Interculturality in Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Introduction—Interculturality in Education: A New Beginning?

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 1-5

3. Misnomers

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 7-22

4. Imaginaries About Interculturality

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 23-42

5. Discourses of Othering

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 43-55

6. Interculturality and the ‘Fragilities’ of Human Rights

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 57-69

7. Tools for Change—Dynamic and Realistic Intercultural Competences

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 71-99

8. Conclusion

   • Fred Dervin

   Pages 101-107

9. Back Matter

   Pages 109-120

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This book explores the decades-long use of the notion of interculturality in education and other fields, arguing that it is now time to move beyond certain assumptions towards a richer and more realistic understanding of the ‘intercultural’. Many concepts such as culture, identity and intercultural competence are discussed and revised. Myths about interculturality are also unpacked and dispelled. Written by one of the leading scholars in the field, this book proposes a very useful framework to address theoretical and methodological issues related to interculturality. This somewhat provocative book will be of interest to anyone who wrestles with this knotty but central notion of our times. 

• Migration
• Diversity
• Intercultural competence
• Human Rights
• Culture
• Identity

“Fred Dervin has crafted a radical new interdisciplinary conceptual approach to intercultural education that is well-researched, readable, comprehensive, thought provoking and full of engaging stories and vignettes. His critical analysis of interculturality is anchored in discourses of globalization and power, human rights, dialogicality, social imaginaries, education and his book, above all, challenges essentialist and binary assumptions about culture and identity. This is one of those rare books that can serve as a very useful critical guide for both scholarly research and teaching. It is a book that gives readers rich theoretical tools and illuminating examples on how to understand and navigate the increasingly contentious and asymmetrical global/local intersections of the 21^st century.” (Sunil Bhatia, Professor of Human Development, Connecticut College, USA)

“For teachers and researchers who struggle with knotty questions of what, how,and why in intercultural communication, this book is a must on your reading list. Its insightful exploration of theoretical frontiers is grounded in interesting and tricky real life scenarios. And its pointed deconstruction of many common issues will generate more constructive solutions. A thin book thick with ideas.”  (Professor Yihong Gao, Department of English, Peking University, China)

• The University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  Fred Dervin

Fred Dervin is Professor of Multicultural Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He also holds other professorships in Australia, Canada, China, Luxembourg and Malaysia and has widely published on identity, interculturality and mobility/migration in different languages.  

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