‘Do they think we live in huts?’ – Cultural essentialism and the challenges of facilitating professional development in cross-cultural settings

Alvaré, Bretton T.

doi:10.1080/17457823.2015.1109466

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Social heterogeneity is recognised, but the way culture is discussed reflects cultural essentialism, in which the idea prevails that individuals can be divided into groups according to shared patterns of beliefs, behaviours and ways of life, or political and religious commitments (e.g. Alvare, 2017). Considering culture in such an essentialist manner might exclude people from being seen as members of their community and actually mark and strengthen boundaries between members of society (Matthes, 2016), reinforcing the status quo in society.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagining societies through discourses on educational equality: A cross-cultural analysis of Finnish and Swedish upper secondary curricula from 1970 to the 2010s

Lappalainen

Nylund

Rosvall

2018

European Educational Research Journal

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Educational equality has been a central tenet framing educational policy in Nordic welfare states and stimulating school reforms in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the conceptualisation of equality has fluctuated, reflecting the changing economic and political climate within which policy statements have been made. In this article, we analyse policy and curriculum documents relating to upper secondary education from the 1970s to the 2010s in two Nordic countries. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s theorisation of different forms of injustice, we focus on the aims and goals that are attached to the concept of educational equality, analysing how ideas about society and educational equality have changed over these decades. Our analysis suggests that over this period there have been quite dramatic shifts in how equality is conceptualised, inter alia shifting from a focus on economic inequalities to questions of sexuality and ethnicity. Furthermore, ambitions about tackling economic inequality have largely been replaced with ambitions about promoting employability, which is particularly visible in the curriculum of vocational upper secondary education. The Finnish general upper secondary education (GUS) curriculum has gone against the tide. In the 1970s the GUS curriculum had the most conservative tone in terms of equality, whereas the current curriculum requires an agentic stance against discrimination and a critical stance towards marketisation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagining societies through discourses on educational equality: A cross-cultural analysis of Finnish and Swedish upper secondary curricula from 1970 to the 2010s

Lappalainen

Nylund

Rosvall

2018

European Educational Research Journal

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“…Six studies identified funds of knowledge of local communities, focusing on STEM ideas and practices related to their cultural practices (Albrecht & Upadhyay, 2018;Alvaré, 2017;Ewing, 2014;Handa & Tippins, 2013;Harper, 2016;Svarovsky et al, 2017). Studies often involved researchers physically entering community spaces, which is crucial to the ethnographic methods used in Moll et al (1992).…”

Section: Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two studies applied previously identified community funds of knowledge to different settings, with mixed results (Alvaré, 2017;Svarovsky et al, 2017). Svarovsky et al (2017) co-created science museum activities based on funds of knowledge present in making practices of local families from racialized nondominant groups.…”

Section: Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in a few studies, attempted connections to student culture (Kafai et al, 2014) and home lives (Irish & Kang, 2018) did not resonate with students. Further, it is important that we, as educators and researchers, avoid cultural essentialism by making assumptions about individual students based on their cultural group (Alvaré, 2017). While attending to culture is an excellent starting point, educators need to understand how students in their classrooms and programs personally identify with culture and what meaning they ascribe to different aspects of their own culture.…”

Section: Equity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Funds of Knowledge in STEM Education: A Scoping Review

Denton

Borrego

2021

Studies in Engineering Education

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Background: Assets-based research is becoming more widespread and may be particularly important as we continue to work towards equity within engineering education. It is important to understand how assetsbased theoretical frameworks have been taken up in STEM education research in recent years. Purpose: We examine how funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992), an assets-based framework, is applied in STEM education and can be used to advance engineering education research. Funds of knowledge was created to help K-12 teachers adapt their classroom teaching and curriculum to better serve their students. Scope/Method: Scoping review procedures resulted in 42 qualifying studies. We analyzed characteristics of the qualifying studies and qualitatively coded the use of the funds of knowledge framework. Codes included the following categories: identification, curriculum, teaching, and learning. Conclusions: Funds of knowledge is prevalent in the STEM education literature. Studies tended to be qualitative, with observations and interviews as the most common research methods. Research often took place both in the classroom and at after-school programs. Most studies centered on K-12 students and teachers, often focusing on how to improve teaching, curriculum and lesson plans, or the connection between the community and schools. Funds of knowledge may assist curriculum change in K-16 if used more widely in engineering education, which could have important implications for equity in engineering. Gaps and opportunities in the application of funds of knowledge in STEM education include assessing the efficacy of funds of knowledge interventions on students by connecting to student learning outcomes or theories of identity, self-efficacy, and belonging.

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“…A static definition views culture as stable, unchanging and uniform, leading to stereotypical understandings of groups of people. Alvaré (2017) describes a research project where American researchers unintentionally essentialized the culture of Trinidadian teachers due to the researchers' static understanding of culture. Had they viewed culture as dynamic instead, they could have shifted from pedagogies of knowledge (teaching about cultures) to pedagogies of encountering (learning through intercultural encounters) (Kaikkonen, 2004).…”

Section: Defining Dynamic Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Children encountering each other through storytelling: Promoting intercultural learning in schools

Piipponen

Karlsson

2019

The Journal of Educational Research

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Schools need concrete pedagogical tools to promote intercultural learning. The Storycrafting method is used to promote interactions between children that lead to a dynamic, rather than static, experience of culture. Children (aged 9-11) exchanged stories told using the Storycrafting method with another class in Finland, Scotland or an international school in Europe. To understand how children experience the intercultural encounters, the children's stories and other ethnographic materials are analyzed and frames are developed. These frames are telling to entertain, telling to challenge, telling from real-life experiences, telling from shared experience, responding sensitively and responding defensively. Approaching intercultural learning through Storycrafting creates a shared narrative culture and avoids stereotyping the Other, which is a common limitation in intercultural exchange projects.

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‘Do they think we live in huts?’ – Cultural essentialism and the challenges of facilitating professional development in cross-cultural settings

Cited by 18 publications

References 21 publications

Imagining societies through discourses on educational equality: A cross-cultural analysis of Finnish and Swedish upper secondary curricula from 1970 to the 2010s

Imagining societies through discourses on educational equality: A cross-cultural analysis of Finnish and Swedish upper secondary curricula from 1970 to the 2010s

Funds of Knowledge in STEM Education: A Scoping Review

Children encountering each other through storytelling: Promoting intercultural learning in schools

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