Multicultural and global citizenship education in Singapore and Australia: A comparative investigation of leadership in two schools.

Author(s):

Suraiya Hameed(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

26. Educational Leadership

Format:

Paper

Session Information

26 SES 11 B, Leadership in Multicultural and Global Settings

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

17:15-18:45

Room:

OB-E1.19

Chair:

Howard Stevenson

Contribution

In today’s globalizing world, many countries grapple with the issues of managing cultural and ethnic diversity in their goal towards attaining a cohesive national community (Banks 1993; Ho, 2009). Diversity characterizes the social systems of a great majority of the world amidst the tide of immigration, influx of refugees and impact of globalization. In an attempt to remain relevant in this globalizing era, ‘educators around the world are faced with the new challenges of balancing local, national, and global norms and values in the process of educating children’ (Sutton, 2005, p. 107). There is a shift in the focus of the education community to the teaching of values and attitudes as a complement to the traditional acquisition of cognitive knowledge and skills (UNESCO, 2013). This phenomenon is reflected in nearly every education system in the world responding to the needs of globalization and catering to the economic, political, cultural diversity and interpersonal aspects of international relations (Beazley, 1993; Rizvi, 2008).

As such, this has since resulted in the need for education systems to develop cosmopolitan dispositions in students (Lingard, Nixon & Ranson, 2008). This can be defined politically as a ‘position or principle, emphasizing hybridity, multiplicity, inclusivity and acknowledgement of diverse cultural forms and expressions ’ (Woodward, Skrbis & Bean, 2008, p. 208-209). In accordance with the OECD (2004), this shift towards a ‘multicultural and globally-minded society’ (Rizvi, 2008, p.20) requires a more balanced approach towards an innovative and flexible curriculum which enhances intercultural understanding and sensitivity.

Amidst the above evolving social and political contexts, global citizenship and multicultural education have gradually regained their prominence and are now regarded as an essential component in the curriculum, equipping students with the necessary competencies to survive the ever-evolving and interdependent world of the twenty-first century (UNESCO, 2014).

Given the centrality of school leadership to school culture and policy, this has hence resulted in a critical need for new approaches to educational leadership, where leaders are cognizant of the need to demonstrate culturally responsive organisational practices and competencies (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012) to address the emerging demands of their ethnically diverse student populations and to ensure that schools are able to enhance the intercultural experiences and cosmopolitan outlook of their students.

Utilising a comparative analysis, this paper critically reflects on the roles of school leaders in the multicultural education and global citizenship process, highlighting the strengths or limitations of the existing traditional curricular framework, systemic policies and schools’ practices in line with multicultural education and global citizenship education. The proposed research will provide an account of the way multiculturalism and global citizenship education play out in the culture, and the everyday life of schools through the lens of a school leader. This will potentially illustrate the fusion of policy effects and the convivial multiculturalism of the everyday. This paper is concerned to frame up research on leadership and multicultural and global citizenship education practices in two schools, one in Singapore, the other in Queensland, Australia. It is hoped that this comparative analysis will facilitate a greater understanding of multicultural education and global citizenship education in schools.

The three main aims of this research project are:

a) Examining in policy terms, how schools responded to the concept of multiculturalism and the emergent concept of cosmopolitanism/ global citizen education. How is the multicultural and cosmopolitan/ global citizen education policy enacted?

b) Studying the enactment in schools by the principals, entailing consideration of multicultural leadership for global citizenship.

c) The extent to which these policies are embedded into the culture and practices of the schools.

Method

This study adopts a mixed method approach, where both quantitative and qualitative data will be used to construct two case studies, examining Singapore’s and Australia’s educational policies towards multicultural and global citizenship education with a focus on how these policies are enacted in two case study schools by their principals. Data collection methods include statistical data from an online principal survey, narrative data from the open-ended questions in the survey and semi-structured interviews with principals and teachers. This also includes an analysis of relevant policy, syllabus and curriculum documents. An online survey of school leaders will be administered in Australia. The survey will seek to elicit information about personal demographics, knowledge about multicultural education and global citizenship education and commitment to it, teachers’ professional development, teaching resources, curriculum and assessment, practices in schools and the principal’s beliefs about diversity, multicultural and global citizenship education. Participants include school leaders from a primary state school in Queensland and school leaders from an international school in Singapore. It also includes 8 teachers from each case study school. Fundamentally, the two countries selected for the case study schools represent growing global multicultural needs with specific aspects unique to each society. Selecting case studies within these two contexts enables a deeper understanding of the cultural complexities driving multicultural and global citizenship education in schools. There is also a rich pool of practices and experiences to be explored, as the study will draw on both aspects of Australia’s and Singapore’s perspectives, and insights from respective school leaders who are immersed in these contexts. This would provide a better understanding of the various influences - geo-political, formal policy, personal - which contribute to the knowledge base of multicultural education studies for multi-ethnic nations such as Singapore, and the culturally complex world of 21st century Australia. By addressing the above questions, this research will provide an in-depth insight into the multicultural and global citizen education practices in schools, how these policies have taken shape in two institutions within differing political, economical and social contexts, and how they are institutionalised or otherwise in schools by the school leaders. The research will also enable an examination of how schools function globally in the context of global citizenship education/cosmopolitanism. This is particularly important in light of the emergent forces of cosmopolitanism that all countries are currently facing.

Expected Outcomes

In terms of benefits, I expect that the current study will augment the limited literature on international comparative investigations of multicultural and global citizenship education. Most of the research to date focuses on the practices of a particular country and the extent that multicultural and global citizenship practices are manifested in that country. In contrast, my research provides an opportunity to study unique education models within two different contexts (Queensland, Australia and Singapore), encouraging global inter-culturalism and fostering intercultural exchanges of ideas that school leaders can use to effectively run their schools, amidst the global education landscape that both schools exist within. Access to information about differences in the management of education policies and multicultural practices would facilitate a better and deeper understanding of individual nations’ practices and thus enhance their educational systems. Most importantly, the different conceptions of multicultural education and global citizenship education will also result in a better understanding of their impact in schools through different leadership practices. This research will inform educators, predominantly school leaders of the strengths or limitations of the existing traditional curricular framework or schools’ practices in line with multicultural education and global citizenship education. School leaders will also be able to reflect critically on their roles in the multicultural education and global citizenship education process. Lastly, the study will provide an account of the way multiculturalism plays out in the everyday life of schools. This will illustrate the fusion of policy effects and the convivial multiculturalism of the everyday.

References

Banks, J. A. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice (Vol.19). Beazley, K. (1993). A Ministerial Statement on Internationalization of Education. Canberra: AGPS Ho, L.-C. (2009). Global multicultural citizenship education: A Singapore experience. The Social Studies, 100(6), 285-293. Koh, A. (2007). Deparochializing Education: Globalization, regionalization, and the formation of an Asean education space. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 28:2, 179-195. Lingard, B. (2006). Globalization, the research imagination and deparochialising the study of education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 4(2), 287-302. Lingard, B., Nixon, J., & Ranson, S. (2008). Transforming learning in schools and communities: The remaking of education for a cosmopolitan society. New York, NY: Continuum International Pub. Group. Madhlangobe, L., & Gordon, S. P. (2012). Culturally responsive leadership in a diverse school: A case study of a high school leader. NASSP Bulletin, 96(3), 177-202. doi: 10.1177/0192636512450909 Rizvi, F. (2005). Identity, Culture and Cosmopolitan Futures. Higher Education Policy, 18, 331-339. Doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300095. Rizvi, F. (2008). Epistemic Virtues and Cosmopolitan Learning. The Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 35(1) Sutton, M. (2005). The globalization of multicultural education. Global Legal Studies, 12(1), 97-108. UNESCO. (2013). Global Citizenship Education: An Emerging Perspective. Outcome document of the Technical Consultation on Global Citizenship Education. Paris, UNESCO UNESCO. (2014). Global Citizenship Education: Preparing Learners for the challenges of the 21st century. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Paris, UNESCO Woodward, I., Skrbis, Z., & Bean, C. (2008). Attitudes towards globalization and cosmopolitanism: Cultural diversity, personal consumption and the national economy. The British Journal of Sociology, 59(2), 207-226. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4446.2008.00190.x

Author Information

Suraiya Hameed (presenting / submitting)

University of Queensland

Kelvin Grove

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