Session Information
20 SES 05 A, Intercultural Learning Environments (part 1)
Paper Session
Contribution
Intercultural competence has become an indispensable element in the repertoire of pedagogic competencies. The paper starts from the premise that the study of intercultural competence has been mainly oriented toward behavioral skills, traits, attitudes and culture specific knowledge (Banks, 1993; Beamer, 1992; Gudykunst, 1993; Hamilton, 1993; Kim, 2001; Pedersen 1988; Pusch, 2004; Taylor 1994; Ting-Toomy, 1999; Tung, 1987; Wiseman and Koester 1993). This paper attempts to re-define the concept of pedagogical intercultural competence by drawing on the tradition of German pedagogy, namely the theoretical construct of pedagogical tact as introduced and elaborated by Johann Friedrich Herbart in the early 19th century.
The paper is based on data collected in an empirical research project studying the lived experience of teachers in the specific setting of culturally diverse classrooms in Austrian public schools. Purpose of the study is to draw closer and to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of intercultural encounters as it is lived and experienced by teachers in their daily interactions with migrant children and their parents. This is done by looking into anecdotal narratives or stories of episodes recollected and retold by teachers in conversational interviews. The research project is guided by the question: “What is it like for teachers to teach migrant children?” An inclusive definition of intercultural education does not limit the concept of cultural diversity to migration background, ethnicity, religion and language (Gollnick, 1998; Grant, 1994, 1997; Ladson-Billings, 1996; Sleeter, 1994). The research question, however, responding to the debate revolving around migrant children in Austrian public schools focuses on the migration background of pupils as a decisive dimension of cultural diversity.
The study explores the significance of the theoretical construct of pedagogical tact for defining the pedagogical competence of handling cultural diversity. The notion of pedagogical tact as described by Herbart is a mediator between educational theory and practice, the instantaneous assessment and decision-making of the educator to meet the necessities of the situation and the individual case at hand, which in turn leads to successful pedagogical practice (Asmus, 1982; Benner & Schmied-Kowarzik, 1986; Blaß, 1972; Herbart, 1802; Metz, 1992, 1995; Müßener, 1983, 1991, Muth, 1962; Prondczynsky, 1993). Pedagogical tact and it's significance for didactics, curriculum and teacher training have been considered extensively in the German educational theory, literature and discourse (Blaß, 1972; Blochmann, 1950, 1951; Bollnow, 1964; Copei 1962, Hausmann, 1959; Herz, 1932; Hopmann, 1995; Ipfling, 1966; Kerschensteiner, 1952; Lanegeveld, 1960; Metz, 1992, 1995, 2006; Muth, 1961, 1962; Nohl, 1957; Reumuth 1958; Slotta, 1954; Thiersch, 1995). In the Anglo-American educational tradition references to pedagogical tact remained rare and sporadic (James, 1962) with the exception of recent research and writing on tact at the University of Alberta (Van Manen, 1991, 2002, 2003).
By extending the construct of tact to take account of the specific pedagogical situations which take place in an intercultural context and introducing the construct of tact into the recent discourse on intercultural competence, the paper investigates a new and so far unexplored dimension of intercultural pedagogical competence.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Banks, J.A. (1993). Multicultural Education: Historical development, dimensions and practices. Review of Research in Education, 19, 3/49. Beamer, L. (1992). Learning Intercultural Communication competence. Journal of Business Communication 29 (3), 285-303 Binder, S. (2005). Interkulturelle Kompetenz: die neue Herausforderung im Klassenzimmer. In Erziehung und Unterricht, 3-4/05, 284-292. Edelmann, D. (2006). Pädagogische Professionalität im transnationalen sozialen Raum. In Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 52, 51. Beiheft, 235-249. Fillitz, T (2003) (Ed). Interkulturelles Lernen : zwischen institutionellem Rahmen, schulischer Praxis und gesellschaftlichem Kommunikationsprinzip. Innsbruck: StudienVerlag. Gollnick, D. M. & Chinn, P. C. (1998). Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ.: Prentice Hall. Gudykunst, W.B. (1993). Toward a Theory of interpersonal and intergroup communication: An anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) perspective. In R.Wiseman & J. Koester (Eds.) Intercultural communication competence, (pp. 33-71). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Herbart, J.F. (zit.als1802). Erste Vorlesungen über Pädagogik. In W. Asmus (Ed.) (1982), Pädagogische Schriften, Bd.1. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. Ladson-Billings, G. (1996). Lifting as we climb: The womanist tradition in multicultural education. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), African American foundations of multicultural education. New York: Teachers College Press. Metz, P. (1995). Interpretative Zugänge zu Herbarts Pädagogischem Takt: In Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 41(4), 615-631. Muth, J. (1962). Pädagogsicher Takt: Monographie einer aktuellen Form erzieherischen und didaktischen Handelns. Heidelberg: Quelle & Mayer. Pusch, M. D. (2004) Intercultural training in historical perspective. In D. Landis, J. M. Bennett, & M. J. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook of intercultural training (pp. 13-35). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience; Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London, Ontario: The Althouse Press. Van Manen, M. (1991). The Tact of Teaching: The Meaning of Pedagogical Thoughtfulness. Ontario: The Althouse Press.
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