ERIC Number: EJ1081612
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1443-1475
EISSN: N/A
Teacher Transculturalism and Cultural Difference: Addressing Racism in Australian Schools
Casinader, Niranjan R.; Walsh, Lucas
International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, v14 n2 p51-62 2015
The increasing cultural diversity of students in Australia's schools is one of the salient changes in education over the last 30 years. In 2011, nearly half of all Australians had one or more parents born overseas, with migration from China, the Indian subcontinent and Africa increasing during the early 2000s (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, despite these long established patterns of exposure to a multicultural environment, the incidence of racism experienced by children in Australian schools remains highly problematic. Recent research has shown that around 70% of school students witness or experience some form of racism (Mansouri, Jenkins, Morgan & Taouk, 2009). This paper argues that, although the reasons for this persistent marginalisation of cultural difference are multivariate, the background attitudes of teacher educators cannot be ignored. It posits that, in line with recent research (Casinader, 2014), the development and awareness of transcultural modes of thinking in educators, which are inclusive and reflective of different cultural approaches, are essential for modelling an educational environment for students in which cultural difference is accepted and prized, and not held up as a point of separation. It is also argued that such a transition will be facilitated only when the existing monocultural reality of the Australian teaching profession) is acknowledged and addressed.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Cultural Differences, Student Diversity, Immigrants, Racial Bias, Student Attitudes, Cultural Awareness, Multicultural Education, Teacher Attitudes, Cultural Pluralism, Teacher Role, Educational Environment, Teaching Methods
Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society. ANZCIES Secretariat, Curtin University, Box U1987, Perth, WA Australia. Tel: +61-8-9266-7106; Fax: +61-8-9266-3222; e-mail: editor@iejcomparative.org; Web site: http://www.iejcomparative.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A