Page 28 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
• cultural borderlands in the context of multiculturalism and interculturalism (its nature, extent, problems, perspectives, etc.), both intra- and intercultural; cultural borderlands in the context of multiculturalism and interculturalism (its nature, scope, problems, perspectives, etc.), both from an intra-national and international perspective; processes of introduction, reception, adaptation, assimilation, integration, acculturation, cultural diffusion, rejection, marginalisation, exclusion, labelling, discrimination (positive and negative), and transmission of cultural heritage that take place in border regions; the tearing of the individual between two (or more) systems of meaning and the consequences of this for both the individual and his or her environment; factors that mitigate or eliminate problems of intercultural (post- )understanding and facilitate it; dialogue, its conditions and processes;
• the effects of the movement of persons from one cultural background to another (e.g., job seekers, tourists, athletes, family members spread across different countries);
• the social, educational, etc. policies of various actors towards cultural minorities; the situation and perspectives of immigrants, their children, and the host societies in their relations with them; the situation of individuals and communities disadvantaged by difference; the rights of minorities and majorities (cultural, educational, social, etc.);
• relations between traditional and post-modern cultures and virtual and national cultures;
• the situation of the educational system and its individual components under conditions of cultural diversity; manifestations of stereotypes and prejudices in textbooks, media, literature,
etc.; political correctness (Grzybowski, 2008, pp. 107–108).
The fundamental difference between the intercultural model and the multicultural model is that the latter model is based on the desire for the state to bring the cultural dynamics of society under its control and to adapt the system to the needs of different cultural groups, while recognising that there is a clearly defined dominant group in society. This model overlooks the role of mutual relations between minority groups and the dominant environment. In contrast, the intercultural model assumes a heterogeneous sociocultural system, which involves mutual recognition of the right to diversity and difference. It assumes cultural relativism, which grants individual cultures the right to exist and prevents their hierarchical valuation. Differences between cultures are not treated as exclusionary features.
The American model of multicultural education was formed in the 1970s. Multicultural education refers to the modernist category of diversity oriented towards protecting the interests of the dominant group (Kossak-Główczewski, 1996). Thus, it can be said that the idea of assimilating diverse subjects with the same rights through the same curricula and upbringing lies at the core of this educational model. It is difficult to avoid comparison with the Polish educational system, which implements similar assumptions based on the assimilation of national minority and migrant students. From this point of view, it can be said that multicultural education is in fact monocultural education, because it is the authority that sets certain freedoms and grants certain rights in an instrumental way, and its aim is to create such conditions so that the differences blur, although theoretically the differences are recognised and emphasised. For many politicians this educational model is more attractive because it allows the static state of multicultural environments to be maintained.
Peter McLaren distinguishes the following types of ideology of multiculturalism, taking into account American conditions:
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