1st Edition

Cultural Education – Cultural Sustainability Minority, Diaspora, Indigenous and Ethno-Religious Groups in Multicultural Societies

Edited By Zvi Bekerman, Ezra Kopelowitz Copyright 2008
    448 Pages
    by Routledge

    452 Pages
    by Routledge

    This volume is a path-breaking contribution to the study of efforts of diaspora, indigenous, and minority groups, broadly defined, to use education (formal and informal) to sustain cultural continuity while grappling with the influences and demands of wider globalizing, nationalizing, or other homogenizing and assimilatory forces. Particular attention is given to groups that use educational elements other than second-language teaching alone in programs to sustain their particular cultural traditions. The focus of the book on cultural sustainability changes the nature of questions posed in multicultural education from those that address the opening of boundaries to issues of preserving boundaries in an open yet sustainable way.

    As forced and elective immigration trends are changing the composition of societies and the educational systems within them -- bringing a rich diversity of cultural experience to the teaching/learning process -- diaspora, indigenous, and minority groups are looking more and more for ways to sustain their cultures in the context of wider socio-political influences. This volume is a first opportunity to consider critically multicultural efforts in dialogue with educational options that are culturally particularistic but at the same time tolerant.

    Academics will find this an excellent reference book. Practitioners will draw inspiration in learning of others’ efforts to sustain cultures, and will engage in critical reflection on their own work vis-à-vis that of others. Teachers will realize they do not stand alone in their educational efforts and will uncover new strategies and methodologies through which to approach their work.

     

    Contributors

    Preface Zvi Bekerman & Ezra Kopelowitz

    Acknowledgements

    Introduction Zvi Bekerman & Ezra Kopelowitz

    Part I The State as a Determining Factor for Cultural Sustainability

    1 Muslim Schools in England and The Netherlands: Sustaining Cultural Continuity Geoffrey Walford

    2 The Catch 22 of Categorization: Soviet Jews, Caucasus Jews and Dilemmas of Multiculturalism in Israel Chen Bram

    3 Achieving Cultural Sustainability?: The Phenomenon of Jewish and Muslim Schools in England and Wales Marie Parker-Jenkins

    4 Education and Cultural Sustainability for the Minority People in China: Challenges in the Era of Economic Reform and Globalization Jing Lin

    5 Cultural Sustainability: An Ethnographic Case Study of a Mongol High School in China Bing Wang

    6 The Hidden Curriculum of Assimilation in Modern Chinese Education: Fuelling Indigenous Tibetan and Uygur Cessation Movements Seonaigh MacPherson & Gulbahar Beckett

    Part II Communal Infrastructure and Cultural Sustainability in Different National Contexts

    7 Agents of Socialization: The Educational Agenda of Basque Centers in Basque Transnational Communities Gloria Totoricagüena

    8 Korean Exceptionalism?: History, Culture, Politics, and Ethnic Relations in Northeast China Sheena Choi

    9 Born with Gold in Your Mouth: Maintaining Identity in Australian Coptic Orthodox Young Adults Richard Rymarz & Marian de Souza

    10 Retaining Ethnic Identity: The Armenians in Bulgaria Mari Firkatian

    Part III Formal Educational Institutions and the Battle against the Hegemony of Liberal Culture

    11 Race and Minority Schooling in Canada: Dealing with Questions of Equity and Access in Education George J. Sefa Dei

    12 Reversing Deculturalization for Better or for Worse: Teaching Hawaiian Culture in Public Schools Gay Garland Reed

    13 The Land is the First Teacher: The Indigenous Knowledge Instructors’ Program Celia Haig-Brown & Kaaren Dannenmann

    14 Old Order Amish Private Schools: Preparing Children and Preserving Community Karen M. Johnson-Weiner

    15 Arguments as Venues for Cultural Education: A Comparison of Epistemic Practices at General and Religious Schools in Israel Eli Gottlieb

    16 "Dorks with Yarmulkes": An Ethnographic Inquiry Into the Surprised Embrace of Parochial Day Schools by Liberal American Jews Alex Pomson

    17 The Unintended Consequence of Liberal Jewish Schooling: A Comparative Study of the Teaching of Jewish Texts for the Purpose of Cultural Sustainability Zvi Bekerman & Ezra Kopelowitz

    Part IV Everyday Life and the Medias of Cultural Transmission

    18 Singing the Stories of Diaspora Jewish Identity in Canada Joi Freed-Garrod

    19 New Worlds, Old Values: Cultural Maintenance in Asian Indian Women Immigrants’ Narratives M. Gail Hickey

    20 Cyberspace and Ethnic Identities: The Creation of Virtual Communities. The Case of Italy Lucia Clark

    Part V Cultural Education--Cultural Sustainability: The Parameters of Cultural Dialogue in the Context of Hegemony

    21 Cultural Education and The Paradigm of Recognition Plamen Makariev

    22 Embracing Complexity: Some Concluding Remarks Zvi Bekerman & Ezra Kopelowitz

    Contributors

    Index

    Biography

    Bekerman, Zvi; Kopelowitz, Ezra

    "… a fine introduction to the complexities of ‘Cultural Education.’ Each of the culture groups presented provides extended information and understanding of the collisions and conundrums it must address in order to make its way toward defining, maintaining, and sustaining its cultural voice. This book serves a broad international community of scholars and school professionals."--Herve Varenne, Teachers College, Columbia University United States

    "…contributes significantly to current conversations on multicultural education…. and promises to add substantively to the terrain by giving space to the voices of various ethnic and cultural groups that are not commonly heard. This is both laudable and educative."--Maenette Benham, Michigan State University, United States