Research Reconsiderations Concerning Cultural Differences
Academic article, Peer reviewed
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https://hdl.handle.net/10642/419Utgivelsesdato
2004Metadata
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Originalversjon
Becher, A.A. (2004). Research Reconsiderations Concerning Cultural Differences. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 5(1), 81-94. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2004.5.1.11Sammendrag
‘Minority children’ experience a lot of shifts in their cultural
contexts. The author’s work as a professional teacher in multicultural classes
enabled her to focus on the research questions presented in this article. These
questions concern the need for some minority children to achieve equal
opportunities in the Norwegian educational system. The author uses her
teaching practice and ethnographic notes to put forward two particular cases that
illustrate the issues of her concern. Informant interviews with teachers in the
same school inform the methodology. Positions outlined by Stephen May
discussing degrees of essentialism in theory and practical work with children are
used when discussing the cultural challenges involved in these cases. Following
this, critical multiculturalism raises the question of cultural differences and of
how to theorise and do research without creating culturally essentialising
categories. This article alerts readers to the plight of children in shifting cultural
contexts, to the challenges they are facing, and to the skills and competencies
they are developing. It seeks to contribute to two current areas of debate, namely
inclusive education and internationalisation.