Workplace learning: How lecturers in vocational and professional higher education learn to deal with multiculturalism.

Author(s):

Jeanine SpieringsMartha Meerman

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 07C, Cultural Diversity and Workplace Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-26

15:30-17:00

Room:

P724, Porthania

Chair:

Michael Gessler

Contribution

As with many urban areas the population of Amsterdam has changed over the last decades and has become ethnically diverse. The roots of the younger generations are often non-European. Lecturers are teaching a more multicultural student population, especially in secondary vocational education, where the trend to multiculturalism is faster than in higher education. Teachers and lecturers also take notice of the impact of the multicultural society on the professional practices for which they prepare their pupils. In addition, higher vocational education has the explicit ambition to become a multicultural or an international school. Under these conditions, it is important to be aware of the consequences of multiculturalization for the curriculum, for the school climate and for special events related to the more multicultural society.

Given these changes in their contexts, lecturers learn from the students in their classes to deal with ethnic diversity. Some of them are also keenly aware of the influence of Amsterdam’s multicultural society on the field of professions for which they train their students. In our research program we asked:

How do practitioners in secondary vocational education and in higher professional education in Amsterdam deal with the multicultural changes in their surroundings? And what and how do they learn?

For the concept of multiculturalism we use of the work of: Kymlicka’s (1995); Berry (1988); and Jansens and Steyaert (2001).

To answer the research question we use three concepts of workplace learning:

- ‘Learning in the classroom’: a key concept for learning in the workplace by teachers (van Eekelen, Onstenk, Christis)

- ‘Learning from others’: informal learning from colleagues and from the leaders in official teams of teaching staff (Bossche vd, Wenger),

- ‘Learning through socialisation’: the organisation culture as an incentive to learn to behave in the school context. (for example, Schein).

Method

Answering the research questions asked for descriptive research of good practices. However, describing the process of dealing with multiculturalisation in schools is only possible if teaching departments and teachers accept the research questions and also are actively searching for answers. This meant an introduction of elements of action research in the research project (Cassel and Johnson). The process occurred in several successive stages, with each stage having its own instruments: 1. The description of the school context by interviewing key persons 2. The selection of 11 school teams in higher professional and secondary vocational schools by discussing the subject in the management teams 3. Interviewing 3 teachers from each team to have an overall view of the subject 4. Based on the interviews, constructing an image of the different teams 5. Discussing the image with the whole team 6. Composing a more final image on the basis of the discussion in the Research findings in phase 3 and 5 were transcripted and analysed with Atlastii.

Expected Outcomes

Teachers learn lessons about multiculturalism in their classrooms. If the student population is black or mixed, teachers find their own way to deal with it. They actively deal with ethnic diversity within their student populations and there also are teachers who do not want to see these differences. Teachers who have an active attitude learn from casual and informal encounters. Wheras schools and teams often don’t formulate explicit learning objectives, individual teachers do. Powerrelations and communication patterns in teams regulate how team culture changes as a consequence of ethnic diversity in student population and among colleagues. Colleagues from non-European backgrounds are still in the minority, and their Dutch colleagues seldom consult them. Teachers and lecturers are facing several dilemmas, and the direction they choose depends on the culture of the school and the (strong) opinions of key persons within it.

References

Bossche, P. van den (2006) Minds in Teams. The influence of social and cognitive factors on team learning. Proefschrift, Universiteit Maastricht. Cassel, C. & Johnson, P. (2006) Qualitative Methods in Management Research, Management Decision, vol 44, 2, 161-166. Christis, J. (1998) Arbeid, Organisatie en Stress. Een visie vanuit de sociotechnische arbeids-en organisatiekunde. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis. Eekelen, I.M. Van (2005) Teachers’ will and way to learn. Proefschrift, Universiteit of Maastricht. Katzenbach, J.R. & Smith, D.K. (1993) The wisdom of teams. New York: Harper Business Essentials. McDermott, R. (1999) ‘Learning across teams. How to build communities of practice in team organizations’, Knowledge Management May/June1999 Review 8. Kymlicka, W. (1995) Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Onstenk, J. (1997) Leren en werken. Brede vakbekwaamheid en de integratie van leren, werken en innoveren. Delft: Eburon. Schein, (1992) Organizational culture and leadership. 2nd edition. San Francisco Jossey Bass. Sennet, R. (2008) The Craftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press. Wenger, E, Mc.Dermott, R. & W.M. Snyder (2002). Cultivating communities of Practise. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 12.

Author Information

Jeanine Spierings

Hogeschool van amsterdam

Economie en Management

Amsterdam

Martha Meerman

Hogeschool van Amsterdam

Education HRM