This year’s conference meeting in Geneva of the network Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments Network in the European Education Research Association was very enthusiatic. The Network promotes innovative strategies dealing with intercultural teaching and its learning environment. Key issues are cultural identity and diversity, multi-ethnic learning groups and communities, intercultural discourses and the role of intercultural education in promoting both the local identities of groups and a sense of common citizenship in Europe. The conveners of this network are John Willumsen, Pavla Polechova, Tony Cotton, Manfred Bayer and Maria-Angels Subirats de Bayego.
The Network established itself this year for 4 sessions, containing 14 papers, most of them based around the idea of innovative intercultural education in a changing educational/professional environment. Most of the papers reflected that the perspective of the network is to create new ways of working and new combinations of ideas and practices in intercultural education. Some of the sessions were drawing upon the projects and the way of working developed within earlier international seminars. Tony Cotton had to cancel his chairing so John Willumsen was chairing instead. The sessions had 15-25 participants and were all considered quite excellent -initiating interesting discussions and also offering a variety of researchers a chance to present within fields such as: Learners attitudes and responses to intercultural environments, Intercultural education and higher education, Young learners and Intercultural education and disaffected learners.
Many participants in the sessions expressed their wish to join the 20th network really appreciating the giving discussions of the sessions.
The Network will keep in contact through email and the newly established website, where a discussion and meeting platform will be set-up.
The current convenors and reviewers of this network are:
John Willumsen, Pavla Polechova, Manfred Bayer, Tony Cotton and Maria-Angels Subirats.
Main contact convenor:
John Willumsen (DK)
CVU Storkøbenhavn
Copenhagen
John Willumsen
Copenhagen, Denmark