Interculturality Based on The Empirical Research on Slovenian Techers
Author(s):
Marija Javornik Krečič (presenting / submitting) Milena Ivanuš Grmek Eva Konečnik Kotnik Vlasta Hus
Conference:
ECER 2011
Network:
4. Inclusive Education
Format:
Poster

Session Information

04 SES 9.5 PE/PS, Poster Exhibition / Poster Session

Time:
2011-09-15
12:00-13:30
Room:
Seminarzentrum - Posters
Chair:

Contribution

 

The society of today is a mosaic of different cultures, with a mixture of their characteristics. Every one of these cultures tries to put itself forward and gain on its power. The competition among cultures can also be observed in the education system where different children, belonging to different cultures and social status, children of different talents and aptitudes, meet. This kind of plurality is thus gaining its attention among teachers and education counsellors, whose work is thus affected in a way which should be known to both, as well teachers as also education counsellors, as they can substantially affect the efficiency of their help and practice. Thus, the understanding and consideration of interculture and interculturality as teaching principles is gaining on its importance each year.

The subject of this article is thus the teacher’s acceptance of interculturality. In the first part of the article theoretical basis of the teacher’s acceptance of the interculturality in class is presented and the role of education counselling, as an important (supportive) factor of teacher’s facing the interculturality, is stressed out.

In the second part the results of the  empirical research are introduced, which show the teacher's acceptance of interculturality in educational practise. Within the empirical research, which was made in June 2009, we were interested in: (1) Teacher's acceptance of interculturality (As positive aspect or as a problem?); differences which may occur regarding the sex of the teacher, the teacher's field of teaching, working experience and their direct contact with the Roma children (have they ever experienced teaching the Roma children). (2)Teacher's evaluation of education counselling as supportive factor for positive acceptance of interculturality.

Method

The research, based on descriptive-causal non-experimental method of pedagogical research, included 100 teachers from four primary schools in Pomurje region. The interviewing was carried out at the end of June 2009. The questionnaire is based on appropriate literature and previous researches. The first four questionnaire questions are focused on objective facts – sex, the field of teaching, the period of employment and direct (non-)contact with the Roma children. The following questions are of a closed type but with the possibility of complementary, which gave us the answer to the question about teacher’s acceptance or unacceptance of interculturality. Furthermore, there is also a closed question about the evaluation of education counselling as supportive factor in positive acceptance of interculturality. The data was processed with the help of SPSS programme. For the testing of differences among variables we used chi-square test.

Expected Outcomes

Teachers think of interculturality mostly as an advantage. Male teachers tend to consider interculturality as a problem, whereas female teachers see it as an advantage. Since the question allowed them to express their opinion, we were able to find out why they have certain opinion. For many teachers interculturality means additional effort and energy that in many cases does not lead to success and is thus seen as useless. Experiences of the teachers, who daily deal with interculturality (in our case this means teaching the Roma children), suggest that interculturality in school leans towards problem and not advantage. Teachers explained that working with the Roma children demands a lot of patience, adjustment, additional work and additional professional competence, which - for the teacher - means a vast burden in addition to their routine work. Furthermore, in the period of their teaching some of them have been physically attacked and in many cases experienced difficult cooperation with these children’s parents. They also underlined or, as the case may be, suggested that normal integration of the Roma children in regular classes should integrate special preparation, which would take at least two years and would be led by specially qualified personnel.

References

Javornik Krečič, M. (2006). Pomen interkulturnega svetovanja in interkulturnih kompetenc šolskega svetovalnega delavca. Pedagoška obzorja, 21 (2), 16-23. Husar Černjavič, M. (2006). Socialna integracija romskih učencev v prekmurskih osnovnih šolah. Magistrsko delo. Maribor: Pedagoška fakulteta, Oddelek za pedagogiko. Komljanc, N. (2006). Vzgoja in izobraževanje Romov. Pridobljeno 12. 1. 2009 iz http://www.zrss.si/default.asp?link=predmet&tip=10&pID=160&rID=1519. Kovač Šebart, M., J. Krek (2003). Romi v Sloveniji: vprašanja izobraževanja, multikulturalizma in integracije. Sodobna pedagogika, 54(1), 28-43. Miklič, B. (2008). Na slovenskih osnovnih šolah 31. romskih pomočnikov. Pridobljeno 1. 3. 2009 iz http://www.romskenovice.si/blog/?p=224. Mrvar, P. (2004). Interkulturno svetovanje in interkulturne svetovalne kompetence. Sodobna pedagogika, 55 (3), 146-167. Resman, M. (2003). Interkulturna vzgoja in svetovanje. Sodobna pedagogika, 54 (1), 60-79. Skubic Ermenc, K. (2003a). Enakost izobraževalnih možnosti v slovenski osnovni šoli s perspektive interkulturnosti. Doktorska disertacija. Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani: Filozofska fakulteta. Skubic Ermenc, K. (2003b). Komu je namenjena interkulturna pedagogika? Sodobna pedagogika, 54 (1), 44-59. Skubic Ermenc, K. (2006). Slovenska šola z druge strani. Sodobna pedagogika, 57/posebna številka, 150-167.

Author Information

Marija Javornik Krečič (presenting / submitting)
University of Maribor
Faculty of Arts, Department of Pedagogy
Maribor
Milena Ivanuš Grmek
University of Maribor, Slovenia
Eva Konečnik Kotnik
University of Maribor, Slovenia
Vlasta Hus
University of Maribor, Slovenia

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