academic year.

The Pandora's box, where pupils start to debate the conflicts they have with each other, by creating a space where each time it is assigned the task of the moderator to a different pupil and others have to record the signs of progress, etc.

Other group works such as: sending letters to request the abolition of an unfair law through NGO's websites, creating and writing in a blog, or participating in cultural events.

As an assessment: reach the level of “critical” awareness and to take into account other identities, beliefs, and values in reference to their own. The need to reshape their own values and integrate new perspectives so that they eventually become intercultural mediators when facing conflict-ridden situations, rather than just “cultural awareness”. (Lazar 2008, p. 27)

I would consider that my pupils have reached the goal when they are able to understand and solve their own multicultural problems, without the presence of the figure of a facilitator.

Conclusions:

The first and second dimension could be indistinctly combined, while the third part will be not likely to be effective before they have acquired those skills. I would recommend starting presenting other people's stories that are crossing similar cultural conflicts. This will allow us to give information gradually, heading towards reflections that provide them with the tools to understand and analyze multicultural conflicts, until we feel that they are ready to solve successfully their own conflicts. We must consider that this process is long and unexpectable, and conflicts affect pupils emotionally to a varying degree. We must be ready for different reactions from the pupils, and flexible to make changes and direct the lessons depending on the progression of the specific situation.

Multicultural education is important at any context, since it does not only helps to solve conflicts between cultures, but it helps also to raise awareness about aspects of our own culture (the tacit perspectives of “The Iceberg of culture” by Patrick R. Moran), that might be needing some changes because of its unfair consequences among the people involved, as well as to raise “critical” awareness of the consequences of certain behaviours that might be influencing other cultures within our globalized world, even if we are not directly in touch with these other countries. And when two or more cultures co-exist in a classroom, multicultural education is not only important but essential to get pupils to enjoy the benefits of multiculturality, while the differences that are origin conflicts are not an unpleasant “block” between them, but an opportunity to learn by doing how to solve conflicts by themselves in a fair and successful way.

Teaching multiculturality will definitely help pupils to appreciate and understand other ways of thinking and review their own, and integrating with DC and HR education means to teach future adult citizens to take responsible decisions based on a broader understanding of social reality, and the importance of defending and respect human rights with no exceptions. Eventually (hopefully), they will develop a willingness to participate actively in politic decisions for the construction of a fairer society and to know more and appreciate the advantages of living together in a multicultural world, and conflicts are just “seen as something normal, that happens in every society”.

Beetham, D., Boyle, K. (2009) Introducing democracy, 80 questions and answers, UNESCO Publishing, Paris.

Gollob, R., Krapf, P. (2011) Educating for democracy, background materials on democratic citizenship and human rights education for teachers, EDC/HRE Volume I, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg

Gollob, R., Krapf, P. (2008) Teaching democracy, a collection of models for democratic citizenship and human rights education, EDC/HRE volume VI, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg

Lazar, I. (2008) Developing and assessing intercultural communicative competence-a guide for language teachers and educators, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg (pdf only).

Pollock, D.C., Van Reken, R.E. (2009) Third Culture Kids, growing up among worlds, Nicolas Brealey Publishing, Boston.

Worley, P. (2011) The If Machine, philosophical inquiry in the classroom, Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

Moran, P.R (2001) Teaching culture, perspectives in practice, Donald Freeman Series Editor, Boston.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY: MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

CULTURE

"The more professional insight one has about culture, the easier it is to abandon simplistic concepts of people from other cultures." Iben Jensen (2007)

Since my father was a teacher (and a wishful dreamer of a fairer world), his passion for meeting new people to hear their opinions, their voices, their way to express, and explain their own ways of seeing life, could not avoid the fact that it was only possible by traveling. And it was not enough to do so during his period of holidays, he wanted to experience living together with different people, and make up his own thoughts by observation and long talks, besides spending a great number of hours reading. He did enjoy very much, to sum up, all the old and new ideas and continuously search for answers, make new questions, and at the end apply new ways of teaching in his own classroom. But, even I spent most of my life in my birth country, I attended many different schools from different communities, and I did not spend more than 5 years in my home community. For that reason, I can say that I share some of the feelings of TKC, as well as some of the benefits and challenges, according to the classification of David Pollock (even I do not fulfill the exact requirements to belong to this definition). For example, I shared the pain of a chronic loss of relationships, but I did develop a great level of empathy. I had the opportunity of meeting many different personalities, cultures within my culture, and I learned that people can react in many different ways depending on their experiences and to listen and try to understand other's behaviors, which gave me as well great communication skills. It can be argued that my case is not comparable to TCK because I spent most of my academic period in my own country. However, I will explain as well through the following paragraphs the reasons why I think that the only difference between TCK and me, is the fact that what Pollock called home country it would be a home community in my case.

Expanded world view vs. Confused Loyalties

Benefit: Expanded World View

Most of the times, I had no contact with cultures from other countries, but there are invisible boundaries within my country that make huge differences between communities in terms of culture: forms of behavior, certain customs, traditions, festivals, laws, history, and even the active existence of other languages (and flags), some of them which origin are entirely different as the common one. The population in Spain is approximately 47.129.783 inhabitants (2007 census), and Spanish, the official language, is spoken by 99% of the population. Even though most of the Spanish population speak and understand Spanish, it is not the mother tongue of all of them, as well as it is not the one that they speak with their neighbors, family, and friends: there are another 9 recognized languages, officials within their communities, that are the ones they use to express themselves in their day today. Obviously, the country as a whole share a common official language, history, national holidays, certain customs, etc, but each community have certain traditions and customs, which are unknown to many people from the other communities, and are specific from each community. And this differences made for a long time in the history (still remaining today) to many people feel the need for the search and recognition of their own identity (which has led to a strong nationalism), strong enough to even claim their own independence from Spain. In this way, we can hear many voices claiming that they do not belong to Spain, and even feel offended when an innocent foreign call them Spanish. On the same line, each educational institution in every community where two languages coexist, gives two options to students: one option where all the subjects are taught in Spanish, and in addition there is one mandatory subject to learn the other language; and another option where all subjects are taught in the other language, except for the subject of Spanish language. Most of the parents choose the second line, as a way to preserve their identity through subsequent generations.

The reason to explain this is to make clear to my readers the context in which I grew up. In most of the places that I have lived and went to school, within my country, I was considered a foreign, and some times I was not even able to get involved in informal conversations in the street with the people of the community, as outside of the educational institutions they were using their mother tongue language between their friends and family (incomprehensible for me). In this way, as David Pollock mention in his book, I realized very soon that people have different ways to see life, philosophically and politically. In the north of Spain, where I spent 3 years of my school period, most of the people were fighting for their independence, and some people were against independentism, and both ideas involved many other factors related to politics and lifestyle. I could compare as well the difference between the view of this matter from the people directly affected (by the fact of living in the community with this conflict), and those who had an opinion about it, from other communities (often people who did not even know anyone from this community or had visited the place). In this way, I learned how many ways one issue can be seen, and which factors can affect them to choose a side.

Challenge: Confused Loyalties

It may seem strange, but if we analyze the fact that some of the communities in Spain that I have lived had a strong patriotism that did not share with each other (as they claimed independence while not feeling a part of Spain), I did not feel identify with their identity and feelings of belonging to, what they called, a different country. Since the reasons were culture (including language), but also a different way as my home community to make politics, I have always felt that the atmosphere was hostile when someone talked about political issues: it turns out that in the surveys that Media showed, my community  was one of those that had a majority of people against the independence of these communities. All this caused serious tensions between citizens, for the simple fact of belonging to one community or another. I felt that I belonged to my home community, the Valencian Community, and on one hand I was rejected sometimes for that exact reason at the other communities, calling me sometimes fascist. But on the other hand, I understood the reasons for the independentism, and I did share with them the opinion of the right to self-determination, so I was rejected as well by many people from my community, by calling me for instance unpatriotic.

Three-Dimensional View of the world vs. Painful view of reality

Benefit: Three-Dimensional View of the World

One of the most interesting things I have observed, as I mentioned above, was the way people viewed one issue, depending on the fact if they lived the dilemma in their own community or knew it only through the Media. And now I know that I would not have this experience, I would not have been able to understand, at the level I do, what people directly affected feels about it. That I am grateful for. The most striking part was that I realized very soon that the people who hated other people neither had a close relationship with one of those that they criticized and hate, nor were able to feel empathy for them or understand the root of the problem (either were open to search and listen other opinions different as the bunch of lies from Media, as I learned to do by living the experience instead as do it through the books or television).

Challenge: Painful awareness of reality

Of course, when someone lives in different countries/communities leave behind people and experiences that allow them to feel closer to the issues and incidents from these places. Specifically, in some areas of northern Spain, there were frequent terrorist attacks by an organization called ETA (which still exists). When I was not living there anymore, although I knew that the Media often used a sensational style for these events, creating much more drama than it was already the fact in itself, I was much more aware and worried these days of how people I knew felt, than the people around me. Our brain has a selective way to choose the information we will pay attention to. As many experiences we have that are relevant for us, we create what I like to call light switches which switches on a light in our brain for every relevant information around us, allowing us to the focus attention on a specific matter. When watching the news, I believe the people who have experienced to live in other countries or communities have more of this light switches that switch on every time they hear the name of this places than any other person. And this is what it happened to me or to any TCK since for us is more important to hear anything that happened over a wider territorial area, or even more able to feel the pain or loss of the others, than someone who does not feel directly connected at anyhow to these places.

Cross-cultural Enrichment vs. Ignorance of the Home Culture

Benefit: Cross-cultural enrichment

Many Spanish had difficulties in guessing which community I come from. When I was younger, that was a problem for me. I observed around me patriotism and a sense of belonging to a specific community that I did not feel completely to any of them. Nowadays I understand that my personality was built up with a sum up of experiences and, what I consider, the positive sides of each community I have been. Simultaneously, as TCK, that arouses special interest to know and pay attention to the events that occur in other parts of the world. That involves as well the fact that it can create a great motivation for children to hear with more interest in the lessons of, for instance, geography and history.

Challenge: Ignorance of home culture

I do not think that in my case that challenge would clearly apply, even I might have missed things such as: how is it prepared the horchata drink, originally from my home community, or what was exactly the main ingredient (chufas, or tiger nut, in English).  I did not get the humor either, or the feeling of crying during the Fallas, where cardboard dolls that have been carefully built by hand throughout the whole year, are on fire in the middle of the city. However, I have been always connected to my country, and I can understand that it is a different way to live this experience for TCK. Maybe their home country is actually very far away from the country they live in, and they do not really have the opportunity to get certain information if is not being talked at home at some point. And it is sometimes not even enough to talk or read about it. We can see that in the following reflection about what TCK learn when they experience living in a different country, which would be in this case in reverse: it is a sentence that Pollock wrote, from Rachel Miller Schaetti, at the beginning of chapter 6, "I am struck again and again by the fact that so much of sociology, feeling for history, geography, questions [about] others that our friends' children try to understand through textbooks, my sisters and I acquired just by living".
(Pollock 2009, p. 87-98)

MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOMS

One of the advantages that my experiences gave me now, is to make a comparison between all the schools I attended to, and I found some weaknesses that I will analyze in this paragraph, related to the theories that we just learned in class. One of the things I am more sad about my childhood is the fact that I did not have the opportunity to live the insights of a multicultural classroom. I grew up in a time where racism and xenophobia were very widespread within the society of my country. And, in general terms, that was expressed in many different ways: there were people agreeing with the expulsion of all persons "not belonging to the Spanish nationality" (I put it in quotes because what they really meant was ethnically Spanish. They meant then, "all the people who had parents born in other countries, or different skin color, even if they had a Spanish passport and were born and raised in Spain"). Based on my experience, their voices were very loud and accepted by most of the population. This way, the parties that promised to carry out their wishes, were the ones that were elected to be in the government, since most people seemed extremely concerned. There was at the time numerous debates at the television and in common conversations, becoming one of the fix-points that Iben Jensen describes in his book Introduction to cultural understanding. On the other hand, there was an opposite opinion, that was promoting a multicultural development thinking, and demand policies that promoted a multicultural understanding, as well as urgent policy measures to protect the immigrants' human rights, since most of them were being violated: including basic needs such as medical care (many were being denied at clinics and hospitals, while for the rest it was a free service offered by the government), security and protection against any discrimination and degrading treatment, and freedom of movement. In my opinion, the arguments of the first position were based on ignorance and fallacies. But as I grew up I observe something that paid my attention too: even for the people who thought that human rights were universal and it had to be applied for everyone, and were feeling for the people who had to deal with the facts happening in my country, some had a way to choose between "they" ("The others", Jensen, 2007) and "the other they". Somehow the people that were coming from África and Asia (from anywhere else but the Arab countries), were being seen as a better people, than the ones coming from the middle east or Arabic countries in África. We can argue (not justify) that this has something to do with the past experiences in the history of Spain, among other facts. And at the same time, I observed a hidden terminology within the Spanish vocabulary: different despective words to name people from specific countries or other words to say instead of the word foreign. These hidden words were being commonly used in different ways: some people were using them aware of what they wanted to express, and in racist/xenophobic jokes; some were hidden within innocent jokes, and some people that were using them simply did not realize of the respective meaning behind it. I personally had a great fight against this little holes that cave deeply into people's mind, and I insisted that it was something important to be raised to awareness, since I believed that language created our thoughts, and our thoughts created our feelings.

Coming back to my school experience, I could observe in the streets adult immigrants (mostly men) from different countries, but not children. And I had only a 2 years experience, during my High School period, with children belonging to Roma community ("gypsies"). In general terms, people had an awful multicultural experience, and this could have been avoided through a philosophy of integration and cultural understanding as part of the academic program.

At this point I would like to highlight some negative common points that I could observe between the schools I have attended in my country:

• Multicultural education was barely provided or provided unsuccessfully to the pupils. Both in theory and in practice: lake of information and activities that could promote cultural understanding and communication. 

• The teachers had not intercultural competence and had not enough knowledge about the culture that represented the minority group of the classroom. 
• The academic program had not included information related to the culture of the minority group, at the program of subjects such as history or literature, even though the minority group had been a part of the history and literature of the host country since 1470. 
• The minority group of the classroom had no knowledge about their own history, but they had to learn what they considered others' history. 
• Cultural/political issues information, where most of the times provided superficially, avoiding to go in-depth or analyze the reasons that could cause it (or encourage us to do it). 

• I barely remember one teacher who encourages us to analyze our own culture from different angles. Some of my collages and I referred to him as the special teacher, different from the mainstream, and most of the adults were labeling him as from the left hand.

• Lake of dialogue and debates. There were some, but I do not think that were enough or being carried out properly. 

As a conclusion I would say that multicultural education is extremely important since the emergent multicultural classes necessarily demand the acquisition of new skills and knowledge and an effort from the professionals to create an environment where nobody is excluded from being a part of their personal and social development.

Since my observations have shown a lack of skills of the teachers involved and a lack of an appropriate program for a bicultural environment, it has awakened in me a special interest to research and find answers for the following questions:

• In a classroom is where all children have the same cultural background: I wonder the way that multicultural education can be introduced in a classroom where there is actually not such a situation, and still be successful. Is it possible to teach multiculturality successfully in a non-multicultural environment? Will pupils get to understand to communicate between different cultures?

• In a classroom where coexist two or more different cultures: I wonder the way that multicultural education can be introduced in a classroom where there exists an environment of tension between the majority and the minority group. Which steps should be taken to promote an intercultural and interpersonal understanding?

I find very interesting the work of David Pollock about TCK, and I think that taking in consideration these aspects that characterize them, to analyze the situation in the classroom, will definitely make a difference in regard to communication, multicultural understanding, and integration. But here I realized as well how important it is to just be aware of the different situations that the country where the children come from, may be going through at the moment, no matter if they remain in the same country but moved to another community, or if they are actuals TCK. In the first case, and taking in consideration my personal experience where I did not have the opportunity to meet with children from other countries, I believe that by acquiring the necessary skills and applying them in the classroom, it may be a great resource for teachers to take advantage of the situation to put in practice a more comprehensive understanding between pupils with differences in their cultural backgrounds, that will probably help them to carry out successfully multicultural encounters in the future. 

Finally, to know about the situation of the country where the children come from also means to know about the country itself when they are not living in their home country, and that implies to dedicate some time to make a little research on the history and culture of all the pupils involved in the classroom. Eventually, I would propose to take this research into consideration as a point to be included in the planning of the content and structure of the classes. In that way, it should always include information and activities that make all of them feel a part of the institution and community they live, teaching theory that gives personal meaning to all of them, interrelating and integrating the different cultures in theory and in practice, and promoting understanding among the pupils.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY: EDC & HRE

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 26.

• Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Active, committed, and responsible participation at one's community, defense of the human rights, solidarity, empathy, interest for other's issues, multicultural understanding, the ability to analyze the world thru history, Media and other sources, self-critic, and the construction of solid arguments to defend one's opinion, are some of the skills that personally I would like to help to develop in my classroom, while giving them tools to listen and argue their points of view pacifically, and making a responsible use of the rhetoric. I have prepared a little program based on The three dimensions of EDC/HRE (Gollob 2011, p. 29 - 31) that integrates theory, practice, training, and activities. 

1)  The cognitive dimension, learning "about" democracy and HR. Definition of concepts:

POLITICS: (from the Greek word Politikos, means "of, for, or relating to citizens") it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance (organized control over the human community, particularly a state). Is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community and the interrelationship between other communities.

At some countries, the mainstream picture of the word "politics" follow the words "government", "healthcare issues" "competition between parties, where verbally attack each other" "taxes", and all other bunch of words that seem too far away for a young citizen to feel it a part of their lives. Yes, but...

...what else may be politics?

Politics may be to meet with your neighbors to pose a problem: "We would like to have a basketball court, because the closest one is too far from here, and there are enough children interested to practice this sport". Politics is to make good planning explaining why, how many people, and how and where would it be built. And to take the necessary steps to present the project to the relevant administration, which has the resources to carry out the project. This could be a simple way of explaining democracy and promote interest in change things that they might be concerned and feel close to their lives.

Politics is to observe around us and detect problems and solutions that will bring social benefits to the community, things that may or not affect us directly. What would you like to change in your community?

HUMAN RIGHTS: are individual entitlements derived from human needs and capacities. The most accepted classification is that they can be: civil, political, social, economic and cultural, and no one is more/less important than others. They are universal, which means that no one person in the whole world is excluded from this rights, and therefore all countries in the world should be responsible to apply them within their policies (regardless of their political, economic and cultural system). (Beetham 2009, p. 41 - 44) 

• Another definition: "moral principles that set out certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected as legal rights in national and international law. They are commonly understood as "inalienable, fundamental, universal, and egalitarian rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being"". 
• THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. It is the main source of human rights ideas in the modern world, adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 10 December 1948.

It is important and necessary for students to know about these 3 Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human rights being as:

- They need to know that every person enjoys the right of free thought and expression, and free access to information with exceptional occasions, understanding that this particular right is indispensable for a democratic system (Article 10)

- Understand the key principle of equality and non-discrimination: women and men, rich and poor, young and old, nationals and immigrants - we all equally possess these rights (Article 14)

- Understand why liberties require a framework of laws and also carry responsibilities. Freedom of expression allows citizens to promote their interests in a pluralist society, and in such a competitive setting, there will be winners and losers. A constitution, rules, and laws must provide a framework that limits the liberties of the strong and protects the weak, without legalizing differences (Article 29).

(Gollob 2011, p. 30)

DEMOCRACY is collective decision-making. It embodies the idea that the decisions affecting the association as a whole, should be taken by all its members (the goals to be pursued, the rules to be followed, the distribution of responsibilities and benefits between members), and that each member should have an equal right to take part of such decisions. (Beetham 2009, p. 13)

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take a part in the government of his/her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his/her country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government; this will be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. (Beetham 2009, p. 6)

Basic principles of democracy:

In Abraham Lincoln’s famous quotation (1863), democracy is “government of the people, by the
people, for the people”; the three definitions can be understood as follows:

– “of”: power comes from the people – the people are the sovereign power that exercises power or
gives the mandate to do so, and whoever is part of authority may be held responsible by the
people;
– “by”: power is exercised either through elected representatives or direct rule by the citizens;
– “for”: power is exercised to serve the interests of the people, that is, the common good. (Gollob 2011, p. 15)

So, is it a system with absolute freedom, where everybody can do anything they want?

No. Democracy is based on the standards and principles of human rights, which recognize individual rights and liberties, inherent in being human. And these human rights itself obliged to respect the freedoms of others, which already determine some limits. Democracy processes help to set up processes that facilitate the freedom of people and set the necessary limits as well. (Gollob 2011, p. 16)

In most modern democracies, the whole body of all eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives (Indirect/representative democracy). Core elements include:

– A constitution, usually in written form, that sets the institutional framework for democracy protected in some countries by an independent, high court; human rights, usually not all, are protected as civil rights;

– human rights are referred to in the constitution and then relegated to civil rights as guaranteed constitutionally. Governments that have signed human rights conventions are obligated to uphold the range of rights they have ratified, regardless of whether they are specifically referred to in the constitution;

– the equal legal status of all citizens: all citizens are equally protected by the law through the principle of non-discrimination and are to fulfill their duties as defined by the law.

– universal suffrage: this gives adult citizens, men, and women, the right to vote for parties and/ or candidates in parliamentary elections. In addition, some systems include a referendum or plebiscite, that is, the right for citizens to make decisions on a certain issue by direct vote;

– citizens enjoy human rights that give access to a wide range of ways to participate. This includes the freedom of the media from censorship and state control, the freedom of thought, expression and peaceful assembly, and the right of minorities and the political opposition to act freely;

– pluralism and competition of interests and political objectives: individual citizens and groups may form or join parties or interest groups (lobbies), non-governmental organizations, etc. to promote their interests or political objectives. There is competition in promoting interests and unequal distribution of power and opportunities in realizing them;

- parliament: the body of elected representatives has the power of legislation, that is, to pass laws that are generally binding. The authority of parliament rests on the will of the majority of voters. If the majority in a parliamentary system shifts from one election to the next, a new government takes office. In presidential systems the head of government, the president, is elected separately by direct vote;

– majority rule: the majority decides, the minority must accept the decision. Constitutions define limits for majority rule that protect the rights and interests of minorities. The quorum for the majority may vary, depending on the issue – for example, two-thirds for amendments to the constitution;

– checks and balances: democracies combine two principles: the authority to exercise force rests with the state, amounting to a “disarmament of citizens”. However, to prevent the power of force to turn into an autocratic or dictatorial rule, all democratic systems include checks and balances. The classic model divides state powers into legislation, executive powers, and jurisdiction (horizontal dimension); many systems take further precautions: a two-chamber system for legislation, and federal or cantonal autonomy, amounting to an additional vertical dimension of checks and balances (such as in Switzerland, the USA or Germany);

– temporary authority: a further means of controlling power is by bestowing authority for a fixed period of time only. Every election has this effect, and in some cases, the total period of office may be limited, as in the case of the US president, who must step down after two four-year terms of office. In ancient Rome, consuls were appointed in tandem and left office after one year. (Gollob 2011, p. 16)

I have named the main concepts that students should understand at the end of the lesson, but it is important as well that they familiarize with concepts such as: constitution, constructive criticism, self-criticism, self-determination, referendum, solidarity, universality, universal suffrage, parliamentary proposal, absolute majority, lobby, civil rights, altruism, dictatorship, and autocracy (among others) that we can explain, for instance, while explaining the core elements of modern constitutional democracies. I would as well pay special attention to the 9 key concepts named at the book Educating for democracy: identity, diversity and pluralism, responsibility, conflict, rules and law, government and politics, equality, liberty, and Media. (Gollob 2011, p. 42)

2) The participative dimension: learning "for" democracy and HR. Activities and debates.

In this aspect, I would encourage children to dare to talk about their thoughts and opinions, teaching them to expose them politely and listen to others respectfully thru debates. Organizing activities with the objective of making them develop their empathy and see specific situations from different angles thru the exposition of real stories and activities. As well as encourage them to take part in possible resolutions for different issues.

• Activity 1: Quiz. Jeopardy could be a good source for the teacher to test whether the students have understood the concepts of the theory. It could be about matching words with the correct definitions: democracy, constitution, universal, equality, utopia, solidarity, rights, civil rights, human rights, etc. 

• Activity 2: Research. Go to the website: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ and find 3 rights for each category, according to the classification of the book Introducing democracy by David Beetham and Kevin Boyle (p. 42-44)

• Activity 3: Debate. Why are Human Rights so important? What it means that Human Rights are Universal?could be a good source as well for the teacher to test whether the students have understood the concepts of the theory. 

• Activity 4: Research. Strengths and weaknesses of democracy and possible solutions. 

• Activity 5: Research. How would you define the political system in your country and how does it technically work? Is it fear?Why/why not? Is HR being respected for everyone? If not, which ones are being violated? It requires previous research from the students. I could give them a little guidance about how to find this information. They could explain it orally to the rest of the class, and end it up with a debate, where it should be asked their opinions and ideas and close it with the question: What could we, as citizens, do to change the injustices that are being committed in other communities/countries?

• Activity 6: Analysis and Debate. Responsible Citizens, make responsible decisions.  How do decisions affect us? How does it affect others? It is about reflecting on one or more true stories and expose the different ideas that the students get from it. It is a good source to use here the stories from the book Teachers and Human Rights education by Audrey Osler, and some of his reflections about the need for human solidarity: "(...)the impact of war, conflict, and threats to human rights impact directly or indirectly on the wider global community. The forces of globalization mean that problems in one region affect others elsewhere, whether they live in relatively prosperous or developing nations, through the impact of refugees, economic migrants, trade, environmental damage and shortages of scarce resources." (Osler 2010 p. 4)

• Activity 7: Roleplay activity. "One step forward". It is a game that we have played in class, and I think that it is an excellent exercise to understand how others may feel in a situation where there is not equality. They are given a brief description of a character. The class must be unobscured, and the students line up. The teacher exposes a sentence, and only the ones that do not feel discriminated, according to their character, must take a step forward. It is a great metaphor to see how people may feel staying behind others. At the end of the activity, we could ask: Should we be tolerant? And here is a great opportunity to introduce the idea that tolerance is usually an inadequate response, particularly if it implies neutrality or indifference. (Osler 2010, p. 11-12)And the difference between tolerance and solidarity, sometimes confused. 

• Activity 8: Analysis and Debate. Analysis of Media and other sources. Choosing some videos from the Media and from the internet, we could encourage the students to analyze critically different sources of information, allowing them to be able to identify whether they have solid arguments or whether are trying to manipulate the audience, etc. It could be very useful as well, to make them choose an article that they feel interested about, from the newspaper, to comment it on the class. All this can help them to create a coherent sense of criticism and to identify and analyze in a constructive way other opinions and point of views so they can create theirs owns based on solid arguments. 

The following video could be an interesting starting for a debate in the classroom, related to How true/false it is the concept of democracy that they are suggesting, and why. It could also come up with the topic of weaknesses of democracy, and the exposition of different solutions to eradicate these problems.

Thru a video like this we could, for instance, explain that democracy should be based first of all on human rights, and therefore, nobody would ever be excluded depending on their race, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation, as this video suggests. It is very important that students understand as well the cultural dimension of human rights and which are the mechanisms of protection established by the UN and by regional human rights institutions when a state fails to uphold its human rights promises (Gollob 2011, p. 26)

All the activities and debates should be held under the three principles of the professional ethics of EDC/HRE teachers, which are:

• The principle of non-indoctrination: do not attempt to indoctrinate the students in any way to make them adopt the desired opinion. 

• The principle of controversial discussion: whatever is a controversial issue in science or politics must be presented as such in EDC/HRE classes. 

• Empowering students to promote their interests: students must be able to analyze a political situation and to identify their interest and to find ways and means to influence such a situation in favor of their interests. It may only be achieved if the two other principles are observed. (Gollob 2011, p. 40-41)

3) The cultural dimension, learning "through" democracy and HR. Learning through experience 

The school should be organized according to the values that are being taught. For example, showing that their opinions and rights are being respected, and allowing them to participate in a democratic environment. Giving them a certain freedom to take decisions and responsibilities on their own, to put up their self-esteem and give them the opportunity to show to themselves that are capable to carry out any rational idea purposed. Giving them the freedom to decide certain changes from their environment would be one of the ways where they could live and understand better these concepts and give them the courage to defend their beliefs, while we create hopefull citizens that believe that they can make a difference. As an example I will name an activity that I especially like: 

• Live role-play activity. What would you like to change in your community? It is about the creation of a political party, where they work out actual plannings to make changes at their community, to send them afterward to the city hall. It is an activity that I observed during my teaching practice in Kulsbjerg Skole, and it seemed to be a successful activity where they were actually achieving in real life some of the proposals. 

As a conclusion I would say that it is very important that EDC and HRE by its three dimensions are well integrated as a part of the academic program in the schools because the concept of democracy itself will not work without some principles (as the application of the human rights). And it may not be seen as a good political system in certain situations, or simply misunderstood. So it is important to emphasize that teaching how to be a democratic citizen must go hand by hand with the teaching of certain knowledge and values, and the encouragement of certain behaviors (as the goals of the program for EDC suggests) helping this way to create fair, responsible and committed citizens, willing to go one step forward to build every day a better society.

I also think that it is not enough to "talk and know about" democracy and human rights, the pupils should be surrounded as well by an environment where all these concepts are being applied (or at least where they are encouraged to build one).

Personally, I think that EDC and HRE are very important if we want to create a fairer world, where the application of the human rights, the altruism, and a supportive collaboration between nations/communities/interrelationships are the bases. And the best way to start it is at the schools, helping children to acquire the necessary skills to understand the world around them, to feel interested, and create what I personally like to call, constructive dreamers: positive people willing to fight against injustices, dreaming of an increasingly collaborative and caring society where the "utopian vision of the UDHR" of Audrey Osler, is not called a utopia anymore, but with the necessary skills and knowledge to be ready to conduct the defense of those values consistently. In other words: citizens with "the head in the clouds, and the feet on the ground".

EDUCATING FOR DEMOCRACY

EDC & HRE

Education: is a form of learning in which the bits of knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, or research. Frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but may also be autodidactic. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. It is commonly divided into stages such as preschool, primary school, secondary school, and then college, university, or apprenticeship. 

Right to education:  At the global level, Article 13 of the United Nations' 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the right of everyone to an education. Although education is compulsory in most places up to a certain age, attendance at school often isn't, and a minority of parents choose home-schooling, e-learning, or similar for their children. 

Democracy: is a form of government in which all eligible citizens are meant to participate equally in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run (either directly, or indirectly through elected representatives). 

               - Direct democracy (also known as pure democracy): people decide (e.g. vote on, form consensus on) policy initiatives directly having active participation in the political decision making. 

                - Indirect democracy (also known as representative democracy): people vote for representatives who then decide policy initiatives. The whole body of all eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives. 

What is Democracy?-Definition, Types & Principles

Citizenship: is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law of a state that bestows on that person (called a citizen) the rights and the duties of citizenship.

Democratic citizenship: refers to the citizen's legal status and the voting rights that this status implies, but also includes all aspects of life in a democratic society (such as sustainable development, the participation of people with disabilities in society, gender mainstreaming, prevention of terrorism...).

Human being: a man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, the power of articulate speech, and upright stance.

Rights: are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived."

Human rights: are moral principles that set out certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected as legal rights in national and international law. They are commonly understood as "inalienable, fundamental, universal, and egalitarian rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being". 

Constitution: is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. 

Democratic School governance: is based in democratic education, i.e. an educational ideal in which democracy is both a goal and a method of instruction. It brings democratic values to education and can include self-determination within a community of equals, as well as such values as justice, respect, and trust.  plays a key role in EDC/
HRE, as it offers students opportunities to learn how to participate in a community. 
The video below, by Jerry Mintz, explains the need for democratic education, and how does it work in practice. 

The goal of the subject Democratic citizenship, where is develop the concepts of EDC and HRE, is to enable and encourage young citizens to participate in their communities. 

Education for democratic citizenship and human rights education are closely interrelated and mutually supportive. They only differ in the focus. 

Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC)

What are the goals?

It refers to a concept of democracy and politics. Focuses primarily on democratic rights and responsibilities and active participation, in relation to the civic, political, economic, legal and cultural spheres of society, thru training, dissemination, information, practices, and activities.

The main goal is to provide to the citizens the necessary pieces of knowledge, skills, and understanding to be able to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society and play an active part in democratic life. It is about defending one's rights, but it is also a way of life and behavior, such as the way to solve problems, or the way to collaborate together with one's immediate environment.

Human Rights Education (HRE)

What are the goals?

The main goal is to provide the citizens the necessary pieces of knowledge, skills, and understanding to be aware of their rights, be able to detect when they are being violated, and take an action to defend, promote and protect human rights, thru training, dissemination, information, practices, and activities.

Why I think that EDC and HRE are important?

Because it provides to the children (the future policymakers) the knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes that will help to play an effective role in their community (locally, nationally, or internationally).

I think that it provides the tools to defend their rights, assume responsibilities and duties, and to be aware of their power for influence in the decisionmaking, and realize that they can make a difference. And the part I liked the most: it creates open-minded, empathy, and freethinkers citizens, willing to listen to different opinions and express their views without fear within a non-violent behavior.

Before the program of Democratic citizenship, pupils were only taught about the government structures, but this project pretends to teach as well how can they have a voice in the society in which they live, and why is it important to keep interested, informed, and active politically, and integrate it within their day-by-day decisions. When I talk with the people around me, the most popular sentence I hear is: "I will not start a political discussion. I don't like politics". I do understand them. I mean, I grew up in a family where both of my parents were teachers and debates about moral, education, religion, and political systems were continually active. But I have never got told or encourage in my school to take actions for the benefit of my society and how exactly can I make a difference. So what we see is that a lot of people think that some laws are unfair, and we keep being angry about it, but this does not change anything. In my country, we have an indirect democracy, which means basically that we vote promises (rarely fulfilled) and wait 4 years for being able again to participate actively in making decisions. Just as an example, there is a legal way (a bit complex one) that allows people to request that a decision that has been approved by the government be reviewed and changed, but studies show that most of the population have no even such information. And more than that, they do not get told in the school about this option, the media does not talk about it, and it is quite hard to find it on the internet unless you dedicate special research to find this specific law. So the picture, again, is that the only way they can actively participate in decision-making is through voting promises (rarely fulfilled), every 4 years. And this is what these confused and skeptical people think about the concept of "politics". And they can see that it happens again in other countries, and if I thought that was the definition of policy, you would hear me saying this sentence myself! But if we as teachers do not give information to children, and if the parents of these children do not have this information either, who will provide it to them? It is important to engage the children to be interested in politics and show them how to research for their answer and where can they find such information, since it is a skill that must be learned.

Politics: Definition and Source of Governmental Conflict

I believe that it is very important to understand what "politics" really means, and even more important: HOW can we, as citizens, participate actively to make policies in the benefit of all? How does it technically works theses processes and which steps can we take when we do not agree on how things are being carried on?

But if we as teachers do not give information to children, and if the parents of these children do not have this information either, who will provide it to them?

Explanation of the concept of Democracy, and the "Policy cycle model"

It would be very useful to use a diagram to explain the concept of democracy, and how a decision is being taken in a democratic political system. The first two diagrams could be an example to show to the students to explain the concept of democracy. To explain the decision-making processes, we could choose the third one, extracted from the book Educating for democracy, which explains in a very simple way, part of the concept of democracy and its rules of procedure. Starting with the definition of policy and democracy, we could open a small discussion about what children think about the rules governing the class, which things they would change/not change, and the ways they would like to participate actively in the decisions of the making/changing. 

"The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within. In a true democracy, every man and woman is taught to think for himself or herself". Mahatma Gandhi

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." Albert Einstein

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela