Silent Partners in Multicultural Education

Tuija Itkonen, University of Helsinki, Finland.Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki, Finland.

“How to organize your classroom’s configuration in such a manner that all pupils feel welcome and comfortable? While most of those invested in multicultural education focus on the optimization of various linguistic aspects, Itkonen, Dervin and their colleagues give voice to the non?verbal aspects of education. In this book they elaborate how formal and informal places?spaces in schools can unintentionally reflect ideologies and cultural assumptions. They illustrate this perspective with telling examples that come from what is widely perceived as one of the best educational systems in the world. This book is an important, innovative contribution to the question of inclusion of all pupils in our school systems. It provides an eye?opening perspective to researchers in the field, teachers, principals and stakeholders willing to work for social justice in their schools”. - Emmanuelle Le Pichon, Vorstman, Researcher and Assistant Professor, Languages, Literature and Communication Department, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics.

• Foreword; Silvia Sasot.Introduction; Fred Dervin and Tuija Itkonen.Section I. Theoretical and Methodological Underpinnings.Chapter 1. Reading the World as Texts: Intertextuality in Theory and Practice for (Art) Education; Martina Paatela-Nieminen and Tuija Itkonen.Chapter 2. Analyzing Curricula Documents: A Model for Understanding and Cultivating School Subjects, and One's Subjectivity; Liisa Hakala and Tiina Kujala.Section II. Uncovering the Roles of Silent Partners.Chapter 3. Constructing Norms and Silences on Power Issues Related to Diversities Displayed in School Spaces: Analysis of Schools in Finland and the United States; Anna-Leena Riitaoja, Etta Kralovec, Heidi Layne, Haiqin Liu, Rick Orozco, and Heini Paavola.Chapter 4. Poblano High School: Signifying the Possibilities of Silent Partners; Richard A. Orozco.Chapter 5. That Makes Us Very Unique: A Closer Look to the Institutional Habitus of Two International Schools in Finland and France; Saija Benjamin and Amin Alemanji.Chapter 6. The Quest for the International Campus: Where the Silent Reality Meets the Loud Fantasy? Anu Härkönen, Mika Launikari, and Fred Dervin.Section III. Pushing the Possibilities Offered by Silent Partners.Chapter 7. GET OUT! Developing Pedagogical Practice for Extended Learning Spaces in Intercultural Education; Hanna Posti-Ahokas, Hille Janhonen-Abruquah, and Rita Johnson Longfor.Chapter 8. Beyond a Starless Midnight of Racism? Aminkeng A. Alemanji and Fred Dervin.About the Authors.