Workshop organised jointly with project “Intercultural Education” at UNED * Summary of contributions

Day 1
Caridad Herrandez: although it is mentioned frequently in all kinds of (social, political, scientific, etc) discourses, the meaning of „integration“ is unclear. Integration is often understood and lived as assimilation, connected to loss of identity by those who are integrated. Integration of parts in order to form a whole thing. Integrate “something which had been missing”? Both parts inter-act in spaces of joint interest, affecting both. Nation-state intends to mono-culturise, “normalise”. Minoritisation of victims. “Rights which include, and differences which exclude”. What kind of integration do measures in the school system aim at? Reach? What is their internal logic? What are the requirements for those to-be-integrated, and those where they are “integrated”? Differences are there to be homogenised? Integration as process between majority and minority? Why to integrate? And until where to integrate?

Jennifer Lucko: Latin-American migrants in Madrid. Ethnicisation of all social relations, neglect of other identities. Being reduced to only one identity reduces, limits, hurts. Do we reinforce is through our research questions?? See Ethnicity without groups!

Traude Müllauer-Seichter: Agenda21, involve kids in decision-making; is already used in countries like Germany and Switzerland, should be considered also in Spain. Institutionalisation of highly valuable ideas means often bureaucracy, standardisation, legalisation – and loses its life.

Teresa Aguado, Beatriz Malik, Belén Ballesteros and Inés Gil Jaurena: Cultural diversity and equal opportunities (diversity vs difference; cultural diversity vs different cultures; obligatory education vs equal opportunities). Areas and questions of research: intercultural competence, social equity and inclusion, student background and achievement. Dimensions of research: personal/individual, processes, achievements. Diversity – inclusion – Differences do not exist at the level of reality, but at the level of symbols applied in direct interaction (Abdallah – Madrid 2006). Analysis and observation of what teachers DO and what they do NOT DO. From kindergarden to doctoral studies there is a big hole: no discussion, no variety of knowledge, static evaluation, etc. Stupid repetition of a single course book content without questioning or discussing, in uniform exams for all - is considered a preparation for university, to start as of 6 years of age – i.e. a sign of quality. For teachers, most is fine, the system is auto-reproducing: evaluation is an objective in itself (diagnosis, control – not a process); success or failure depends mainly on students’ capacities and background! (= role of teachers is low!); difficult classes are left for un-experienced teachers. Possible solutions: Remove the view of diversity as a deficit; Re-conceptualise evaluation – try to match declared values and evaluation criteria! Reach good result not only individuals but for all. Teachers should stop seeing schools as places of control, rather as places of learning!

Margarita del Olmo: difficulties in seeing the results of the Aulas Enlaces Programme, despite its goals and successes, as it is not reaching the objectives it has, and actually is perpetuating systemic inequalities based on one criterion: birthplace

Encarna Rodríguez: highly useful attempts to define with kids what it means to be “Spanish”, re-conceptualise identities – despite tight restrictions for teachers to deviate from the standard curriculum and systemic requirements. The result was an appreciation of multi-linguism, and the discovery of multiple identities of the students.

Elisabeth Lorenzi: experiences in school with very high number of Gypsy students, and special classes of support for them. (Book: between difference and conflict).

Bernd Baumgartl: presented three different views of intergration in Austria: the government’s, the report of an expert group engaged by the Ministry of Interior, and the contribution of the NGO Zara, who criticise the government and propose a future-oriented view based on the bi-directional concepts of – not the over-used and discredited "integration" and "tolerance", but – Achtsamkeit (mindfulness; circunspección) and Teilhabe (involvement; com-participación).

Day 2
Matilde Fernández: historical view of integration attempts during 20th century

Patricia Mata: integration – clear asymmetry between agents and objects of integration (negative connotation); Better terms: accommodation, participation, inclusion. Citizenship as the avenue: What is a citizen, What does a citizen do, How does concept of citizenship evolve – 3 dimension: identity, pertinence, participation – latter most important.

Carmen Osuna: participatory observation in class on aspects of inclusion and integration; diversity: is continuously negated. Found classification of students only by physical traits (although born in, raised in, citizen of, Spain. Schools resemble prisons. Relation teacher-student (hierarchical, ridicules has long-term implication), Education practice (no debate, no team learning, teachers do not reflect on and question themselves), Stereotypes and prejudices (profs have expectations for each: negative/positive – difficult to overcome, not integrated, stamped).

Marissa Cárdenas: teachers exclude parents and students from certain resources. Inclusion and integration: the effect of education should be detecting lacks?? Kids “with problems” in class, outside class prove un-problematic;
Claudia Becci: “integration is when immigrants realise their otherness, pick up some other habits, feel at ease in new society”. Sessions, also by voluntary leaders do not tell their own story, but work on issues – immigrants not at margin of society; normalise status of immigrants. In contrast, they stay “immigrants” as there are “problems”.

Alicia Re Cruz: frontier context in Texas - although only 35% in total, 50% of kids with Latino background frequent public schools. Adaptation, assimilation, acculturation are used in USA, newcomers have a deficit - instead of “integration”. More appropriate to use the term “process of accommodation”. Teachers needed to learn about values and cultural relativism in order to develop empathy with immigrant students, and understand the high importance of belonging to a community (participatory action-research).

Fernando Mejía: Training for youth in Madrid on questions of globalisation: how and why did this activities start, and what was their effect in the classrooms? New method needed, by which youth are protagonists, in all aspects (selection of themes, manner of work, etc). Educator/coordinator is only one of them. Give autonomy, ask for responsibility – open model of participation. Success suggests transfer of model also to schools system. Integration: why should we intregrate, conflicts - integration is only for poor and disadvantaged – not for privileged immigrants.

Isabel Torrevijano, Juan Alcázar and Ángela Almodovar: being different means being special: they ran a theatre programme for children; differences as something normal – also kids are able to enter somebody else’s shoes as actors. They can understand other realities, with high creativity. Participation in colegios is much higher than in cultural centres. Kids always identify with the discriminated person.

Sara Sama: field work in Évora/Southern Portugal; 2 groups: ethnic minority and gypsies – but is was difficult to identify them as such. 4 areas/urban spaces: school turned out to be a relevant arena. School building and setting (bureaucratisation) conditions the education process! How, etc. Huge differences between 2 schools; Schools as mechanisms of standardisation of generalisation etc has an existential problem with differences and diversity.

Concluding remarkts:
Education processes as social sphere: they appear in all kinds of contexts, inside and outside school, formally and non-formally. This variety of experiences should be presented to and introduced into schools. School is not isolated from societal questions, but also not from the power system in a state – it is essential part of the perpetuation of state hierarchies.

(Note: A concluding document – to be co-authored by the entire team - is under preparation, and will form the last chapter of the forthcoming publication which will contain all papers of the workshop.)

Bernd Baumgartl