Fostering Multiculturalism in

Higher Education A case study of university teacher’s perception and pedagogical strategies for fostering multicultural education in Sweden Osuji Marynnachebem Veronica

Institute of International Education

Department of Education

Master Thesis 30 HE credits

International and Comparative Education

Master Programme in International and Comparative Education

(120 credits)

Spring term 2017

Supervisor: Lazaro Moreno Herrera

ii

Fostering Multiculturalism in

Higher Education

A case study of university teacher’s perception and pedagogical

strategies for fostering multicultural education in Sweden

Osuji Marynnachebem Veronica

Abstract

Education should empower all students to attain their maximum potentials as learners. Equally, it

makes them socially acquainted and dynamic people in local, national, and international situations.

Multicultural education (MCE) emphasizes the essential need to set up institutions to promote the

transformation of society in general and the elimination of misconceptions, prejudice, oppression, and

injustice. This study analyses university teachers’ perceptions of and pedagogical strategies for

fostering multicultural education in Swedish higher education as well as how individual teachers’

backgrounds and views influence their strategies of fostering MCE in Sweden. It embraces a

qualitative research method and a case study design in attempting to answer how and what research

questions. The concepts of education, culture, multiculturalism and race are examined and used to

offer insights to the whole study. The theory of globalization and social justice theory have been

utilized in this investigation to ground and control the research process. The findings of this study

show an important pedagogical tool in teaching students of different backgrounds. However, teachers

face a range of challenges on strategies of implementation, which is mainly their insufficient

knowledge about what MCE actually is.

Keywords

Education, multiculturalism, higher education, Sweden, teachers’ perceptions, globalization, social

justice.

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Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……... ii Abbreviation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....v

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….…………………vi Chapter One. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

1.1. Setting the context…………………………………………………………………………………... 1 1.2. Aim, Objectives and research questions…………………………………………………. 2

1.3. Significance of the research………………………………………………………………….... 3 1.4. Limitations & delimitations of the Study………………………………………….……… 4 1.5. The Outline of the study………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Chapter Two. Historical and contextual factors………………………………………………….… 6

2.1. A short historical background of Sweden………………………………………………….…… 6 2.2 Outline of Sweden’s present day education system ………………………………….... 7 2.3 Overview of Sweden’s Educational Policies and Reforms on MCE…………...……8

2.4 EU and other international discourse on education and diversity………………. 10

Chapter Three. Conceptual and Theoretical Framework…………………………………... 13 3.1. Relevant concepts……………………………………………………………………………………….. 13 3.1.1. Education…………………………………………………………………………………………….… 13

3.1.2. Culture…………………………………........................................................ 15 3.1.3. Race/color…………………………….…………………………………………………………………16

3.1.4. Multiculturalism……………………………………………………………………………………. 18 3.2. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………….……………………………….. 20 3.2.1. Globalization theory…………………………………………………………….………………… 21

3.2.2. Social justice Theory………………………………………………………………………...... 23

Chapter Four. Research Methodology……………………………………………………………….… 26 4.1. Research strategy………………………………………………………………………………………... 26 4.2. Research design……………………………………………………………………………………………. 28

4.2.1. Rationale for selecting the Country………………………………………………….…. 29 4.3. Research Methods: the semi-structured interview………………………………….…. 30

4.3.1. Rationale for sampling the informants……………………………………………..…. 32 4.3.2. Data processing ……………………………………………………………………………………… 35

4.4. Ethical consideration……………………………………………………………………………………. 36 4.5. Validity and reliability of the study……………………………………………...……………… 37

Chapter Five. Research Findings and Data Analysis……………………………………….…. 39 5.1 Teachers perceptions of MCE………………………………………………………………….……. 39

5.1.1 Education and diversity…………………………………………………………………………… 39 5.1.2 Cultural differences…………………………………………………………………………..….. 43 5.1.3. Intercultural vs multicultural………………………………………………………………... 46

5.1.4. Values and important of MCE……………………………………………………………….. 49 5.1.5. Obstacles to social justice……………………………………………..……………………… 53

5.2. Teachers Strategies to foster MCE in SHE……………………………….…………………. 55 5.3. Challenges in fostering MCE……………………………………………......................... 58

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Chapter Six. Discussions……………………………………………………………………………………… 61

6.1. Reflections on teacher’s perception of MCE in Swedish higher institution… 61 6.2. The influence of teacher’s background on their views about MCE……………… 63

6.3. Individual vs. universal: strategies of fostering MCE and the challenges…. 66 6.4. Consequences of choice of theories and methods of this study………….…….. 69 6.4.1. The researcher as both outside and insider………………………………………... 70

Chapter Seven. Concluding Remarks………………………………….……………………………... 73

7.1. Suggestions for future research………………………………….………………………… 74 Table 1: The Overview of research respondents ………………………..…………………….. 35

Appendices……………………………….………………………………………………………………………….. 75

Appendix 1: Research Participants Letter…………………………………………………………….75 Appendix 2: Information on Research Study Letter……………….…………………………..75 Appendix 3: Interview guide…………………………………………………………………..…………….76

References…………………………………………………………………………...……………………………….78

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List of Abbreviations

BIC Best Interest of a Child

EU European Union

HE Higher Education

HL Higher Learning

IC Intercultural

ICE Intercultural Education

MC Multicultural

MCE Multicultural Education

SJ Social Justice

SHE Swedish Higher Education

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

ICE International and Comparative Education

OECD The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Acknowledgements

My joyful thanks to almighty God who gave me the strength, wisdom, and good health that made this

dissertation come to reality. Let me first of all express my gratitude to all the role players who made

this thesis possible and realizable. My profound gratitude and thanks go first to my thesis supervisor;

Professor Lazaro Moreno Herrera, at the Department of Education at Stockholm University for his

inspiration and outstanding comments and corrections that have improved the quality of this paper. I

am very grateful my honorable professor. I would equally like to appreciate the continuous support of

other ICE professors and helpful administration in the department.

My sincere gratitude goes to six university teachers who participated willingly in this research project.

Thank you for sharing your personal views with such an honest readiness. This thesis could not be

realized without your contribution, and you have really given voice to important issues of

multiculturalism in education, and offered valuable insight on different views and understanding of

teachers about multicultural education in higher institutions.

I equally appreciate and thank Rev. Sr. Rose Michaelin Anyanwu for her good wishes and sisterly

support. I would also like to recognize the love, prayers and support of my family, especially my

mother Catherine Udenwa Osuji for her motherly advice and encouragement. Finally, but not the

least, my sincere and warm thanks to Rev. Fr. Dominik Terstriep S.J. who has provided great

indispensable encouragement and support during the course of the thesis-writing process. Father, I

remain grateful!

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Chapter 1- Introduction

1.1 Setting the context

Since the beginning of the 21st century, many borders have disappeared following the intensification

and consequences of globalization, coupled with ever-growing movement of people from one country

to another. As a result, national identity has been shaken to its focal point, prompting the

transformation of many into multicultural states (Aydin, 2014). While there is no universal consensus

on a specific description of multiculturalism in education, it remains a very broad concept with

numerous models and different dimensions. Multicultural education or multicultural pedagogy is an

educational mediation labelled as multiculturalism, which works from the real context of the presence

of two or more cultures. It aims for the appreciation of both common characteristics and differences

(Arslan & Rata, 2013). Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that multiculturalism is an ideal to

admire when it can develop and enrich individuals. At the same time, blind multiculturalism might be

upsetting when one group rejects or does not recognize or at least tolerate other people’s cultures and

viewpoints.

Understandably, there is also a thoughtful need to foster social cohesion and tolerance of cultural

differences through education. According to Gollnick and Chinn (2013) multicultural education

“supports and extends the concepts of culture, diversity, equality, social justice, and democracy into

the school settings” (p. 3). The higher institutions in our global world are fast changing and

consequently the world in which this change takes place has equal effects. Moreover, the interest for

higher education is increasing, and the international dimension of advanced learning is as well turning

out to be more critical. Generally, the educational systems in recent years have started to struggle with

the difficulties of diversity and to consider which subgroups are not yet being included and

appropriately served (UNESCO, 2009). “The social forces that gave rise to the intergroup education

movement grew out of the consequences of World War II” (Banks & Banks, 1995, pp. 7-8). The

authors noted that reducing bias and creating multicultural understanding among students from

different national, racial, and religious groups is one of the fundamental goals of MCE.

Moreover, the goal of multicultural education according to Aydin (2014) is to get ready the students

for the world with an ever-growing diversity, and to build up the students’ capability for interactive

with others by making them to take active part in the course of learning and by stating their

competencies in a safe classroom setting. Aydin argues that effective teaching in a MC classroom

requires cultural compassion approaches and the creation of equal chances for academic success and

individual development for every students. He also assumes that the “teachers perception of and

attitude towards multicultural education are directly related to how they will implement multicultural

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education, in other words, how they will integrate the differences in the classroom into the educational

process around common values” (Aydin, 2014, p.31).

Sklair (2002) explained that due to difficulty in drawing discrepancies among the transnational,

international, and global, it becomes difficult to theorize and to inquiry empirically; thus,

The social sciences are largely based on concepts of society that identify the unit of

analysis with a particular country (for example, British. Japanese, US. Russian. Indian

society). Sub-systems within countries (British education, the Japanese economy.

American culture. Russian politics. Indian religion) or comparisons between single

countries and groups of them (modern Britain and traditional India, declining America

and ascendant Japan or vice versa). (p. 35).

Similar to this description, globalization is not a procedure that can be well-defined clearly with a

starting and an end point. It comprises all these things such as cultural stability, reproduction,

economic integration; the transfer of policies across borders. In addition, through the impact of

immigration according to Rabo (2007), Sweden has been profoundly transformed. He observed that

the education of teacher training is part of university structure in Sweden, which is remarkable in

various educational institutions. A reform of teacher training in Sweden was initiated in 2001,

whereby the educational program and organization of teacher’s preparation were profoundly changed.

The parliamentary board described this change as new multicultural Sweden, and the influence of

globalization was specified as essential factors highlighting the requirement for innovative training of

teachers. This change likewise gave greater opportunities for teacher educational colleges and

universities to make their own particular profiles so as to draw students from an inevitable competitive

educational market. However, multiculturalism and diversity in education seems to be more

understandable in a specific context. In short, the researcher is interested and curious to know how

university teachers navigate between the hazards of diversity and particularism. Subsequently, this

study will focus on Swedish higher education to explore teachers’ perceptions and pedagogical

strategies being used in fostering multicultural awareness of students from different cultural

backgrounds.

1.2. Aim, objectives and research questions

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the complexities of MCE. The main

objectives of the study are the following:

a) To study teachers’ perceptions and understanding of multicultural education.

b) To investigate teachers’ backgrounds and how their current status influences their viewpoints about

multiculturalism.

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c) To identify and critically analyze teachers’ strategies to foster MCE in higher institutions and the

challenges they face.

In view of the established aims and objectives, this study attempts to provide responses to the

following questions:

a) How do the teachers perceive and understand MCE in Swedish higher education?

b) What background factors influence the teachers’ perceptions of multiculturalism?

c) What are the strategies being used by the teachers in multicultural education and what challenges do

they face?

1.3. Significance of the study

This study explores teachers’ perceptions of MCE in selected Swedish higher education. It highlights

how these views influence the design of teaching strategies. The research is relevant because it will

provide insight on the understanding of the complexities of individual teacher’s views on

multiculturalism in Swedish higher institutions. Subsequently, the research findings will contribute to

a better understanding of the complexities of multiculturalism in higher education in Sweden. Besides,

through the lenses of globalization and social justice theories as an analytical framework, the findings

are most likely to provide more awareness inside the subject matter. This study intends to highlight the

fact that globalization and social justice are two issues that are inseparable, which manifests frequently

in educational discourses on multiculturalism. Hopefully, the result will lead to adjustments on both

sides, the host country (Sweden) and international students, as well as other cosmopolitan migrants on

their views and attitudes towards MCE. Hence, cultural diversity appears to have triggered MCE

development. Therefore, the study will illuminate the fact that every part of education is or should be

for diversity, which validates the idea that education and society have a very strong link. The findings

can also help to establish how MCE is understood by the teachers in the context of Sweden.

Because MCE has come to have several connotations and conceptualizations as it advances, it seems

relevant to provide understanding into various diverse definitions, objectives, assumptions, and values

of MCE as defined by different authors in the field. This idea is relevant because MCE has been

reformed, transferred, conceptualized, and in a continuous state of development both in principle and

in practice since its initial conceptualization in the 1960s. It is and has been uncommon for any two

classroom educators or educational researchers to have similar descriptions for multicultural

education. Likewise as with any discourse on education, people tend to shape ideas to fit their specific

core interests (Gorski, 2000). Finally, the suggestions for further research on MCE provided in this

study would be valuable to researchers who might be involved in or attracted to this field of inquiry.

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1.4. Limitations & delimitations of the Research

One of the limitations that this study faces is the lack of comprehensive research on multicultural

education in Sweden, precisely in higher education, which is the context focus of this research. This

indicates that there are limited previous data on conducting lecturer’s perspectives about

multiculturalism and their strategies of fostering it in their teaching. The gap is likely because most of

the multicultural advocates in the field of study have been focusing mostly on the United States, and

some other countries such as Canada, Australia, and the UK. They may have possibly experienced

similar social phenomena that gave birth to the idea of MCE in America in 1960s. However, studies

on multicultural education are generally extensive and there are lots of information, yet, having earlier

successful contextual studies provide available ground for validation and more significant theories

about multiculturalism in such a multicultural environment as Sweden.

The core challenge that the researcher faced in conducting this study was data collection due to its

strenuous and time consuming nature in qualitative research. Compared to its demands, the scope of

this inquiry is short which might reduce the quality of attainment that possibly might have been

achieved in a longer period. Likewise, the data collected may perhaps not be a hundred percent beyond

doubt because of its subjective manner of approach. As a result, individuals could be biased and might

have answered the questions the way it would serve them. There could also be bias in the analysis and

interpretations of the information because of the already gained knowledge of the evaluator. In any

case, up until now, there is no specific way or a particular place to discover reality. Hence, this type of

study allows an entrance into a world that is not reachable to some other techniques in the academic

world to date. The study, however, focuses in particular on university teachers who have taught for at

least 3 years in Swedish higher education. Therefore, this piece of inquiry does not attempt to

generalize to a bigger population, but rather to contribute to the research that is still needed.

1.5. Outline of the study

This thesis consists of seven chapters. The first chapter comprises the introductory part where the

study discusses the general background of the research problem, research questions, aims, and

objectives. Additionally, this chapter provides the significance as well as limitations and delimitations

of the study. The second chapter covers historical and contextual factors of the research. The chapter

covers a brief historical background of Sweden, the nation’s present-day education system, and its

educational policies and reforms. Attention is also draw to EU and other international discourse on

multiculturalism and education in diversity.

The third chapter provides relevant concepts and the theoretical framework. The concepts of

education, culture, race, and multiculturalism and their relationship to the subject of this study is

detailed in this chapter. It contains the basis for argumentation for the need and importance to foster

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awareness of human similarities and differences aimed toward the student of higher education who

tomorrow will become an educator for future generations. Moreover, this chapter contains the theories

of globalization and social justice that provide the basic knowledge for this study. The main

contribution that the advocators of MCE want to remind university educators of is to begin to think

again, how we can transmit common human values in our contemporary society, in a world that is

really mired in confusion and difficulties. How can we reconcile our world through education that is

multicultural? In chapter four, the research methodology of this study is provided as well as the

research strategy and research design, which are relative to the subject matter of this research and how

they are reflected and justified.

Besides, the method of piloting the study has equally been described, and tools of data collection

defended. Additionally, ethical issues while undertaking this investigation are defined in this chapter.

Research findings and data analysis of this study are described in the fifth chapter. This part is

completed through the data collected from the interviews and other existing relevant articles. It is done

under different themes, which are helpful to respond to the research questions posed in this study. In

chapter six, the findings are discussed thematically following the inspiration of the research questions.

In this chapter too, the analysis of the findings are further discussed and linked to relevant theories and

concepts in this study. Consequences of choice of theories and methods are provided in this chapter

coupled with the researcher’s contribution as both outsider and insider in regard to the context of the

study. The concluding remarks are made in the seventh chapter of this study. It is also in this chapter

that proposed future research is present.

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Chapter 2- The Swedish Context

This chapter presents the contextual framework that will help the reader who is not acquainted with

the Swedish education system to comprehend the context in which a lecturer’s perceptions on MCE

take place. The chapter also provides a concise overview of a short historical background, comprising

current national demographic, political, and economic settings as well as an outline of the Swedish

educational system and overview of Sweden’s educational policies and reforms on the education

system.

2.1. A short historical background of Sweden

Compared to other parts of Europe, what is known as Sweden today as a geographical unit with its

modern-day coastal outlines is of fairly recent formation. Its current day upsurge resulted from

aftereffects of the end of the last Ice Age, which submerged much of Europe until around ten thousand

years ago. The absolute collapse of the Nordic Unification ushered in the decades that followed,

leading to the solidification of Sweden as a national state: “It joined the ranks of the other emerging

European states under the leadership of Gustaf Vasa (1496-1560), against the backdrop of the

Protestant Reformation which he successfully utilized for his own political purposes” (Kent, 2008, p.

49). Kent further noted that after the territorial consolidation of Sweden as a territorial nation, through

the decades that followed the killing of Gustaf III, Sweden took after a path more and more informed

by constitutionalism. Nevertheless, the journey through that path was enormously uneven. Around

1778, Gustaf IV Adolph got to the throne while still a child and ruled through 1837. The political

future of Sweden seemed extremely unpredictable at the time.

Nevertheless, Sweden maintained its formal neutrality position well during the World Wars. Later, the

Independent Conservative (1862-1953) Prime Minister, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld although

compassionate towards Germany, endeavored consistently to keep Sweden free from the fight. And so,

“Sweden prevented any military infringement of its stance and this brought in considerable economic

benefits in the process” (Kent, 2008, p. 216). As the author described, the parties of the political right

augmented their support during the periods of 1960s, as in many other European nations. In Sweden,

the National Socialist movement in 1936, notwithstanding its fragmented state, attained its utmost

popularity, with somewhere in the range of 20,000 voters assisting it in parliamentary votes. In stark

comparison to all other Nordic neighbors, Sweden through its military and political neutrality escaped

almost all the shocks and horrors of the Second World War: “It had also reaped considerable economic

gain from both sides in the conflagration, resources which would prove of great usefulness in the

development and funding of its still-unfolding welfare state” (Kent, 2008, p. 237).

However, contemporary Sweden is inhabited by 9 million people and is thinly populated with a mere

20 residents per km2 (OECD, 2011). Governmentally, the country is made up of 290 municipalities of

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various sizes, ranging from only a small number of about a thousand inhabitants to over 800 000

individuals. About one third of the inhabitants lives in the three main urban areas of Stockholm,

Göteborg, and Malmö. Sweden, up until the 1970s, demographically used to be a reasonably

homogenous country with most migrants originating from neighboring Nordic and European nations.

But since the late 70s, movement for humanitarian reasons has picked up in significance and Sweden

has turned into a culturally and linguistically diverse nation. For example, 13% of Sweden’s

population in 2006 were born in a country other than Sweden. And for that reason, “the Swedish

education system is thus facing new challenges and opportunities in adapting to a student body coming

from increasingly diverse linguistic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds” (OECD, 2011, p. 22).

This brief information on Sweden helps the reader to understand the triumph of the Swedish welfare

state as well as its economic and political position to date.

2.2 Outline of Sweden’s present day education system

The Swedish educational system today can be approximately partitioned into five main groups:

1). Pre-school classes (typically ages 1-6): 1 year, which is compulsory for the municipalities.

2). Compulsory education (typically ages 7-16), which is a combined system with some preferences to

choose from during the last years of schooling. It lasts for 9 years.

3). Upper secondary education (typically ages 16-19), which lasts for 3 years. While it is not

compulsory, most students continue on different tracks.

4). Higher education: Includes universities and other types of institutions of higher education.

5). Lifelong learning: Consists of schools for adults as well as in-service training, et cetera.

There are three levels of actors in the Swedish educational system:

1. National level

a. Government and parliament indicate objectives and guidelines for preschool and school through the

Education Act, educational programs, syllabi and so forth.

b. Ministry of education and research is in charge of matters identified with schools, colleges and

universities, and adult education. The Ministry is additionally responsible for planning the

Government's research policy.

c. National agencies include the National Agency for Education, National Agency for Higher

Education, National Agency for Special Needs Education, and Schools Inspectorate. They are

submissive to the Government and in charge of actualizing public policies, supervising the

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arrangement of numerous public administrations, and discharging a range of administrative functions.

Consistently, the Government makes decisions on the requirements for agency operations.

2. Municipality level

There are 290 municipalities in Sweden. They are in charge of providing and working with schools at

primary and secondary levels in addition to adult training. The municipal council is the top decision

making body in the municipality. The municipalities are also bound by law to give to their residents

various fundamental services for which they get state grants. Around 70% of education is sponsored

by municipal taxes. Municipalities decide how to distribute the resources (OECD, 2008).

3. School level

Each school has to have a principal. The principal is responsible for the daily work and for the

development of education in the school. The municipalities often delegate responsibilities to the

principals. It is also the responsibility of the national government and the municipality in the funding

of education. The OECD (2011) stated that 290 municipalities are in control of finance to a number of

simple services comprising education. Hence,

School education is financed by municipal budgets which consist of both local tax

revenue and central state grants. The Government redistributes resources from wealthier

to poorer municipalities through a structural equalization payment. The state grants are

untargeted, which means that each municipality can decide on the allocation of

resources across different sectors and activities. (OECD, 2011, p. 24)

Swedish education system has been a shared responsibility among the state, municipality, and school.

However, there are advantages connected to increased school autonomy as well as difficulties. The

question remains, how to trust increased school autonomy with assurances of an education of high

quality for all? To these end, equity and decentralization remains an issue (Ulf, 2016). Thus, this study

focuses on higher education in particular.

2.3 Overview of Sweden’s educational policies and reforms on MCE

The education system has been an indispensable component of the Swedish idea of the welfare state

(OECD, 2005). Sweden has characterized its migration policy through the standards of equality (to

give the same principles to immigrants) freedom of decision (to guarantee individuals from ethnic

minorities an honest choice among holding and building up their cultural identities), and cooperation

(joint effort amongst majorities and minorities is useful for both sides). These goals were focal in

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influencing school approaches and might be outlined on the home-dialect reform from 1976 (Mulinari,

2004).

Education has been viewed as one of the keystones of the modern welfare state, and there were high

expectations that an identical, free-of-charge schooling for kids from all social levels would uphold

equality and equity, and equally promote social unity (Arnesena & Lundahlb, 2006). Arnesena and

Lundahlb also advance further the importance credited to social-inclusive structures of education in

contemporary educational policies of the Nordic nation state, and the degree to which education is

considered a component in welfare policies. As non-Nordic immigrants became an important element

of the immigration flow in the late 1960s, Sweden opted for multiculturalism, while Danish

assimilation was established as acceptance or toleration, although it was critical of immigrant cultures:

“Swedish multiculturalism, by way of contrast, celebrates difference, holding that immigrants’

cultures are necessary for their well-being and that ethno-cultural diversity enriches the national

culture” (Tawat, 2012, p. 202).

It was also observed that the Swedish education system has experienced various key reforms in the

previous 15 years, which have a robust bearing on the nation’s values. A procedure of

decentralization, however, has left the national government with few guiding principles of control for

a national rule: National goals are instituted, and municipalities get a lump amount and have autonomy

to decide where and how to spend it. Other policy devices have been reinforced, for example,

assessment and review and the providing of data to have the capacity to influence education (OECD,

2005). In raising the quality of education in Swedish tertiary institutes recently, “the government’s top

priorities are to strengthen the evidence base of reforms and reform the teaching profession” (EU

Commission, 2015, p. 7).

The Swedish society in general has been profoundly changed through the impact of immigration. Rabo

(2007) hypothesized that a growing number of migrants in Sweden create and maintain solid

transnational connections to their countries of origin. Some are also developing diasporic groups.

Rabo remarks that an increasing number of ethnic Swedes are also building up more global

connections through works, education, and travelling abroad. The author observed that all the Swedish

official institutions and Swedish parliament laud these connections, and Sweden is publically

pronounced to be a multicultural society where cultural variety is seen to enrich and improve the

country; making it more economical on the global market. In 2001, a reform was introduced in

Sweden, whereby the educational programs and organization of teachers’ education were radically

changed: “In the parliamentary committee delineating this reform the ‘new’ multicultural Sweden and

the impact of globalization was mentioned as important factors underlining the need for a new teacher

training. The reform also gave increased opportunities for teacher training colleges to create their own

profiles in order to attract students on an increasingly competitive educational market” (Rabo, 2007, p.

3).

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However, the best way to understand the degree in which practice matches policy in social context, as

pointed out earlier, is entering the world of the social actors and getting first-hand information about

the meanings they give to what they do, and how they interpret the social world around them.

Hopefully, the insights resulting from the study participants in this research would have provided

glimpse of realities in relation to teacher perceptions and pedagogical strategies to foster MCE in the

Swedish context. In turn, this would serve as an eye-opener and support to both policy-makers,

teachers, students of higher institutions and the entire civil society in their continued striving for equity

and social justice in contemporary globalized education for all.

2.4 EU and other international discourse on education and diversity

Reflecting on the diversity nature of the European society today, the front question will always be;

what are the specific education programs and approaches, which seem to work best and under which

particular conditions?

Growing ethnic and religious diversity in Europe poses both opportunities and

challenges to European policy-makers and societies as a whole. It is expected that this

diversity will continue to increase. At the same time, recent studies show that

intolerance and social exclusion are increasing. Education has a key role to play in

preparing societies for dealing with these phenomena. It also plays a vital role in the

political socialization of European citizens from cradle to grave (ERASMUS, 2016,

p.9).

In the light of these facts, school policies that strengthen ethnic mingling are needed to create

conditions for ethnic collaboration and fostering tolerance. This is very important in the contemporary

Europe, because, it appears obvious that gathering young people from various backgrounds physically

together is insufficient to lessen misconception and prejudice and create positive intercultural

relationships. Therefore, schools need to sincerely create and make the conditions for all students and

school staff to build up their intercultural competence and suitability that suits present multicultural

European society in general.

According to Knight (2004), “the world of higher education is changing and the world in which higher

education plays a significant role is also changing” (p. 5). Moreover, the international dimension of

higher education is increasingly becoming more crucial, intricate, and confusing. So, in this particular

context, the fourth world forum on intercultural negotiation is being planning to be an international

arena to strengthen and encourage individuals, groups, nations, and organizations around the world to

take practical actions to strengthen diversity, exchange of ideas, and mutual understanding between

groups and nations by raising consciousness on the significance of intercultural exchange around the

world today.

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The forthcoming World Forum on Intercultural Dialog, which will take place from 5 to 6 May 2017,

calls for an important theme: Advancing Intercultural Dialogue which stands as a new road for human

security, peace, and sustainable growth. It goes further for advancing and supporting understanding

and negotiation within and between cultural diversity. The motivation will incorporate topics, for

example, the role of religions, migration, education, human security, prevention of violence,

cooperation among cultures and civic establishments, and sustainable development to address the

challenges facing our contemporary world (UNESCO, 2017). The evidence of convergence according

to Papatsiba (2006) was found within East Asia- Europe in policy speech and comprehensive

educational objectives relating to issues about lifelong learning and connections between education

and work, internationalization at higher education and reorganization in rule and governance as well as

increasing use of assessment and quality control methods. But the issue as Papatsibe puts it is that

“while there does seem to be some convergence of educational policy at the level of discourse, there

appears to be much less convergence in practice” (p.94).

Van, Darmody, and Kerzil (2016) perceived increasing religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity in

Europe that postures both chances and challenges to Europe and policy makers as well as societies in

general. It is expected that these differences will continue to increase. In the meantime, recently, the

studies have demonstrated that intolerance and social refutation are intensifying, with some migrant

groups feeling discrimination, which is actually prompting occurrences of social pressures and

conflicts. Thus, it is expected that education has a major role to play in preparing societies for

managing these phenomena. Education is a joint responsibility amongst schools and different

shareholders; consequently, educators require varied training. And again, the intercultural competence

of lecturers in Europe is necessary and should be encouraged. The European Union Bologna practice,

started in 1999 to plan the homogenization and internationalization of the higher education sector in

Europe, took teacher education into reflection (Buchberger et al., 2000).

Furthermore, diversity needs to be better incorporated in school educational program. Attention to

ethnic, religious, and other types of multiplicity becomes a critical part of education. Culturally

complex practices can be effective in supporting incorporation. Currently, there is a prevalent

disappointment among most EU countries to sufficiently meet this challenge. Further research and

information regarding what can be done to battle intolerance and advance respect for diversity are

required. In spite of the fact that there is some proof to show what works while fighting intolerance

and encouraging differences, most confirmation remains subjective. A considerably more methodical

and concrete proof is needed. Nevertheless, the authors have concluded that respect for other people

needs to be taught in schools. And there is also a need to correct misconceptions of any kind, right

from an early age and thereby provide opportunities for honest and authentic intercultural

understanding among children and youths. Moreover, school approaches that encourage ethnic

relations make conditions for inter-ethnic collaboration and cultivation of tolerance. In any case,

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basically bringing young people from various backgrounds together actually is not adequate to lessen

prejudice and create positive intercultural relations; schools are expected to create conditions for all

kids and educators to build up their intercultural competency (Van, Darmody, & Kerzil, 2016).

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Chapter 3- Conceptual and

Theoretical Framework

This chapter presents relevant concepts and the main theories that will be used to understand the

empirical material and different crossover discussions about multiculturalism in education.

3.1. Relevant concepts

The relevant concepts will be discussed in this section to set working descriptions of the key ideas that

will help to understand the subsequent case study.

3.1.1 Education

In this section, the researcher is providing a definition of education because it is important to highlight

the fact that education is a complex area, with various contrasting approaches and concepts. However,

there are many ways to understand education and what it means to say that a person is educated. It

stands for different meaning to different nations, persons, and cultures. And so, as we try to enhance

and reform today's education system, we would also do well to always put this question in mind, what

is education? Our answers might offer insights that could get to the heart of what kind of knowledge

makes a difference for 21st century education for both adults and children. The researcher assumes

that “the mission of education today is to promote life in its wholeness, to bring into communion and

solidarity in the light of authentic globalization the finest expressions of diverse cultures” (Ramirez,

2006, p. 200).

In The Concept of Education, Richard Peters (1967) suggested that education like teaching could be

utilized as both a duty and an achievement word. Teachers can labor at educating without

achievement, and yet continue to teach; however, there is a sense, likewise, in which teaching

somebody something suggests achievement. Nevertheless, the main issue here should not only focus

on success or failure, but the pertinent question should be “whose success are we talking about? That

of the teacher or the learner?” (Peters, 1967, p. 2). This question seems relevant, because ‘being

educated’ identifies various meanings to different people. While learning may perhaps be described

without introducing the idea of teaching, teaching might not be described without the concept of

learning. The teacher’s task therefore consists of implementing different strategies to get learning

practices going. Thus, teachers’ achievements, as it were, must be defined regarding that of learners.

The author equally states the following:

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‘Education’, in other words refers to no particular process; rather it encapsulates criteria

to which any one of a family of processes must conform. In this respect it is rather like

‘reform’. ‘Reform’ picks out no particular process. People can be reformed, perhaps, by

preventive detention, by reading the Bible, or by the devotion of a loving wife. In a

similar way people can be educated by reading books, by exploring their environment,

by travel and conversation—even by talk and chalk in a classroom. (Peters, 1967, p. 1)

Turning to moral necessities of education, Peters moves further to advance more relevant points of

reflection showing that the other way in which education is not quite the same as other responsibilities

and accomplishments is that it is indivisible from value judgments. For example, deterrence of

individual decisions or choices would be another method that many may denounce as being ethically

intolerable. People may express their dissatisfaction by voicing out that something was not and cannot

be accepted as education. Yet, the further question one can ask is “what the particular standards are in

virtue of which achievements are thought to be of value and what grounds there might be for claiming

that these are the correct ones” (Peters, 1967, p. 3). Again, education is the procedure toward

cultivating and refining human potential in an individual so that she/he can add to his/her own growth

and also those of others. And for education to succeed, it ought to take off from the (cultural) way of

life without making that way of life stagnant (Ramirez, 2006). Ramirez goes further to ask this

question: “To what extent people of developing countries could be awakened to the evolvement of a

renewed integrated culture of the dominant (culture imbibed from Western colonialism) and the

popular cultures that will sustain life and all life forms for the wellbeing of families now and future

generations?” (p. 195).

Again, education is seen as a complex organization rooted in political, economic, and cultural contexts

(UNICEF, 2000). In this sense, it sounds reasonably good that arguments should be provided to show

why rational men ought to esteem some values as opposed to others; however, right now, there is no

such conventional agreement on universal standard. So when individuals or particular group of people

talk about education, it is important to understand what their standards of judgment are with a specific

end goal to find out the viewpoint under which some procedure or perspective is being extolled. And

so, Peters (1967) deemed it relevant that “to be educated requires also some understanding of

principles, of the ‘reason why’ of things. The Spartans, for instance, were militarily and morally

trained. They knew how to fight; they knew what was right and wrong; they were possessed of a

certain kind of lore, which stood them in good stead in stock situations” (p. 4). An educated man could

mean diverse things to different peoples and cultures. For example, an educated person should be able

to demonstrate that what he/she has acquired is not just intellectual but is capable of transforming the

way he/she sees and perceive things (Elechi, 2014).

According to Martin Luther King Jr. (1948), the purpose of education is to teach a person how to think

seriously and to think essentially. But as it may be, education that stops only with efficiency may

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create the highest danger to society. The most harmful criminal might be the man skilled with reason

but then no morals. … We should not forget that intelligence alone is insufficient. Rather, intelligence

with addition to character—that is the objective of proper education. Education therefore, is supposed

to empower one to filter and measure evidence, to perceive the truth from the deceitful, the genuine

from the unreal, and the truth from fiction. How can we know whether there are conflicting

perspectives when we feel that we have distinguished a clear and common purpose for education? The

responsibility of empowering every student to accomplish individual possibilities, including financial

potential, frequently stands at odds with the wider need to prepare all students to be good citizens….

Even though that career preparation is a legal function of education, democracy stresses much greater

than valid function. Democratic life necessitates critical inquiry, civic participation, collective decision

making, and a guarantee to the common good (Peifer, 2014).

3.1.2 Culture

Culture, in the first place, is a very controversial issue. It has been defined in different ways by

different authors. Comparatively, there are different ways that one can define culture. According to

UNESCO, for example, culture is a total set of symbols by which the adherents of a given society

identify one another, and at the same time, differentiate them from other people not belonging to a

particular society (UNESCO, 2006). It has also been seen as “the set of distinctive spiritual, material,

intellectual and emotional features of a society or social group” (UNESCO, 2006, p. 12). Gollnick and

Chinn (2013) similarly maintained that culture tells or indicates whom we are or rather where we

belong. They propose that it conveys the blueprint that controls a person’s whole being; feelings,

thinking and behavior. The way we interrelate with people different from us is mainly determined by

people’s own culture. Therefore, in general, culture “influences our knowledge, beliefs, and values”

(Gollnick & Chinn, 2013, p. 3). Culture is a shared way of thinking, doing, feeling as well as relating

and therefore, a way of being. The most secret layer of culture “is a core of life-values emerging from

a world-view that is influenced by persons’ transactions with their particular natural and social

environments” (Ramirez, 2006, p. 193).

Spencer-Oatey (2012) postulated that while the ideals of any culture ought to be valid to every one of

the general population inside that culture, it is likewise that those customs will be relevant in various

degrees for different individuals. It is this fascinating mixture of culture in sociology and anthropology

as a macro conception and in psychology as an individual pattern that makes understanding culture

problematic yet interesting. The author guessed that “our failure in the past to recognize the existence

of individual differences in constructs and concepts of culture has undoubtedly aided in the formation

and maintenance of stereotypes” (P.9).

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Culture is educated from the general population you communicate and interact with as you are

socialized with other people. Observing how grown-ups respond and converse with children is an

outstanding approach to see the real representative transmission of culture among individuals.

Generally speaking, culture mutually has both distinctive and universal elements. And so, according to

Spencer-Oatey (2012), “culture is a fuzzy concept, in that group members are unlikely to share

identical sets of attitudes, beliefs and so on, but rather show ‘family resemblances’, with the result that

there is no absolute set of features that can distinguish definitively one cultural group from another”

(p. 9).

In today’s world, it appears obvious that many societies are becoming more multicultural, and it is not

by accident that the last two international discussions on education that were called were projected to

converse generally on problems relating to the connection between culture and education. Meanwhile,

the forces, and in most desperate situations, conflicts have heightened to such a point that some

experts guess that future conflicts are going to be related more to cultural matters. They concluded that

even if these projections are uncertain, “there is no doubt that the dialogue between cultures is more

vital today than ever before and that the modalities of this dialogue will have to be reviewed”

(UNESCO, 1995, p. 29). On the other hand, Spencer-Oatey (2012) claims that culture is an unclear

concept, in that all the members in a particular group are not likely to share same sets of beliefs,

attitudes and so on, but rather might show family similarities with the fact that there is no complete set

of features that can differentiate conclusively one cultural group from another.

3.1.3. Race/color

It sounds relevant to say that the greatest contribution of liberalism to modern society is pluralism. To

this end, the idea was assumed as the value that individuals should have the opportunity to shape their

lives the way they wish, and to decide on their own ends, as well as to realize them in the manner they

themselves think best. However, the logic, or rather the rationale of a democratic system alone does

not ensure the protection of individual freedom and does not necessarily guarantee a defense for

individual rights (Torfing, 2006, p. 253).

In the U.S. context, Gay (2013) postulated that race, history, education, and society are among

outstanding powerful, inevitable, and difficult signs of human manifestations. Numerous educators

have attempted to dismiss or nullify their significance by the justification that no unadulterated races

exist, and as such, race is a mere social production. This might be valid, yet a decisive element of

accomplishment gaps in U.S. schools is racial injustice. Gay’s vantage point here is that whichever

way race at first came to be, it is important extensively in educating various ethnic students; “Yet,

race, like culture and other human differences, does not carry any inherent stamp of privilege or

problem; these are socially and politically constructed” (p. 61). Gay went further to state that it is

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important that teachers should know from the beginning that there is much antagonism that is

culturally responsive when it comes to teaching. These hatreds have diverse reasons and involve

different methods. All these can rather run from benevolent doubts and vulnerabilities about attraction

to cultural differences, to open refusal of their value and actuality in education. Harrison and Langston

(2016) observed that the “recent and recurring national events point to the salience of race and the

consequences of ignoring the obvious racial issues.”

For Gay (2013), culture and differences appear unconditional as part of human inheritance. At the

onset of life people have no choice in the matter. As the life cycle develops, individuals may, for

numerous reasons, adjust or exaggerate their social and human heritages but they cannot decide on to

be or not to be cultural and different. For that reason, it is pointless for teachers to claim that they can

take care of their students’ needs (including academic and otherwise) without attraction to their

cultural socialization. Yet, many teachers imagine that students separate themselves from their cultural

traditions willingly without difficulty: “Similar arguments apply to other aspects of human difference,

such as race, class, gender, ethnicity, and ability” (Gay, 2013, p. 61).

Gay (2013) went further and articulated that discussing differences, particularly if they are related to

issue of race is then a taboo; a no go area, so to speak. Part of the issue here is absence of experience

with individuals who are different, the problem of theoretical misperception between admitting

dissimilarities and discriminating against students of color and the deceptive suspicion that discussions

about race with ethnic minorities will be consistently antagonistic. As a result, the educators “may

concentrate on only ‘safe’ topics about cultural diversity such as cross-group similarities and

intergroup harmony, and ethnic customs” (Gay, 2013, p. 57), while neglecting more worrying issues

such as inequities, oppression, injustice, and most important contributions of the ethnic groups to

public and human life in general.

And so, “using, and continuing to use race to allocate resources and opportunities made race real in

practice. Today the idea of race is so taken for granted that it is difficult to see the apparatus that

created it in the first place” (Bell, 2016, p. 8). Earlier in the time of great changes, cultural differences

were not considered as a social problem in comparison with the way in which the concept is

understood today. Human varieties, especially in race and color, were simply out there (Mesic, 2004).

Today, race and discrimination are possibly most basically, bases and devices of hierarchical

differentiation that characterize the ordering of social relations and the allocation of life experiences

and life opportunity (Bobo, 2003). The author states that even if we are lacking broad and general

theories stipulating how racism and discrimination function, at least, luckily, we hold major theoretical

methods and approaches in various areas of social life. He observed that there are several strong

existing research literature in these domains, which offers critical extensions of ideas on identity,

education and achievement processes and so on.

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3.1.4. Multiculturalism

Grounded on the review of literature on MCE, numerous researchers have defined multicultural

education differently. For instance, Banks and Banks (1997) described multicultural education as a

transformative movement that yields critical thinking and publically active supporters of society.

Likewise, Gorski (2010) contended that multicultural education is aimed to develop and improve

citizens in a democratic society by bearing in mind the needs of all students. Similarly, Pandey and

Misra (2016) postulated that multiculturalism is motivated by specific values, for instance, equity,

freedom, equality and justice. They believed that these thoughts/ideas might be made indispensable

through education. Comparable to this definition,

The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) defines multicultural

education as a philosophical concept. It is built on the ideals of freedom, justice,

equality, equity, and human dignity acknowledged in various documents, such as the

U.S. Declaration of Independence, constitutions of South Africa and the United States,

and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations. (Aydin,

2013, p. 33)

“The term multiculturalism refers to the consideration and appreciation of diversity of cultures as

addictive to and enriching for global humanity and social order” (Hellstén, 2007, p. 988). Although

there is general support for multiculturalism as many researchers demonstrate, it differs depending

upon the problem and context, and there is additionally some inner conflict about multicultural plans

and their consequences on social cohesion (Markus, 2011; Noble & Watkins, 2014). Again,

multiculturalism or multicultural policy remains a comparatively new concept that suggests the

presence of numerous different cultures living together. Also, culturally diverse societies are societies

with different cultures because of having simultaneously lived together. Multiculturalism is an

approach in following commitment, understanding, and cultural discussion among cultures, so that

various cultures can peacefully co-exist with less tension (Sadeqy, 2012).

One of the basic principles of learning and teaching in multicultural education, as Banks (1999) put it,

is to combine the heritage, point of views, and experiences of different cultures, by establishing

relations between the real life experiences and what is learnt at school for diverse cultural students.

Pandey and Misra (2016) suggested that education ought to empower all students to attain their

maximum potentials as learners and equally make them socially cognizant and dynamic people in

local, national, and international situations. For that reason, MCE acknowledges the part that schools

play to achieve some educational objectives; such education emphasizes the essential need to set up

the establishment for the transformation of society in general and the abolition of misconception,

prejudice, oppression, and injustice.

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According to the GEM Report (2016), though we all may look different from one another, we are the

same in other ways. Thus, this is the right time for humanity to work earnestly together if we actually

want to end acts of discrimination, marginalization, and all kinds of conflict in our world today.

Furthermore, recognizing how influential cultural differences are, Gollnick and Chinn (2013)

maintained the idea that attitudes and essential values for mutual group effort in a democratic society

must be encouraged in schools. Besides, the idea of multicultural education in schools needs to be

extensively conceptualized; its various dimensions call for more exact definitions in different contexts

(Banks & Banks, 1995). However, MCE have some key principal beliefs:

Cultural differences have very influential power and highly valued regard.

Educationalists are very vital for students learning skills, including qualities like frame of

mind, values, and responsibilities they should have to become useful citizens.

Schools of all levels must be a representations for the indicator and practice of human rights

and ought to have respect for collective and cultural differences.

Teachers and family groups can build school environment that is supportive for multicultural

setting and equal opportunity for all. (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013)

All of these definitions from different multicultural advocates in general are presented to draw reader’s

attention, specifically to the educators of higher learning on the important need of fostering

multiculturalism in their teaching.

Bringing peace in our fragmented world remains one of the key roles of international community.

Peace does not just mean nonexistence of war in this context. Still, it necessitates fairness and justice

for all as the essential reason to live together in unity and to be free from war and other types of

conflict. And even beyond that, peace is for the good of the coming generation (UNESCO, 1995). In

line with all these facts, multicultural education as suggested by Gollnick and Chinn (2013) is thus a

notion that recognizes the vital parts and meaning of diversity in the lives of different students and

their families to advance justice in education. They pointed out also that teachers need to have

developed the knowledge and skills that should help them to work efficiently with students from

different groups as soon as they assume the duties in managing classrooms.

Yet, multiculturalism has made fantastic progress in the past couple of years, especially in aspects of

educational difference of opinion, and it is pointing mainly to the reactions to cultural variances in

numerous areas. Besides, the way in which globalization deepens cultural interactions combined with

the advancement of international community manifests in certain worries identified with

multiculturalism in diversity (UNESCO, 1995). Consequently, there have been general

misconceptions regarding MCE. In equity pedagogy for instance, Banks and Banks (1995) advanced

the civil disagreement on MCE, that such pedagogy has focused deeply on content integration, and has

20

to a higher degree overlooked other important dimensions of MCE. And so, equity pedagogy is

defined as “teaching strategies and classroom environments that help students from diverse racial,

ethnic, and cultural groups attain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to function effectively

within, and help create and perpetuate, a just, humane, and democratic society” (Banks & Banks,

1995, p. 152).

Because multicultural education has been understood differently in different countries, their theories

are closely connected to political problems that are in relationships with culture and education (Torres

in Lauder, 2014). This implies that it is valuable to gain from the MCE models and actions in many

countries, but sometimes equally, it could be an uncertain or risky practice to accept and convey a

particular model of MCE of one state to another (Grant & Khurshid in Cowen & Kazamias, 2009).

This means that a type of multicultural practice has a precise role to play in a specific country,

depending on the nation’s goals and historical context. Thus, it is difficult to figure out the

significance and power of MCE without looking carefully first at the historical and social context in

which it is found (Davis in Lauder et al., 2006). Thus, “multiculturalism is too complex a body of

ideas and practices to be judged ‘for’ or ‘against.’ Rather, one must study it in concrete settings and

analyze how it is applied” (Ellingsen, 2009, p. 1). Above and beyond, it seems relevant to illuminate

the fact that MCE, although not so new, can also be perceived as a new concept in the academic world.

It has several connotations at different times and contexts. Hence, many individuals, schools, and

nations are still struggling to grasp and understand the concept.

The teachers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards multicultural education are directly related to how

they will implement multicultural education; in other words, how they will integrate the differences in

the classroom into the educational process around common values (Sharma, 2011). The teachers’ role

are also important for students to have high expectations in addition to the proper implementation of

MCE. Studies have shown that teachers’ expectations of their students affect the success of the

students. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that the teachers’ knowledge of and positive attitude

towards multicultural education will allow them to reach a target of high success levels for all

students. To become an effective multicultural educator, a teacher must examine and continuously

transform himself/herself. Teachers have the responsibility to reassess their own prejudices, partiality,

and perceptions that can affect the learning experiences of their students (Aydin, 2014, pp. 30-31;

Gorski, 2011).

3.2. Theoretical Framework

In this section, the main theories that would be used to understand multicultural education are

presented to describe and concisely offer a theoretical picture that would be useful to build

understanding of various discussions about multiculturalism in higher education. Thereby, the theories

will provide an important theoretical background to the reader in preparation for the forthcoming

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exchange of ideas. In this study, two theories were chosen to clarify and elaborate on the research

issue of this study and its interlinking relationship with the key ideas, the research questions, and the

findings of this study: the theory of globalization and that of social justice.

3.2.1. Theory of globalization

Today’s world is multifaceted and rapidly changing; for that reason, it is no longer conceivable to

participate effectively in a complex worldwide economy from a monocultural and monolingual base:

“International migration and mobility characterize our age” (DEECD, 2009, p. 3). In a fast moving

world where money along with cultural, political, and social issues challenge conventional ways of

life, education should have an essential role to play in forcing social solidarity and living peaceably

together. As a result, globalization of the frameworks of education around the world increasingly

embrace duties to human rights, sexual orientation justice, and equal opportunity for all. Through

education, an essential and important commitment to practical and tolerant social orders can be

achievable through projects that empower dialogue among students from various nationalities, beliefs,

cultures, religions, and ethnicities (UNESCO, 2006). As suggested by Ramirez (2006), “the term

globalization is associated with the worldwide dominant system in the economic sphere” (p. 196). It

has thus been experienced that advocacy for social legislation diminishes and that support for social

regulation decreases. The point here is that people tends to view labor as merely a cost of production.

And so, in educational preferences, technical sciences always take a lead: “Liberal arts education–

humanities, social sciences and religious studies–are not as highly valued in the context of a

commercialized world. In fact even education becomes commercialized” (Ramirez, 2006, p. 196).

It seems relevant for the reader to understand that there is no single established explanation of

globalization. Certainly, some have contended that its connotation has been largely overstated. As

many articles and books discussing various aspects of globalization suggest, globalization seems to be

a concept whose time has come in the field of sociology in particular and generally in social science

(Sklair, 2002). Sklair discourses of power; the transmission of knowledge; indeed, it is more of a

global process (Al-Rodhan, 2006).

Besides, in The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization, Larsson (2001) noted that

globalization is the process of world contraction, of spaces getting shorter, things moving nearer. It

concerns the increasing acceptance with which somebody on one corner of the world can interrelate, to

mutual advantage, with somebody on another corner of the world. Al-Rodhan (2006) defined

globalization as referring to the broadening, deepening, and fast-moving up of global

interconnectedness in all facets of contemporary life. The writer argued that globalization refers to the

increasing interaction between and incorporation of diverse human societies in all the main

dimensions of human activities including social, economic, religious, cultural, and political ones.

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In conflict to this view, the UNDP Report (1999) put forward that globalization indisputably creates

all kinds of divisions and separations such as the economic split, cultural divide, social division, and

digital gaps. The gap between countries and among countries becomes wider. The supported values

are extreme individualism, competitiveness, materialism, consumerism, in essence, only having,

nothing like (being). All organizations as well as educational establishments turn out to be more

market-driven than vision-mission driven. People have experienced systematized greed instead of

systematized care. In line with some of these facts, Ramirez elaborated more on the following passage:

With commercialized globalization which is but an accelerated pace of colonialism the

dominant culture revolves around a life-style that is characterized by ‘the good life’ that

commands a monetary value and communicated by subliminal messages through

media. The appeal of a ‘good life’ leads to migration from the rural areas to the city,

and from there to other countries. Education is perceived mainly as a means of social

mobility. For education will create employment; employment brings income that makes

one afford the ‘good life’. Professional courses are set up in order to entice students to

studies that will create a rewarding employment either in the country or abroad.

(Ramirez, 2006, p. 199)

Above and beyond all that is the realization of life as meaningless without money, that nobody can

live without it any longer, and again, that nothing is free anymore. As some people would normally

say in the developing countries, everything is purchased. In the light of this, education has a tendency

to respond to the needs of the individual for a well-paid profitable business venture. Thus, this way of

life symbolizes a modified, materialistic, commercialized and machine-driven culture. Ramirez (2006)

postulated that “through this culture, the wholeness of life has been fragmented. There is

fragmentation of the body, mind, and spirit. There is fragmentation of families, communities, and

institutions” (Ramirez, 2006, p. 200). Formal education has less concern about the intangibles of life

such as philosophy, humanities, and sociology as well as religious studies. The personal and inner

reality are not given attention for the reason of objectivity, consistency, institutionalization, and

inflexible principles without space for a thought of cultural diversity and the adaptability of the human

condition. Indeed, even God is conceptualized as an idea as opposed to being experienced (Ramirez,

2006).

It is worth mentioning that whichever definition one adheres to, globalization will still remain

complex and multifaceted. Robertson (1992) defined globalization as referring to “both to the

compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole” (p. 8). The

progression of globalization, therefore, is an unsteady process that is continually shifting with the

development of human society in general. In confrontation with all these challenges regarding this

concept, the interpretation of globalization depends to a greater extent on individual cultural

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background, political ideology, social status, and ethnic and religious affiliation as well as geographic

location (Al-Rodhan, 2006). However, this study agreed and defined globalization as follows:

Globalization involves economic integration; the transfer of policies across borders; the

transmission of knowledge; cultural stability; the reproduction, relations, and discourses

of power; it is a global process, a concept, a revolution, and “an establishment of the

global market free from sociopolitical control.” Globalization encompasses all of these

things. It is a concept that has been defined variously over the years, with some

connotations referring to progress, development and stability, integration and

cooperation, and others referring to regression, colonialism, and destabilization. (Al-

Rodhan, 2006, p. 3)

The hard argument on cultural and financial tendencies has powered national discussion even more on

multiculturalism owing to its connection with globalization, powers have much more intensified its

conflicting styles. As an unavoidable fact, cultural diversity in today's so-called global village appears

to be more relevant than ever. Nevertheless, in the majority of nations, there appears to have been

ignoring of being aware of the educational value of diverse cultures (Sotshangane, 2002). Sotshangane

(2002), in this specific context, seemed to be upholding globalization through communication and

collaboration of various cultures. Besides, the civil argument over the issues related with MCE is

becoming even more a part of worldwide educational discourse of which until present have agreed

about a collective point of view known as intercultural education (Sutton, 2005). Additionally, it is

“important to understand that diversification is the core of multicultural education” (Geng, 2013, p.

53). In addition, Geng (2013) expressed that with consistent changing of modernization, the evolution

of globalization is accelerated as well. What if more, without hesitation, the procedure of speeding up

globalization will also emphasize the discrepancy of culture. Thus, “globalization is a process that

encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of

human and non-human activities” (Al-Rodhan, 2006, p. 2).

3.2.2. Social justice Theory

Social justice is an area that have been much explored by researchers. For this study, the researcher

was aware of much study on this area, but had focused on research that she has found more relevant to

the kind of problem of this study. This strategy means that there are many studies on both

globalization and social justice. But then, the researcher had only chosen the ones that she thought

were relevant for her study. The social justice applied in this study has been used by many authors

writing in the field of social science in general and education in particular. According to Bell (2016),

social justice is defined differently based on contexts and individual understanding and experiences.

Nonetheless, this study assumed that social justice calls for challenging the ideological framework,

historic legacies, and institutional forms and practices that structure social relationships unfairly so

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that some groups are advantaged to the detriment of other groups that are marginalized. In the author’s

view, diversity and social equity are inseparably bound together. Without genuinely respecting

diversity, we cannot sufficiently address issues of injustice. And without addressing issues of

unfairness, we cannot sincerely value diversity. Similar to this notion, Harrison and Clark (2016)

observed that a focus on acknowledgment of disregarded groups in actual fact complicates and makes

improvement toward redistribution of resources even more difficult. Yet, “this psychological social

justice perspective fails to address the root of oppression or account for historical, ethnic, and cultural

backgrounds of groups and individuals” (Harrison & Clark, 2016, p. 231).

Owing to increasing diversity throughout the world today, socially responsive competent teaching

becomes a requirement to reduce huge gaps of inequality and promote equity in schools.

Subsequently, people will come to realize how to conceptualize democracy in a more democratic way

so as to foster social justice in our contemporary society. Diverse school environments also engage

and enable students from different groups to involve themselves in discussions to solve complex

problem related to living in diverse and multicultural nations throughout the world. However, diversity

can also pose serious challenges to the world; namely to nations, schools, and teachers as well as

students. Empirical findings have indicated that students come to school with many stereotypes,

misconceptions, and other negative attitudes toward outside groups. The crucial point here is that those

going into in-service training for future educators must be conscious of leadership as an influential

dominant variable in deciding whether children from various backgrounds will be successful in

schools or not (Cimillo, 2011).

This explanation shows how fundamental is the responsibility of social justice leaders to commit

themselves to creating an organizational culture of concern and caring that empowers students,

especially underprivileged and silenced ones. It helps them to feel a sense of fitting in, which

undeniably will improve their scholarly performance. It is worth mentioning that we can only attain

social justice when teachers are sincerely and openly dedicated to addressing issues affecting equity

and justice in schools; specifically, on diversity and multicultural environments (Boske, 2012). The

author captured the meaning of social justice that is raised around the notions of problematizing and

transforming situations that legalized disenfranchised and exclusionary methods within educational

institutions. Instead of exclusionary procedures, the author suggested that an inclusion processes in

schools as an ideal for social justice will thus create a world that makes all people feel a sense of

belonging, which in turn reduces local, national, and international conflict that our world is facing

today (Boske 2012).

To this end, however, one can similarly question, what is social justice education in particular?

According to Bell (2016), social justice education,

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Aims to help participants develop awareness, knowledge, and processes to examine

issues of justice/injustice in their personal lives, communities, institutions, and the

broader society. It also aims to connect analysis to action; to help participants develop

the sense of agency and commitment, as well as skills and tools, for working with

others to interrupt and change oppressive patterns and behaviors in themselves and in

the institutions and communities of which they are a part. (p. 4)

Corresponding to this characterization, a combination of several factors such as discrimination,

prejudice, stereotyping, and privilege are all related to power relationships (Gollick & Chinn, 2013).

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Chapter 4- Research Methodology

In this chapter, the researcher concentrates on the process used to approach the investigation and how

she has basically applied it. The investigator has also included details outlining the procedure and plan

of the research, the strategies of data gathering, and exploration methods utilized in the study.

4.1. Research strategy

Generally, the orientation for conducting social research is known as research strategy. In social

research, according to Bryman (2012), qualitative/quantitative division signifies a valuable technique

for categorizing distinctive methods for social research. Several authors have suggested that the

distinctions are more profound than the shallow issue of the existence or nonexistence of

measurement. According to Bryman, there are several scholars (Conger, 1999; Hunt, 1999; Ospina,

2004) who believed that quantitative and qualitative inquiry vary regarding their epistemological

establishments and in other different regards as well. Quantitative research and qualitative research are

meant to be two separate clusters of research strategies when one considers the connection between

research and theory as well as both ontological and epistemological considerations.

The researchers on education from both quantitative and qualitative traditions obviously have

presented points of interest of their methods distinctively. Bray, Adamson, and Manson (2007) noticed

that the adherence of quantitative approaches to manage a nomothetic procedure for deduction can be

interpreted that experts view such laws as general, paying practically no regard to dissimilarities in

place, time, and context (p. 41). Consequently, the disapprovals of this one-sided views of the

scientific technique “with all its undue emphasis on co-relational, empirical, quantitative and objective

character came from many quarters” (Mattheou in Cowen & Kazamias, 2009, p. 66). Based on two

traditions, Lamont (2015) contended that natural science methodologies ought to be connected to the

investigation of social world, while the other point of view proposes that the study of the social world

through scientific methods and experimentation is not acceptable (pp. 17-18).

Subsequently, globalization has increased overall social relations, financial matters, and culture. It is

worth mentioning that the complexities conveyed by globalization itself stresses certain adjustments

from each partner of the so-called "global village" to be able to meet up with its complications. To this

end, Crossley (2008) recommended that contemporary improvements in descriptive investigation in

which qualitative research has shared traditions can likewise convey considerably new viewpoints and

27

insight to basic exploration of educational disputes in our quick and globalizing world (p. 365). This

appears to be the motivation behind why many contemporary researchers in comparative education by

all means seem to go more steadily towards critical thinking of methodological approaches.

A fundamental evidence of numerous qualitative scholars is that the topic matter of social science

differs from the natural sciences. Thus, “a key difference is that the objects of analysis of the natural

sciences cannot attribute meaning to events and to their environment. However, people do” (Bryman,

2012, p. 399). Besides, qualitative analysis is the most suitable approach in extracting themes that

subsequently will be analyzed. Beyond and above that, qualitative research mainly,

1. Highlights an inductive way to address the relationship between research and theory, in which the

accent is set on the creating of theories.

2. Has refused the practices and standards of the natural scientific ideal and of positivism precisely in

inclination for an emphasis placed on the methods through which people construe their social world;

and

3. Represents a perspective of social reality as a continually shifting evolving property of people's

creation and recreation of their social sphere. (Bryman, 2012, pp. 35-36)

Veliquette (2012), similar to Bryman’s view, postulated that qualitative research lays emphasis on

words as opposed to measurement in the collection and analysis of data because logical and contextual

comprehension of social behavior is viewed as essential. Veliquette further highlighted that qualitative

interviewing allows the participant as one of its advantages to portray and refer to what is important

and meaningful to him using his or her own particular words as opposed to being restricted to encoded

and predetermined categories. Thus, whether accepted directly or indirectly, all research is produced

out of a specific research paradigm, which similarly shapes the investigator’s understanding of truth,

attainable knowledge, reality, and research goals as well as its methods. In line with these facts, the

current researcher’s position is fixed within an interpretivist and constructionist epistemology, of

which the core concern is to try to read critically as possible the social world as understood and

constructed by social actors themselves. Consequently, interpretivism as an ontological approach then,

“is a world that is interpreted by the meanings participants produce and reproduce as a necessary part

of their everyday activities together” (Blaikie, 2010, p. 99).

This ontology, then, necessitates the utilization of a different rationale of enquiry to the one being used

in natural science and constructionism as its ontological orientation. Thus, because the focus of this

study is to try to understand and explore teachers perceptions (social phenomenon) from the view of

the actors (university teachers) involved, instead of explaining the phenomenon (ineffectively) only

from the outside. Because this study focuses on multiculturalism, the researcher had chosen to use a

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qualitative approach because it seems to be a more suitable direction for the study. Besides, a

qualitative method seems more essential in this contemporary period, particularly in relation to the

present study. Thus, the investigator utilized a thematic method to connect relevant concepts, theories,

and research findings in her analysis.

4.2. Research design

The aspect area presented here has been used as a guide for the study. The element presented

previously has been of key relevance and guidance in the choice of research design in this study. It is a

description of what the researcher had defined as procedure. A research design offers a contextual

framework for the gathering and analysis of data. A choice of research design reflects selections about

the main concern being given to a series of dimensions of the research procedure. It takes account of

the importance involved in the following issues:

• Conveying causal relations between variables

• Making a general statement to larger groups of people than those actually shaping part of the study

• Understanding conduct and the importance of that conduct in its particular social context

• Having a time-based appreciation of social occurrences and their interconnections (Bryman, 2012)

Similarly, Yin (1994) defined case study as an empirical investigation that examines in-depth a

contemporary phenomenon within its real world context. Yin further suggested that a case study

design is suitable for probing social manifestations that can be too subtle and complex to understand.

Baxter and Jack’s (2008) qualitative case study offered tools for investigators to examine complex

phenomena in their specific contexts. Punch and Oancea (2014) argued that the “design sits between

the research questions and the data, showing how the research questions will be connected to the data,

and what tools and procedures to use in answering them” (p. 144). In this study, a case study

exploratory design was employed in analyzing lecturers’ understanding and pedagogical strategies in

fostering multiculturalism in teaching students from different racial and cultural heritages in a

contemporary globalized system of education. The case of the impact of individual views in this

specific study task, as identified by the investigator, is that of understanding and strategies for

fostering MCE in higher education in Sweden.

Yin (2009) contended that case study is an occurrence or something that happens in a restricted

context, and it is the duty of the researcher to find out and describe the limits of the case in a way that

is richer and clearer. In line with Yin’s claim, Punch and Oancea (2014) maintained that a contextual

investigation is a specific study of an occasion in real life which is revealed in a real life setting,

keeping in mind the end goal is to create in-depth interpretations of precise circumstances. It ordinarily

has an all-encompassing focus whose objective is to understand and protect the totality and unity of

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the case. Thus, “in keeping with other approaches in qualitative research, the case study aims to

understand the case in depth, and in its natural setting, recognizing its complexity and its context”

(Punch & Oancea, 2014, p. 148). Yet, another purpose behind the expansive usage of case study is the

increased approval of qualitative inquiries in the field of education in the previous couple of years,

where researchers understand that valued information can be expanded through rich contextual

research (Nath, 2005).

A case study design, however, has been broadly disapproved for its generalizability on the premise

that the results of the research are just for one example or a particular case and do not fit well to

generalize the findings to different circumstances or the whole population with related study situations

or issues of research. Nevertheless, detailed information is often imperative for the qualitative

scientist, in view of its meaning for subjects and likewise in light of the fact that the points of interest

provide a report of the context in which individual behaviors take place. It was in view of this point

that Geertz (1973a) prescribed the provision of thick accounts of social situations, incidents, and often

individuals: “As a result of this emphasis on description, qualitative studies are often full of detailed

information about the social worlds being examined” (Bryman, 2012, p. 401). Still, Punch and Oancea

(2014) contended that in qualitative studies, generalization is not always clear on the grounds that it

relies upon the motivation behind a specific study. However, the researcher, in this particular case

investigation, did not aim to generalize the findings of the current study to similar circumstances

everywhere. But rather, to study closer the perceptions of university teachers on MCE discourses

around the globe, and thereby to provide more direct, clear and deeper information concerning this

subject specifically in the context of Sweden today.

4.2.1. Rationale for selecting the Country

The country selected by the researcher for this current study is Sweden due to multicultural nature of

its inhabitants. Sweden is internationally recognized as a multicultural host country of immigrants

from different nations around the world as well as a well-known nation that receives many

international students in higher education. As a consequence, it sounds interesting to identify and

explore lecturers’ understanding of MCE and their pedagogical strategies in fostering multiculturalism

in Swedish higher education. As a result, the study highlighted teachers’ similarities and differences in

relation to proposed international frameworks on educational reforms such as multicultural education

within the Swedish educational system. It will also help to illumine the importance of fostering global

awareness of multiculturalism to students of higher learning, who seem to have the capacity to think

critically when it comes to culturally diverse issues compared to students in lower education.

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In addition, some authors in the field of international and comparative education have argued that

cross-national comparisons dominated mostly in the field. Bray and Thomas’ (1995) framework

demonstrated three dimensions for comparative education analyses: Seven geographic/locational

levels, non-locational demographics, and aspects of education and society for comparisons (Bray et

al., 2007, p. 8). This paper to some extent may link the three dimensions, but it focuses more on

individual teachers’ perceptions and pedagogical strategies in fostering MCE as its main unit of

analysis. Bray et al. (2007) noted that the research might likewise focus on individuals such as parents,

principals, pupils, teachers, as well as others (p. 114). The authors asserted that there are different

actors and various purposes among many categories of people who embark on comparative studies in

education.

Above and beyond all that, the study is based on the researcher’s personal experience in having lived

and studied in Sweden, coupled with many years of working with immigrants from different African

countries in Sweden, precisely in Stockholm. Again, having encountered and watched various

challenging circumstances with respect to both migrants and Swedish cultural status, as well as having

read many scholarly side by side articles and documents with hard-hitting discussions concerning the

need for appropriate application of methodical approach in human and societal subjects, it sounded

relevant and interesting for the researcher to probe and highlight the influences of the great theorists in

the field of ICE and other interrelated academic rigorous work on the topic. It then appears

understandable that the researcher, being one of the actors (academic) in comparative studies, might

have been in a good position to investigate issues relating to aspects of school and society that would

most probably help to illuminate some individual teachers’ viewpoints on the subject matter in the

Swedish context. For that reason, the researcher thought that Sweden seemed appropriate for

conducting a case study for this kind of investigation.

4.3. Research Methods: the semi-structured interview

A research method involves a specific instrument such as structures, unstructured and semi-structured

interview schedules, self-completed questionnaires, and participant and nonparticipant observations.

They are basically procedures for collecting data (Bryman, 2012). It is obvious that research

standpoints of both quantitative and qualitative methods “adopt different ontological and

epistemological assumptions” (Blaikie, 2010, p. 204). One of the most commonly methods used in

data collection is interviews (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006). An interview, according to Polit and

Beck (2006), is defined as a method of collecting a data in which one person (an investigator)

questions the other (an informant). Further, such interviews are conducted face-to-face or through

telephone.

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Contemporary social science instead of engaging in participant observations is more inclined to collect

qualitative data by means of some method of semi-structured interviewing. Harrell and Bradley (2009)

noted that the researcher in some instances may have the possibility of contacting the interviewee

directly. Yet, in other circumstances, the interviewer ought to send information ahead of time or could

engage another person to do the initial contact on behalf of the researcher: “Almost without exception,

people are more likely to be willing to participate if the researcher mentions who suggested that he or

she talk to the respondent” (Harrell & Bradley, 2009, p. 62).

Moreover, individuals as a unit of analysis are at the lowest level in Bray and Thomas’ framework as

cited by Bray et al. (2007) in Comparative Education Research: Approaches and Methods in which

they clarified that “researchers may also focus on individuals: principals, teachers, parents, pupils, and

others” (p. 114). The writers further concluded that the disparities, for example, in what two general

populations of students can do reflect educators’ distinctive, culturally based assumptions about

children’s successes, and also the differences in teachers' points of view are further strengthened by

equally culturally informed variations in the rationale that notifies policy-making itself. In addition,

“the dominant form of research under the specific label of multilevel analysis has been principally

confined to the individual, classroom, and school levels. Such studies however, have by and large

omitted cautious consideration of the province, country, and levels of the world regions” (Bray et al.,

2007). Blaikie (2010) observed the following;

Just as with structured interviews, any form of qualitative interview keeps the

researcher removed from the natural settings; individual behavior and social interaction

will be reported rather than observed. However, the qualitative interview, particularly

the in-depth variety, can get close to the social actors’ meanings and interpretations, to

their accounts of the social interaction in which they have been involved. (p. 207)

The choice of using qualitative interviewing as the core instrument for collecting data in this particular

study was motivated by the preceding citation. The research concerned fostering of multiculturalism in

Swedish higher education. Sweden is internationally recognized as a (multicultural environment) host

country of international students. It seemed relevant and sounded interesting to get close to (social

actors) the lecturers to hear and get firsthand information directly from them. Hopefully, the findings

of this study would sound and appear more meaningful and valid. However, the author also decided to

use a document analysis technique to complement the interviews while the latter was the main method

to realize this task.

Despite its shortcomings, the researcher in this study selected semi-structured interviews due to their

numerous advantages and suitability to the study design. Semi-structured interviewing is generally a

flexible instrument for gathering of data which suits an extensive variety of research circumstances.

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Not like quantitative interviews, a qualitative interview involves an open ended questions which

permits the researcher to investigate details regarding some specific parts of interest (Punch & Oancea,

2014). The flexibility of data collection appears to be an essential aspect of this aspect in light of the

problem of the context of this study. Besides, qualitative interviewing also offered the interviewee the

opportunity to converse freely and decide on which direction he/she wished.

The design was very informal and yielded qualitative data, which can bring in new thoughts whereby

the respondent might perhaps raise and talk over something that the investigator had not previously

reflected on or viewed as essential to a particular study (Veliquette, 2012). Furthermore, from the view

point of Bryman (2012), qualitative interviewing may differ in style, purpose and project; however, it

is ordinarily a real-life extension of familiar conversations that are accommodative to the respondents.

In support of Bryman’s opinion, Punch and Oancea (2014) suggested that “unstructured interviews are

in-depth explorations of interviewees’ experiences and interpretations, in their terms” (p. 185).

The study interview schedules were designed with very much open ended questions that were useful in

attaining however much data that could be drawn from the respondents in an attempt to draw

responses to the research questions herein. Because the respondents consisted of lecturers from both

public and private as well as both inside and outside Stockholm as well as both male and female

teachers in Swedish higher learning, the researcher designed one interview guide, asking the same

questions, which were divided into two parts. The first section dealt with the background of the

teacher, while the second part dealt with the lecturers’ perceptions and pedagogical strategies in

fostering MCE.

However, other questions were asked of the informants during discussion based on the direction of

their response. This strategy gave both the researcher and the respondents an opportunity to investigate

related themes that made the interviews more rich and lively conversations. Punch and Oancea (2014)

made it clear that paying attention to profound quietness, stimulants, feedback, questions, changing

subjects, and dealing with delicate issues of argumentative moments ought to be a consideration guide

for the success of data collection of a semi-structured interview that the researcher must have

followed. The strong point of this method is in appreciation of the specific context being probed to its

respect for local perceptions, and its potential to discover unanticipated findings. The interview was

conducted throughout in the English language without any difficulty for the informants.

4.3.1. Rationale for sampling the informants

The pillar of any kind of social research is sampling that guarantees a focused research. Unlike in

survey research selections that lay emphasis on probability, qualitative investigators tend to stress

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purposive sampling that places research questions at the center of sampling concerns, which means

that the type of sampling for all intents and purposes has to do with the choice of the units (Bryman,

2012). The applied sampling approach, as suggested by Punch and Oancea (2014), ought to guarantee

that the sample fits in all the other parts of the components of the investigation, and that it is vital in

assuring that the sampling strategy and its limits are in line with goals and research questions of the

target study. According to Bryman (2012), concerns about sampling in qualitative research are more

likely to revolve around the idea of purposive sampling. Research questions are expected to offer

guiding principles in the matter of what groups of people (or what kind of unit of exploration) should

be the focus of consideration and in this way sampled. Thus, the selection of the interviewees was

established by purposive sampling. Bryman (2012) made it clear that “the goal of purposive sampling

is to sample cases/participants in a strategic way, so that those sampled are relevant to the research

questions that are being posed” (p. 418).

Therefore, the identification of research participants in this study was through the method of purposive

sampling. This sampling method requires selection of units with direct orientation to the study

questions being asked. The notion in this sense “is that the research questions are likely to provide

guidelines as to what categories of people (or whatever the unit of analysis is) need to be the focus of

attention and therefore sampled” (Bryman, 2012, p. 416). Besides, the sampling was piloted with

reference to the objectives of the study, so that units of inquiry were chosen regarding criteria that

would permit the research questions to be responded to. Thus, the unit of analysis in this paper is

individual teachers’ perceptions of multiculturalism in Sweden. And it is in Swedish higher education

that MCE is being offered to students of higher learning.

Subsequently, this special selection of the unit of the research is in accordance with the non-

probability sampling method, which does not provide a space for the researcher to generalize the

current findings to every higher institutions in Sweden, neither to every higher institution elsewhere.

The reason is that each country has different goals and reasons for advocating MCE, and individual

views and understanding as well as means of fostering it differs in their teaching. Hence, several

authors in comparative education perceived that most research remained at a particular level, in that

way disregarding recognition of the manners in which designs at the lower levels in educational

structures and systems are bent by patterns at higher levels and other way round, coupled with some

factors that influence teachers’ perceptions of multiculturalism in a specific educational context.

While the choice and the country selected herein is Sweden, the sampled context in this paper is

fostering of multiculturalism in Swedish higher education, in which the lecturers originally are from

different countries and continents including Europeans and non-Europeans. These tested schools are

located in cities, Stockholm, and suburban areas of Sweden including public and private universities.

34

Without doubt, most countries today because of intensification of globalization are struggling to

enhance multiculturalism in their education system. However, the investigator chose to select and look

closer inside Swedish higher education for various reasons. First, Sweden is one of the top ones out of

the 28 European countries receiving immigrants.

A Swedish state-commission officially announced the country as a multicultural society in 1996,

“where cultural diversity is said to enrich the country” (Rabo, 2007, p. 4), coupled with a growing

number of migrants in Sweden who maintain solid transnational connections to their country of origin.

In view of that, the researcher was interested in acquiring wider knowledge of lecturers’ perceptions of

multiculturalism in teaching diversity, and how they, as educators, apply it in their teaching. Besides,

the investigator found it comparatively easier to plan this study in Sweden because she has lived,

studied, and worked in Sweden for some years. And so, it was possible for the researcher to get study

informants through contacts already made.

The researcher follows a purposive criterion sampling approach where Bryman (2012) suggested that

all units or selected individuals for the inquiry need to meet certain criteria. In judging this

argumentation indispensable, the researcher chose representation of lecturers in Swedish higher

education. The participants involved male and female lecturers from different Swedish universities,

including public and private as well as in city and suburban areas. The researcher ensured that the

participants were characterized of different countries of origin including two Swedes, a man and

woman who teach at different institutions. Moreover, the researcher chose lecturers who have taught

not less than three years in Swedish higher education. The researcher also ensured that lecturers were

drawn by selecting those teaching different kinds of subjects, so as to represent diversity, which was

actually significant in following up to grasp individual understanding and views on the subject matter.

All informants who participated in this study are represented in Table 1.

35

Table 1. The Overview of research respondents (all names are pseudonym) shows the diversity

of the sample

Source: Osuji (March, 2017).

4.3.2. Data processing

A thematic analysis in this study was used by the investigator in processing research discoveries. It

was a matrix or condition framework technique for arranging and synthesizing data (Bryman, 2012).

The writer went further to indicate that the themes and subthemes were basically repeating themes in

the text that were then connected to the data collected. Thus, “the themes and subthemes are the

product of a thorough reading and rereading of the transcripts or field notes that make up the data”

(Bryman, 2012, p. 579). Similarly, this approach required transcribing of interviews. Various themes

were developed in an orderly manner, in which the findings were described and analyzed (Blaikie,

2010). In pursuing this analytical approach, the researcher considered these points to create significant

themes including the following:

36

1) Themes or concepts that were repeated over and over again during the interviews

2) Alteration of themes and their interrelation in texts and observations

3) Similarities and discrepancies in terms of examining how interviewees may have talked about a

topic in various ways or differed from each other in certain ways or exploring entire texts like

transcripts and asking how they varied

4) Examining the use of language connector such as ‘because’ or ‘since’ because such terms indicated

causal relations in the minds of interviewees

5) Theory-related material by means of social scientific concepts as a facilitator for themes (Bryman,

2012, p. 580)

After the end of the interviews, the researcher carefully listened to the recordings numerous times and

noted a few points on each recorded interview. Due to the time factor, the researcher went back later to

transcribe word-by-word the most relatable parts of the interview that addressed the research questions

rather than transcribing them as a whole. Such open-ended questions as used in this probe were useful

and generated a bounteous amount of information, which was considered a better utilization of time

management not to write down the entire recorded interviews. The researcher created documents for

each informant, which contained the summaries of demographical data and related inquiries such as

name, country of origin, year of birth, name of institution, former and current teaching statuses of the

respondent, notes taken down during interviews, and shortened transcriptions of each of the

participants’ responses. The narrative analysis approach were used for interpretation of the interviews.

This approach was applied to select areas of importance based on participants’ dialogs and stories.

Narrative analysis therefore is grasped as “…a term that covers quite a wide variety of approaches that

are concerned with the search for and analysis of the stories that people employ to understand their

lives and the world around them” (Bryman, 2004, p. 412). Therefore, the researcher picked the way of

presenting the study findings under the generated themes, and subsequently provided thematic analysis

in view of that strategy.

4.4. Ethical consideration

The Association of American Anthropology (1998) noted the following:

Researchers are not only responsible for the factual content of their statements but also

must consider carefully the social and political implications of the information they

disseminate. They must do everything in their power to insure that such information is

well understood, properly contextualized, and responsibly utilized.

A universal standpoint upholds the opinion that ethical principles should under no circumstances be

broken, and the researcher of this study stands on that opinion: “Infractions of ethical principles are

wrong in a moral sense and are damaging to social research” (Bryman, 2012, p. 133). Based on these

37

principles, the researcher used vigorous consideration in addressing ethical issues while undertaking

this research.

Concerning the moral approach of this study, Bryman (2012) argued that it is unfair to collect

information from research participants without their insight; the researcher in this study described in

detail the motivation behind the current study. The author additionally clarified that dishonesty

commonly happens when researchers display thoughts to participants as opposed to what actually is, a

prevalent characteristic in social research that this work eluded. The participants in this investigation

were completely informed about the precise reason for the exploration and they agreed consciously to

participate in this study. As Blaikie (2010) advised, the recording of the conversations for later

transcription and interpretation was clearly made known to the participants by the researcher

beforehand. However, none of the participants in this study indicated signs of reluctance for voice

recording. Therefore, all the conversations between the researcher and the participants in this

investigation were recorded.

A written letter was sent via e-mail to all the participants’ contacts that the researcher received through

her initial contacts in Sweden. The information on the research letter covers the summary of the

outline of the research proposal such as the topic, aim, and objectives as well as the approximate

interview period and time. For relaxation and security reasons, the participants were asked to choose a

convenient place for their interviews. They were ensured that their names would be completely

anonymous and honestly secured, and that individual discussions during the interviews would be

confidentially kept. This indicates that the names given in section 4.3.2 (rationale for sampling the

informants) are not their real names. It is basically to help the researcher remember and to recollect

discussions with a particular respondent.

4.5. Validity and reliability of the study

Validity in qualitative research is an essential component to effective research that illuminates the

trustworthiness of a particular inquiry. Because the study involved qualitative research, it utilized a

naturalistic approach, which according to Patton (2001) strives to comprehend phenomena in a

specific-context settings; for example, in a real world situation where the evaluator does not try to

manipulate or control the phenomena of interest. Cohen et al. (2007) similarly stated that “validity is

the touchstone of all types of educational research”; hence, it is vital that it remains faithful to all kinds

of research traditions (p. 32). For that reason, the researcher endeavored to assure that the study

followed the standards of validity however it could be expected. For example, the procedures clarified

in this specific research could be sustained by the information gathered. In view of that, the research

findings of this exploration precisely clarified the phenomena being looked into.

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In relation to authentication of content, the tools that the researcher used justifiably and extensively

maintained the elements that the research issue intended to cover. The interview guide questions and

timetables were accurately designed to strongly address the angles that the researcher needed to

understand better. Furthermore, the selection process was thoughtfully done to make sure that the

samples were equitably selected and represented in different aspects, which took account of city and

suburban areas, private and public schools, different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, race/color,

varied subjects and years of teaching experience for men and women. Thus, the informants were

rationally and purposely selected in consideration of the validity of the investigation. In lessening bias,

and reinforcing the research process, the researcher used the relevant information gathered from the

literature review in combination with research progression through interviewing.

In agreement with the respondents, the researcher also recorded all the interview conversations. The

findings were related with the data collected from the previous literature review on the topic, which

indicated that the interviewing approach utilized by the researcher was an appropriate method in the

collection of data in this study because both combinations were remarked on favorably. Then again,

Cohen et al. (2007) suggested that in qualitative research, reliability could refer to credibility or

trustworthiness of a particular study. Therefore, the audio recorded interviews used by the researcher

safeguarded their reliability through audio record. The results of the literature review on the topic

allowed the evaluator to modify the interview guides with a goal of guaranteeing both content and

internal validity.

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Chapter 5- Research Findings and

data analysis

Having in mind the core research question about teachers’ perceptions and understanding of MCE in

Swedish higher learning, the findings of this present research were analyzed following the seven main

themes that emerged during the analysis of the data collected from the interview respondents.

Subsequently, the themes were (a) education and diversity, (b) cultural differences, (c) intercultural vs.

multicultural, (d) values and importance of MCE, (e) obstacles to social justice, (f) strategies of

fostering MCE in SHE, and (g) challenges in fostering MCE.

Accordingly, each classification or theme is described and reinforced by direct references from the

study participants. Direct extracts and quotations from the interviews are used as much as possible

without rectifications of the English language, keeping in mind the end goal to capture and maintain

the view of individual lecturers about multiculturalism in their own particular words to enhance the

trustworthiness of the study. These themes were chosen after several readings and thinking on various

dimensions of the data collected from the study participants. Nonetheless, these topics were developed

mostly with respect to how frequently and how many in the midst of the respondents pointed out the

same or similar issues. The themes however, highlight the fact that globalized education and diversity,

as Kalantzis (2006) put it, “are two of the grounding phenomena of our times. (…), diversity is deeper

than that, or at least that it is becoming deeper” (pp. 402-403). These carefully chosen themes show

how complex it is to explain the intersections between education, globalization, and diversity in our

contemporary world.

5.1. Teacher’s perception of MCE in Sweden

Due to categorization of themes during data analysis, the teachers’ perspectives on MCE in Swedish

higher education is explored under the following themes:

5.1.1 Education and Diversity

The question of multicultural education or multicultural pedagogy is not something that is unfamiliar

to lecturers in Swedish universities. It is a concept that is part of their daily deliberations in ordinary

academic life. While the topic of MCE is not conceived exactly the same way by all the study

participants, their understanding of multiculturalism is reasonably similar. For example, when asking

Bandana (a systematic theology teacher), to describe his views about multiculturalism in education, he

gave this description:

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For me, MCE is an idea which is known and is very important to have it in mind when

you are a teacher especially in a context of universities where many people from

different countries gather together to study. I think is very important to foster awareness

of MCE in students of higher learning, and there are two sides to say. The one side is

the content of teaching, every content that is given to the students is conditioned by

cultural backgrounds. When for example I teach something about Greek philosophy, the

cultural background of Greek philosophies is important and has shaped philosophy of

now. And this cultural background for example is very different from ours today. Even

our culture has been shaped by Greek philosophy and as very far away, I believe also

very far away for example, philosophy in an Indian context or in an African context.

Bandana’s view seemed to elucidate the fact that teachers need to possess cultural awareness when it

comes to the content and subject that one is teaching. This is very important in consideration of

students who come from different countries with different cultural backgrounds and different

upbringings as well. Additionally, he clarified that the minds of students who come from different

cultural backgrounds are different, and their views on certain subjects that they have come to learn are

expressed in different ways.

Equal to Bandana’s explanation, when asked to explain her opinions about what MCE is, respondent

Garissa (a teacher for philosophy of education) said that “to me, MCE is a kind of pedagogy that

recalls a person’s interest particularly to a diversity and difference.” For Garissa, MCE is critically

normative in the sense that she sees it also as a task to emancipate those who do not yet have a voice

or yet do not have a say, who were in the oppressed group. She believed that the perspectives that

MCE has is to always look for the marginalized and try to bring them into the center somehow, but she

added; “If that works is another issue. But still, I think there is a passion for seeing the strength of a

diverse society in MCE.”

Similar to this view, Kamara (sociology of religion), a male participant said,

In multicultural context, Sweden is not what it was 50 years ago, so, our university

should express the diversity of our today’s society. And so, that is why it is very

important when we have students coming to us because we have students from every

background: secular, secularized, from different religious communities, from different

nations.

In line with the preceding statement, Kamara tried to bring out both the pictures of how Swedish

society was, and where it is currently. Comparably, Bandana perceived MCE as interesting and

important because he said,

When it comes to human brotherhood and to negotiations to human society and

negotiations to peace and so on, it is very essential for us to understand one another. So,

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for that the idea of global education is very important because common education is a

good base for human relations.

Thus, MCE in this respect was reflected as one of the keys to enhancing peace and harmony in schools

as well as social cohesion in general. Bandana in this sense believed that every education is and should

be for diversity.

Most of the lecturers who took part in this study did not only view MCE as very important topic in our

contemporary globalized world but also expressed an idea that calls for social justice in teaching

diverse students. One of the special contributions of MCE is to always prompt us that although we are

the same, because we are all human beings, we are equally distinct from one another. The concept of

MCE reminds us that respect is reciprocal and should not be one sided, which is expressed in Eliezer’s

statement (a female respondent):

This is very important for my students to understand because, we sometimes say we

have to treat everybody equal, but you can’t treat everybody equal, because people have

different needs. So, this is a fine line for me, and of course, respect is important but you

also need to have respect for the other person, and that person has to have respect for

you. So, this is a good relationship when you meet somebody, and it has to be two way.

So I think respect and trust is the way of gaining relationship with one another.

Then again, some of the responses among some of the study participants made the researcher believe

that all the participants in this investigation understood similarly the idea of multiculturalism in

general, but their conception about MCE differed. This is shown clearly in the response given by

Zubin (one of the interviewees) when asked to express his perception regarding MCE; he said,

I am inclining to think that this makes more sense in the social sciences, so I am not

very convinced it plays a big role in the natural sciences. Because, I am not teaching a

course that is required if you are going to be a lawyer for instance. I am teaching a

course for people who are going to be chemisettes and scientists.

Zubin, in this sense, expressed his opinion showing that as a chemistry teacher, he had nothing more

or less to do or to worry about that. However, he had forgotten that some students are from the

cultures that produce nonscientific minded people. Some of these students come from the cultures that

natural sciences likewise are in doubt. They believe that nature is as well changeable. The respondent

added further while expressing his views, “so I think you learn these things even if whatever culture

you come from, if you are educated enough, you learn these things I think (…) because I believe that

we are talking about the basic social interactions, and so I will still think they are aware of that.”

Zubin assumed that a student at any university level must have learned these things in lower classes

rather than in the advanced classes. The preceding expression shows that Zubin forgot that education

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or having been an educated person means different things to various nations and cultures and that

individual conceptions of education differ.

Likewise, when Eliezer (social anthropologist) was interrogated on addressing diversity and

multicultural issues what are her thought about multiculturalism in higher education in Sweden? She

presented the following explanation:

This is a question that sometimes I reflect is it too late to start thinking about this when

they are in higher education? And I have been very skeptic to this, because, I am

thinking that our students when they are in secondary (gymnasiet) schools, for me I

think this topic should start enough earlier in life because, you know when we are

smaller and we are in gymnasiet, or in high school, we start discussing religion, and it

ends. So, the only focus we have is history and classes of religion for example, we

never discuss multiculturalism when students are in gymnasiet or in high schools,

though some do but not all. I think this topic should be implemented then, so that you

start thinking about what does culture mean? Because, when you come to higher

education, I think then, we should discuss on a higher level. So, we start a bit too basic I

believe, and I think that it would be a very good thing if our students discuss this in

lower levels of education so that when they come to higher education, then, we can

discuss the complexity of these issues.

Eliezer’s reactions indicated that teaching and implementing multiculturalism needs to begin earlier

enough in the lower classes than when students come to higher education. She felt that this was more

important because some students are very much more open to this topic than other students and it

seemed to her that some students have already made up their minds that this is not important for them.

And she feels that it does not matter how much she tries to explain its importance to them.

Nevertheless, she believes that some students are more responsive to what she says. So, for that

reason, she thinks that we need to start earlier so that when they come up to higher education, they will

be more open to this idea. This is because, today, many of our students are growing up in a

multicultural society.

In addition, Eliezer advanced her concerns about this issue of multiculturalism in higher education in

Sweden. Her responses and deeper elucidation is contained in the passage that follows:

The world is becoming more and more aware of diversity of these issues, because I

think migration has put the awareness in us all that this is the subject that we have to be

teaching about. When I wrote my Master thesis in 2005, it was about Sweden’s nursing

program, and my question was, do we facilitate our nursing students to become

multicultural and aware of this issue, and I was focusing on cultural competence. So, if

you were located in the big cities of Sweden, you get some education of this but if it

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was in the small cities, then, you have nothing in the nursing program that actually

educated the students about this issue of multiculturalism. And that for me was a

concern back then, because I thought it depends on where you study. But our students,

and our future nurses are going to meet people from all around the world. So then, why

does not everybody apply? Because this like a hot topic now, a very hot topic right

now.

The clarification of Eliezer’s contribution contradicts sharply what two of the other respondents

(Kamara and Garissa) described in this study. For Eliezer, the issue of multicultural awareness as she

puts it is a very hot topic now, while Kamara (one of the respondents) in describing his views about

MCE in the Swedish higher education context made this statement: “Linguistically speaking, we don’t

use the term multicultural today. It is a kind of a taboo.” However, it seems relevant to believe that this

depends actually on universities, just as Eliezer highlighted in her description coupled with some other

empirical evidence in the Swedish society in general.

5.1.2 Cultural differences

Most of the respondents who took part in this investigation are of the view that cultural differences are

one of the important aspects to be taken into consideration when teaching in a diverse school

environment. Still, some of the participants believe that teaching will only have negative impacts on

cultural diversity of student learning depending on which field one is studying while some view it

otherwise. For example, every teaching content area that a school wants to offer to their students is

conditioned by cultural backgrounds. The respondent Bandana referred to such notions as follows:

In the context of education and diversity every knowledge and every education is

situated in a certain context, and there is no neutral context. The context is always

formed by cultural issues, so when we for example teach in Sweden, and then what we

teach is mostly characterized by occidental thinking, to the occidental traditional

thinking as well as their philosophical way of living for example.

Bandana’s idea, as just stated, echoes the difficulties in the context of diversity in education to achieve

equality and equity. Let’s say if a teacher, for example, were addressing fundamental questions, say

human questions and philosophical questions, which are often very human based so to speak. Then,

the students from different cultural backgrounds can come up with their own various understandings,

perceptions, and personal experiences, and from their backgrounds, they can try to interpret the

knowledge that the teacher has to give to them. However, it may not be exactly the same when it

comes to natural sciences or technical subjects because these are not too similar. Still, it depends on

the cultural background of the school context. Bandana further pointed out,

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This is quite challenging because, all have the same subject to learn and they are

coming from different cultures and backgrounds. First of all, the teacher have to accept

that there are differences. Difference in understanding things, in looking at things. This

is the first thing because, it is not only one way to look at the matter for example. For a

teacher, it will be interesting and important to listen to what different student has to say.

And when they depart from their cultural background, that is, how they look at the

subject? I think this is an important issue, but they should have the possibility to talk

about it, how they perceive things and what impact the content has on them. So, you

have to open a space for them.

This clarification indicates the importance and how influential are teachers’ understanding and views

on what multiculturalism is, in which each perspective has its impact on their attitude and strategies to

implement MCE in their teaching. Garissa (a teacher in the field of philosophy of education) advanced

a similar notion that generally in Sweden, she knows that in the university, at least where she teaches,

is an extremely multicultural school. Yet even there, the lecturers are quite aware that there are very

few things that can be taken for granted, and they need to see things from many perspectives. There is

no way of homogenizing people. Even if there are two people who come from Syria, they have

different Syrian perspectives on different subjects. In her precise words, Garissa explained this concept

further:

Diversity in strangeness goes all the way down I would say it is not a categorization

thing, it is an essential thing to me. It is a theological, philosophical and existential

situation. So, education is always estrangement and in that sense, we can never be

aware of difference because it doesn’t work that way. You know is like at the same time

we always need to try to acknowledge difference in diversity. On the other hand, we

need to precise that we can never fully acknowledge that because I don’t know what

education does to me?

Garissa, in this sense, was trying to express her feelings about teachers being conscious of regarding

all these diverse categorizations as hopeless, and yet, she said, “We still need them. And that we need

to use them with care and I think we are conscious of that.”

Eliezer (the respondent) raised another relevant issue about cultural differences during our

conversations in the interview. When she was articulating her perceptions about multiculturalism in a

multicultural school setting, she explained,

These comes repeatedly again and again like in Sweden we say (‘röd träd’) red trade

throughout the whole nursing program. So that students understand that to be able to

understand the person, and they would have to meet patients, and to be able to

understand the patient that is in front of you, you have to understand that this is a

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complex person. You cannot only see the individual, but individual that comes with

culture, with religion, with a lot of factors that can affect the way that they are looking

at their health or disease. So, if I only treat the disease, I will never look that this person

has a family, this person has a relative within her side. There is something else this

person beliefs in God, and that his/her strength is coming from God. But I can only see

the disease, I cannot see this. So for me, I think it is very important when dealing with a

person, that you see all factors that are important to a person.

Looking at these extracts from Eliezer’s interview, one sees and understands that before becoming a

nurse at this particular university, one will have a topic on multiculturalism as an important component

of one’s nursing program, for example. The respondents try to highlight some of the complex areas

that their university thinks sensitive and important regarding cultural issues. Still, Eliezer made it clear

that if one goes to another university, they may not be addressing the topic of MCE, but rather be

focusing on gender or any other theme dealing with diversity issues instead. So, in line with cultural

differences, their schools consider several factors that can affect the lives of their patients. Eliezer

believed that one cannot have the topic of multiculturalism one time in one course throughout an entire

education. Rather one has to repeat this knowledge often and in different contexts of teaching.

Zubin, the chemistry teacher, made this justification:

But I personally, I have never taken the multicultural approach although I could see the

value in it, but then, sometimes I would have double take on that. Because, sometimes

addressing it just emphasizes it, and I think part of this multicultural aspect is to try not

to make that a big issue. But then, I think that’s the basic social learning you have to do

anyway when you are in university. You realize you are in a society different from

where you come from. And I think that’s an important thing, but then, I am not the one

teaching them that, I assume they have learned that. And again, I teach advance class,

so I think you learn these things even if whatever culture you come from, if you are

educated enough, you learn these things I think.

Based on the preceding statements, it appears that some lecturers underestimate the importance and

power of culture in the life of individuals just as one of the participants (Eliezer) rightly mentioned in

her view on cultural differences. Zubin’s opinion indicates an over assumption so to say, that if people

are educated enough, they must have learned about cultural differences regardless of which culture

they came from, which still bounces back to the cultural issue, because having been educated signifies

different things to different people, societies, and cultures. It demonstrates the differences among

teacher’s perspectives about multiculturalism in higher education as the researcher sought to find out

in this investigation.

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5.1.3. Intercultural vs. multicultural

The analysis of the interview responses revealed intercultural vs. multicultural as one of the important

aspects in understanding education for diversity today, specifically in the Swedish context. This topic

appears relevant when addressing multicultural questions in general in our contemporary world, even

though not all the participants mentioned this categorization during our interview dialogs. But then,

most people who took part in this study in one way or another mentioned it. On the other hand, some

of the participants raised important and interesting points about the current situation of IC vs. MC

ideas in the context of education in Sweden.

According to Kamara (a teacher in the field of sociology of religion and social work), the awareness of

multicultural approaches in Sweden was mainly in the 1990s. But, later on, let’s say 5-10 years ago

especially in Europe, due to basis of political consideration, it was changed from multicultural to

intercultural. There have also been discussions on transcultural. But the multicultural approach one

can say, within Northern Europe especially with most Western Europeans in Europe is more a part of

the frequent discourse in 1990s when they started to talk about multicultural society, MCE, and

multicultural approach in different areas of social work and so on. But today some of the Swedish

authorities talk much more about the intercultural approach. Thus, MCE in Swedish context,

politically speaking, relates to political frameworks in discussions in the 1970s when Sweden went

from a very homogeneous society to a heterogeneous one. So, it was a debate on how can they handle

different cultures? The details of Kamara’s opinion are best communicated in the following passage:

Therefore, at the moment the government say we have to include, accept and respect

diversity (people are different). So, basically in the mid-1970s, it was a new policy for

immigration, and immigrant policy where the corner stone was to have a multicultural

approach, and the idea was that every culture should have the same right and freedom

in Sweden. So, one can say that it was a time of reform where children who have

bilingual background should have right to their mother tongue. Thus, for thirty years of

immigration in Sweden, then MCE relation in Sweden was about equality, free of

choice and cooperation, so, these three were the marks of a multicultural approach in

Sweden from 1976. Then, in the 1990s, then discussion changed from MC to IC. This is

then because if you have a lot of strong separate identities but they don’t come together,

then we have problem. It can be very strong multicultural society, but a weak state. So,

that means that within the state, the nation-state, there should be cooperation, there

should also be interaction between these separate identities. There are lots of examples

when it comes to education on this intercultural approach.

In addition to Kamara’s opinion that Sweden in 1970s, went from homogeneity to heterogeneity as a

society, but since 90s, Sweden politically has changed its discourse from MCE to IC approach. And

the cornerstone was a multicultural approach, while the main idea remains that every culture ought to

47

have the same rights and freedom in Sweden. However, it seems relevant to know to what extent

different cultures possess and utilize their rights and freedom as well as the extent of empowerment of

other cultures and groups up to today. The knowledge of this according to Kamara is crucial in

understanding why the idea of moving from MC to IC appears more rational in the context of

contemporary Sweden. Kamara added, “It is not only co-existence but conviviality, to live together,

not live alone. So, in the Swedish context, it is intercultural that is more important than multicultural

idea.”

Similar to Kamara’s perspective about multiculturalism in the context of Sweden, Garissa (a

respondent) also advanced much related viewpoints about MCE in Sweden. For Garissa, there are

many colliding religious perspectives coming from the same country, for example. She said and

considered that nation could not be a good way of dividing people within. In religion, for example, she

said, we have Muslims from different denominations that have completely different views on

interpreting things. On the other side, we have Christians from different denominations that have

completely different opinions about things. So, increasingly, she thinks that multiculturalism is

working because they are conscious that all these categorizations are hopeless and they still need them.

Thus, she believes that they need to use them with care and Kamara also believed the teachers are

conscious of that. But then again, Garissa thinks that multiculturalism is not working in the sense that

there are always so many differences, marginalization, and strangenesses within ourselves.

Being in education is always about estranging oneself, and that is what education is all about. So,

diversity in strangeness goes all the way down. One could say it is not a categorization thing. For

Garissa, it is an essential thing. It is a theological philosophical and existential situation. So, education

is always estrangement and in that sense, we can never be aware of difference because it does not

work that way because at the same time we always need to try to acknowledge difference in diversity.

On the other hand, we need to know that we can never fully acknowledge that because one does not

know what education does to us. Garissa finally made the following strong statement:

In Sweden today, I would think that the intercultural perspective is the more active

perspective. But then also, always has its roots in the MC context, sometimes we tend

to say that MC is the description of the situation, IC are the pedagogical tools needed to

deal with the MC society, so that is how I perceive two of them.

Garissa justified her argument further and insisted that if we are honest about education and

transformative character in our contemporary world, we need to start in a true description of reality

and the true description of reality is diversity. So, she believed that is where we need to start, because

for her, that was the foundation. The world is pluralistic, but, if we pretend something else, then we

are building everything on pretense. But then, the idea is for every subject in university to address that

diversity within their own discipline. Thus, multicultural education is a description of reality that the

48

world is pluralistic in nature and we cannot begin in homogenization; we might end there, we do not

know yet, but we cannot start there. Garissa claims the following:

Multiculturalism is not a particular pedagogical tool, it is a description of a

predicament. It is a description of the time and place in which we live. It is a

multicultural world and we need to find ways to navigate in that world, and MCE then

has perhaps a particular talents for dealing with that.

Through Garissa’s statements, it sounds reasonable to think that MCE seems to be acknowledged as a

particular talent that could be appropriate and useful to traverse our pluralistic and complex

contemporary world. She also thought that globalization is one of the problems regarding the

pluralistic world. Globalization sometimes tends to eliminate difference. It becomes a paradigm where

particular differences disappear. One could for instance look at social media, which is a consequence

of globalization where everybody is fed the kind of news that people normally like to read:

So, for me, globalization and difference doesn’t always go together because

globalization tends to erase some differences. And that is why I want us to pay

particular attention to the local context in which we live, and try to figure out the new

answers that rule them navigate this context. We cannot generalize too much. People

tend to flee into their particularities, we need some shelter in this globalized world.

In addition, one of the study participants (Bandana) held the opinion that in thinking about cultural

issues in education, we should try to look at them as things that often happen two ways, in the sense of

what it would be like. For example, if one were in any African country, for example in Gambia or

Namibia, and one would like to study there, perhaps they have their codes, they have their ways to

impart knowledge to students, to teach subjects, and so on. Then, in this sense, the students have also

to learn what is known as fore language not only the language they speak, but also the meaning of the

concept of thinking and so on. Thus, it would be the same if one comes here to Sweden to study, the

person needs also to learn the concept of Swedish philosophy too. But then again, Bandana went

further to describe his thoughts as follows:

Education is always dependent and influenced by the context in which it was given.

Every situation is characterized by the history, by the philosophy, by behavior, by

customs and traditions and so on. Human political in the society is the core, and so

there is no neutral education. The bases of human rights and the grounds of human

rights have been questioned recently. Ok, we say this is an idea of Westerners, but is

not and…, let’s say in China or in other countries, some politician say, also some

philosophers say all these discourses about human rights and democracy is not

important for us, is an invention of them. So, they question this global dimensional in

this aspect of education.

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Yalata (one of the respondents) thought that the advocates of MCE are trying to instill in the students

that higher education is comparable to Kamara and Garissa’s responses. They considered that the

advocators of MCE primarily want to say that human beings are always bigger and different than what

we think. For her, they want to create a more open society among peoples and groups. She assumed

that at least, the new generation of her students are fully aware that the world is multicultural. But

then, she continued,

I personally prefer IC but because, multi education, multi means many only, inter

means between. So, what we are looking for in ICE is what happens between people

and multicultural society? So, we are open and not knowing what will happen when two

people meet. MCE says very little as than be aware of the multi but inter wants to know

what happens between these people in the multicultural society. How do we relate? (A

relation issues). What happens when we do something together? What happens when

we talk? Where do we go wrong? Why don’t we understand one another? You both

from Syria but gush…, you cannot communicate, what is wrong?

Yalata’s description concerning MC and IC sounds interesting and quite understandable. But then, if

as one of the study participants (Garissa) rightly explained, intercultural perspective as she claimed is

the more active perspective in Sweden today. But she added that IC “always has its roots in the

multicultural context.” If this is the fact then, this study seems relevant because the researcher sought

to identify and explore the views of the actors and practitioners of multicultural school settings such as

university teachers in Sweden, which will help to evaluate the already established goals of MCE in the

context of education in that country like equality and equity, respect, empowerment of every group,

and freedom of choice as stipulated in some of the government policy documents.

And for that reason, it appears crucial to capture the opinions of the multicultural actors as well as

their strategies used to implement them so far. However, the essential message here is that in Sweden

today, most of the federal education policies are more toward an IC perspective whereby an

understanding is sought on what happens between people and multicultural societies such as in

Sweden. Still, the researcher thinks also that what happens among people and multicultural society

could be equally understood through an MCE perspective. However, one of the study participants

(Kamara) maintained that “in the Swedish context, it is intercultural that is more important than the

multicultural idea.”

5.1.4. Values and important of MCE

The values and importance of MCE depends first of all on the context. For example, Sweden is not

what it was 100 years ago. Sweden went actually from a very homogeneous to a heterogeneous

society. Thus, our university should express the diversity of our contemporary society. Then also, it is

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a matter of how we view knowledge? What is our own kind of values in Swedish society? How can

we transmit those values and knowledge to our students? In light of these interrogations, Kamara

suggested,

We need to get our students and teachers and scholars involved within let’s say an

international environment. What kinds of textbooks do we have? How can we transmit

knowledge? How do we view things that are going on around us in the society? So, this

is a very crucial part and we have to go up to the vice chancellor down to every

professors and teachers and scholars, because, this is a very much lively and

international ground, so that we can discuss how we should have this inclusive

approach.

Kamara went further and claimed that today, people do not tend to use the term multicultural, and

MCE seems like sort of a taboo in Sweden today. He explained that back in the 1990s, it was a “thing”

to become multicultural. Every society, every company ought to have gone multicultural. But, today,

different policy papers from different Ministries are for an intercultural approach, and even in

education today MC is replaced by IC, both in the Swedish context and even in the other European

nations. Kamara added, “Even in international academic, is going from MC to IC.”

Kamara’s opinion, however, is not shared by most of the participants who took part in this study, who

on the contrary were of the view that MCE is still of value and importance to our contemporary

education in Sweden, especially in higher education. Garissa did not think that MCE is an optional

thing. If we are honest about education and transformative character, she suggested that we need to

begin with the true description of reality, and the true description of reality in this context is diversity.

Thus, that is where we need to start, and for Kamara, that is the foundation. Her view is well described

as follows:

The world is pluralistic, but, if we pretends something else, then we are building

everything on pretends. It’s so foundational. For me again, multiculturalism is a

description of reality that the world is pluralistic and we cannot begin in

homogenization, we might end there, I don’t know but, we cannot start there. For me,

multiculturalism is not a particular pedagogical tool, it is a description of a predicament.

It is a description of the time and place in which we live. We are in a multicultural

world and we need to find ways to navigate in that world, and MCE then has perhaps a

particular talents for dealing with that.

The goals and different dimensions of MCE remain important and valuable ideas in our fast changing

world. Thus, the idea is for all teachers in every university to address that diversity within their own

disciplines. This appears to be the case in Sweden whereby different universities are trying to

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specifically focus on a particular topic dealing with diversity issues, depending on the vision of the

school and the needs of its local and environmental context.

According to Eliezer (a teacher addressing diversity and multicultural issues), MCE is valuable in

today’s pluralistic world, because it will make the students understand that the way they look at the

world may not be always the right way. She elaborated further as follows:

And for us, it is important to look at your students, what factors influences their

individual being? In lots of the textbooks that they have, culture is equal to ethnicity,

and that’s not the whole picture of culture. The whole definition of culture is not only

ethnicity, and we want our students to look wider. What different factors make culture

what it is? You see, we all have this culture glasses and if you look internationally, the

borders has been razed, so one day, you will have to move outside and work as a nurse

and today, we have a lot of our students now working outside Sweden. And some of

them have realized haa…this are the things that we have learnt in school, and now we

can implement them.

Eliezer’s descriptions seem to be calling our attention to the fact that there are different ways to view

the world. And as such, Sweden is a very small country, and if one steps outside here, there is a big

wall welling as she put it. And the way that we have all political and religious values were very unlike

other countries, which at least will make us look at the world in a different way. Yet just because we

look at the world this way, does not mean everyone does. My values do not have to be the correct

values, so, is it more relevant to reflect and talk about what it is to be humane? What is it to have

respect for human dignity? What is it to have empathy? How can one look at the world in a different

way and try to meet another person and understand the other person? Where can we universalize and

where do we particularize values? These are some of the important values that MCE advocators are

trying to instill in students of higher education in today’s complex globalized world.

Similar to Eliezer, another respondent, Yalata (a health care specialist lecturer) thinks that the values

of MCE will help the students to be more tolerant and also help them to understand that there are other

people apart from themselves. It will help them to understand that there are other kinds of problems

apart from the ones they know in Sweden and within Scandinavia for example. She explained further,

We try to give them a picture of the health in Sweden, what it looks like, and then also,

a picture of the world. And from my own experience as a teacher, I have seen that a lots

of them appreciate it. It’s like an eye-opener for them especially for the students who

are starting in their first term, they have never heard things like this. They have a very

different perspectives. I have seen a change in perspectives among my Swedish students

when we have thought those lectures. There is suddenly an awareness of all, wahoo,

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these people are really going through a lot. There is a sudden kind of tolerance towards

immigrants that comes to Sweden.

This description sounds interesting during our interview discussions because the teacher expressed this

passage with enthusiasm and happiness, showing signs of satisfaction on her part. Moreover, her

manner of responding made the researcher believe that there seemed to be sign of honesty in what she

was saying. The preceding clarification appears to show understanding that the kind of education that

this university gives to its students helps them and exposes their students to different kinds of

knowledge and different kinds of problems both for people living inside and outside of Sweden. It is a

way of helping students think multiculturally. It can also help them to understand and appreciate

various health problems when they are outside of Sweden. Yalata added,

The most valuable aspect of MCE is that it’s all about creating room for tolerance,

because information is power, and it is only when people are informed, they know

better. And when they know better, probably, there will be change of attitude might

become more tolerant.

For Yalata, the values of MCE are also geared to informing people to know better, because one cannot

go into the four walls of the university and come out with just enough knowledge to become an

engineer or a doctor. One should be able to have the knowledge that will help one function as well

within society and the social aspects of life. Therefore, we cannot talk about functioning on social

aspects in the society without talking about the culture and multiculturalism that now exist globally.

The practice of MCE is making students and teachers understand the problems that are involved when

people from different backgrounds come to study in another country or environment. Kamara pointed

out the differences between values and attitudes when he said the following:

Values they go very deep. Values is something you get from your parents, or from the

school, or from your faith, it is link to the primary identity, because you don’t change it

easily. Even if it is moving around you when you have crisis in your life, you have and

holds your values. For example, your faith is part of your values. Attitude is something

you change. For example, you moved to another country you say ah.., here we do it in a

different way.

The interpretation of Kamara’s statement could be that the way we think about collective

transportation is not attributed to one’s values, but rather an attitude, for example. Therefore, what is

my attitude towards certain things? Surely, here one might start to generate other ideas which are not

linked to family values, and make one change. For Kamara, attitudes are important and values are

based in behavior. He cited this example:

If you are having a problem in the communities like in Lebanon civil war, or in Nigeria

Boko haram, Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, they are all problems. And so, if you have problems,

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it is not only because of values, it is not only theoretical, it is real. So, it is behavior of

people killing someone. So, you will say if I want to change this, will the multicultural

approach change it? I will say, the multicultural approach is not enough because they

are separated identities. We need an intercultural approach where different communities

will interact. So, you have to empower the interaction.

However, one could say that most of these problems could equally be avoided if, as one of the MCE

goals stipulated, we understand the importance of mutual respect among different groups. This is to

say that in the context of Sweden, for example, if European MCE policy and Sweden in particular are

implemented in practice not only in theory, most probably, these different communities could be able

to interact in mutual respect, especially in overcoming cultural and racial misconceptions and

prejudices towards each other.

5.1.5. Obstacles to social justice

It becomes highly unavoidable to highlight the fact that all these views and individual understanding

of MCE has a strong link to teachers’ previous knowledge of persons and group/s different from them.

Further, in most cases it has to do with some of the main obstacles to social justice such as structural

dimensions, stereotyping, discrimination, and lack of trust between persons and groups. But then

again, sometimes, these issues depend more on people past experiences about certain group/s and

individuals in the society in general. For example, Eliezer remarked,

I think that we all more or less stereotype people, because we need to understand the

world and sometimes, this stereotyping is a very natural process that we do. That I need

to understand you, I use what I know and use my previous knowledge. When I see a

Nigerian person for instance, I think about the previous knowledge that I have about

that Nigerian person.

Nevertheless, the problem here is that sometimes, the previous knowledge could be either negative or

positive. Thus, it seems normal that people use only what they know about persons or a group to

characterize them. Still, the only problem there is that what we know may not be the truth. And again,

what we know about certain groups may not be applicable to every individual in a particular group. To

this end, Eliezer went further to explain,

This is very important for me to talk about to my students, that there is a fine line

between stereotyping and discriminating. Stereotyping can be good. But then, the fine

line is how that affects my attitude to that person? If it affects my attitude in a negative

way, then, I am discriminating that person. Because then, I think that the way I view

this topic is the correct way and that you are looking at it in the wrong way, and that is

disrespect for other ways of thinking. And for me, this is very important for my students

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to understand because in Sweden and the Swedish person will say; oh this patient, oh

those from Iran, these people from…, but they have to be an equal respect or else, trust

can never be established. So, trust and respect are very important here as a factor.

In contrast to Eliezer’s opinion, Garissa in her observations pointed out that as far stereotyping, we all

do it and we do it all the time. Therefore, we need to stereotype in order to talk, and we need to break

this stereotype up into several categories so that we will also move forward and backwards in our daily

life. But then she believed,

Stereotyping is somehow inevitable, but is also educative in the sense that we need

always to look in between either or…, education is always about stereotyping and

breaking them up, creating new stereotypes and breaking them up again, identifying

and dissolving identities and recreating them again.

For Bandana, the students’ and teachers’ misconceptions and stereotyping basically depends largely

on ignorance and lack of understanding and awareness of cultural differences, which has a strong

influence on how people talk, behave, understand, and interpret things. Thus, “The Swedish student

laughing at a Namibian student simple because he did not understand teacher’s question in class, not

because….he is black or stupid…but just because of cultural differences in understanding subjects.

This is verse versa if a Swedish student goes to study at Namibia.”

According to one of the participants (Kamara), structure dimension is very important when thinking

about equity and social justice in a multicultural school situation. It is not just enough to use

intercultural dialogue on the individual level. It seems obvious that structures of discrimination and

injustice will be present in every society. Kamara believed that structure discrimination is really one of

the issues, especially for those who are talking about a multicultural society. For him, it is very

important to work on that element of discrimination. When asked about his views on equity and social

justice in a multicultural school setting, Kamara gave this response:

For me, structure dimension is very important. This is because in Sweden for example,

we think that everything is fine, but I think that even there are issues of where we don’t

open up for other people from different background to come in. For example, positions

at university should be announced officially you know. Sometimes, it is a big danger

when we just work with people that we know. Because we have trust in certain person,

we don’t hopefully in others. So that it becomes a justice for those people that

discriminated against someone who comes from another background, another culture,

another religion. That is why a lot of immigrants in Sweden, they don’t find their ways

because they don’t get into the Swedish community and they don’t have the keys. But

for others they have, they know how to navigate, it take some time. To think that social

justice is only something abroad, no.., we have it here in the mist of our own society.

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Sometimes people take things for granted, they think it is automatic, no it is not

automatic.

The passage indicates that some Swedes seem to be closed to those from other backgrounds. Yet, it is

also worth mentioning that a good number of persons and some ethnic groups who come to Sweden

either to study or for some other reasons are not interested in making efforts to adjust themselves to

their new environment through integration. This fact is important to highlight here because one should

not forget that Swedes themselves also do not find it easy to adjust their own culture to embrace those

coming from other cultural backgrounds. Just as Kamara rightly puts it, “The risk in Sweden is that

you ask, do we believe that MCE of a thing is exotic, but everything has to do with culture, and every

human being is part of cultural environment, so we have Swedish culture too. But the Swedish culture

is heterogeneous.” In line with these facts, one can see how difficult it is to explain the complexities

among education, globalization, and diversity in our contemporary world.

One of the interviewees (Zubin) was asked what he thought about the obstacles to social justice. His

response is understood better in his statement:

I personally, may be sometimes, I may be fall into this bias of thinking if I have

Chinese students, I think they are more mathematical than other students. That is one of

perhaps my possible biases, but again, it is not something that really plays a big role in

what I teach because when I teach chemistry, am going to teach them something that is

new to them. So, I don’t really have any particular attention to what I think their

strengths are. Obviously, they don’t have the same need because they don’t have the

same background. So, for me, their difference not so much because of their background

culturally, they are different because they are different in backgrounds educationally

5.2. Strategies for fostering MCE in Swedish higher education

When asked about lecturers’ pedagogical strategies in fostering MCE in Higher education, Bandana

explained that it is quite impossible to teach neutrally, simply because he said, “I am a child of my

culture, and the only thing I can do is to be open as much as possible so that people from other

countries and cultures could have room for and possibility to enter into discussion and share their own

views and experiences.”

According to this statement, individual teachers have their own background and values; therefore, that

corresponds to the fact that, as Bandana puts it, there is no neutral education. Again, the preceding

quotation also demonstrates the power and the influence that teachers have either to include or exclude

student/s in their teaching. It shows that teacher’s attitude can also be a means of empowerment to

some students and marginalization to others. It is important to point out that this could take place in

the form of keeping silent on certain issues or ways of speaking among diverse students in the

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classroom. Some of this teacher’s attitude may not offer some students any opportunity to view their

own mind and personal experiences. The researcher thinks this attitude depends mainly on teacher’s

personal attitude, qualities, and background.

Similar to Bandana’s idea, Kamara believes that most of his students, when it comes to study of social

work and social sciences, are very much marked by a critical approach to multiculturalism. Yet,

sometimes, they are locked into positions that makes them think they know everything. But then, if I

have a Muslim student for example, I have to allow this Muslim student to also raise his or her voice,

and say I think…, because otherwise, everything will end up being politically correct and no one will

express what they really think. However, this depends on what subject one is dealing with. Kamara

went further and said,

There are other discourses on different issues around gender for example, family and it

is important to understand that Swedish is very tiny country up in the North. We are

part of the global entity and there are so many partings of thinking and behaviors

around us that we need to understand. But people are very much locked in one position

which they think this is right, but they cannot distinguish between what is true and

false, right and wrong. Then, my Islamic faith, my Christian faith gives me the full

truth, nothing but the truth. But then, how about if I look at it from a scientific point of

view, how do I relate certain issues with my faith?

These thoughts demonstrate that although we are talking and investigating in the context of Sweden,

we should not lose sight that Sweden is only a small contrary that is part and parcel of a global entity,

which of course necessities that we also have to pay attention to other views and conducts that are

essential in living together. Well, this explanation shows that students sometimes are locked in one

position, but what the teachers can do to unlock them seems not yet discovered by this individual

teacher. And again, Kamara said, “But there is also a matter of what kind of values do I have? Most of

the university students think they are globalized, I would argue that most of the students are not

globalized, they are locked into a certain part of thinking where they don’t see the other.”

This idea seems to be in contrast with Garissa’s opinion. She stated that globalization and difference

does not always go together because globalization tends to erase some differences. But for Kamara,

most university students are not globalized because they are locked up, which means they will become

globalized should they open up for others. This concept demonstrates parts of individual perspectives

and understanding of subjects when it comes to diversity and a multicultural environment. For

Kamara,

To open up is very important even if I don’t agree with other. But, I can have

conversations with concepts about different ideas. If we don’t do it here, it will be just

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on social media. And there, it will be fake knowledge, fake news, fake…, here, it will

be real in school.

When Bandana was asked which strategies he uses in fostering awareness of MCE in his teaching, he

gave this response:

First of all, I will teach them to be able to reflect, and also to reflect critically about

themselves, things they hear, they read …and so on. They have to develop the skill to

reflect critically about themselves, to be aware of their own background and also to see

all the different perspectives from some of their cultural background and size of their

background and as more as I am aware of myself and my conditions as more as I am

aware too of the others. I know I have learn so many things which have influenced my

kind of thinking and living and so on. In fact, I think this is the first and fundamental

skill they have to learn.

Bandana’s clarification in his statements is interesting and relevant both in the field of MCE and in the

education department in general. Teaching students skills to be able to reflect critically about

themselves seems to be a very important and useful task that a teacher can achieve so as to enhance

social justice among students of different backgrounds including respect for one another. As Bandana

rightly puts it, “but respect is a fundamental attitude so to say. Respect for someone simply because he

is a human being with all his dignity and rights and so on. And this is the first attitude one can say. An

attitude which I should have to every human being.” It is interesting to hear such clarifications from

the respondent coupled with the manner in which he presented this issue, which makes one believe his

descriptions.

Di-educate is one of the strategy that Garissa utilizes to call the attention of her students to the issue of

diversity. In this sense, she tries to make the students know what they think they already know. In

another way, she tries to make familiar seem strange to her students, making students question what

they take for granted. For example, how they categorize things? Maybe it is not the way they see

things that things are, maybe they are actually seeing differences themselves. How do they interpret

the things they see and hear? Therefore, the teachers need to become aware of their interpretations

when they interpret what they read, hear, and see. Garissa’s strategy can be fully elucidated in the

following quotation:

Religion for instance must not always be about submission or submission might not

always be negative. MCE is a research field in its own right, particularly in England and

US. But, you can always have it as foundation, like in my institution here, we have an

intercultural profile that means that every course into education needs to pay particular

attention to diversity in difference or particularly the relationship between the universal

and particular. That is, universal right and particular differences.

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This statement points to the fact that there should be demarcation among global and national

institutions as well as individual views and beliefs about values on certain subjects, which suggests

that we should pay particular attention to how and in what sense we interpret our world and the world

of others.

Yalata, one of the study participants, tries to make her class very interactive, and this is one of the

strategies that she utilizes to foster student awareness of MCE. She tries to find opportunities for

discussions on the relevant topics about cultural diversity during her classes. The students are given

opportunities to contribute by relating their own personal experiences or knowledge gained by reading

or from others whom she instructs. But then, sometime time factor becomes an obstacle. She noted,

Every knowledge and contribution is reinforced as valued and relevant through my own

follow-up comments. I found that quite number of students begin to relax and

participate. For group work I try to avoid homogenous groups i.e. groups most natives

or immigrants; younger or older etc. I try to ensure that the groups are mixed.

According to Yalata’s explanations, it is very important for teachers to recognize the contributions and

personal experiences of students from different backgrounds, which is mostly perceivable through

teachers’ comments about student contributions during classroom discussions.

Bandana tries to confront his students with the meaning or their understanding of the otherness of

other cultures. When asked what otherness of other cultures means, he said, “Otherness questions what

we usually take for granted and makes us reflecting about who we are in the mirror of the other.”

5.3. Challenges in fostering MCE

Yalata observed that group work for her can be challenging in groups where there is a significantly

wide difference/variation in levels of language skills, for example, among the students. The very good

users/speakers might find it frustrating to interact and work with non-expert users, and sometimes it is

difficult to understand one another, in which cases, sometimes they skillfully divide the group into

mini groups. This division is easily noticeable as the group ends up making presentations that are not

exactly similar coming from the same group. But, Yalata added, “I however try to make students

understand that the essence of group work is that all work together.”

The biggest challenge for Bandana (one of the respondents) to foster MCE among students from

different backgrounds is how to motivate them to open themselves up for other experiences and points

of view. This issue is more difficult in a time in which many students themselves no longer have any

distinctive worldview. He explained further, “If a student have no particular position, no security in

what and who I am, it’s difficult to see the otherness of the other.”

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Similar to Bandana’s challenge, Kamara acknowledged that Sweden is just a small country that is part

of the global entity of which there are so many partings of thinking and behaviors around us that we

need to understand and embrace. This idea is very important in the context of Sweden because, as

Kamara puts it, “Our greatest challenge as Swedes is to open up a little bit to listen to other

regulations, other discourses on different issues around the world like gender for example, family and

religion, but people are very much locked in one position of which they think this is right.”

Garissa thought that at the personal level, there are different kinds of challenges in the sense that it is

difficult to create a good learning environment where people can experiment with speaking and try to

articulate things that are new to them. For her, teaching tends to become repetitions of what we already

know. And therefore, people have a tendency to say only what they already know, whereas nobody

dares to say what he or she does not know, so that is a problem too.

On the other hand, Eliezer expressed her observation that it is very challenging to start teaching MCE

when the students are already in higher education because she thinks it is too late to start thinking

about this topic in higher education. For Eliezer, this theme should start early enough in one’s life. So,

when they move into higher education, people should be able to discuss these issues on a higher level.

Eliezer stated,

This is important for me, because, when I have a class, some students are very much

more open to this topic than other students and it seems that some students have already

made their mind that this is not important for me. So, it doesn’t matter how much I do

this, and I see that some students are more responsive to what I am saying. And that is

why I think that we need to start earlier than when they come to higher education, they

are more open to this idea.

Therefore, according to Eliezer, it is so challenging to start teaching students about multicultural

awareness in higher education without having acquired its basic knowledge and skills in the lower

levels of education. Now when they come to higher education, they can discuss the complexity of

these issues at that time.

Another respondent (Zubin) observed differences in the level of education as his challenge in teaching

students from various backgrounds. Still, he rightly pointed out that this does not have anything to do

with social aspects, but rather in terms of an intellectual aspect. Zubin remarked that some students

from the less developed countries think they have reached, let us say, a master’s degree and PhD in

another country, but they totally are not on that level judging from his level of what a PhD is, for

example….but then, their level is so low. And so, this issue becomes a challenge because one kind of

has to deal with people who think they are on that level when they are not. He also pointed out that

there are students “who cannot just learn.” He made the following statement:

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I think it may be cultural problem in this sense, because in some cultures, there is less

discipline, less logic…little bit emotional. But then, if you got it in Latin America, in

some obscure college there, then, I don’t know the standards and chances are when I

compare, then I could see the difference.

Even though Zubin’s statement seems observable, it demonstrates a typical good example of teacher

biases as well as stereotyping of a particular group, nation, race, or color. In this sense, any student

from Latin America are the same.

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Chapter 6- Discussions

In this chapter, the researcher tries to provide some reflections of the findings in connection to the

research questions and the conceptual and theoretical lenses, attempting to connect all of them.

6.1. Reflections on teacher’s perception of MCE in Swedish higher institution

This study on teachers’ perceptions of multiculturalism in Swedish higher education leads to

diversified results. It shows that MCE in Sweden is both enhancing and restraining to life

opportunities. For the university teachers who participated in this study, MCE is considered to be an

important idea that every teacher should have in mind, especially in the context of universities where

many students and teachers from different countries and continents gather together to study. Although,

this concept could be seen as the general understanding of the MCE idea by those who took part in this

study, their perceptions on the subject are not exactly the same. These (perception) results highlight

the fact that MCE is comprehensive and encompassing, and that it supposed to be a two-way process.

It means that both students and teachers from backgrounds other than Swedish, and those from

Swedish backgrounds need to make adjustments regarding their cultural heritage, which is very

important to our contemporary world if diversity, education, and globalization should make sense. Al-

Rodhan (2006) suggested that globalization is not a procedure that can be clearly well-defined with a

starting and an end point. It comprises all these things including cultural stability, reproduction, and

economic integration; the transfer of policies across borders; relations and discourses of power; and

the transmission of knowledge. Indeed, it is more of a global process.

Moreover, the findings indicate teachers’ awareness of diversity and students’ different backgrounds

which might be considered as one of the key factors that help to maintain a quiet and peaceful

coherent atmosphere in Swedish society in general. All the study participants demonstrated their

responsiveness regarding the multicultural nature of Sweden, particularly in Swedish higher

institutions. Thus, these cultural differences of students and teachers embody our current global

education system. This concept is very important to highlight. Using a globalization lens on one side,

it is no longer conceivable as either a nation or an individual to participate effectively in a complex

worldwide economy from a monocultural and monolingual base. Such changes are due to the

international migration and flexibility that characterize our time (DEECD, 2009). Still, when using a

social justice lens, a focus on acknowledgment of marginalized groups in actual fact complicates and

makes expansion toward redistribution of resources appear more subtle to understand (Harrison &

Clark, 2016). Another example is the extension of the English language in the Swedish university, and

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this has been connected to the progressively more globalized attraction of university education and to

its internationalization at home (Nilsson, 2003). It is also in this sense that globalization and a social

justice framework are called to juxtapose.

According to the results of this study, in the context of Sweden today, intercultural perspectives are

more important than a multicultural idea. Yet, the researcher supports the argument of one of the

respondents who insisted that if we are really honest about education and the transformative character

of our contemporary world, we need to begin in a true description of reality, and the true description of

this reality is diversity. This notion is supported in this paper by the concept of multiculturalism

explained in the section on relevant concepts, of which Banks and Banks (1995) stated that MCE has

some key beliefs that cultural differences have a very influential power and are highly valuable.

Coupled with that is teachers are very important for students’ learning skills, including qualities like

frame of mind, values, and responsibilities they should have to improve their educational success and

to become useful citizens in a democratic society.

Furthermore, if teachers sincerely take into consideration of student’s cultural differences and their

educational needs, it is most likely that students’ academic achievement will improve, especially for

those who have less voice and opportunity. One of the study participants put it correctly that the main

perspective MCE has is to always look for the marginalized and try to bring them into the center

somehow. However, if that actually works is another issue? To this end, the researcher agrees that

there is still passion for seeing the strength of a diverse society in MCE. In line with these facts, a

social justice perspective needs to address the roots of oppression and account justly for ethnic,

cultural, historical and backgrounds of different groups and individuals in our so-called global village

(Harrison & Clark, 2016).

Reflecting on Garissa’s response about her perceptions of MCE in Sweden, she claims that MCE is a

description of a predicament, and a description of the time and place in which we currently live. That

reminds us that we are in a multicultural world and need to find ways to navigate in that world, and

that MCE has perhaps a particular talent for addressing this issue. The researcher upholds this

explanation, and then suggests that because it is obvious at least to university teachers as have been

indicated by this study that we are living in a pluralistic world coupled with increasing movement of

different kinds of migration including job seekers and international cooperation such as diplomats and

asylum seekers owing to intra, national, and international conflicts. These circumstances seem to

correspond with Al-Rodhan (2006) who defined globalization as referring to the broadening,

deepening, and fast-moving global interconnectedness in all facets of contemporary life.

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Al-Rodhan (2006) argued that globalization refers to increasing interaction between and incorporation

of diverse human societies in all the main dimensions of social, economic, religion, cultural, and

political human activities. In contrast to this view, the UNDP Report (1999) put forward that

globalization indisputably creates all kinds of divisions and separations such as the economic split,

cultural divide, social divisions, and so on. The gap between countries and among countries becomes

wider. The supported values are extreme individualism, competitiveness, materialism, consumerism;

in essence, only having, nothing like being. All organizations as well as educational establishments

turn out to be more market-driven than vision-mission. People have experienced systematized greed

instead of systematized care. Yet, in the mist of the confusion and complexities, we have to find a way

to navigate through it all, as one of the respondents of this study rightly put it. And we need to have

great consideration of social justice through education on different levels.

6.2. The influence of teacher’s background on their views about MCE

The results of this study indicate that teachers’ backgrounds and their current status are the key factors

that influence their perceptions about MCE in higher institutions in Sweden. The researcher, for

example, considers these factors such as country of origin and in how many countries the teacher has

lived and worked. Which field and what subject/s has the teacher taught and is currently teaching?

How many years of teaching experience does the teacher have? As well as the personal qualities and

previous acquired knowledge and values of teachers as having had different strong influences on their

views about MCE in higher institutions. This clarification can help the reader understand the factors

that influenced teachers’ responses about MCE following the table in the methodology chapter, section

4.3.1.

To cite an example, Kamara (an international coordinator) who has being teaching for ten years in the

field of sociology, in describing his view about MCE, presented a deep historical and political

framework discussions of the 1970s, when Sweden went from a very homogeneous society to a

heterogeneous one. It was then, he said, that discussion rose on how to handle different cultures. And

so, for thirty years of immigration in Sweden, MCE relations in Sweden were about equality, freedom

of choice, and cooperation, but this discussion changed from MC to IC in the 1990s. Kamara added

that in the context of Sweden today, it is a taboo to talk about MCE. So, after observing and listening

to Kamara’s articulations of MCE and IC, years of teaching experience, the number of countries in

which he lived and worked, the field of teaching and the subject/s, as well as having been working and

coordinating on international grounds, the researcher was made to think that all these factors seem to

be very influential in determining how each respondent perceives multiculturalism and MCE in higher

education in Sweden.

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For Kamara, the reason that Sweden changes from MCE to ICE is then because if we have a lot of

strong separate identities but they do not come together, we have problems. It means that there can be

a very strong multicultural society, but then, a weak state. So, that means that within the state, the

nation-state, there should be cooperation, and there should also be interaction among these separate

identities. So, this is what is meant by intercultural, which is very interesting. But then, the significant

question is, to what extent has the Swedish Multicultural Policy goals been accomplished before

moving to the IC phase? However, it seems relevant to investigate maybe in the future what the results

are of the 30-year practice of MCE in Sweden?

Garissa (a teacher in the field of education) perceived MCE as a kind of pedagogy that recalls a

person’s interest particularly to a diversity and difference. For her, MCE is critically normative in the

sense that it is seen also as a task to emancipate those who do not yet have a voice or yet do not have a

say, who were in the oppressed group. She believed that the perspectives that MCE has is to always

look for the marginalized and try to bring them into the center. So, for Garissa, it is an important

perspective to always sort of keep alive in all kinds of education, a contribution from MCE to

education in general is to say “hang on, don’t forget that we are different and please, pay attention to

that!” Again, in Sweden today, Garissa thought that the intercultural perspective is more active than

multiculturalism. But then also, IC always has its roots in the multicultural context. These views seem

to reflect a respondent’s backgrounds and status, specifically as an educator teaching in the field of

education as well as other individual qualities and values.

Eliezer (working with diversity and multicultural issues in her school) viewed MCE as an important

theme because the world is becoming more and more aware of the diversity of these issues. Moreover,

migration has put the awareness in us all that this is the subject that we have to be teaching about

because for Eliezer, it is a very hot topic right now. She also advanced other perspective that

illuminate her general backgrounds and current status concerning her subject. She pointed out that

students need to realize that to be able to understand the person in front of them, they have to

understand that this is a complex person. They cannot only see the individual, but rather, an individual

who comes with culture, with religion, with a lot of factors that can affect the way that they are

looking at their health or a disease, for example.

Interestingly, Zubin (a chemistry teacher) perceived MCE as something made, and which concerns

only social science educators, because he teaches natural science, and does not see any reason that

there would be any cultural bias towards science. He does not normally take into consideration the

implied aspect diverse people probably have, like their kind of religion which may conflict with

science in some sense, but he does not see his students really as having a cultural bias except perhaps

in language. For Zubin, science is so universal and so natural and indisputably factual, so to him, it is

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not a matter of opinion. There is no cultural bias that would make his students think otherwise. So,

molecules will be molecules; they do not care whether one is white or black, which is another clear

example of how backgrounds and teachers’ statuses dominates their perceptions on MCE.

Again, Bandana (a systematic theology and sociology of religion teacher) viewed the concept of MCE

as an idea that is known and is very important to have in mind when one is a teacher, especially in a

context of universities where many people from different countries gather together to study. He thinks

that to be open to other ways of thinking and other modes of life and how to live such awareness,

MCE will allow for other histories generally spoken, respect for what one sees and hears, and respect

does not mean that one has to accept everything or every other kind of thinking. But, one should have

respect for differences. And, again, he believes that curiosity is closely related to openness. While

curiosity is closer to openness that can be somehow passive, so to speak. In this sense however,

curiosity means that one actively wants to get to know others, and so one tries his/her best to get to

know someone from another context, from another country for instance.

Yalata (an epidemiology and health promotion teacher) perceived MCE as something she does not

consciously teach students, consciously no, but now during her discussions, she realized that some of

the things that they have been doing as teachers were actually multicultural oriented, even though they

have not called it that. For example, when they review pictures of health situations among immigrants

in Sweden, it changes the perspectives of her students. So, for her, MCE is not just for the teachers to

teach students, not only to open the eyes of the students, but also for the teachers to be aware and

sensitive that there are people coming from a very different background and how they should tackle

the subject. How do teachers help those students? How do the teachers show them understanding

without reducing the quality of education?

Yalata went further to clarify that the world is becoming smaller, the borders are becoming thinner,

and people are moving from one place to other. People are moving at a higher rate than they did before

now. MCE will help students to be more tolerant because it will help them to understand that there are

other people apart from themselves. It will help them to understand that there are other kinds of

problems apart from the ones they know in Sweden and within Scandinavia, for example. She noted

that she also teaches them health situations at national and at international levels. She tries to give

them a picture of health in Sweden, what it looks like, and also in the context of the world.

Looking and reflecting on all these findings, the researcher holds and suggests that these responses on

MCE perceptions of the study participants have roots in strong influences from their backgrounds and

current status as well as personal values.

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6.3. Individual vs. universal: strategies of fostering MCE and the challenges

The goals of MCE go beyond rendering equality and equity in education. In line with these facts,

personal understanding, values, and views play greater roles in shaping teachers’ strategies to

implement MCE. The findings in this study demonstrate that there are differences and similarities

among international, national, and individual MCE discourses. For example, one of the study

participants claims that global education is interesting and also important in our contemporary world

when it comes to human relations and negotiations for peace among nations and different groups.

Globality in this sense is an inevitable condition of human interaction at the end of the twentieth

century (Ulrich, 2000).

This notion about globalization of education is important, but the question is, whose values are being

transmitted and whose values are disappearing? This is a relevant question because disappearance of

differences creates prejudice and more conflicts among nations and groups. Just as one of the

respondents who supports this view illuminated the fact that globalization is a problem here because

globalization and difference do not always go together, because it tends to erase some differences. And

that is why we should pay attention to a particular local context in which we live, and try to figure out

new answers that help to navigate this context. We cannot generalize too much because people

recently tend to flee into their particularities because they need some shelter in this globalized world.

Similarly, Ramirez (2006) observed that, generally, formal education has less concern about the

intangibles of life such as philosophy, humanities, and sociologies as well as religious studies which

nations and groups as well as individuals may deem more important than economic and political

dimensions of globalization. Individual and inner realities are not given attention for reasons of

objectivity, consistency, institutionalization, and inflexible principles without space for a thought of

cultural differences and the adaptability of human condition. The question of how far globalization

exists may then be empirically twisted into the question of to what extent people and cultures in every

part of the world relate to each other in their differences, likewise, to what extent is this individual

perception of world society applicable to how they behave? (Ulrich, 2000). Ulrich postulated therefore

that globalization has shaken the foundation of the sovereign image of a homogeneous and self-

enclosed national universe.

Moreover, the findings demonstrated that cultural differences are the most important aspect to be taken

into consideration when teaching students from different backgrounds. Following the results of this

study, it is difficult in the context of education and diversity to achieve equality and equity because

every teaching content area is conditioned by cultural background, and the context is always formed

by cultural issues as some of the study participants pointed out. In this case, however, social justice is

a call to challenge this kind of ideological framework such as historical legacies, institutional systems,

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and practices that structure social interactions unfairly so that some people and groups are advantaged

to the detriment of other group/s that are marginalized. In this view, diversity and social justice are

inseparably bound. And so, without genuine respect for diversity, we cannot sufficiently address issues

of injustice. And without addressing issues of unfairness, we cannot sincerely value diversity (Bell,

2016). This concept shows how fundamental it is the responsibility of educational leaders to commit

themselves to creating an organizational culture of concern and caring that empowers every student,

especially underprivileged and silenced ones.

Boske (2012) stated that social justice demands that every student should be given sincere and rightful

opportunities in schools to feel a sense of belonging, which definitely will improve the social and

scholarly performances of all. It is also worth mentioning that we can only attain social justice when

teachers sincerely and openly dedicate themselves to addressing issues affecting equity and justice in

schools; specifically, in diversity and multicultural school environments. Boske captured the meaning

of social justice that is raised around the notions of problematizing and transforming situations that

legalized disenfranchised and exclusionary methods within educational institutions. Instead of

exclusionary procedures, the author suggested that an inclusion processes in schools as an ideal for

social justice will therefore create a world that makes everybody feel a sense of belonging, which in

turn reduces local, national, and international conflicts that we are facing today (Boske, 2012).

In addition, turning to moral necessities of education, the relevant point of reflection is that education

is not quite the same as every other responsibility and accomplishment because education is indivisible

from value judgments. For example, preventing individual decisions or limiting choices could be

another method that many may denounce as being intolerable. Some may express their dissatisfaction

by voicing that such acts are not and cannot be accepted as education. On the other hand, it could also

be understandable that all sections of the Swedish population by no means have been easy and by no

means has everyone welcomed Sweden’s transition from a homogeneous to an ethnically diverse

multicultural society (Oakes, 2005).

But then again, we need to jointly understand and defend our differences to be able to live together.

So, for that reason, the idea of MCE is indispensable because common education is a good basis for

human relationships. It is worth mentioning that whichever definition one adheres to, globalization

will remain complex and multifaceted. However, the progression of globalization, is an unsteady

process that is continually shifting with the development of human society in general. In confronting

all of these challenges regarding this concept, the interpretation of globalization depends to a greater

extent on individual cultural background, political ideology, and ethnic and religious affiliation as well

as geographical location (Al-Rodhan, 2006).

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The results of this investigation also indicate di-educate as a pedagogical strategy used to foster

awareness of multiculturalism to students of different backgrounds. The teacher tries to make her

students be aware of what they think they already know, or making familiar strange to her students by

making them question things they normally take for granted. For example, how do they categorize

things? Maybe it is not the way they see things, maybe they are actually seeing different. How do we

interpret things we see and hear? This is a very crucial strategy, and should be encouraged. So, we

really need to educate our interpretations regarding what we hear and see. Religion for instance must

not always be about submission, or submission might not always be negative. UNICEF (2000)

provided insights in this sense that education is seen as a complex institution rooted in a political,

economic, and cultural context. Thus, it might sound reasonable that arguments could be provided to

show why being rational ought to esteem some values as opposed to others. Right now, however, there

is no such conventional agreement on universal standards.

Therefore, when individuals or particular groups of people talk about education, it is important to

understand what their standards of judgment are with a particular end goal to find out their viewpoint

under which some process or perspective is being commended. Similarly, Peters (1967) summarized

that the main issue of what education means here should not only focus on success or failure, but the

question should also be of whose success are the policy-makers and educators really talking about?

That of the teacher or the learner? Nevertheless, MCE is a research field in its own right, particularly

in England and the United States. Still, one can always have it as foundation, like one of the

institutions here, which has an intercultural profile, so that every course in education needs to pay

particular attention to differences, particularly in the connection between universal and particular. That

is, universal rights and particular differences.

One of the strategies according to the findings of this investigation (equally the same to other teachers)

is to teach students to be able to reflect, and again to reflect critically about themselves, about things

they hear and see. They have to develop the skills to reflect critically about themselves and to be aware

of their own background and also to understand different perspectives from some of their cultural

backgrounds and the size of their backgrounds, which is important because the more one is aware of

one’s own self and one’s conditions, it should be as much as one ought to be aware too of the others.

To this end, people should know that they have learnt so many things that have influenced their

manner of thinking, talking, perceiving things, living, and so on, which are the first and most

fundamental skills that students are supposed to learn. Consequently, the purpose of education

according to Martin Luther King Jr. (1948), is to teach a person how to think seriously and to think

essentially. But as it may be otherwise, education that stops only with efficiency may create the

highest danger to society because the most harmful criminal might be the man skilled with reason but

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with no morals. It is relevant here to illuminate the fact people should not forget that intelligence alone

is insufficient to live convivially together.

Today’s world is multifaceted and rapidly changing. So, it is no longer conceivable to participate

effectively in a complex worldwide economy from a monocultural and monolingual base (DEECD,

2009). But then, there is an urgent need to challenge the ideological framework and institutional forms

and practices that structure social relationships unfairly so that some groups are advantaged to the

detriment of other group/s that are marginalized. Diversity and social equity are inseparably bound

together. Without genuinely respecting diversity, we cannot sufficiently address issues of injustice.

Hence, without addressing issues of unfairness, we cannot sincerely value diversity. We can only

attain social justice when teachers are sincerely and openly dedicated to addressing issues affecting

equity and justice in schools; specifically, on diversity and multicultural environments (Boske, 2012).

Above and beyond all that, intelligence in addition to character is the objective of proper education,

proper in the context of common human values. Education, therefore, is supposed to empower one to

filter and measure evidence, to perceive the truth from the deceitful, the genuine from the unreal, and

the truth from fiction. How can we know whether there are conflicting perspectives when we feel that

we have distinguished a clear and common purpose for education? The responsibility of empowering

every student to accomplish individual possibilities, including financial potential, frequently stands at

odds with the wider need to prepare all students to be good citizen. Even though career preparation of

students is a legal function of education, a stress on democracy is much greater than lawful function. A

democratic life demands critical inquiry, civic participation, collective decision making, and a

guarantee to the common good (Peifer, 2014).

6.4. Consequences of choice of theories and methods of this study

The theory of globalization is not a process that can be clearly defined with a beginning and an end

point. In a fast changing world where money, culture, politics, and social issues challenge

conventional ways of life, education has an essential role to play in forcing social solidarity and

peaceful living together. The theory of globalization, therefore, helps us to understand that we need to

jointly defend our differences to be able to live together in this contemporary period. Globality in this

sense is an inevitable condition of human interaction at the end of the twentieth century (Ulrich, 2000).

The framework impacts positively the findings of this research because, through education, an

essential and important commitment to practical and tolerant social orders can be achievable through

projects that empower dialogue among students from various nationalities, cultures, religions, and

ethnicities. The theory therefore is confirmed in selected Swedish higher institutions where MCE has

been used to foster tolerance, respect, and multicultural awareness among students of different

cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. It also has a positive impact on the study findings because

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it offers insight into similarities and differences among international, national, and individual MCE

discourses. Moreover, the globalization theory used is valuable in understanding the complexities of

interconnectedness among diversity, education, and society in general. It also helps to explain what

appears to be unavoidable on global influences of local situations and responses to those influences

through various pedagogical tools.

The theory of social justice demands that every student should be given sincere and equitable

opportunities in schools, which will help the students to develop skills and tools to work with others to

interrupt and change unjust patterns and behaviors in themselves and in the institutions. The theory

confirmed that in Sweden, diverse school environments also engage and enable students from different

groups to become involved in discussions to solve complex problems related to living in diverse and

multicultural nations in the world. The theory of social justice used in this study has a positive impact

on the findings, which explains how fundamental is the responsibility of teachers as the main agents of

change to commit themselves to creating an organizational culture of concern and caring that

empowers students, especially underprivileged and silenced ones. It validates the fact that diversity,

education, and social justice are inseparably bound (Boske, 2012).

The qualitative method used in this study has had a positive impact on the findings of this research

because the semi-structured interviews provided deep, worthy, and meaningful responses on the part

of the study participants in this investigation. Fundamental evidence of numerous qualitative scholars

is that the topic matter of social science differs from the subject of the natural sciences. Thus, a key

dissimilarity is that the substances of analysis of the natural sciences cannot contribute meaning to

events and to their environment. Still, people can attribute meaning (Bryman, 2012). In this sense, the

university teachers were able to attribute meaning to the object (MCE) of analysis of the study through

their interactions with the researcher.

6.4.1. The researcher as both outsider and insider

Based on personal experiences, and coupled with several years of working with African immigrants in

Sweden, precisely in Stockholm, the researcher has come across various challenging circumstances

regarding people’s social issues. One of the main problems as well as conflicts that the researcher

encounters often in her work experience is focused more on cultural differences on understanding

children’s education. These issues have a direct link to some other questions that the researcher thinks

are relevant in relation to other disagreements about education in general. First, what is education?

What are our ontological and epistemological views about the world? How do we interpret the best

interests of a child? And so on.

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Nevertheless, it appears difficult to narrate various episodes that were encountered in this part of

dissertation. However, the researcher wishes to illuminate some of her experiences relating to the

influence and power of cultural differences in creating most societal conflicts and misunderstanding

among individuals, nations, and international bases, which are to remind the reader about the

importance of culture in people’s life both individually and as a group. This idea will help to bring our

minds back to various definitions attributed by different authors in defining culture in Chapter 3 of this

paper.

Having encountered many parents complaining about their problems with social authorities and their

children in school, the researcher wishes to advance some reflective questions regarding parents and

their social issues and children’s issues. For example, what does the best interests of a child stand for

in the context of education in Sweden? How do we define and interpret the best interests of a child? Is

there any general consensus of the meaning of the best interests of a child? Is there any universal

definition of the best interests of a child? And if not, which definition are we grounding our argument

upon when separating a child from the parents? How do we really apply this principle to the best

interests of a child in practice? The genuine value of the Guiding principles will, obviously, be tested

and proved only by the degree to which they are utilized in actual practice (UNHCR, 2008). The point

that the researcher is trying to make here is that in the face of globalization, education seems to be

both enhancing and restraining to migrants. Thus, globalization, education, and diversity remain a

complex phenomenon.

Coming to this argument, what is education? Looking at various definitions of education, it seems

obvious that there is no universal agreement on a single meaning of education. But then, drawing

inspiration from Ramirez (2006), the researcher believes that our different answers about what

education is could offer insights that might get to the heart of what kind of knowledge could make a

difference for 21st century education for both adults and children. The researcher suggests that today’s

education mission should promote life in its (holistic) totality, to bring unity and solidarity in the light

of realistic globalization the best expressions of human diverse cultures. Again, in the light of the

complexities of globalization that makes it difficult to understand fully what the future has in store for

the human race in general, it therefore becomes indispensable for today’s education planners and

reformers to think more towards all-encompassing type of teaching and learning.

Moreover, it seems relevant to suggest that the philosophy of education ought to rest on the ethos that

schools should have a calm environment in which teachers should in reality have the possibility to

teach and students are ready and have the cooperation to learn. To this end, it means that to achieve

and maintain a successful and effective school, it is very important to recruit the teachers who know

how to lead and understand what leadership means. So that in our continuous search for a better model

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of education in our contemporary world, it is appropriate to always ask this question: what is a good

school? This is an important question because if one takes away problems and conflicts, “choices will

disappear.” To this point, the researcher recommends that every course of education needs to pay

particular attention to human dignity and cultural differences, particularly in connecting universalism

and particularism, or universal rights and particular differences within those rights. For example, as

revealed in this study, one of the participants claimed that today MCE is taboo in the Swedish context,

while another respondent sees MCE as a hot topic right now along with so many other issues like that.

Consequently, these opinions suggest that time, place, and context need to be considered before

universalizing or particularizing issues.

Additionally, race/color appears to be one of the pertinent aspects of human difference that the

researcher identifies as a neglected area throughout her investigation. The investigator observes that

none of the (teachers) study participants dared to discuss race/color issues. Even when some of the

interview discussions appeared to have been very close to race issues, the respondent did not appear

comfortable to continue in that direction. This situation is most remarkable when some of the

interviewees raised some difficulties in teaching diverse students, which seems well related to race

issues. The researcher, however, tried to orient and question the teachers about the connected issue of

race depending on what the respondent was saying. Still, the respondents did not seem to like giving

responses to questions that emerged out of the discussion. Instead, they would try to twist the response

in another direction, or rather change the discussion to some other differences regarding diversity. The

point that the researcher is trying to highlight here as both an outsider and insider in Sweden is that

even though the issue of race/color is more pronounced in the United States, a concern for lack of the

teachers’ openness regarding race issues is worth pursuing.

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Chapter 7- Concluding Remarks

This case study provided qualitative validation demonstrating that indeed multicultural education is an

effective tool for addressing multicultural societies such as Sweden. MCE is also an active and

important description of the predicament of our current time that is helpful in school reform and

transformation of our society in general. It is an explanation of predicaments related to living diversity

and multicultural nations in our contemporary world. This study indicated that MCE has a particular

operational and valuable talent that helps to navigate in a diverse and multicultural nation like Sweden.

Reforming and providing training of teachers with descriptions of difficulties of our time through

multicultural pedagogical tools in higher education has yielded far reaching encouraging effects on the

lives and maintaining the lives of immigrants and international students in Sweden.

In recognition of social justice and what it stand for in education, the strategies used by the teachers to

foster multicultural awareness affirms and serves as effective consequences brought about in an era of

globalization, particularly on the lives of disadvantaged and less privileged students. The values and

importance of MCE identified in this study are also supportive in reducing misconceptions among

educators and students and also inspires cooperation among students themselves. Moreover, the

findings will improve mutual respect among students from various cultural backgrounds. The study

demonstrates that a multicultural approach has been so fundamental in the empowerment of different

groups in Sweden. It is also a source of liberation to marginalized students to some extent who feel a

sense of belonging to such a multicultural school setting. Finally, this case study generally

demonstrated the fact that the extent and the kind of teachers strategy/s depends largely on their

background and individual views on MCE.

It is quite a pity and difficult to understand that in thirty years of immigration in Sweden, in which

equality, freedom of choice and cooperation have been the three core marks of a multicultural

approach from 1976, one cannot freely discuss or talk openly about his/her religion, the kind of

political opinion one has, and how one perceives the world. Again, because of the government

declaration of Sweden as an official multicultural country, its implementation of a multicultural

approach in schools and every other aspect in society, the findings of this study suggest that

globalization and education and diversity still remain a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. It is

not a process that can be well-defined with a beginning and an end point. But rather, the progression of

globalization, for example, is an unsteady procedure that is continually shifting with the improvement

of human society in general. Thus, this study corroborates the fact that perceptions and interpretations

of these concepts depend to a greater extent on individual cultural background, political ideology,

social status, and ethnic and religious affiliation as well as geographic location. Attention to why most

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of the Swedish government papers today desert multicultural discourse, and focus instead only on

intercultural discourse needs to be explored.

7.1. Suggestions for future research

This study indicates a number of areas that require further investigation. The study explored teachers’

perceptions and strategies of fostering MCE in some selected Swedish higher education. MCE is all

about creating room for tolerance, of which this study pointed to as one of the most important of

multicultural awareness because information is power, and it is only when people are informed, they

know better. And when they know better, they will likely be more tolerant. Therefore, this study

suggests a broader exploration on the subject matter to know the extent of student awareness of

cultural differences and their attitudes towards that. Students’ personal understanding and experiences

of MCE will be interesting to study (using observation tools as well).

It could be interesting to explore the relationship between MCE and holistic education in a pluralistic

society. This relationship is not a question of individual belief; every human being should be respected

regardless of their backgrounds. This concept is important to understand because one cannot go into

the four walls of university and come out with just enough skills and knowledge to become an

engineer, a teacher, or a doctor. One should be able to acquire the knowledge that will help one to

function as well within the society on culture and other aspects of social life in general, recognizing

that we cannot talk about functioning on social aspects without discussing culture and multi-

culturalism. Thus, a multicultural approach in education attempts to make the students and teachers

understand the problems that exist when people come from different backgrounds to study or to teach.

It seems that some teachers in higher education need to be informed and convinced more about the

importance of MCE in a pluralistic society.

Finally, it is evident in the findings of this study that some of the university teachers are fully aware of

the idea of MCE and its implications when teaching in a multicultural school environment. Still, for

some it does not make sense when one is a natural science teacher, for instance. Rather, MCE does

make sense mainly for social science teachers. For that reason, this study proposes further research on

teacher training program in Sweden to provide more insights for educational planners to know which

theme/s require more attention or rather need to be included in the curricula for teacher education.

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Appendix 1: Research Participants Letter

Dear (Name),

My name is Veronica. I am a student in the field of international and comparative education at

Stockholm University. I got your contact from your colleague (name), and am glad that you are

willing to participate in my master’s thesis study. As part of my research work, I am preparing to

conduct a qualitative research of the University teachers. Subsequently, the area of my interest is on

learning about teacher’s perception and understanding of multicultural education in Sweden as well as

their pedagogical strategies for fostering multicultural awareness in students from different cultural

backgrounds. Of course, I will send you the outline of my research as soon as I hear from you. Thank

you so much! Hopping to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Veronica Osuji

Master’s Student

Institute of International Education, Department of Education

Stockholm University

Appendix 2: Information on Research Study Letter

Dear (Name),

Thank you very much for responding positively, and be ready to participate in my study, I appreciate

your taking time to respond to this mail and also your wiliness to take part in my research. As I have

mentioned in the first letter, I am looking for lecturers who will participate in my Master thesis study.

Your colleague who gave me your mail knows me very well. I am studying at Stockholm University.

You can equally access some information at the Institute of International Education (IIE) at the

following link: htt://www.interped.su.se/

Here comes an outline of my research proposal, which I think will help you to understand better the

area of my interest.

The topic: Fostering Multiculturalism in Higher Education

Relevant Themes:

Multiculturalism, diversity, Multicultural society, culture, education, pedagogical strategy, social

justice

Summary of Study Statement

A qualitative case study into the educational views and pedagogical strategies of Swedish university

teachers, with focus on individual perceptions of multicultural education. The investigator is interested

in obtaining direct firsthand information about the Swedish lecturers understanding and perceptions

within the context of international and global discourse on multiculturalism and Swedish educational

reforms.

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Aim and Objective:

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the complexities of education and

diversity. The main objective is to study teachers’ perceptions and understanding of multicultural

education, also to identify the strategies for fostering MCE in higher institutions and the challenges

they face.

The interview would last for about 1 hour. It comprises 1st and 2nd part. It is also my pleasure to let

you know that for academic reasons, our conversations will be recorded if you are comfortable with

that. I would like you to choose and let me know a place that will be convenient and comfortable for

you to talk freely during our discussions. It is also my pleasure to assure you that the information

generated from this research discussions will only be used for academic purpose. This means, your

personal identity will be protected and anonymously preserved. You can as well contact my

department in case of any enquiry. I look forward hearing from you the day and time you will be

available for the interview. Many thanks in advance!

Appendix 3: Interview guide

First part

-Name

-Age

-Sex

-Country of origin

-Have you lived in any country other than Sweden? If yes, which country/s?

-How long have you being a teacher in this institute? Have you taught in another university here in

Sweden before this one? If yes, where?

-Which subject/s are you currently teaching? Have you taught another subjects other than what you are

now teaching? If yes, which subject/s and where?

-Have you taught or been a teacher elsewhere other than in Sweden? If yes, elaborate little

-Have you heard about teaching for global MC awareness? Have you heard about MCE? Have you

heard about global education? Have you heard about education for diversity?

- Have you ever experienced or feel discriminated from another group or a person different from you?

If yes, please could you share little?

Second part

1. How do you perceive multicultural education?

a. What pedagogical strategies do you use to foster multicultural awareness among your students?

What are your challenges? Why do you think that it is important to enhance student’s awareness of

multiculturalism in higher education?

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2. What do you understand by social justice in teaching students from different background? What

have you perceived as the major obstacles for social justice in MC school environment such as

Sweden?

3. What values do you think that the contemporary multicultural advocates aim to instill in students of

higher institution? Why do you think that teaching openness to other cultures are important?

NB: Remember, this is a semi-structured interview guide. And so, flexibility to allow for follow up

investigative questions are not enclosed in this interview guide.

78

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