Module Four

Mainstream

Course One

Lifelong Learning in the Global Context

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 CHAPTER ONE

Introduction Concept for Lifelong Learning

Meaning of lifelong learning

Lifelong learning is a familiar concept in ordinary conversation and in public policy

discourses. Though the history, genesis, and various meanings of lifelong learning are noble, it
has in more recent times been identified with functional interests, economic goals, and one-
dimensional interpretations.

Lifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an
individual. It occurs through experiences encountered/ in the course of a lifetime. These
experiences could be formal (training, counseling, tutoring, mentorship, apprenticeship, higher
education, etc.) or informal (experiences, situations, etc.) Lifelong learning, also known as
LLL, is the. As such, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal
development, but also competitiveness and employability.
Lifelong learning is a form of self-initiated education that is focused on personal development.

While there is no standardized definition of lifelong learning, it has generally been taken to refer to

the learning that occurs outside of a formal educational institute, such as a school, university or

corporate training.

Lifelong learning does not necessarily have to restrict itself to informal learning, however. It is best

described as being voluntary with the purpose of achieving personal fulfillment. The means to

achieve this could result in informal or formal education.

There is general agreement that our society is changing into a knowledge and information
society. We will face new opportunities and new challenges in all dimensions of our lives. But
the future is not out there to be "discovered": It has to be invented and designed. A research
agenda on "Learning and Intelligent Systems" must focus on "making learning a part of life,"
and the implications this has on how under the influence of new media, new social structures,
and new objectives for a quality of life human beings will think, create, work, learn, and
collaborate in the future.

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Current trends in educational theory make the following fundamental assumptions about
learning:
 Learning is a process of knowledge construction, not of knowledge recording or
absorption.
 Learning is knowledge-dependent; people use their existing knowledge to construct
new knowledge.
 Learning is highly tuned to the situation in which it takes place.
 Learning needs to account for distributed cognition requiring knowledge in the head to
combine with knowledge in the world.
 Learning is affected as much by motivational issues as by cognitive issues.
 Lifelong Learning is the provision or use of both formal and informal learning
opportunities throughout people's lives in order to foster the continuous development
and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment and personal
fulfillment.
In the African context, Lifelong Learning may refer to an individual's continuous acquisition of
knowledge and skills over time and the ability to pass them on to others in a manner that is
understood. The ability to pass this knowledge and skills on from one person to another is very
important as it keeps the learning cycle in motion and makes it 'lifelong'.
Thus, lifelong learning enables learners to learn at different times, in different ways, for
different purposes at various stages of their lives and careers. Lifelong learning is
concerned with providing learning opportunities throughout life, while developing lifelong
learners.
Lifelong learners never think of themselves as the ultimate expert in anything. They
continue to learn and bring a great deal to the organization and groups they belong to.

Examples of lifelong learning here are some of the types of lifelong learning initiatives that you
can engage in:

 developing a new skill (eg. sewing, cooking, programming, public speaking, etc)
 Self-taught study (eg. learning a new language, researching a topic of interest,
subscribing to a podcast, etc)
 Learning a new sport or activity (eg. Joining martial arts, learning to ski, learning to

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 exercise, et
 learning to use a new technology (smart devices, new software applications, etc)
 acquiring new knowledge (taking a self-interest course via online education or
classroom-based course)
Education and learning
Education is an institutionalized learning process and as such it may be seen as the way in
which society respond to the basic learning needs in humankind.
Education may now be defined as ‗any institutionalized and planned series of incidents,
having a humanistic basis, directed towards the participants learning and understanding‘

Peters rightly claimed that to be an educated person is not to have arrived but to travel with a
different view during life. Hence, for him, the educated person is both educated and being
educated throughout the whole of his life. Indeed, if the state were achieved then the process
must continue or else it would be lost. Hence it is maintained here that the process is significant,
perhaps more significant than the state or the end-product. Therefore, no initial or
intergeneration aspect may be considered intrinsic to the concept of education, since the
educated person should always be in the process of being educated.

Education is a marvelous thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is
worth learning can be taught. “Traditional vs. Lifelong Learning"

Characteristics of Traditional and Lifelong Learning Models

Traditional learning
 The teacher is the source of knowledge
 Learners receive knowledge from the teacher
 Learners work by themselves
 Tests are given to prevent progress until students have completely mastered a set of skills
and to ration access to further learning
 All learners to the same thing
 Teachers receive initial training plus ad hoc in-service training.
 ―Good‖ learners are identified and permitted to continue later education

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Lifelong learning
 Educators are guides to sources of knowledge
 People learn by doing
 People learn in groups and from each other
 Assessment is used to guide learning strategies and to identify pathways for future
learning.
 Educators develop individualized learning plans
 Educators are lifelong learners. Initial training and ongoing professional development are
linked
 People have access to learning opportunities over a lifetime.
 Learning is put into practice.
 Learners reflect upon learning and analyze their personal development
Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every
ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. However, most of what
we learn before, during, and after attending schools is learned without its being taught to us. A
child learns such fundamental things as how to walk, talk, eat, and dress, and so on without
being taught these things. Adults learn most of what they use at work or at leisure while at work
or leisure. Most of what is taught in classroom settings is forgotten, and much or what is
remembered is irrelevant.

In most schools, memorization is mistaken for learning. Most of what is remembered is

remembered only for a short time, but then is quickly forgotten. (How many remember how to
take a square root or ever have a need to?) Furthermore, even young children are aware of the
fact that most of what is expected of them in school can better be done by computers, recording
machines, cameras, and so on. They are treated as poor surrogates for such machines and
instruments. Why should children — or adults, for that matter — be asked to do something
computers and related equipment can do much better than they can?

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Tough (1979), among others, demonstrated that many of the adults‘ learning projects are
completely self-directed and that neither a teacher nor an educational institution is necessary to
their successful implementation. Yet it would be difficult to claim that many of these projects
were not educational, since they are intended and planned. It might be more true to claim that
the more self-directed the project the greater the likelihood that learners can respond to their
own learning needs and also self-actualize in the process, thus demonstrating the humanistic
nature of education and learning itself. Consequently, it may be seen that while the learner is an
essential element in the learning process, the teacher is not. Learning may, and often does,
occur without teaching, but the extent to
which teaching can occur without learners and learning is much more debatable. A teacher
may claim to have taught a subject and say that nobody learned anything – but would the claim
actually be correct? If nobody had learned, had the teacher actually taught or only tried to teach
but not succeeded? Teaching is dependent upon the learners being present – either actually or
virtually, but not that they learn.

Teaching may be regarded as the intention to bring about learning (Hirst and Peters,1970), but if
it is unsuccessful it may be viewed as unsuccessful teaching rather than as an unsuccessful
attempt to teach. Unsuccessful teaching may also occur when some learning has resulted from
the teaching but when all the intentions have not been achieved. It can be seen that this form of
argument is one of the reasons why, in contemporary society, the concept of education has been
seen as inadequate and more recently the term learning has assumed a greater prominence for
what might previously have been seen as educational. Learning is often defined in behavioral

‗any more or less permanent change in behavior which is the result of experience‘ (1967)
terms; Hilgard and Atkinson, for instance, define it as

However, the acquisition of new knowledge need not result in behavioral change, but learning
has occurred.

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Hence this definition is too narrow. It is, therefore, proposed to regard one aspect of learning as
any process of receiving and assessing any aspect, or aspects, of culture.
Many different learning processes occur during the human lifespan, but not all of them may be
considered educational, since any definition necessarily excludes as well as includes. Some
forms of teaching and learning, such as indoctrination, may be seen as a learning process but not
an educational one. Self-directed learning, for instance, may be considered to be educational but
it is not necessarily part of institutionalized education unless it is used as a teaching method.
Additionally, there are some teaching techniques that rarely allow for the learner‘s own
humanity and experience to surface, and when these techniques are employed, some questions
must be raised about the extent to which the learning process is educational (see Jarvis,
1983a:80–93 for further analysis). Since education is regarded here as a humanistic process,
teaching must be seen to be a moral activity and teaching and learning as a moral interaction
(Jarvis, 1997).

Lifelong education is every institutionalized learning opportunity, having a humanistic basis,

directed towards the participant‘s development that may occur at any stage in the lifespan. This
development might refer to knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, beliefs and the senses
– the whole person.

Experience-Based Learning (EBL)

The distinguishing feature of experience-based learning (or experiential learning) is that the
experience of the learner occupies central place in all considerations of teaching and learning.
This experience may comprise earlier events in the life of the learner, current life events, or
those arising from the learner's participation in activities implemented by teachers and
facilitators. A key element of experience-based learning (henceforth referred to as EBL) is that
learners analyze their experience by reflecting, evaluating and reconstructing it (sometimes
individually, sometimes collectively, sometimes both) in order to draw meaning from it in the
light of prior experience. This review of their experience may lead to further action.Experience-
Based Learningis based on a set of assumptions about learning from experience. These have
been identified by Boud, Cohen and Walker (1993) as:

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  experience is the foundation of and the stimulus for learning
 learners actively construct their own experience
 learning is a holistic process
 learning is socially and culturally constructed
 Learning is influenced by the socio-emotional context in which it occur
Participants have used the following quote, attributed to Confucius, to express their conviction
that experiential learning is effective.

 I hear and I forget

 I see and I remember
 I do and I understand
Continuing Education – refers properly to that part of education which takes place after the
conclusion of initial or basic (elementary) education. The term is more particularly applied to
courses other than full-time, further or higher education; hence, part-time further education,
much adult education and vocational and recurrent professional training are all commonly
provided for under this label: continuing education.

Other scholars Venables, for instance, defined continuing education as ‗all learning
opportunities which can be taken up after full-time compulsory schooling has ceased. They can
be full-time or part-time and will include both vocational and non-vocational study‘ (1976). But
McIntosh (1979) disagreed with the definition, suggesting rather that continuing education
refers to post-initial rather than post compulsory education. The logic of this suggestion is quite
clear: initial education may continue for longer than compulsory education, so if continuing
education followed compulsory education it might actually commence during initial education
for many people. Hence, it may be concluded that continuing education is post-initial education
(which could include higher education), but that it is not synonymous with lifelong education.
Lifelong education should make no distinction between initial and post-initial education
whereas continuing education refers only to the latter part of lifelong education.

Initial Education: the idea underlying initial education is that at a given stage in the lifespan
individuals have stored away sufficient knowledge and skill to serve them for the remainder of
their lives, so that their education is then complete. Initial education is the education of
individuals before their first entrance to the labor market, in other words when they will

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normally be in full-time education. It thus targets individuals who are regarded as children, youth
and young adults by their society.

Its goals are to ensure the full development of every human being from conception, its existence
and right to live in family and environmental conducive conditions, before the responsibility of
the State and pursue development psicobiosocial of the child care programs through the mother
in periods pre and postnatal support and social protection.
Initial education aims to promote the physical, cognitive, affective and social development of
children under four years of age and includes guidance for parents or guardians to their children's
education.

E-learning

As the world becomes more connected and globalized, more people have consistent access to
the internet, computers, smart phones, and other technological devices. When we provide
people with learning opportunities on these devices, they can use them to access timely
resources and training while on the job.

E-Learning is the use of technology to enable people to learn anytime and anywhere. E-
Learning can include training, the delivery of just-in-time information and guidance from
experts.

Did you know that almost everyone who uses a computer has completed some type of e-
learning? Perhaps it was called web-based training, or online learning, or computer-based
training, but it‘s all under the same e-learning umbrella. E-learning can encompass a wide
variety of online initiatives. So a good, broad way to think about e-learning is as the use of
electronic media (computers, tablets, or phones) to educate or train learners.

Learning Society

1. the learning society can be defined as an environment in which the plurality of actors
contribute to the construction of shared knowledge in a continuous and procedural perspective,
whether individual or collective, and in all areas of society . Learn more in: Information,
Knowledge, and Learning Society

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2. A group of people who are bound together by a primary focus on learning as a major guiding
principle throughout life. Learn more in: Nation Building through Andragogy and Lifelong
Learning: On the Cutting Edge Educationally, Economically, and Governmentally.

3. It is a society committed to active citizenship and equal opportunities. It aims at providing

learning opportunities to educate adults to meet the challenges of change and citizenship, as
well as the demands for the updating of skills and competences (in a lifelong learning
perspective)..

The main characteristics of a learning society

A. A learning society should be founded on the acquisition, renewal and use of knowledge.
B. LLL should be an imperative for democracy, which is equality of schooling and of
continuing training should be offered to each individual throughout his life regardless
of his failure or achievement during his educational journey.
C. LLL should be multidimensional with new times and fresh fields, so that the
educational environment is diversified and learning goes beyond formal systems with
the support of other social actors, such as communities, work places, Medias.
D. Educational synergies should be enhanced through collaboration and partnerships with
families, industry and business, voluntary associations, people active in cultural life, as
well as international cooperation.
E. Learners should develop awareness of themselves and their environment and should
play their social role as active learners as well as teachers within the learning society.
Lifelong learning in a learning society
It may be broadly defined as learningthat is pursued throughout life: learning that is flexible,
diverse and available at different times and in different places. Lifelong learning crosses sectors,
promoting learning beyond traditional schooling and throughout adult life (i.e. post-compulsory
education). This definition is based on Jacques Delorsfour ‗pillars‘ of education for the future.
This is underpinned by "Learning to Learn".
Lifelong learning can instill creativity, initiative and responsiveness in people thereby enabling
them to show adaptability in post-industrial society through enhancing skills to:

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  Manage uncertainty,
 Communicate across and within cultures, sub-cultures, families and communities,
 Negotiate conflicts.
The emphasis is on learningto learn and the ability to keep learning for a lifetime.
Learning Societylooks beyond formal educational environments and locates learning as a quality
not just of individuals but also as an element of systems.
What is a Learning City?

Cities differ in their cultural and ethnic composition, in their heritage and social structures.
However, many characteristics of a learning city are common to all. The initiative on learning
cities developed by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning defines a learning city as
follows:

A Learning City is a city which effectively mobilizes its resources in every sector to

 promote inclusive learning from basic to higher education;

 revitalize learning in families and communities;
 facilitate learning for and in the workplace;
 extend the use of modern learning technologies;
 enhance quality and excellence in learning; and
 Foster a culture of learning throughout life.
In so doing it will create and reinforce individual empowerment and social cohesion, economic
and cultural prosperity, and sustainable development.

Knowledge Based Economy

A knowledge-based economy relies on the use of ideas rather than physical abilities and on the
application of technology rather than the exploitation of cheap labor. It is an economy in which
knowledge is created, acquired, transmitted, and used more effectively by individuals,
companies, and communities to promote economic and social development. Today in industrial
countries such as the U.S and Europe, knowledge-based industries are expanding rapidly where
new technologies have been introduced, demand for high-skilled workers, particularly in
information technology workers has increased significantly but at the same time, demand for

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lower-skilled workers has declined and this put a lot of pressure on the current education system
of industrial countries to produce more high skilled people.

The information technology revolution has provided new opportunities for easy access to
information from anywhere. It has also created new opportunities for generating and
transferring information via the internet, the personal computer, and the mobile phone.
Knowledge networks and sharing of information have expedited innovation and adaptation
worldwide. Changes in information technology have revolutionized the transmission of
information as semiconductors are getting faster, computer memories are expanding, and
computing prices are falling. Data transmission costs have fallen dramatically and continue to
fall, bandwidth is growing, and Internet hosts are multiplying in every country. Cellular phone
usage is also growing worldwide, adding to the pace of and capacity for change and innovation.
The information technology revolution has promoted more trading and business worldwide and
countries that are able to integrate their economy into the world economy have experienced
significant economic growth as in cases of India, China, Ireland and some Eastern European
countries. The global economy also provided opportunities to smaller companies to take
advantage quickly if they can adapt faster to changes comparing with larger companies because
in this new knowledge-based economy, the bigger companies cannot overcome the smaller one
anymore but it is the faster will beat the slow.
In the early day of the knowledge-based economy around 1990, it took six years to go from
concept to production in the automobile industry but today that process takes just two years.
Companies like Honda, Toyota create new cars every two years to compete with well-
established companies like GM, Ford, Mercedes, and Renault which introduce new cars every
four to five years. Guess who come out as winners. The same thing happened in the mobile
phone business, in the early day Motorola dominates this market by having a new phone every
two years then Nokia created new phone every year and eventually took over the market. Today
Samsung, LG, Sony and many Asian companies can produce ten to twenty new phones every
six months and the competition for global cell phone market continue.

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A typical knowledge economy is based on four components:
1. A supportive government policy on economic to provide incentives for the efficient use
of existing and new knowledge.
2. An educated and skilled workers to create, shares, and use knowledge for economic
advantage
3. A dynamic information infrastructure to facilitate the effective communication,
dissemination, and processing of information such as internet, mobile phones etc.
4. An efficient system of companies, university research centers and government agencies
to tap into the growing global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs, and
create new technology.
Preparing workers to compete in the knowledge economy requires a new model of education
and training, a model of lifelong learning to keep up with the change in technology. In the past,
students go to schools get degrees then go to work in industry and they can function for a long
time because what they know are still valid but today information technology revolution
changes everything.

In order to make lifelong learning effective, we must change our thinking from go to school
for a degree or certificate to attending school to acquire knowledge and to mature as
individual in the knowledge–based economy.

From the economic theory, overall knowledge and skills can be accumulated as inputs in the
production of economic wealth of a country. In addition, to measure capital and production,
knowledge-based economy will also measure skills and knowledge, ideas and inventions.
Because the speed of change in the knowledge economy,

 every skill will depreciate over time so to compete effectively in this constantly changing
environment,

 every worker must continue to upgrade their skills and

 Government must keep continue education as the top priority.

Because change in the knowledge economy is so rapid companies cannot rely solely on hiring
new graduates as the primary source of new skills and knowledge but must rely on other
training institutions to prepare workers for lifelong learning. Because of the rapid changes,

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educational systems can no longer emphasize academic theories and task-specific skills such as
programming languages in information technology training but must focus instead on the total
system such as developing decision making and problem-solving skills and teaching students on
how to learn on their own (Learning by doing) and with others (Team learning).
I strongly believe that Lifelong learning is crucial in enabling workers to compete in the global
economy. A good education can help reduce poverty and brings prosperity; if countries do not
promote lifelong learning, the skills and technology gap between them and industrial countries
will continue to grow and it will be very difficult to catch up. By improving people‘s ability to
function as members of their communities, education and training can also increase social
cohesion or local ties.
Stage of Lifelong Learning
Learning is therefore part of life which takes place at all times and in all places. It is a
continuous lifelong process, going on from birth to the end of our life, beginning with learning
from families, communities, schools, religious institutions, workplaces, etc. The African
traditional society envisioned lifelong learning by the roles one was expected to play in society
from child, youth (boy or girl), young adult, and junior elder to senior elder. Today with less
defined changes in life roles there is need for new strategies to motivate lifelong learning.
Age 0-5 years During this age group, a lot of learning takes place and it provides very
important insight into learning as and a foundation for future learning habits and
resourcefulness. This is probably the age with the highest amount of informal learning as
children imitate almost everything from parents, peers and their environment. Psychologists
such as Sigmund Freud and other behavioral psychologists also show the importance of
childhood learning and to them this stage affects all the other learning abilities later in life.
Today in parts of Africa and the world over some children begin school as early as two years
old, this also creates a base for appreciating formal and institutionalized learning.
Learning of the 6 – 24 age group primarily takes place in educational institutions, from
primary and secondary to tertiary levels. Family life, social organizations, religious institutions,
and mass media can also play a role in non-formal and informal learning during this time. The
objective of learning in this period is the holistic development of learners in four aspects,
namely: physical, intellectual, social capacity, emotional and mental development.

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Learning in the 25-60 age group
Learning during the working life of the 25 – 60 age group can learn informally through the use
of instructional media, mostly from their occupations, work-places, colleagues, touring, mass
media, information technologies, environment and nature. Adults learn from experiences and
problem solving. They therefore need continuous development of intellect, capability and
integrity.
Learning in the 60+ age group
Learning in old age (over 60 years old) elderly people can learn a great deal from activities
suitable to their age e.g. art, music, sports for the elderly, handicrafts and social work. They are
highly respected in Thai society; capable of searching for knowledge and provide intellectual
support to local communities. They can also carry out voluntary work in community
organizations, clubs and associations. Such work makes their lives meaningful as well as
bringing benefits to society.
Here are some tips for installing the Habit of Lifelong Learning
1) always have a book.
It doesn‘t matter if it takes you a year or a week to read a book. Always strive to have a book
that you are reading through, and take it with you so you can read it when you have time. Just
by shaving off a few minutes in-between activities in my day I can read about a book per week.
That‘s at least fifty each year.
2) Keep a “To-Learn” List
We all have to-do lists. These are the tasks we need to accomplish. Try to also have a ―to-learn‖
list. On it you can write ideas for new areas of study. Maybe you would like to take up a new
language, learn a skill or read the collective works of Shakespeare. Whatever motivates you,
write it down.
3) Get More Intellectual Friends
Start spending more time with people who think. Not just people who are smart. But people
who actually invest much of their time in learning new skills. Their habits will rub off on you.
Even better, they will probably share some of their knowledge with you.

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4) Guided Thinking
Albert Einstein once said, ―Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls
into lazy habits of thinking.‖ Simply studying the wisdom of others isn‘t enough, you have to
think through ideas yourself. Spend time journaling, meditating or contemplating over ideas you
have learned.
5) Put it Into Practice
Skill based learning is useless if it isn‘t applied. Reading a book isn‘t the same thing as writing
a program. Studying painting isn‘t the same as picking up a brush. If your knowledge can be
applied, put it into practice.
6) Teach Others
You learn what you teach. If you have an outlet of communicating ideas to others, you are more
likely to solidify that learning. Start a blog, mentor someone or even discuss ideas with a friend.
7) Clean your Input
Some forms of learning are easy to digest, but often lack substance. It is better to make a point
of regularly cleaning out my feed reader for blogs subscribed to. Great blogs can be a powerful
source of new ideas. Every few months, purify your input to save time and focus on what
counts.
8) Learn in Groups
Lifelong learning doesn‘t mean condemning yourself to a stack of dusty textbooks. Join
organizations that teach skills. Workshops and group learning events can make educating
yourself a fun, social experience.
9) Unlearn Assumptions
You can‘t add water to a full cup. It is better always try to maintain a distance away from any
idea. Too many convictions simply mean too few paths for new ideas. Actively seek out
information that contradicts your worldview.

10) Find Jobs that Encourage Learning

Pick a career that encourages continual learning. If you are in a job that doesn‘t have much
intellectual freedom, consider switching to one that does. Don‘t spend forty hours of your week
in a job that doesn‘t challenge you.

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11) Start a Project
Set out to do something you don‘t know how. Forced learning in this way can be fun and
challenging. If you don‘t know anything about computers, try building one. If you consider
yourself a horrible artist, try a painting.

12) Follow Your Intuition

Lifelong learning is like wandering through the wilderness. You can‘t be sure what to expect
and there isn‘t always an end goal in mind. Letting your intuition guide you can make self-
education more enjoyable. Most of our lives have been broken down to completely logical
decisions, that making choices on a whim (impulse) has been stamped out.
13) The Morning Fifteen
Use the first fifteen minutes of your morning as a period for education. If you find yourself too
tired, you might want to wait a short time. Just don’t put it off later in the day where urgent
activities will push it out of the way.
14) Reap the Rewards
Learn information you can use. Understanding the basics of programming allows one to handle
projects that other people would require outside help. Meeting a situation that makes use of your
educational efforts can be a source of pride.
15) Make it a Priority
Few external forces are going to persuade you to learn. The desire has to come from within.
Once you decide you want to make lifelong learning a habit, it is up to you to make it a priority
in your life.
Lifelong Learning classes enrich and improve your life. They help you pursue interests
and hobbies, grow in your career and meet professional requirements, or simply learn
something new and fascinating
Benefits of lifelong learning
A number of important socio-economic forces are pushing for the lifelong learning approach.
The increased pace of globalization and technological change, the changing nature of work
and the labour market, and the ageing of populations are among the forces emphasizing the need
for continuing upgrading of work and life skills throughout life. The demand is for a rising

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threshold of skills as well as for more frequent changes in the nature of the skills required.It has
also been said that: Lifelong learning's core values of learning, exploring, and serving, coupled
with benefits for the mind, body and spirit make it an incredibly powerful tool for personal
improvement.
The pursuit of knowledge through lifelong learning—whether it‘s learning how to dance,
develop profession, speak a foreign language, write a newsletter, improve your golf swing, or
repair your car—has wonderful benefits for adults
 Lifelong learning helps fully develop natural abilities.
 Lifelong learning opens the mind.
 Lifelong learning creates a curious, hungry mind.
 Lifelong learning increases our wisdom.
 Lifelong learning makes the world a better place.
 Lifelong learning helps us to adapt to change.
 Lifelong learning helps us find meaning in our lives.
 Lifelong learning keeps us involved as active contributors to society.
 Lifelong learning helps us make new friends and establish valuable relationships.
 Lifelong learning leads to an enriching life of self-fulfillment
Characteristics of Lifelong Learning
 Acquires all form of learning and training.
 Self-motivated learning
 The necessary skills and attitudes for learning, especially literacy and numeracy skills;
 The confidence to learn, including a sense of engagement with the education and training
system;
 Willingness and motivation to learn.
The notion of learning society gained considerable recognition because:
If learning involves all of one's life, in the sense of both time-span and diversity, and all of
society, including its social and economic as well as its educational resources, then we must go
even further than the necessary overhaul of 'educational systems' until we reach the stage of a
learning society.

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The learning society is an educated society, committed to active citizenship, liberal democracy
and equal opportunities. This supports lifelong learning within the social policy frameworks of
post-Second World War social democracies. The aim is to provide learning opportunities to
educate adults to meet the challenges of change and citizenship. Support for this conception was
put forward largely by liberal educators in the metropolitan areas of the industrialized North in
the 1960s and 1970s.
Be a Lifelong Learner
 Make learning a deliberate, intentional choice in your life
 Have a to-learn list
 Read constantly, every day, and have a reading queue
 Seek out information that contradicts your worldview
 Always have at least one project going

Characteristics of a Lifelong Learner

Curiosity
You‘re greedily curious. You‘re never satisfied, and you have more questions than most. For
instance, How come the right side of the brain controls left-sided motor functions? Intellectual
curiosity is a sign of intelligence.You have a sense of wonder and surprise and delight that
you‘ve never lost. Watching a time-lapse flower bud unfolds or viewing a virus under a
microscope leaves you awestruck and appreciative, if not humbled.

Reader

Lifelong learners are passionate readers. As a youngster, you hid under the covers with a
flashlight to read at night. You would have read at the dinner table if only your mother had
allowed. You usually prefer the book version to the movie version.

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Driven

You‘re driven, some would say obsessed. You have a drive and a desire to learn. You push to
stay on top of best practice through continuing education. You are planning your next
certification, registering for your next class, or pursuing your next degree. You‘re intense, you‘re
goal-oriented, and you love it!

Skeptic

You‘re a healthy skeptic. You don‘t accept what you‘re told or what you read at face value. You
have an inner fact-checker that spots inconsistencies, fallacies in logic, and contradictions. You
demand supporting evidence. You‘ve learned that most people aren‘t like you in that regard, and
so you validate claims yourself. You find the response ―Because we‘ve always done it that way‖
to be neither amusing nor an indicator of intelligence. You challenge the status-quo, the nursing
myths and sacred cows.

Researcher

You look things up. You can zig-zag around the internet for hours at a time. You seek
evidence from the source. Want to know central line dressing change frequency? CDC. Use of
Standing Orders? CMS. Scope of practice? Your state‘s Board of Registered Nursing.

Critical Thinker

You‘re a critical and complex thinker. You don‘t just passively absorb information, you analyze
it, you synthesize it, and you apply it. You have the ability to spot existing or emerging patterns
and you‘re skilled in ―sense making‖.

Teacher

You‘re a teacher, no matter what your official job title is! Coworkers view you as a resource and
an expert. They ask for your advice because they know you‘ll give them accurate information.
You love to share knowledge because you get it that we all learn through sharing and openness.

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You value transparency.

You demonstrate initiative, you‘re motivated, and you‘re self-directed. You are usually one step
ahead of others. You are blessed and cursed with the ability to foresee the problems that lie
ahead if the team continues on the path they‘re on. You are unable to stand by idly once you‘ve
identified a problem, and you will address it when others don‘t or won‘t.

Creative

You‘re adaptable and creative. You work with the resources at hand and don‘t make excuses.
You‘re always creating something new. For you, it‘s like giving birth each time you complete or
launch a project. You have learned to trust your intuition and you rely on it in decision-making.

Communicator

You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and you continually seek to improve
them. You can break down a process and articulate it easily for the user understands.

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 Chapter Two

Lifelong Learning in South and North

The Key Features of South (Periphery) and North (Core)

The periphery countries (the south) are those that are, the less developed than the core
countries. These countries usually receive a disproportionate small share of global wealth. They
have weak state institutions and are dependent on according to same exploited by –more
developed countries. These countries are usually behind because of obstacles such as lack of
technology, unstable government, and poor education and health systems. By the exploitation of
periphery counter‘s agriculture, cheap labor, and natural recourses, core countries can remain
dominant.

The core countries are the industrialized capitalist countries on which. Core countries control
and benefit from the global market. They are usually recognized as wealthy nations with a wide
variety of resources and are in a favorable location compared to other states. They have strong
state institutions, powerful military and powerful global political alliances.

The characteristics of north nations

 The most economically diversified, wealthy and powerful

 Have strong central governments and powerful militaries
 Highly industrialized, produce manufactured goods rather than raw materials for
export
 Increasingly tend to specialize in information, finance and service industries.
 More often in the forefront of new technologies and new industries. Examples today
include high technology electronic and biotechnology industries.
 Have significant means of influence over noncore nations.
 Independent of outside control.

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The five most important benefits coming to core nations from their damnation of periphery
nations:

 Access to a large quantity of raw material

 Cheap labor
 Enormous profits from direct capital investments
 A market for exports
 Skilled professional labor through migration of these people from the noncore to the
core.
Characteristics of south nations

 Least economically diversified

 Have relatively weak governments
 Tend to depend on one type of economic activity, often on extracting and exporting raw
materials to core nations
 Tend to be least individualized
 Tend to have a high percentage of their people that are poor and uneducated.
 Inequality tends to be high because of a small upper class that owns most of the land and
has profitable ties to multinational corporations
 Tend to be extensively influenced by core nations
What is global world (globalization)?
Globalization is the closer integration of the countries and people of the world…brought about
by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication and the breaking down
of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge and people across borders.
It is the breakdown of traditional barriers between nation state allowing the government of goods,
capital, people and information. It is the process by which the experience of everyday life,
marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, it becoming standardized around the world.
Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communication
and transportation technologies and service, mass migration and the movement of peoples, a level
of economic activity that has outgrown national markets though industrial combinations and
commercial groupings that gross national frontiers and international agreements that reduce the

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cost of doing business in foreign countries.

Globalization refers to the integration of economics and societies all over the world.
Globalization involves technological, economic, political and cultural exchanges made possible
largely by advances in communication, transportation and infrastructure. In recent years the
globalization process has been rapid and widespread. One of the results has been the growth in a
large business that produces and sells goods in many countries. These businesses have a large
influence on cultures all around the world. For example young people wear international brand
cloths, eat fast food from other countries, watch films made overseas and listen to oversee bands.
At the same time they have become informed, responsible active citizen‘s influencing decision
making at the local to the global scale.

Today globalization is like a web. This means that no matter how far we are geographically, we
are all held together as members of the human race .it is like we are moving toward a borderless
world.

The Key Features of the Modern Globe

1. International Interdependence
Interdependence describes the relationship of mutual dependence between all elements and life
forms (including humans) within and across cultures, environments and social systems. It means
that decisions taken in one place will affect that happens elsewhere. Interdependence means more
than flows of trade, finical movements between the world‘s financial centers and traveling to new
locations. It means that actions in a one part of the world have reactions in another part of the
world. The dynamic nature of globalization, when people, goods, money and ideas are moving
around the world faster, more easily and more cheaply than before. Interdependence has a number
of features.
 Cultural(e.g. arts, media, advertising, food, sport)
 Economic(e.g. global consumerism; changing patterns of trade, investment and dept.;
straggle for development and human rights; development cooperation )
 Environmental (e.g. global climate change , energy security, pollution, population
growth, species conservation, protection of oceans)
 Geographical (e.g. the spatial interactions between people and places and how they

24
 change over time the growth of urban areas; resource distribution, use and management.
 Political ( e.g. international governance , bilateral and multilateral relationship, peace and
security issue, regional and global governance, civil right)
 Social (e.g. multiculturalism, migration, tourism, education, public health, people to
people link).
 Technological (e.g. impact of new technologies in different communities and countries
,global communication and the movement of goods , the digital divide)
International interdependence

In the span of one generation, global economic interdependence has grown extraordinarily as a
consequence of enormous technological progress and policies aimed at opening national
economies internally and externally to competition. Globalization has brought benefits and
opportunities for many people in many parts of the world. However, many others have been
excluded from its positive impact. Extreme poverty remains a daily reality for more than 1
billion people who subsist on less than $1 a day. More than 800 million people have too little to
eat to meet their daily energy needs. Inequality between countries and within countries has also
increased and global environmental risks have increasingly become a matter of global concern.

Promoting a coherent approach to policy making through greater coherence and co-ordination is
essential to ensuring that the benefits of globalization are expanded and spread more broadly
and that its potentially negative effects are diminished. The globalization of production, finance
and information, among others, has not been matched by a corresponding reshaping of
institutional mechanisms. Addressing this institutional and governance gap is the second great
challenge of globalization. With its universal membership, the General Assembly is particularly
well placed to serve as a forum for building consensus on how to better manage globalization in
order to promote development.

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Work and Learning in Globalized Conditions
This discussion of work learning is situated within contemporary conditions related to so, called
globalized capitalism and the knowledge-based economy. These conditions have helped generate
thing related to learning: innovation, accountability, keeping up with technology, and post-Fordist
work structures.
Global markets have accelerated hyper-competition among corporations. As they jostle for
position to pursue knowledgeable consumers, increasing pressure for specialization has created
function markets and endless possibility in customized goods and services, varied identities, and
impossible visions. At the same time, argues Barnett (1999), international standards have helped
homogenize and instrumentalist ―method‖, and contributed to an obsession with accountability in
work. The information technology revolution has transformed modes of doing business, the
nature of services and products, the meaning of time in work, and the processes of learning. These
forces have contributed to a belief that knowledge and continuous innovation are key to survival.
Meanwhile, as Foley (1999) claims, powerful corporate megalopolises have assumed greater
control of markets and currency. One result has become global over-production and overcapacity,
creating saturated markets.
Other consequential trends affecting the nature of work and learning include increased
privatization, de-regulation of corporate movement and conduct, decreased social supports,
mass casualization and temporization of workers, and increased workplace stress and
violence. Using these arguments, anti-globalization protestors resist international trade
agreements. They claim that the gap is increasing between the technical professional-managerial
elite of the industrial west and subsistence workers in the global south and the west‘s ―fourth
world‖ of poverty and radicalized, gendered margins (Barlow and Clarke, 2001). But the liberal
belief in salvation by constantly developing knowledge and knowledgeable workers has
fostered a vision of the ―post-Fordist workplace‖. Here, according to certain management
enthusiasts, people work in self-directed teams rather than command-and control hierarchies.
Their work is motivated by meaning, mission and values rather than incentives or fear, and the
workplace is transformed from assembly lines of drudgery (toil) to empowering, creative,
communities of learning. But as critics have charged, this rosy democratic vision often conceals
unchanged power structures and divisions of labor. These structures ultimately constrain workers‘
learning and actions, and harness their hearts and souls to shareholders‘ anxieties (Fenwick,

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1997). The much-saluted critical reflection rarely is allowed to penetrate organizational values.
And amidst popular hype of today‘s workplace as a creative center for learning along with the
concomitant push for workers‘ continuous training and development, Livingstone (1998) and
others have shown mass underemployment: many workers‘ skills and knowledge already far
exceed career opportunity and employing organizations‘ ability to use them. Nonetheless, people
are pressured to learn, to adapt, and to merge their private lives and passions with their work.
 Flexibility is a dominant theme among descriptions of the contemporary workplace.
 Flexible workers (responsive, adaptive, transferable),
 flexible structures (insecure, fluid, adaptive to consumer demand and changing
markets),
 flexible pay (increasingly contractual) and consequently
 Flexible learning are assumed to ensure organizational competitiveness.

Edwards (1998) shows how the naturalization of flexibility impacts both a hidden curriculum of
work and individual subjectivities produced in workplaces. Workers are expected to accept
constant change as a given, to forego any expectation of stable employment and organizational
loyalty, and to assume personal responsibility for adapting to organizations‘ changing needs for
skills and labor. Workers‘ learning has been legitimated as foundation for organizational health,
supposedly initiating a wide array of benefits for workers: personal development and
productivity, purpose and fulfillment, meaningful relationships, creativity, even spiritual growth
and happiness. Thus the conventional capitalist employee-employer relationship of labor
exchanged for income has been transformed by the ―learning‖ focus: now boundaries are blurred
between the employees‘ private spaces of self and soul and the turmoil of an organization‘ hungry
growth. Thus, the workplace is a highly political space. Educators cannot ignore the economic
pressures and sociological issues underpinning questions of learning and education in work.
Themes of flexibility, specialization, privatization, and globalization change the nature and
environment of work and the desires of workers.

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 2. The Growth of Supranational Organizations
Supranational organizations (SNOs) and super nationalism refers to all organizations,
institutions political and social process involving more than a single state or at least at least two
none state actors from different nation states. Supranational will thus encompass formal
organizations, institutions, political and legal agreements related to transnational interaction.
These range from the cross border movement of people, commodities, and information‘s more
structured, formalized interstate activity organized and supervised by multilateral institutions and
organizations.

Example include: Food And Agriculture Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, I
International Civil Organization ,International Labor Organization, United Nation, United Nation
Children‘s Fund(UNICEF),United Nation Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organization(
UNESCO),United Nation High Commissner For Human Rights, United Nation Industrial
Development Originations‘(UNIDO), World Food Program(WFP),World Health Organization
(WHO),World Meteorological Organization(WMO),World Tourism Organizations(UNWTO),
European union(EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance(NATO), World Bank, World Trade
Organization, African Union, International Labor Organization.

3. Uneven Development
Uneven development is the increasing gap in economic conditions between regions in the core
(western countries) and periphery (African and Asian) that results from the globalization of the
economy. It is the geographical expressions of the development under capitalism, where
development in one place is inter connected with under development in another place. In general,
this idea argue that differing area develop (and under develop) at differing rates these crating on
uneven geographical surface across which capital can move as it seeks the most advantages
location in terms of costs of labor, land, transportation, and so forth.

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 4. Erosions of Nations States and National Identities
Globalizations some extent eroding the nation-state and national identities. For many scholars,
globalization has been recently reducing, undercutting the powers of national states over social
life.it thus undermines the sovereignty and autonomy of nation states all over the globe. In the
case of the nation- state, many of the state‘s national roles have been removed. Yet we should not
expect them to wither away altogether, indeed, in some ways it has and will continue to expand
and develop its tasks, roles and activates in place of these that have been removed.

Globalization has been associated with the distraction of cultural identities, and people are
becoming victims of the accelerating encroachment of at homogenized, westernized, consumer
culture. The penetration of western culture in to non-western countries through global media
networks and the products and images of transnational corporations, and population movement
from non-western to western countries have changed fundamental cultural habits such as religion,
leisure, cuisine and level of technology. Technology now created the possibility and even the
likelihood of global culture. The fax machine, internet, satellite, and cable T.V have swept away
the national cultural boundaries. The local culture are inevitably falling victim to global
―consumer‖ culture. This issue is more apparent in Africa. Western norms and practices are
gradually being transported across the globe as the acceptable way of behavior. In view of this,
the rich and dynamic African culture has been diluted.

5. Global citizenship
Global citizenship involves knowing that we are all citizens of the one globe and behaving in a
way which demonstrates a respect for the globe and all the people on it. Global citizenship is the
concern of well-being of not just one‘s own people, but the people of the world, interest beyond
one‘s own intermediate environment and concern for current social issue on a holistic level are
just some of the values spoken of and implemented in the attitudes and actions of the informants.
This mentality comes cloth to being a world citizenship mentality. World citizenship need not
obviously be solely political in nature.it could be concerned to be a way of thinking, viewing and
seeing one‘s surroundings and current events from a personal perspective.

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On the whole, those who speaks of the ―a world citizenship” from a realistic perspective view it
as a way of thinking , a way of perceiving one‘s surroundings and the reality of humankind on a
global level.

Essentially, world citizenship means seeing oneself as a citizen of the world planet which all
rights and obligations inherent there in.it is defined as patriotism towards one‘s own country,
together with service to humankind. World citizenship is also meant to imply a loyalty and
commitment to appreciating and working to solve the problems of all the people of the world in
an equitable and just way. Global citizenship is about understanding the need to tackle injustice
and inequality, and having the desire and ability to work actively to do so. It is about valuing the
earth as precious and unique and safeguarding the future for those coming after us .global
citizenship is a way of thinking and behaving. It is an outlook on life, belief that we can make
difference.

We see a global citizen as someone who:

 Is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen;
 Respects and values diversity
 Has an understanding of how the world works economically, politically, socially,
culturally, technologically and environmentally.
 Is outraged by social injustice
 Participates in and contributes to the community at arrange of levels from local to global;
 Is willing to act to make the world a more sustainable place;
 Takes responsibility for their actions.
6. Increase Personal Mobility
As the result of modern transportation, people freely move from one corner of the world to other.
The increased mobility of people lies at the core of the ongoing process of globalization. People
migrate to improve their economic prospects, ensure a more secure living environment, re-unite
with their family members, or avoid persecution in their country of origin. In the face of
economic, technological and demographic change taking place concurrently and as consequences
of globalization, sustaining development in the north and the south will demand on greater

30
mobility, particularly migration of labor and skilled personal. Globalization has increased
personal mobility as well as freight mobility. We enjoy drinks from Europe, buy jeans made in
china- products travel thousands of miles before they reach the consumer.

7. New Technologies
Technology is one of the leading factors in the evolution of globalization. Information technology
is helping further develop globalization. Technology plays vital role in linking the world with
internet, TV, telecommunication facilities, teleconference and other such facilities to make it a
global village. The cost efficiency of many technologies is increasing, and these technologies are
beginning to impact everyday life. For example; the call phones are used for anything from
family conversation to business calls, but for many they have become a way of life. Another
example of information technologies is the internet, which are drastically changed since its big
debut in the 1990‘s. Billons and trillions of terabytes have been transferred in the year 2006
alone. If all this information was written in books it would span from the earth to the sun thirty-
seven times.
Technology is a vital force in modern globalization. Technology has revolutionized the global
economy and has become critical competitive strategy.it has globalized the world, which drive all
the countries to similar direction. Technology is sweeping the globe and the transaction from
manual to electronic delivery of service both in public and private sector leads to advancement of
business community throughout the world. Globalization has led to new markets and information
technology is one of the technologies fostered to the new market in this increasing competitive
world. The technological advancement has helped a lot in creation and growth of global market.
The demand of globalization put a premium on flexible and lifelong learning opportunities,
enabling learners to adapt to demands for new knowledge and skills.
Factors Necessitated Lifelong Learning
1. Today‟s rapid pace of change:we are experiencing grater change at a more rapid
pace than in any period of human history. We are living in times of an ever increasing
peace of changes in all areas of life. We are witnessing the growing impacts of social,
organizational, and technological changes on the lives of women and men all over the
world. The increasing peace of social, structural. And technological change over the
past decades has brought about a multitude of challenges for society in general and the

31
 aging population in particular. Everyday life and the worlds of work are in a ‗constant
state of flux ‗due to technological development. Among other things, workers can no
longer rely on the vocational training and educational they finished in their younger
day to provide for them over the courses of their entire lives. The impact of
technology ‗s ever widening use in society, such as the automation of services and the
increase in motorized traffic, sometimes make it difficult for elderly people to
maintain their autonomy and social life outside the home. Information about many
different spheres of life, for instance, is increasingly offered in electronic from instead
of printed media. All those changes make lifelong learning significant issue as a
person ages.
Social change includes the individualization of life styles, of values and attitudes, the
diversification of carries, of expertize, and of life courses. The planning strategies and
investments flows of companies the running time of machines, the operational life of consumer‘s
durables, and the duration of marriage, employment or radiance have decreased from decades to
years and seem to continue to decrease even to months. On other hand, life expectancy the
individual life course keeps on increasing. The number of old and very old people is constantly
rising, resulting in demographic shift in almost all countries. One necessary solutions to cope with
those new changes is lifelong learning.
2. Economic opportunity: the world needs people with many different ambitions and
skills. No matter what your interest, or what your filed , if you know something
valuable and you are willing and able to learn more , you have an economic advantage
in a rapidly changing world. That‘s one resent that becoming an aggressive and
effective lifelong learner is in your best interest. you will have more choice about how
you make a living , and you will be in a more demand to employees in the ―knowledge
economy‖
3. Quality of life: beyond economics, learning for its sake can enrich your life, at any
stage. People are living longer.one way to improve quality of life is to look for those
opportunities to make every day a chance for personal growth and enrichment. Early
in life learning for the sake of learning often takes a back seat to required courses, job
related training , and other things we have to do.one of the joys of self-directed
learning is the decision to learn what you want, when you want. If you get in the habits

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 of learning for the fun of it, life will became more interesting and so will you.
4. Security: the people who feel secure in this constantly changing world will be those
who are confident that they can learn new skills. The king of security based on your
current knowledge and skills is better, as long as those skills stay in demand. The kind
of security based on your ability to learn new skills throughout your life time is your
best bet. Neglecting to learn new skills makes you venerable to unexpected changes in
both personal and professional life. Waiting until those occur before broadening your
skills can be a risky tactic.
5. Human nature: humans are designed to learn from the moment of birth to end of life.
Life Long Learning In South and North
The term south is preferred that of ―developing countries‖, while acknowledging the many
problems of these other designations ( i.e. third world , low and middle income countries
periphery , aid receiving countries partner countries , etc.). The very notation of development is
today blurred and distant in most countries labeled such by the international community, in a
world context where poverty and inequality continue to grow. We keep the term developing as a
reminder that the goal continues to be ( social, economic , human ) development and progress and
that education continues to be , more than ever, decisive for such progress .the current global
political and socio – economic model is producing increases poverty and social exclusion.
Poverty is today the major impediment to educational access, retention, competition and quality.
The expression the north is used to mean the richer countries which are mainly in Europe , north
America, and parts of east Asia, and the south is used to mean the poorer countries of African,
Asia, central and south American.
Lifelong in south and north
Lifelong learning has been acknowledged as a need and a principle for education and learning
systems worldwide, and is being actively embraced by the north for its society. However, remains
an uneasy topic for poor countries. While non-formal education is in increased demand and
supply in the north, as a lifelong complementary education path for all, in the south it continues to
be associated with remedial education for the poor.
Lifelong learning for all in the north means basically promoting active citizenship and the
necessary knowledge, skill, value, attitude towards employment and work.at the same time, in the
so-called south livelihood becomes the issue – not active citizenship nor critical thinking, nor is

33
building capacities for development.it simply dealing with livelihood. The focuses on the poor
and on basic education are put together with focuses on livelihood. Even if the words may sound
the same, lifelong learning in the in the north and in the south, in the practice means different
things.
In the north, in industrialized central countries, there is a larger coverage for formal education.
Early childhood education and adult education are coverage for the average citizen with formal
education. Non formal education is a need and a practice in its own right. Youth and adults in
developed countries have access to various forms of non-formal education and within this lifelong
learning paradigm, the sources of non-formal education becomes became larger and more
diversified. Informal learning is also became a part of organized learning.

In the north, citizens have plenty of opportunities to proceed in lifelong learning mode.
The same words mean different things in the south. To begin with, in many developing countries,
the coverage of formal education is reduced and there are countries where even completion of
primary education is still a big challenge. Let alone, secondary and higher education. This reality
has become more pronounced in the 1990s after the jomtien world conference on education for
all. Jomtien advocated an expanded vision of basic education. Such expanded vision comprised
children, youth and adults, schools and out of school education and abroad understanding of the
concept of basic learning needs. Jomtiens vision, however, was not translated in to practice over
the 1990s in the aid assisted countries in the south. Educational recommendations and practices
for developing countries applied a restricted notation of basic education and basic learning needs
and even access to primary school. The technical advice given by development agencies and
international agencies, particularly the World Bank is for government in developing countries not
to invest on higher education and on secondary education until primary education is well covered.
The non-formal education in developing countries is still is a second-hand compensatory,
remedial kind of education. Basically, people think of it in terms of education for the poor. We
still straggle to see this as a legitimate quality education that is also for all, aright for all. Informal
learning remains of course, a huge space that nobody covers. We continue to learn basically
through in formal learning and this is the major areas that needs to be enhanced with in the
lifelong learning paradigm.

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It should be recognized that both education for all and lifelong learning for all that is for the entire
world population. Otherwise, the huge gap between the north and the south would continue to
expand, despite rhetoric to the contrary. It is also important to point out the livelihood and
citizenship is something that belongs to all of us to people around the world. Livelihood is not
only something that is a straggle for this e south. That is also the straggle of the north. It is the
straggle of any human being. Citizenship, the right to be a full citizen in every country is also a
right of every human being.
Summery
As information and communication technologies (ICTs) permeate our societies and communities,
the role of lifelong learning can‘t be denied. Globalization has produced out comes and processes
which make the learning of new skills and competences of paramount importance. Today it is no
longer enough to have the same living and working skills one had five year ago. Learning to
learn, problem solving, critical understanding and anticipatory learning –these are only a few of
the core skills and competences needed for all people in the global world. In many communities,
the growing number of migrants means that residents have to discover new ways of relating to
people from other cultures. The interest for active citizenship likewise implies that individuals
should realized their capacity for active participation in the shaping of democratic society. And in
all of the above, the environment in which learning takes place is decisive for all learners, women
and men, young and old. Every individual must be in a position to keep learning throughout his
life. The idea of lifelong learning is the keystone of living in this world.

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 Chapter Three
Historical Back Ground and Policies of Lifelong Learning
Lifelong learning elaborate on the history of lifelong learning by sharing findings ‗‘the idea of
lifelong Education was first fully articulated in this century by Basil Yeaxlee (1929). He along
with Eduard Lindeman (1926) provided an intellectual basis for a comprehensive understanding of
education as a continuing aspect of everyday life in this they touched up on various continental
traditions such as the French notion of education Permanente and drew upon developments
within adult education within Britain and North America. Today many educators promote lifelong
learning by engaging students in activities to fulfill their curiosity and promote learning skills that
will produce lifelong learning Characteristic.
Lifelong learning, a self–explanatory concept, is learning that starts at pre-birth and continuous
throughout life. Lifelong learning is process which people obtain meaning from interacting with
their environment. This includes both the social and physical environment. Learning is a natural
and ongoing process producing new or deeper understandings of concepts. To lock into these
important concept educators need to look at characteristics that make a lifelong learner. Lifelong
learners are built and what one learns builds on previous life experiences. A person with an
obsession to a particular subject could be labeled what psychologists call a ‗trait curious ‗person.
This person is ―someone with a tendency to delve deeply in to subjects that grab his attention,
learning more about him and the world in the process.‘‘
The world „‟trait curious” person is synonymous with „‟lifelong learner”. While lifelong has
increasingly been cited as one of the key principles in the educational and development fields,
there is no understanding of its usage at the global level.
Lifelong learning as concept and complex culture will be described through these historical
developmental stages:
 Post world I: The 1919Report of the Adult Education committee of the British Ministry of
Reconstruction
 Post-World war II: lifelong leering was framed within model that emphasized;
 Strengthening individualism
 Coping with technological and cultural change
 Fortifying democracy

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 19605 and 1970s; Lifelong education, a more critical and sociopolitical term, emerged in
discussion within UNESCO
 During the 1970s: Vocationalism eclipsed lifelong education. In his 1972 report learning
to be, Edgar Faure linked lifelong education to building a learning society.
 1980s: The process of globalization and the emergence of the knowledge economy
influenced the emergence of lifelong learning. The crisis in western education was recast as
crisis of the economic and the instrumental developments.
 1990s: There was revitalized international interest in lifelong learning in educational policy
and practice. On the other hand, the more doming interpretation of learning in the nineties
was linked to retraining and learning new skills that would enable individuals to cope with
the demands of the rapidly changing work placed (Matheson and Matheson, 1996, Bagnall,
2000). It also seems that lifelong learning as it is presently promoted has become more
individual-oriented whereas lifelong education often referred back to the community. In
1996, the UNSCO-sponsored Delors Reports ( the treasure within) identified four pillars
enabling individual development:
 learning to do,
 learning to be,
 learning to understand and
 Learning to live together.
 In the beginning of 21C, we find ourselves in the midst of the loud voices of the European
and its member states, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) and even the World Bank as they advocate the needs to learn throughout life.
Given their ideological, political and economic dominance visa-vise the rest of the world, it
is not surprising that they are gaining adherents in other regions of the world. Many Asian
courtiers, for example, have followed this line of thinking and have developed modern
policy discourses on lifelong learning, transforming in the process their own traditional
philosophies which have for centuries promoted continuous learning. The predominantly
economic interpretations of lifelong learning in the last ten years, however, has become
problematic for many educators and practitioners who have come forward with such term
as ― lifelong learning and‖ and ―learning to earn‖ as their succinct of the way the term is
being promoted.

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Globalization has produced outcomes and processes which make the learning of new skills and
competences of paramount importance. Today it is no longer enough to have the same living and
working skills one had five years ago. Learning to learn, problems solving, critical understanding
and participatory learning. These are only few of the core skills and competences needed for all. In
many communities, the growing number of migrants means that residents have to discover new
ways of relating to people from other cultures. The clamour for active citizenship likewise
implies that individuals should realize that their capacity for active participation in the shaping of
democratic societies. And in all of the above, the environment in which learning takes place is
decisive for all learners, women and men, young and old.
As the debate on lifelong learning resonates throughout the world, it is clear there needs to be
more discussion on how this concept will be put into practices. The rhetoric on lifelong learning
has to be matched with evidence of how it works and how it contributes to creating more humane
societies.
Lifelong education
Once the front-end model of education is rejected the way is open to formulate other approaches
to the subject, one being that the process of education begins in childhood and continues
throughout the lifespan. One of the first influential definitions of lifelong education was that of
Dave who regarded lifelong education as ‗a process of accomplishing personal, social and
professional development throughout the lifespan of individuals in order to enhance the
quality of life of both individuals and their collectivities‟. Lawson tried to show that such a wide
conception of education ‗fails to distinguish between the general mass of formative influence that
shapes us or between the general learning which an intelligent being undergoes in adapting to
circumstances‘.

Once education is regarded as institutionalized learning, we can discuss the variety of providers of
education for adults at all ages that have emerged in recent years, but this does not mean that we
have, or should have, a national state-provided lifelong educational system. Lifelong education is
every institutionalized learning opportunity, having a humanistic basis, directed towards the
participant‘s development that may occur at any stage in the lifespan. This development might
refer to knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, beliefs and the senses – the whole person.

38
For Dewey, education is one of the major foundations of a rich life, but it is also one that need not
be laid at the beginnings of life or in childhood; it may be laid at any stage of life and then built
upon. However, in the light of our current understanding, Dewey might actually have used the
term learning rather than education to make his point more clearly. While he has not been overtly
influential to a great deal of adult education in the United Kingdom, his influence has been far
greater in the United States. Among his disciples was Lindeman, author of The Meaningof Adult
Education (1961, first published 1926), who became a major influence on Malcolm Knowles and
other influential practitioners in the field. Soon after Dewey‘s influential book, from which these
quotations have been drawn, appeared in America, an important document about adult education
was published in Britain. A.L. Smith, chairman of the committee that produced the famous 1919
Report, wrote: That the necessary condition is that adult education must not be regarded as a
luxury for the few exceptional persons here and there, nor as a thing which concerns only a short
span of early manhood, but that adult education is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable
aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong.

This far-sighted statement, like many others in the Report, was loudly acclaimed but never
implemented, so that the idea of lifelong education remained an ideal. Yeaxlee (1929:31), who
served on the committee that drafted the 1919 Report, returned to the subject in the very first book
about lifelong education and claimed that: the case for lifelong education rests ultimately upon the
nature and needs of the human personality in such a way that no individual can rightly be regarded
as outside its scope, the social

Reasons for fostering it are as powerful as the personal. Here, then, lies an argument for lifelong
education, very similar in substance to that produced earlier in this study; yet this case was made
in the United Kingdom three-quarters of a century ago.
It was not until after the Second World War that the term gained prominence and this was because
organizations such as UNESCO adopted it, influenced by such individuals as Lengrand (1975).
Thereafter many publications, emanating from UNESCO, developed and expounded the concept.
In 1976, lifelong education appeared to have ‘come of age’ when the Lifelong Learning Act was
passed into law in the United States,

39
Higher education was also gradually changing its direction and beginning to practice policies of
lifelong education, although this process has been extremely slow. Knapper and Cropley (1985)
traced the implications of the idea of lifelong learning for higher education and Kulich (1982)
documented how Canadian universities are moving in this direction. Williams (1977) actually
claimed that lifelong education was the new role for institutions of higher education. While this
assertion is supported here, it is recognized that some universities have found it very difficult to
adapt to these demands and some of them have actively resisted such changes.

Nevertheless, with the gradual growth in part-time higher education and the introduction of
schemes of accreditation of prior learning and credit transfer changes are occurring, which might
result in higher
Education institutions regarding themselves as institutions providing opportunities for education
throughout the lifespan. However, the European Commission has distinguished higher education
from lifelong learning, which has added to the conceptual confusion.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
International Organizations and Lifelong Learning
 World Bank
The World Bank asserts that lifelong learning is essential for individuals to keep pace with the
constantly changing global job market and technology. It is preparation for a destabilized life of
changing jobs, job requirements and geographical locations. In this vision of the nomadic worker,
people must constantly adapt to new living conditions, technology and work requirements. This
requires, advocates of lifelong learning state, learning skills that help the individual to adjust to an
ever changing world.
The World Bank approach to lifelong learning involves a combination of competencies. The Bank
defines the knowledge and competencies needed for lifelong learning as:
...including basic academic skills, such as literacy foreign language, math and science skills and
the ability to use information and communication technology. Workers must use these skills
effectively, act autonomously and reflectively and join and function in socially heterogeneous
groups.
According to the World Bank approach, the lifelong learner should, act autonomously in devising
a life plan and being prepared to work in a multicultural workforce.
 UNESCO
UNESCO supports a more humanistic vision of lifelong learning as compared to the plainly
economic arguments of the World Bank and the OECD.
UNESCO‘s discourse on lifelong learning has focused on the full development of the individual.
The 1972 report commissioned Learning to Be: The World of Education today and tomorrow
argues that the emphasis should be on learning to learn and not on matching schooling and the
needs of the labor market. The report states, ―The aim of education is to enable man to be
himself...and the aim of education in relation to employment and economic progress should be not
so much to prepare...for a specific, lifetime vocation, as to ‗optimize‘ mobility among the
professions and afford permanent stimulus to the desire to learn and to train oneself.‖ The report‘s
perspective is that the love of learning creates a desire to lifelong learning and maintenance of a
learning society; and therefore the goal of lifelong learning is to give people the power to exercise
democratic control over economic, scientific and technological development.

41
However in the 1990s, UNESCO‘s humanistic approach to lifelong learning was sidelined due to
the rhetoric of the knowledge economy and human capital development. Despite this UNESCO
avoided the purely economic arguments for lifelong learning, which is evident in its 1996 report
on lifelong learning titled: Earning: The Treasure Within. This report defines lifelong learning as
adaptation to changes in technology and as the continuous ―process of forming whole human
beings- their knowledge and aptitudes, as well as the critical faculty and the ability to act‖.
The UNESCO 4 pillars of learning (1995)
 Learning to be: process of spiritual and existential broadening that bestows a final
meaning on life and on the pursuit of happiness. It contributing to a person‘s complete
development: mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation and
spirituality.
 Learning to know: news ways of knowing in an inter-connected society. It is mastering
learning tools rather than acquisition of structured knowledge.
 Learning to do: connect knowledge and skills, active/creative/adaptive learning. It is
equipping people for the types of work needed now and in the future including innovation
and adaptation of learning to future work environments.
 Learning to live together: raising the thresholds of social cohesion. Peacefully resolving
conflict, discovering other people and their cultures, fostering community capability,
individual competence and capacity, economic resilience, and social inclusion.
 OECD
The OECD‘s lifelong learning framework emphasizes that learning occurs during the entire course
of a person’s life. ―Formal education contributes to learning as do the non-formal and informal
settings of home, the workplace, the community and society at large‖.
There are four key features of the lifelong learning approach, as conceived by the OECD. First, it
offers a systemic view of learning, since it examines the demand for, and the supply of learning
opportunities, as part of a connected system covering the whole lifecycle and comprising all forms
of formal and informal learning. Secondly, it emphasizes the centrality of the learner and the need
for initiatives that cater for the diversity of learner needs. This represents a shift of attention from
the supply of learning to the demand side. Thirdly, the approach emphasizes the motivation to
learn, and draws attention to self-paced and self-directed learning. Fourthly, it stresses the multiple
objectives of education policy, which include economic, social or cultural outcomes; personal

42
development, and citizenship. The lifelong learning approach also recognizes that, for the
individual, the priorities among these objectives can change over the lifecycle; and that each
objective has to be taken into consideration in policy development.
“Lifelong learning for all” (OECD, 1996)
 A systemic view: building a connected system covering the whole lifecycle and
comprising all forms of formal and informal learning.
 Centrality of the learner: meeting learner needs.
 Motivation to learn: developing the capacity for ―learning to learn‖ through self-paced
and self-directed learning throughout life
 Multiple objectives of education policy: personal development, knowledge development,
economic, social and cultural objectives
 European commission

According to the European commission on Lifelong Learning, the scale of current economic and
social change, the rapid transition to a knowledge-based society and demographic pressures
resulting from an ageing population in Europe are all challenges which demand a new approach to
education and training, within the framework of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is thus defined
as:

‘All learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and
competence, within a personal civic social and/ or employment-related perspective.’

The European commission on Lifelong Learning initiative hopes to empower citizens to move
freely between learning settings, jobs, regions and countries in pursuit of learning. Hence, lifelong
learning focuses on learning from pre-school education until after retirement ("from the cradle to
the grave") and covers all forms of education (formal, informal or non-formal). The European
commission‘s Lifelong Learning Initiative enables people at all stages of their lives to take part in
stimulating learning experiences, as well as helping to develop the education and training sector
across Europe.

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European perspective on LLL In 2000, the Directorate General Education and Culture of
the European Commission published its Memorandum on Lifelong Learning 6 key
messages:

 valuing learning
 information, guidance and counseling
 investing time and money in learning
 bringing together learners and learning opportunities
 basic skills
 innovative pedagogy
A European definition of LLL (2001) ―Lifelong learning embraces all learning activity undertaken
throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills/competences and/or qualifications for
personal, social and/or professional reasons.‖
The European Reference Framework 8 key competencies for LLL
1. Communication in the mother tongue
2. Communication in foreign languages
3. Mathematical competence and basic competencies in science and technology
4. Digital competence
5. Learning to learn
6. Social and civic competencies
7. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
8. Cultural awareness and expression

Coherent and Comprehensive Lifelong Learning Strategies:

The consultation which followed the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning identified six essential
elements for coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies:
 Partnership working, not only between Decision-making levels (e.g. national, regional and
local) but also between public authorities and education service providers (schools,
universities, etc.), the business sec- tor and the social partners, local associations, vocational

44
 guidance services, research centers, etc. Insight into the demand for learning in the
knowledge-based society - which will entail redefining basic skills, to include for instance the
new information and communication technologies. Analyses should take into ac- count
foreseeable labor market trends.
 Adequate resourcing, involving a substantial increase in public and private investment in
learning. This does not only imply substantially increasing public budgets, but also ensuring
the effective allocation of existing resources and encouraging new forms of investment.
Investment in human capital is important at all points in the economic cycle; skills gaps and
shortages can certainly coexist with unemployment.
 Facilitating access to learning opportunities by making them more visible, introducing new
provision and removing obstacles to access, for example through the creation of more local
learning centers. Special efforts are necessary in this context for different groups such as
ethnic minorities, people with disabilities or people living in rural areas.
 Creating a learning culture by giving learning a higher profile, both in terms of image and by
providing incentives for the people most reticent to opt for learning.
 Striving for excellence through the introduction of quality control and indicators to measure
progress. In concrete terms, provision must be made for standards, guidelines and
mechanisms whereby achievements can be recognized and rewarded.

Priorities for Action On the basis of the feedback relating to the six key messages the
Communication identifies six priorities for action: valuing learning, pro- viding information,
guidance and counseling, investing time and money in learning, bringing together learners and
learning opportunities, ensuring basic skills and introducing innovative pedagogy.

Valuing learning is a key element in the creation of a culture of learning and for realizing a
European area of lifelong learning. The Communication stresses that a comprehensive new
approach both to the mutual recognition of qualifications, and to the identification, assessment and
recognition of non-formal and informal learning are needed in order to enable people to have
individual learning pathways suitable to their needs and interests. Such an approach must be based
on increased cooperation, and possibly based on voluntary minimum quality standards in
education and training, creating the conditions for transparency and mutual trust.

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Lifelong learning in developing nations
Lifelong learning in traditional Africa societies has spiritual, political, economic and cultural
aspects. There has been particular emphasis on traditional African societies practicing indigenous
African pedagogies that embrace lifelong learning principles as foundations for active citizenship
and nation-building. These values are not concerned with a global competitive market or the
strength of individualism and self-determination. However, the internet has exposed the latest
African generations to external experiences - through social media interactions which have
affected their perspective. They are now more aware of globalization and are flexible in adapting
new global life learning styles.
A good example is the spiritual dimension which locates the individual in the presence of a
supreme being and at the center of communal life. All activities must promote the existence of the
community and put its interests before the self. Whilst there is evidence that these values are also
changing through globalization influences, the influence of ancestors, the extended family and
traditional democratic processes of decision making through consensus at community meeting
places are primary value systems in African contexts.
 Lifelong learning in Africa
Like many other definitions, Lifelong learning is also defined as the process of keeping your
mind and body engaged—at any age—by actively pursuing knowledge and experience. Many
East Africans need this aspect in ensuring that their skills are up-to-date with the ever changing
needs of the society. Given that many countries are not yet as developed as the first world. As
many people strive to improve their knowledge base in Africa based on the new emerging issues
and if they are to catch up with the digital pace then lifelong learning goes along way into
keeping their minds sharp, Improving their memory, Increasing self-confidence, offering an
inexpensive way to try something new, giving them new ways of saving money as they learn to
―do it themselves‖, giving them a feeling of accomplishment, helping them meet people who
share their interests for example on internet based social networks, building on the skills they
already have, offering an opportunity for them to learn a new skill or trade and increase your
income and giving us a new interest that we can share with families and friends. In that sense,
lifelong learning can be a more rewarding experience and most especially now that avenues for

46
attaining knowledge are clearer and open with the advent of information and communication
technologies.
History of Lifelong Learning in US Education
Until the middle of the 1800s, higher education focused on educating the young in traditional,
classical curricula. By the mid-19th, century Europe and the United States used the best
technology of their day, the postal system, to open educational opportunities to people who wanted
to learn, but were not able to attend conventional schools. The students who most benefited from
such correspondence education included those with physical disabilities, women who were not
allowed to enroll in educational institutions open only to men, people who had jobs during normal
school hours, and those who lived in remote regions where schools did not exist.

By the end of the century, however, a number of vibrant institutional movements had appeared
that expanded the scope of traditional education and the range of learners who were served.
Colleges and universities grew to embrace technical and scientific subjects, vocational education,
applications of research to practical matters and problem solving correspondence courses through
continuing education. Education, training, and professional development for living a good life and
making a good living thrived together in public colleges and universities. Community colleges
grew to become critical providers of traditional and adult learning.

Many private institutions, especially those in urban or metropolitan areas, also introduced adult
learning to serve proximate populations. Private, for-profit universities and proprietary vocational
schools moved aggressively into the traditional and the adult learning market. New technologies
and the introduction of the Internet introduced online, blended and e-learning, making it even
easier to serve adult learners. Continuing education and distance learning organizations lead the
way by adopting technologies and flexible operations to support the varied needs of adult learners.
By the end of the 20th century, most major universities were expanding their traditional, degree-
credit offerings with a variety of adult, continuing, and executive education experiences, some for
credit, and some non-credit. New education programs were offered through a combination of
organizational mechanisms: Extension Divisions, Adult and Continuing Education Units, Schools
of Professional Study, Executive Education Programs and Distance Learning Units. The diversity
of these programs and their unique operations propagated completely new organizations within the

47
traditional institution.

New processes for education delivery and learner support mechanisms advanced to meet the
dynamic needs of the adult learner marketplace. The early 21st century began the age of education
globalization with local education institutions continuing their expansion efforts both within and
outside North America, in an attempt to meet growing market demand. The breakdown of
geographic boundaries has facilitated both local and global competition. Today‘s depressed
economic environment and challenged workforce have dramatically increased the needs and
demands of learners to retool their capabilities, acquire new competencies and align knowledge to
the emerging new economy to avoid being laid off. At the same time, leaders within traditional
education institutions, colleges and universities, are aggressively seeking new sources of revenues
to counteract current federal, state and local budgeting shortfalls.
A challenged economic environment coupled with the reduction in traditional institutional funding
has created a perfect storm of opportunity for organizations adept at evaluating, creating and
offering new education programs. Those institutions with historical developments and expansions
in adult learning, continuing education and executive education have recognized an innate ability
to meet the diverse needs of today‘s economically challenged learner.

Lifelong Learning in Europe

One of the first uses of the term lifelong education can be traced to Yeaxlee, although it was
UNESCO during the 1960s and 1970s that popularized the concept as a way of connecting the
various stages of formal education and linking them with informal and non-formal learning.
Today in the 21st century, we find ourselves proclaiming the global importance of lifelong
learning. Globalizationhas produced outcomes and processes which make the learning of new
skills and competencies of paramount importance.
The European Commission specifies that learning opportunities should be available to all citizens
on an ongoing basis. In practice this should mean that citizens each have individual learning
pathways, suitable to their needs and interests at all stages of their lives. The content of learning,
the way learning is accessed, and where it takes place may vary depending on the learner and their
learning requirements.

48
Lifelong learning is also about providing second chances to update basic skills and to offer
learning opportunities at more advanced levels. All this means that formal systems of provision
need to become much more open and flexible, so that such opportunities can truly be tailored to
the needs of the learner, or indeed the potential learner.

49
 Course Two

Multiculturalism and education

50
 Chapter One
CULTURE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
1.1. Definitions of Culture
Culture is the center of society and without culture no society can even exist. It is the main
difference between human being and animal. It is a heritage transmitted from one generation to
another generation. It includes all the way and behavior of culture. Culture is the entire way of
life for a group of people. For Robert Bierstedt, Culture is the complex whole that consists of
everything we think, do and have as a member of society. According to Edward B Tylor, Culture
is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. For Malinowski, Culture is the
handwork of man and medium through which he achieves his ends. According to C.C North,
Culture is consisting in the instruments constituted by men assist him in satisfying his wants.
‗Culture ... is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society‘. Tyler (British
anthropologist) 1870 cited by Avruch 1998, ‗Culture is consists of patterns, explicit and implicit,
of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive
achievements of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of
culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their
attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on
the other, as conditional elements of future action‘.

Kroeber & Kluckhohn 1952 cited by Adler 1997, ‗Culture is consists of the derivatives of
experience, more or less organized, learned or created by the individuals of a population,
including those images or encodements and their interpretations (meanings) transmitted from
past generations, from contemporaries, or formed by individuals themselves.‘ T.Schwartz 1992;
cited by Avruch 1998 ‗[Culture] is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes
the members of one group or category of people from another‘. ‗Culture is the set of attitudes,
values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, but different for each individual,
communicated from one generation to the next‘ (Matsumoto 1996). ‗Culture is a fuzzy set of
basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioral

51
conventions that are shared by a group of people, and that influence (but do not determine) each
member‘s behavior and his/her interpretations of the ‗meaning‘ of other people‘s behavior‘
(Spencer-Oatey 2008). Culture is the fabric of ideas, ideals/values, beliefs, skills, aesthetic
objects, ways of thinking, customs and institutions, marriage, mourning, funeral ceremony,
hearth/fireside, defense, attack, way of living, nutrition, dressing, games, stories, heroes for
worship, music, caring children and family, modes of transportation and communication, etc.
Culture is dynamic as well as static. All in all, culture refers to what people think, feel, believe
and do. And education is always a reflection of what people think, feel, believe and do.
1.2. Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture is social: culture does not exist in isolation neither is it an individual phenomenon. It
is product of society. It originates and develops through social interaction. It is shared by the
member of society. Man becomes man only among men.
2. Culture is learned behavior: Culture is not inherited biologically but it is learnt socially by a
man in a society. It is not an inborn tendency but acquired by man from the association of other,
e.g. drinking, eating, dressing, walking, behaving, reading are all learnt by man.
3. Culture is transmitted: Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to next. Parents
pass on culture traits to their children and they in turn to their children and so on. Culture is
transmitted not through genes but by means of language. Language is the main vehicle of
culture.
4. Culture gratifying: Culture provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the
satisfaction of our needs and desires. These needs may be biological or social in nature but it is
responsible for satisfy it. Our need for food, shelter and clothing and desires are status, fame,
money etc. are all for the examples which fulfilled according to the cultural ways.
5. Culture varies from society to society: Every society has its own culture and way of
behaving. It is not uniform. Every culture is unique in itself is a specific society. For example
values, customs, tradition, religion, belief are not uniform everywhere.
6. Culture is continuous and cumulative: Culture exists as a continuous process. Culture is the
memory of human race. Culture is not a matter of month or year. It is continuous process and
adding new cultural traits
7. Culture is dynamic: It remains changing but not static. Cultural process undergoes changes
but with different speed from society to society and generation to generation.

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1.3. Views related to Culture
Culture and Nation: In our everyday language, people commonly treat culture and nation as
equivalent terms. Although some nations are in fact predominantly inhabited by one cultural
group, most nations contain multiple cultures within their boundaries. Nation is a political term
referring to a government and a set of formal and legal mechanisms that have been established to
regulate the political behavior of its people. These regulations often encompass such aspects of a
people as how leaders are chosen, by what rules the leaders must govern the laws of banking and
currency, the means to establish military groups, and the rules by which a legal system is
conducted. Foreign policies, for instance, are determined by a nation and not by a culture. The
culture, or cultures, that exist within the boundaries of a nation-state certainly influence the
regulations that a nation develops, but the term culture is not synonymous with nation. The
nation of Japan is often regarded as so homogeneous that the word Japanese is commonly used
to refer both to the nation and to the culture. Though the Yamato Japanese culture
overwhelmingly predominates within the nation of Japan, there are other cultures living there.
These groups include the Ainu, an indigenous group with their own culture, religion, and
language; mainly from Okinawa, Korea, and China; and more recent immigrants also living
there. The United States is an excellent example of a nation that has several major cultural
groups living within its geographical boundaries; European Americans, African Americans,
Native Americans, Latinos, and various Asian American cultures are all represented in the
United States. All the members of these different cultural groups are citizens of the nation of the
United States.
Culture and Race: Race commonly refers to genetic or biologically based similarities among
people, which are distinguishable and unique and function to mark or separate groups of people
from one another. However, race is less a biological term than a political or social one. Though
racial categories are inexact as a classification system, it is generally agreed that race is a more
all-encompassing term than either culture or nation. Not all Caucasian people, for example, are
part of the same culture or nation. Many western European countries principally include people
from the Caucasian race. Similarly, among Caucasian people there are definite differences in
culture. Consider the cultural differences among the primarily Caucasian countries of Great
Britain, Norway, and Germany to understand the distinction between culture and race.
Sometimes race and culture do seem to work hand in hand to create visible and important

53
distinctions among groups within a larger society; and sometimes race plays a part in
establishing separate cultural groups. An excellent example of the interplay of culture and race
is in the history of African American people in the United States. Although race may have been
used initially to set African Americans apart from Caucasian U.S. Americans, African American
culture provides a strong and unique source of identity to members of the black race in the
United States. Scholars now acknowledge that African American culture, with its roots in
traditional African cultures, is separate and unique and has developed its own set of cultural
patterns. Although a person from Nigerian and an African American are both from the same
race, they are from distinct cultures. Similarly, not all black U.S. Americans are part of the
African American culture, since many have a primary cultural identification with cultures in the
Caribbean, South America, or Africa. Race can, however, form the basis for prejudicial
communication that can be a major obstacle to intercultural communication. Categorization of
people by race in the United States, for example, has been the basis of systematic discrimination
and oppression of people of color.

Culture and Ethnicity: Ethnic group is another term often used interchangeable with culture.
Ethnicity is actually a term that is used to refer to a wide variety of groups who might share a
language, historical origins, religion, identification with a common nation-state, or cultural
system. The nature of the relationship of a group‘s ethnicity to its culture will vary greatly
depending on a number of other important characteristics. For example, many people in the
United States still maintain an allegiance to the ethnic group of their ancestors who emigrated
from other nations and cultures. It is quite common for people to say they are German or Greek
or Armenian when the ethnicity indicated by the label refers to ancestry and perhaps some
customs and practices that originated with the named ethnic group. Realistically, many of these
individuals are not typical members of the European American culture. In other cases, the
identification of ethnicity may coincide more completely with culture. In the former Yugoslavia,
for example, there are at least three major ethnic groups – Slovenians, Croatians, and Serbians –
each with its own language and distinct culture, who were forced into one nation-state following
World War II. It is also possible for members of an ethnic group to be part of many different
cultures and/or nations. For instance, Jewish people share a common ethnic identification, even
though they belong to widely varying cultures and are citizens of many different nations.

54
Culture, Subculture and Co-culture: Subculture is also a term sometimes used to refer to
racial and ethnic minority groups that share both a common nation-state with other cultures and
some aspects of the larger culture. Often, for example, African Americans, Arab Americans,
Asian Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, another groups are referred to as subcultures
within the United States. The term, however, has connotations that we find problematic, because
it suggests subordination to the larger European American culture. Similarly, the term co-culture
is occasionally employed in an effort to avoid the implication of a hierarchical relationship
between the European American culture and these other important cultural groups that form the
mosaic of the United States. This term, too, is problematic for us. Co-culture suggests, for
instance, that there is a single overarching culture in the United States, implicitly giving undue
prominence to the European American cultural group. In our shrinking and interdependent
world, most cultures must coexist alongside other cultures. We prefer to regard African
Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and similar groups
of people as cultures in their own right. The term co-culture therefore strikes us as redundant
(Lustig and Koester 1999).

Culture and Identity: Culture is not the same as identity. Identities consist of people‘s answers
to the question: Where do I belong? They are based on mutual images and stereotypes and on
emotions linked to the outer layers of the onion, but not to values. Populations that fight each
other on the basis of their different ―felt‖ identities may very well share the same values.
Examples are the linguistic regions in Belgium, the religions in Northern Ireland, and tribal
groups in Africa. A shared identity needs a shared other: At home, I feel Dutch and very
different from other Europeans, such as Belgians and Germans; in Asia or the United States, we
all feel like Europeans (Hofstede 2001). There is no box on any known government form for a
racial or ethnic group called ―Cablinasian‖. And, yet, there is at least one American who could
check that box. His name is Tiger Woods. Woods, the golf phenomenon, says in an interview
that he invented the word as a child to describe his racial makeup: Caucasian, black, Indian and
Asian. In addressing his ancestry, Woods has broadened the discussion of race in American,
putting into high relief the infinite shades of gray that bridge the largely artificial divide between
―black‖ and ―white‖. It is a bold move. Many governmental functions – the census, affirmative
action and poverty programs, and the drawing of congressional districts – are based on counts of
the four officially recognized racial groups: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific

55
Islander, black, and white. Those who are ―Spanish/Hispanic‖ may check a box for their country
of origin. … Perhaps more important, deeper issues of cultural identity – and the nation‘s history
of racial injustice – have been based on long-established racial distinctions. But it‘s the way in
which Woods fails to conform to those long-established ideas about race that makes him so
interesting (Barton 1997, cited by Lustig and Koester 1999).
1.4. Culture and Education
Education is a fundamental human right and the bedrock of sustainable development: it
contributes to all three dimensions of sustainable development–social, economic, and
environment-and underpins governance, and security of the individual. The interconnected
dividends that result from investments in equitable quality education are immeasurable–
generating greater economic returns and growth for individuals and societies, creating a lasting
impact on public health, decent work and gender equality, and leading to safer and more resilient
and stable societies. As an enabling factor for the multiple dimensions of societal development,
quality education is a key lever for sustainable development. It plays a crucial role in shaping
personal and collective identities, promoting critical social capital and cohesiveness, and
responsible citizenship based on principles of respect for life, human dignity and cultural
diversity.
Cultural and education are interdependent that cannot be separated from each other.
A society free from any culture will have no definite educational organization.
The culture of a nation has a very influential impact on its educational patterns.
It is the culture in which education develops and flourishes as a result exerts a nourishing
influence.
Education as a part of culture has the double functions of conservation and modification
of the culture.
Education is envisaged as a systematic attempt to maintain a culture. In other words, "In
its technical context, education is the process by which society, through its educational
spaces like schools, colleges, universities and other institutions purposely transmit its
cultural heritage, its accumulated knowledge, values and skills from one generation to
another."
Education is considered as an instrument for cultural change.

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 One of the main aims of education is to impart a child, his/her cultural and social
heritage.
Every individual is born into a particular culture that provides him with specific patterns
of behavior and values then guide his/her conduct in different situations of life.
1.5. The Culture-Development Relation
Development can only flourish where it is rooted in the culture and tradition of each country,
since it is an all-encompassing process ―linked to each society‘s own values and calling for an
active participation of individuals and groups who are both the authors and the beneficiaries of
it‖. Throughout history, cultural development and economic development have maintained a
dialectical relationship with each other. History shows that periods of cultural flowering, or of
creative energy, have almost invariably accompanied, or preceded, a spectacular development of
the society. When we look back at the Renaissance we think of a period in which literature and
the arts flourished. But the creative energy released during the Renaissance stimulated
intellectual enquiry and the search for knowledge, leading to developments in science and
technology which eventually paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The Arab acquisition
of paper-making technology sparked a cultural revolution which led to the spread of learning and
knowledge. Paper became inexpensive, and by the 9th century A. D., hundreds of thousands of
manuscripts had spread throughout the Islamic world.

At the end of that century there were more than a hundred places in Baghdad where books were
made, and at the time of the Mongol conquest in A.D. 1258, Baghdad was reported to contain at
least 36 public libraries. Between the 9th and 13th centuries A. D., Arabic could, quite
accurately, have been described as the language of civilization in the same way Latin had been
before it, and was to become so again afterwards until the emergence of national languages in
Europe. Different cultures perceive the world differently, and these different perceptions, which
are almost always based on objective data and situations such as, for example, natural
phenomena or the natural environment, give rise to different interpretations in different cultural
contexts. The various techniques, developed and applied by peoples in the past, to solve practical
problems with similar results, in such areas for example as navigation, agriculture, medicine,
shelter, etc. have demonstrated not only that similar problems can be solved in different ways but
also that the type of solution arrived at is often inspired by the natural or cultural environment.

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The birth and development, at the dawn of human history, of all the first great civilizations of the
World, on the banks of great rivers such as the Indus, the Euphrates, the Yangtze, the Tigris, the
Nile, etc. is not a haphazard coincidence but rather reflects the interdependence of culture, the
environment and development, which also explains why Northern Europe was not the site of one
of these early great civilizations. The particular characteristics of early regional cultures would
have been determined; therefore, by the way they accommodated to, and anticipated, the working
of their local ecosystems. Basil Davidson, the English historian, who has devoted his life to the
study of African history, describes the chain of cause and effect admirably: ―Early civilizations
all took their rise in great river valleys which shaped the characteristics of natural irrigation and
soil renewal. Annually, these rivers offered new rich soil for cultivation.

They enabled nomadic man, then discovering the possibility of growing food rather than merely
collecting or hunting it, to give up his nomadic life. In settling for several years at a stretch, he
was faced with the technical problems of regular cultivation. In solving these problems, he also
solved the problem of growing a surplus of food. With surplus food the foundation of commerce
was laid, which, in turn was the foundation for permanent settlement. Permanent settlement
meant specialization, the division of labor and the growth of cities which, in turn, meant
civilization and the development of central government―. The cultural influence on development
and on the environment is shown, for example, by the ecological similarity and the cultural
differences between southern catholic Spain and northern Islamic Morocco where different
techniques and types of agriculture and animal husbandry have been developed.
1.6. The Cultural Dimensions to Human Development
Human development is a cultural process. As a biological species, humans are defined in terms
of our cultural participation. We are prepared by both our cultural and biological heritage to use
language and other cultural tools and to learn from each other. Using such means as language
and literacy, we can collectively remember events that we have not personally experienced-
becoming involved vicariously in other people‘s experience over many generations. Being
human involves constraints and possibilities stemming from long histories of human practices.
At the same time, each generation continues to revise and adapt its human cultural and biological
heritage in the face of current circumstances.

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1.7. Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the
global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to Cultural Revolution. The term
cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other's differences.
Moreover, it is often used to mention the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific
region, or in the world as a whole. It refers to the inclusion of different cultural perspectives in an
organization or society. Cultural diversity has emerged as a key concern at the turn of a new
century. Some predict that globalization and the liberalization of the goods and services market
will lead to cultural standardization, reinforcing existing imbalances between cultures. For
others, cultural differences are what cause us to lose sight of our common humanity and are
therefore at the root of numerous conflicts. This second diagnosis is today all the more plausible
since globalization has increased the points of interaction and friction between cultures, giving
rise to identity-linked tensions, withdrawals and claims, particularly of a religious nature, which
can become potential sources of dispute. Underlying the intuition that all these phenomena are in
practice linked and relate, each in its own way, to a particular understanding of cultural diversity,
the essential challenge would be to propose a coherent vision of cultural diversity so as to clarify
how, far from being a threat, it can become beneficial to the actions of the international
community. This is the essential purpose of the present report. From the start, UNESCO has been
convinced of the inherent value and necessity of cultural diversity. Confronted by this diversity
of codes and outlooks, States sometimes find themselves at a loss to know how to respond, often
as a matter of urgency, or how to address cultural diversity in the common interest.

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 CHAPTER TWO

MULTICULTURALISM

2.1. What Is Multiculturalism?

Multiculturalism considered a new model for societies whose populations have become multi-
ethnic through immigration. Multiculturalism also encourages integration and this means that the
minority groups are able to retain their home culture and ethnic community. Ali Rattans says
―multiculturalism entered public discourses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when both
Australia and Canada began to declare their support for it‖. This is a merit in a multicultural
society because this requires retaining elements of ethnic community and home culture which is
an important vehicle of integration. In this regard, multiculturalism means simply the acceptance
of the other including his/her ethnic beliefs and cultures and paves the way for a complete
abolition of racial qualifications. In the light of these considerations, multiculturalism
encompasses democratic principles such as equity, equality, freedom, social justice, and human
dignity. Some scholars defined multiculturalism in terms of pluralism of racial and ethnic group,
others have argued that the meaning of multiculturalism is beyond pluralism and includes the
desire to create new social realities from marginalized minority groups.

From this perspective, multiculturalism promotes social justice, equal access, and opportunity for
minorities and other oppressed groups. Multiculturalism is based on the idea of cultural pluralism
and is based on the notion of equality among all groups and respect for cultural diversity. One of
multicultural society's merits is that societies which host several nationalities and ethnicities can
live together free from ethnic and religious conflict. Canada for example manages to allow
people from different nationalities to live side with no religious or ethnic conflict. The best
definition of multiculturalism is that: The belief that all citizens are equal. Cultural differences
make a large contribution to unity and multiculturalism celebrates that contribution.
Multiculturalism also ensures that all citizens can maintain their identities, take pride in their
ancestry, and have a sense of belonging. According to (Canadian Heritage Leaflet, 2008)
Actually immigrants are main contributing factors to the richness of Canadian heritage and
―nothing prevented them from maintaining "attachments" to their culture of origin once they
were fully integrated into Canadian society‖.

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2.2. Philosophical Justifications for Multiculturalism
The idea of multiculturalism in contemporary political discourse and in political philosophy
reflects a debate about how to understand and respond to the challenges associated with cultural
diversity based on ethnic, national, and religious differences. The term ―multicultural‖ is often
used as a descriptive term to characterize the fact of diversity in a society, but in what follows,
the focus is on multiculturalism as a normative ideal in the context of Western liberal democratic
societies. While the term has come to encompass a variety of normative claims and goals, it is
fair to say that proponents of multiculturalism find common ground in rejecting the ideal of the
―melting pot‖ in which members of minority groups are expected to assimilate into the dominant
culture. Instead, proponents of multiculturalism endorse an ideal in which members of minority
groups can maintain their distinctive collective identities and practices. In the case of
immigrants, proponents emphasize that multiculturalism is compatible with, not opposed to, the
integration of immigrants into society; multiculturalism policies provide fairer terms of
integration for immigrants.

Modern states are organized around the language and culture of the dominant groups that have
historically constituted them. As a result, members of minority cultural groups face barriers in
pursuing their social practices in ways that members of dominant groups do not. Some theorists
argue for tolerating minority groups by leaving them free of state interference (Kukathas 1995,
2003). Others argue that mere toleration of group differences falls short of treating members of
minority groups as equals; what is required is recognition and positive accommodation of
minority group practices through what the leading theorist of multiculturalism Will Kymlicka
has called ―group-differentiated rights‖ (1995). Some group-differentiated rights are held by
individual members of minority groups, as in the case of individuals who are granted exemptions
from generally applicable laws in virtue of their religious beliefs or individuals who seek
language accommodations in education and in voting. Other group-differentiated rights are held
by the group rather by its members severally; such rights are properly called ―group rights,‖ as in
the case of indigenous groups and minority nations, who claim the right of self-determination. In
the latter respect, multiculturalism is closely allied with nationalism. Multiculturalism is part of a
broader political movement for greater inclusion of marginalized groups, including African

61
Americans, women, people and people with disabilities (Glazer 1997, Hollinger 1995, Taylor
1992). This broader political movement is reflected in the ―multiculturalism‖ debates in the
1980s over whether and how to diversify school curricula to recognize the achievements of
historically marginalized groups. But the more specific focus of contemporary theories of
multiculturalism is the recognition and inclusion of minority groups defined primarily in terms of
ethnicity, nationality, and religion. The main concerns of contemporary multiculturalism are
immigrants who are ethnic and religious minorities.
2.3. Critiques of multiculturalism
1. Cosmopolitan view of culture: Some critics contend that theories of multiculturalism are
premised on an essentialist view of culture. Cultures are not distinct, self-contained wholes; they
have long interacted and influenced one another through war, imperialism, trade, and migration.
People in many parts of the world live within cultures that are already cosmopolitan,
characterized by cultural hybridity. Waldron also rejects the premise that the options available to
an individual must come from a particular culture; meaningful options may come from a variety
of cultural sources. What people need are cultural materials, not access to a particular cultural
structure. For example, the Bible, Roman mythology, and the Grimms‘ fairy tales have all
influenced American culture, but these cultural sources cannot be seen as part of a single cultural
structure that multiculturalists like Kymlicka aim to protect. In response, multicultural theorists
agree that cultures are overlapping and interactive, but they nonetheless maintain that individuals
belong to separate societal cultures.

In particular, Kymlicka has argued that while options available to people in any modern society
come from a variety of ethnic and historical sources, these options become meaningful to us only
if ―they become part of the shared vocabulary of social life—i.e. embodied in the social
practices, based on a shared language, that we are exposed to... That we learn...from other
cultures, or that we borrow words from other languages, does not mean that we do not still
belong to separate societal cultures, or speak different languages‖ (1995). Liberal egalitarian
defenders of multiculturalism like Kymlicka maintain that special protections for minority
cultural groups still hold, even after we adopt a more cosmopolitan view of cultures, because the
aim of group-differentiated rights is not to freeze cultures in place but to empower members of
minority groups to continue their distinctive cultural practices so long as they wish to.

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2. Toleration requires indifference, not accommodation: A second major criticism is aimed at
liberal multicultural theories of accommodation in particular and stems from the value of
freedom of association and conscience. If we take these ideas seriously and accept both
ontological and ethical individualism as discussed above, then we are led to defend not special
protections for groups but the individual’s right to form and leave associations. As Chandran
Kukathas (1995, 2003) argues, there are no group rights, only individual rights. By granting
cultural groups special protections and rights, the state oversteps its role, which is to secure
civility, and risks undermining individual rights of association. States should not pursue ―cultural
integration‖ or ―cultural engineering‖ but rather a ―politics of indifference‖ toward minority
groups (2003). One limitation of such approach is that groups that do not themselves value
toleration and freedom of association, including the right to dissociate or exit a group, may
practice internal discrimination against group members, and the state would have little authority
to interfere in such associations. A politics of indifference would permit the abuse of vulnerable
members of groups, tolerating, in Kukathas‘s words, ―communities which bring up children
unschooled and illiterate; which enforce arranged marriages; which deny conventional medical
care to their members (including children); and which inflict cruel and ‗unusual‘ punishment‖
(Kukathas 2003). To embrace such a state of affairs would be to abandon the values of autonomy
and equality, values that many liberals take to be fundamental to any liberalism worth its name.

3. Diversion from a “politics of redistribution”: A third challenge to multiculturalism views it

as a form of a ―politics of recognition‖ that diverts attention from a ―politics of redistribution.‖
We can distinguish analytically between these modes of politics: a politics of recognition
challenges status inequality and the remedy it seeks is cultural and symbolic change, whereas a
politics of redistribution challenges economic inequality and exploitation and the remedy it seeks
is economic restructuring (Fraser 1997, Fraser and Honneth 2003). Working class mobilization
tilts toward the redistribution end of the spectrum, and claims for exemption from generally
applicable laws and the movement for same-sex marriage are on the recognition end. In the U.S.
critics who view themselves as part of the ―progressive left‖ worry that the rise of the ―cultural
left‖ with its emphasis on multiculturalism and difference turns the focus away from struggles
for economic justice (Gitlin 1995, Rorty 1999). Critics in the United Kingdom and Europe have
also expressed concern about the effects of multiculturalism on social trust and public support for
economic redistribution (Barry 2001, Miller 2006, van Parijs 2004). Phillipe van Parijs invited

63
scholars to consider the proposition, ―Other things being equal, the more cultural... homogeneity
within the population of a defined territory, the better the prospects in terms of economic
solidarity‖ (2004). There are two distinct concerns here. The first is that the existence of racial
and ethnic diversity reduces social trust and solidarity, which in turn undermines public support
for policies that involve economic redistribution. For example, Robert Putnam argues that the
decline in social trust and civic participation in the U.S. is strongly correlated with racial and
ethnic diversity (2007). Rodney Hero has shown that the greater the racial and ethnic
heterogeneity in a state, the more restrictive state-level welfare programs are (Hero 1998, Hero
and Preuhs 2007). Cross-national analyses suggest that differences in racial diversity explain a
significant part of the reason why the U.S. has not developed a European-style welfare state
(Alesina and Glaeser 2004). The second concern is that multiculturalism policies themselves
undermine the welfare-state by heightening the salience of racial and ethnic differences among
groups and undermining a sense of common national identity that is viewed as necessary for a
robust welfare state (Barry 2001, Gitlin 1995, Rorty 1999).

With respect to the first concern about the tension between diversity and redistribution,
Kymlicka and Banting question the generalizability of the empirical evidence that is largely
drawn from research either on Africa, where the weakness of state institutions has meant no
usable traditions or institutional capacity for dealing with diversity, or on the U.S., where racial
inequality has been shaped by centuries of slavery and segregation. Where many minority groups
are newcomers and where state institutions are strong, the impact of increasing diversity may be
quite different (Kymlicka and Banting 2006). Barbara Arneil has also challenged Putnam‘s
social capital thesis, arguing that participation in civil society has changed, not declined, largely
as a result of mobilization among cultural minorities and women seeking greater inclusion and
equality (Arneil 2006a). She argues that it is not diversity itself that leads to changes in trust and
civic engagement but the politics of diversity, i.e. how different groups respond to and challenge
the norms governing their society. The central issue, then, is not to reduce diversity but to
determine principles and procedures by which differences are renegotiated in the name of justice
(Arneil and MacDonald 2010). As for the second concern about the tradeoff between recognition
and redistribution, the evidence upon which early redistributionist critics such as Barry and Rorty
relied was speculative and conjectural. Recent cross-national research suggests that there is no
evidence of a systematic tendency for multiculturalism policies to weaken the welfare state

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(Banting et al. 2006). Irene Bloemraad‘s comparative study of immigrant integration in Canada
and the U.S. offers support for the view that not only is there no trade-off between
multiculturalism and the welfare-state but multiculturalism policies can actually increase
attention and resources devoted to redistributive policies. She finds that Canada‘s
multiculturalism policies, which provide immigrants with a variety of services in their native
languages and encourage them to preserve their cultural traditions even as they become Canadian
citizens, are the main reason why the naturalization rate among permanent residents in Canada is
twice that of permanent residents in the U.S. Multiculturalists agree more empirical research is
needed, but they nonetheless maintain that redistribution and recognition are not either/or
propositions. Both are important dimensions in the pursuit of equality for minority groups. In
practice, both redistribution and recognition—responding to material disadvantages and
marginalized identities and statuses—are required to achieve greater equality across lines of race,
ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexuality, and class, not least because many individuals stand at
the intersection of these different categories and suffer multiple forms of marginalization. A
politics of recognition is important not only on account of its effects on socioeconomic status and
political participation but also for the sake of full inclusion of members of marginalized groups
as equal citizens.

4. Universalist ideal of equality: A fourth objection takes issue with liberal multiculturalist‘s
understanding of what equality requires. Brian Barry defends a Universalist ideal of equality, in
contrast to the group-differentiated ideal of equality defended by Kymlicka. Barry argues that
religious and cultural minorities should be held responsible for bearing the consequences of their
own beliefs and practices, just as members of the dominant culture are held responsible for
bearing the consequences of their beliefs. He does think that special accommodations are owed
to people with disabilities, but he believes religious and cultural affiliations are different from
physical disabilities: the former do not constrain people in the way that physical disabilities do.
A physical disability supports a strong prima facie claim to compensation because it limits a
person‘s opportunities to engage in activities that others are able to engage in. In contrast,
religion and culture may shape one‘s willingness to seize an opportunity, but they do not affect
whether one has an opportunity. Barry argues that egalitarian justice is only concerned with
ensuring a reasonable range of equal opportunities, not with ensuring equal access to any
particular choices or outcomes (2001). When it comes to cultural and religious affiliations, they

65
do not limit the range of opportunities one enjoys but rather the choices one can make within the
set of opportunities available to all. In reply, one might agree that opportunities are not objective
in the strong physicalist sense suggested by Barry. State law and cultural commitments can
conflict in ways such that the costs for cultural minorities of taking advantage of the opportunity
are prohibitively high. In contrast to Barry, liberal multiculturalists argue that many cases where
a law or policy disparately impacts a religious or cultural practice constitute injustice.

5. Postcolonial critique: Some postcolonial theorists are critical of multiculturalism and the
contemporary politics of recognition for reinforcing, rather than transforming, structures of
colonial domination in relations between settler states and indigenous communities. Focusing on
Taylor‘s theory of the politics of recognition, Glen Coulthard has argued that ―instead of
ushering in an era of peaceful coexistence grounded on the Hegelian idea of reciprocity, the
politics of recognition in its contemporary form promises to reproduce the very configurations of
colonial power that indigenous peoples‘ demands for recognition have historically sought to
transcend‖ (2007; see also Coulthard 2014). There are several elements to Coulthard‘s critique.
First, he argues that the politics of recognition, through its focus on reformist state
redistributionist schemes like granting cultural rights and concessions to aboriginal communities,
affirms rather than challenges the political economy of colonialism. In this regard, the politics of
recognition reveals itself to be a variant of liberalism, which ―fails to confront the
structural/economic aspects of colonialism at its generative roots‖ (2007).

Second, the contemporary politics of recognition toward indigenous communities rests on a

flawed sociological assumption: that both parties engaged in the struggle for recognition is
mutually dependent on one another‘s acknowledgement for their freedom and self-worth. Yet, no
such mutual dependency exists in actual relations between nation-states and indigenous
communities: ―the master—that is, the colonial state and state society—does not require
recognition from the previously self-determining communities upon which its territorial,
economic and social infrastructure is constituted‖. Third, Coulthard argues that true
emancipation for the colonized cannot occur without struggle and conflict that ―serves as the
mediating force through which the colonized come to shed their colonial identities‖. He employs
Frantz Fanon to argue that the road to true self-determination for the oppressed lies in self-
affirmation: rather than depending on their oppressors for their freedom and self-worth, ―the

66
colonized must initiate the process of decolonization by recognizing themselves as free, dignified
and distinct contributors to humanity‖. This means that indigenous peoples should ―collectively
redirect our struggles away from a politics that seeks to attain a conciliatory form of settler-state
recognition for Indigenous nations toward a resurgent politics of recognition premised on self-
actualization, direct action, and the resurgence of cultural practices that are attentive to the
subjective and structural composition of settler-colonial power‖ (2014).

Taylor, Kymlicka, and other proponents of the contemporary politics of recognition might agree
with Coulthard that self-affirmation by oppressed groups is critical for true self-determination
and freedom of indigenous communities, but such self-affirmation need not be viewed as
mutually exclusive from state efforts to extend institutional accommodations. State recognition
of self-government rights and other forms of accommodation are important steps toward
rectifying historical injustices and transforming structural inequalities between the state and
indigenous communities. Coulthard‘s analysis redirects attention to the importance of evaluating
and challenging the structural and psycho-affective dimensions of colonial domination, but by
arguing that indigenous peoples should ―turn away‖ (2007) from settler-states and settler
societies may play into the neoliberal turn toward the privatization of dependency and to risk
reinforcing the marginalization of indigenous communities at a time when economic and other
forms of state support may be critical to the survival of indigenous communities.

6. Feminist critique of multiculturalism: The set of critiques that has ignited perhaps the most
intense debate about multiculturalism argues that extending protections to minority groups may
come at the price of reinforcing oppression of vulnerable members of those groups—what some
have called the problem of ―internal minorities‖ or ―minorities within minorities‖ (Green 1994,
Eisenberg and Spinner-Halev 2005). Multicultural theorists have tended to focus on
inequalities between groups in arguing for special protections for minority groups, but group-
based protections can exacerbate inequalities within minority groups. This is because some ways
of protecting minority groups from oppression by the majority may make it more likely that
more powerful members of those groups are able to undermine the basic liberties and
opportunities of vulnerable members. Vulnerable subgroups within minority groups include
religious dissenters, sexual minorities, women, and children. A group‘s leaders may exaggerate
the degree of consensus and solidarity within their group to present a united front to the wider

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society and strengthen their case for accommodation. Some of the most oppressive group norms
and practices revolve around issues of gender and sexuality, and it is feminist critics who first
called attention to potential tensions between multiculturalism and feminism (Coleman 1996,
Okin 1999, Shachar 2000). These tensions constitute a genuine dilemma if one accepts both that
group-differentiated rights for minority cultural groups are justifiable, as multicultural theorists
do, and that gender equality is an important value, as feminists have emphasized.

Extending special protections and accommodations to minority groups engaged in patriarchal

practices may help reinforce gender inequality within these communities. Examples that have
been analyzed in the scholarly literature include conflicts over arranged marriage, the ban on
headscarves, and the use of ―cultural defenses‖ in criminal law, accommodating religious law or
customary law within dominant legal systems, and self-government rights for indigenous
communities that reinforce the inequality of women. These feminist objections are especially
troublesome for liberal egalitarian defenders of multiculturalism who wish to promote not only
inter-group equality but also intra-group equality, including gender equality. In response,
Kymlicka (1999) has emphasized the similarities between multiculturalism and feminism: both
aim at a more inclusive conception of justice, and both challenge the traditional liberal
assumption that equality requires identical treatment.

To address the concern about multicultural accommodations exacerbating intra-group inequality,

Kymlicka distinguishes between two kinds of group rights: ―external protections‖ are rights that
a minority group claims against non-members in order to reduce its vulnerability to the economic
and political power of the larger society, whereas ―internal restrictions‖ are rights that a minority
group claims against its own members. He argues that a liberal theory of minority group rights
defends external protections while rejecting internal restrictions (1995, 1999). But many feminist
critics have emphasized, granting external protections to minority groups may sometimes come
at the price of internal restrictions. They may be different sides of the same coin: for example,
respecting the self-government rights of Native communities may entail permitting sexually
discriminatory membership rules enacted by the leaders of those communities. Whether
multiculturalism and feminism can be reconciled within liberal theory depends in part on the
empirical premise that groups that seek group-differentiated rights do not support patriarchal
norms and practices.

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Liberal theorists have tended to start from the question of whether and how minority cultural
practices should be tolerated or accommodated in accordance with liberal principles, whereas
democratic theorists foreground the role of democratic deliberation and ask how affected parties
understand the contested practice. By drawing on the voices of affected parties and giving
special weight to the voice of women at the center of gendered cultural conflicts, deliberation can
clarify the interests at stake and enhance the legitimacy of responses to cultural conflicts
(Benhabib 2002, Deveaux 2006, Song 2007). Deliberation also provides opportunities for
minority group members to expose instances of cross-cultural hypocrisy and to consider whether
and how the norms and institutions of the larger society, whose own struggles for gender equality
are incomplete and ongoing, may reinforce rather than challenge sexist practices within minority
groups (Song 2005). There is contestation over what constitutes subordination and how best to
address it and intervention into minority cultural groups without the participation of minority
women themselves fails to respect their freedom and is not likely to serve their interests.
2.4. The claims of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is closely associated with ―identity politics,‖ ―the politics of difference,‖ and
―the politics of recognition,‖ all of which share a commitment to revaluing disrespected identities
and changing dominant patterns of representation and communication that marginalize certain
groups (Gutmann 2003, Taylor 1992, Young 1990). Multiculturalism involves not only claims of
identity and culture as some critics of multiculturalism suggest. It is also a matter of economic
interests and political power: it includes demands for remedying economic and political
disadvantages that people suffer as a result of their marginalized group identities.
Multiculturalists take for granted that it is ―culture‖ and ―cultural groups‖ that are to be
recognized and accommodated. Yet multicultural claims include a wide range of claims
involving religion, language, ethnicity, nationality, and race. Culture is a contested, open-ended
concept, and all of these categories have been subsumed by or equated with the concept of
culture. Disaggregating and distinguishing among different types of claims can clarify what is at
stake (Song 2008). Language and religion are at the heart of many claims for cultural
accommodation by immigrants. The key claim made by minority nations is for self-government
rights. Race has a more limited role in multicultural discourse. Antiracism and multiculturalism
are distinct but related ideas: the former highlights ―victimization and resistance‖ whereas the
latter highlights ―cultural life, cultural expression, achievements, and the like‖ (Blum 1992).

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Claims for recognition in the context of multicultural education are demands not just for
recognition of aspects of a group‘s actual culture (e.g. African American art and literature) but
also for acknowledgment of the history of group subordination and its concomitant experience
(Gooding-Williams 1998). Examples of cultural accommodations or ―group-differentiated
rights‖ include exemptions from generally applicable law (e.g. religious exemptions), assistance
to do things that members of the majority culture are already enabled to do (e.g. multilingual
ballots, funding for minority language schools and ethnic associations, affirmative action),
representation of minorities in government bodies (e.g. ethnic quotas for party lists or legislative
seats, minority-majority Congressional districts), recognition of traditional legal codes by the
dominant legal system (e.g. granting jurisdiction over family law to religious courts), or limited
self-government rights (e.g. qualified recognition of tribal sovereignty, federal arrangements
recognizing the political autonomy of Québec) (for a helpful classification of cultural rights, see
Levy 1997). Typically, a group-differentiated right is a right of a minority group (or a member of
such a group) to act or not act in a certain way in accordance with their religious obligations
and/or cultural commitments. In some cases, it is a right that directly restricts the freedom of
non-members in order to protect the minority group‘s culture, as in the case of restrictions on the
use of the specific language. When the right-holder is the group, the right may protect group
rules that restrict the freedom of individual members. Now that you have a sense of the kinds of
claims that have been made in the name of multiculturalism, we can now turn to consider
different normative justifications for these claims.
2.5. Misconceptions about Multiculturalism
There are some widespread misconceptions about what multicultural education is and how it
should be implemented hinder the process. Specifically, at least 15 common misconceptions
should be addressed:
1. People from the same nation or geographic region, or those who speak the same
language, share a common culture: At least seven distinct dialects and cultures can be found in
the Southern United States alone (Cross & Aldridge, 1989). Most Latinos share a common
language, but they cannot be considered as one ethnic group sharing a similar culture.
Tremendous historical, racial, and cultural differences must be acknowledged (Banks & Banks,
1997).

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2. Families from the same culture share the same values: This notion is especially false for
non-dominant cultures living in the United States. Lynch and Hanson (1998) reported at least
four ways individuals and families from other countries "live out" their culture in the United
States. These include "1) mainstreamers, 2) bicultural individuals, 3) culturally different
individuals, and 4) culturally marginal individuals". In reality, a continuum of cultural identity
exists and the entire range often can be found within the same family. For example, grandparents
may maintain their original culture, while their grandchildren may be bicultural or
mainstreamers.
3. Children's books about another culture are usually authentic: This is an especially
common misconception. Teachers who want to share other cultures may unintentionally choose
books that are racist or not representative of a particular group. Many of us can identify certain
culturally inappropriate books, such as The Story of Little Black Sambo by Bannerman (1899),
The Five Chinese Brothers by Bishop and Wiese (1939), or The Seven Chinese Brothers by
Mahy (1990). Others are more subtle. A book that is often recommended (see Huck, Hepler, &
Hickman, 1987) is Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel, 1968). The book does have a delightful repetitive
pattern that many children enjoy. The text and illustrations, however, are inaccurate depictions of
any Chinese. In the text, the first and most honored son had the grand long name of "Tikki tikki
tembo-no sarembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo." The message about Chinese names is less
than flattering. People in the Southern United States would be appalled if parents in the People's
Republic of China were reading stories to their children about Southerners who used to name
their children long names such as Bubba Bubba Jimbo Kenny Ray Billy Bob. The Council on
Interracial Books for Children published Guidelines for Selecting Bias-Free Textbooks and
Storybooks in 1980 (see Derman-Sparks, 1989). The guidelines suggest: 1) checking illustrations
for stereotypes or tokenism, 2) checking the story line, 3) looking at the lifestyles (watching out
for the "cute-natives-in-costumes" syndrome, for example), 4) weighing relationships between
people, 5) noting the heroes, 6) considering the effect on a child's self-image, 7) considering the
author's or illustrator's background, 8) examining the author's perspective, 9) watching for loaded
words, and 10) checking the copyright date. Other criteria are available to readers.

4. Multicultural education just includes ethnic or racial issues: While ethnic and racial
concerns are a large part of multicultural education, gender and socioeconomic diversity also are
important. Children come from many types of homes, including those headed by lesbian or gay

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parents. Furthermore, people from lower socioeconomic environments often have more in
common with one another than they do with those of similar racial or ethnic heritage from higher
income levels (Strevy & Aldridge, 1994). One source that is helpful in dispelling this myth is
teaching with a Multicultural Perspective: A Practical Guide (Davidman & Davidman, 1997).
These include the promotion of "equal opportunity in the school, cultural pluralism, alternative
life styles, and respect for those who differ and support for power equity among groups".
Gollnick and Chinn (1990) recommend five goals for multicultural education. These goals also
emphasize issues beyond the boundaries of ethnic or racial issues. They include: 1) the
promotion of strength and value of cultural diversity, 2) an emphasis on human rights and respect
for those who are different from oneself, 3) the acceptance of alternative life choices for people,
4) the promotion of social justice and equality for all people, and 5) an emphasis on equal
distribution of power and income among groups.

5. The tour and detour approaches are appropriate for teaching multicultural education:
What are the tour approach and the detour approach? Louise Derman-Sparks (1993) uses the
phrase "tourist-multiculturalism" to describe approaches that merely visit a culture. The tour
approach to education involves a curriculum that is dictated primarily by months or seasons of
the year. For example, some teachers believe an appropriate time to study Native Americans is
November, when Thanksgiving occurs in the United States. Elementary teachers may take a
detour during November and have children make Indian headbands or present a Thanksgiving
play. Similarly, Black History Month often is the only time children study African American
leaders or read literature written by Black authors. Maya Angelou once remarked that she will be
glad when Black History Month is no longer necessary. When all Americans are sufficiently a
part of our courses of study and daily instruction, there will be no need for Black History week
or month. These tour and detour methods trivialize, patronize, and stereotype cultures by
emphasizing traditional costumes, foods, and dances while avoiding the true picture of the
everyday life of the people from that culture (Derman-Sparks, 1993). Students often come away
from such teaching with even more biases. Recently, white students in one district checked out
of school during a Black History Month program. Their parents indicated they felt that "This
program was for them-not us."
6. Multicultural education should be taught as a separate subject: Just as touring and
detouring are not recommended practices, neither is teaching multicultural education as a

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separate subject. In fact, this is just another detour. In a subtle way, it points out that many
groups are still on the margin of society. James Banks (1994) has divided multicultural
curriculum reform into four approaches. These include: 1) the contributions approach, 2) the
additive approach, 3) the social action approach, and 4) the transformation approach. This fourth
approach is particularly powerful in addressing the myth of teaching multicultural education as a
separate subject. In a transformation approach, the structure and basic assumptions of the
curriculum are changed so that students can view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the
perspectives of diverse ethnic and cultural groups. History often is written from the winner's
perspective, and so in traditional curricula students only get to hear the voice of the victor. In a
transformation approach, "students are able to read and listen to voices of the victors and the
vanquished". Making multicultural education a separate topic would simply add something else
to teachers' already full plates. We advocate an approach that promotes education that is
multicultural overall. Multicultural concepts should be infused throughout the curriculum.

7. Multicultural education is an accepted part of the curriculum: In fact, this is far from true.
There are current efforts to eliminate multicultural education from the schools. The popular
media also has its staunch critics of multicultural education. On the back cover of Rush
Limbaugh's (1994) popular book See I Told You So he says, "Multicultural education is just an
excuse for those who have not made it in the American way." It is important to note, however,
that there has never been one American culture, but many. Ross Perot used the term "melting
pot" throughout his presidential campaigns. Perhaps a better way to look at the United States
would be as a salad bowl (Aldridge, 1993). Unique, different cultures contribute to the whole
country, just as a tomato or celery adds to the salad.

8. Multiculturalism is divisive: According to this myth, immigrants coming to the United States
eventually have been assimilated and considered themselves to be Americans. The myth goes on
to state that when ethnicity is turned into a defining characteristic, it promotes division rather
than unity. This shallow reasoning denies the multiple diversities that always have existed and
continue to exist throughout the United States (Swiniarski, Breitborde, & Murphy, 1999).
9. In predominantly monocultural or bicultural societies, there is no need to study other
cultures: This myth is pervasive in such societies. For example, we have heard from some
undergraduate education students who protest, "Why should we study other cultures when there

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are only Whites and Blacks in the class and in our community?" In the past two years, however,
that same community has had an influx of Mexican and Asian families. Furthermore, the closest
elementary school to the students who made this comment had 71 different nationalities
represented. With an increasingly diverse society, bicultural and monocultural areas especially
need to learn about cultures to which they will be in close proximity in the immediate future
(Greenfield & Cocking, 1994).
10. Multicultural education should be reserved for older children who are less egocentric or
ethnocentric: Lynch and Hanson (1998) tell us that "cultural understanding in one's first culture
occurs early and is typically established by age 5". They go on to say, "Children learn new
cultural patterns more easily than adults". Young children are capable of learning that we are all
alike and all different in certain ways. Children in the early elementary grades often study the
family and community. Gathering pictures of each family and discussing the differences and
similarities is a good place to start. Interestingly enough, the critics who suggest that
multicultural education should be postponed are often the same ones who are interested in
pushing academics down into the preschool curriculum.
11. When multicultural education is implemented, the commonality is lost: (Swiniarski,
Breitborde, & Murphy, 1999). As school curricula expand to incorporate more diverse cultures,
conflicts may arise just as they did with the civil rights movement. However, multicultural
education can assist society in being more tolerant, inclusive, and equitable, recognizing that the
whole is rich with many contributing parts (see Ravitch, 1991/1992).
12. We do not need multicultural education because America already acknowledges its
cultural diversity: Those who agree with this statement are quick to point out that Martin
Luther King's birthday and Black History Month are widely celebrated. This is exactly what we
mean by a tour or detour approach, which is often more divisive than transformative (see
Derman-Sparks, 1989).
13. Historical accuracy suffers in multicultural education: Proponents of this statement have
suggested that certain curricula promote that Cleopatra was Black and that Western Civilization
started in Egypt rather than Greece. If students are taught appropriate skepticism at an early age,
then they will develop questioning abilities to research discrepancies found in historical literature
(Greenfield & Cocking, 1994).

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14. Most people identify with only one culture: Increasingly, children and families are
multiethnic in nature. Here are just two examples. Maria is an Evangelical Christian from
Ecuador who married Mohammed, a Muslim from Pakistan. They have two elementary-age
children who are being raised in Queens, New York. The children have never visited Ecuador or
Pakistan. Patrick is of Chinese heritage, but was born in Jamaica. His family later moved to
Toronto and now lives in Miami. These children are not stereotypical. They have a unique
cultural heritage. Multicultural education should examine intrapersonal cultural diversity as well
as the interpersonal. If this is not acknowledged and valued, children like Patrick could
experience intrapsychic cultural conflict.
15. Finally, there are not enough resources available about multicultural education:
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, in the past years, a plethora of sources have
emerged concerning cultural diversity. There are so many references of multiculturalism and
multicultural education. There are, no doubt, many other misconceptions about multicultural
education.
2.6. Multicultural Policies
Creating policy that supports living together differently and equitable is imperative. Kymlicka
(2009) argues that the rising social polarization and inequity arising from the unsettlement of
transnational immigration within western liberal states means that such policy is more important
than ever. He further explains: It is precisely when immigrants are perceived as illegitimate,
illiberal, and burdensome that multiculturalism may be most needed. Without some proactive
policies to promote mutual understanding and respect, and to make immigrants feel comfortable
within mainstream institutions, these factors could quickly lead to a situation of a racialized
underclass, standing in permanent opposition to the larger society. To create social cohesion,
unity and equity, this model of multiculturalism can create social division and fragmentation
especially in undermining the political autonomy and freedom of marginalized cultural groups.
The central argument strengthens what is becoming a dominant view in more reflexive and
critical multicultural theorizing–the view that multicultural policy that is informed by a focus on
political autonomy and difference (rather than cultural recognition and identity) will begin to
reconcile the isolation and fragmentation that continue to characterize the minority group
experience in Countries and liberal states. Requisite to social cohesion, unity and equity in the
current era is a democratic pluralism that supports the full participation of minority groups within

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a broad civic domain where the constitution of the common good reflects the ideologies and
values of multiple (majority and minority) voices.
Principles underpinning the Policy and Action Plan
Participation: It is needed to be ensured that the community and service users have the
opportunity to participate in decisions that directly affect their lives and will promote social and
economic participation through community capacity building and intercultural interaction.
Accountability: Accountability to community through organizational competence, ongoing
dialogue, accessible information provision, inclusive decision making and regular review of its
processes.
Non-discrimination: It is recognized that some groups experience greater barriers to
participation and will strive to make services more accessible to vulnerable groups. Promoting
mutual obligation by all members of the community is needed to achieve social cohesion.
Empowerment: Promotion of civic accessibility and responsibility. Recognizing the
preservation of cultural heritage and support for the aspirations of community members are
critical features of empowered communities.

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 CHAPTER THREE

MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

3.1. The concept of multicultural competence

Multicultural Awareness:
Awareness of one‘s attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, biases and values
Awareness of self, the other, and the relationship
Understanding one‘s own culture and heritage and how they may influence one‘s
worldview
Awareness of one‘s abilities and limitations.
Multicultural Knowledge:
Specific information about others‘ cultures
Understanding of the dynamics of oppression
Information about relevant theories
Knowledge about how race, culture, and other social identifications may affect behaviors,
attitudes, feelings and interventions
Multicultural Skills:
Designing appropriate interventions
Incorporating learning in new situations
Ability to recover from cultural errors and to tolerate, manage, and resolve intercultural
conflict
Ability to deconstruct one‘s assumptions and core beliefs.
Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge and Skills:
The awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to work in meaningful ways with others
who are culturally different from self
Multicultural competence is a distinct category of awareness, knowledge, and skills yet
also must be integrated into other core competencies.
Helping and Advising:
All interactions involve diverse worldviews, values, realities and experiences
Cultural similarities and differences affect all helping relationships

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 Use multicultural awareness and knowledge to create responsive and culturally sensitive
interventions.
Assessment and Research
Be aware of the assumptions and the cultural variables that influence research and
assessment
Infuse multicultural knowledge, skills and awareness into all aspects of assessment and
research
Be familiar with culturally sensitive research designs and techniques and diverse
instruments.
Teaching and Training:
Infuse multiculturalism into preparation programs to shape the values and knowledge of
new professionals
Without multiculturalism, our educational interventions may be incomplete, inaccurate,
or irrelevant
Incorporate multicultural issues and dynamics into all types of teaching and training.
Ethics and Professional Standards:
Individuals bring multiple and diverse ethical belief systems to every interaction and
ethical dilemma
Make ethical principles more culturally meaningful and appropriate for all individuals
The multicultural nature of higher education is at the center of many ethical challenges
A fundamental goal of ethical dialogue is the creation of a mutual and respectful
community.
Theory and Translation:
Examine and identify assumptions, beliefs and limitations of our theoretical bases
Theory translation involves applying theory to our environment so it is important to know
how and when environments foster growth
Learning and translating theory need to be viewed as a dynamic and evolving process.
Administration and Management
Administrative and management practices and skills have often fallen short in
incorporating multicultural issues and concerns

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 Paradigm shifts and alternative tools and strategies are essential to creating genuine and
lasting multicultural change
Focus multicultural interventions on all levels of the institution (individual, group,
institution).
Why It Matters?
Creating, sustaining and nurturing a welcoming and inclusive environment
Our responsibility to be ethical and effective professionals
Necessary to understand identity and human development
3.2. Domains of multicultural competence
3.2.1. Cognitive Domain: The cognitive component refers to students‘ knowledge of the target
culture and their appreciation of the differences between their home culture and other cultures
(Hill, 2006). The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages outlined culture in
terms of products, practices, and perspectives. Products are tangible and intangible creations,
such as paintings, books, music, and education; practices include social behaviors, such as
gestures, table manners, and holiday celebrations; and perspectives involve values, ideas,
attitudes, and beliefs (Cutshall, 2012). Thus, culture-specific knowledge should include products,
practices, and perspectives that facilitate understanding of intercultural differences (Stern, 1983)
and appropriate behavior (Perry & Southwell, 2011).
3.2.2. Affective domain: The affective aspect refers to intercultural sensitivity. Chen and
Starosta (1998) conceptualized intercultural sensitivity as an individual‘s ―active desire to
motivate them to understand, appreciate, and accept differences among cultures‖. Chen and
Starosta (2000) identified five elements of intercultural sensitivity: interaction engagement (the
sense of participation in communication), interaction confidence (the degree of confidence that
interlocutors feel during intercultural communication), respect for cultural differences (the extent
to which participants understand, accept, and respect cultural differences), interaction enjoyment
(the level of pleasure interlocutors obtain from the communication), and interactional
attentiveness (the ability to respond observantly in communicative situations). In this study, we
incorporated only engagement, confidence, and respect, as they account for the majority of the
variance in affectivity.
3.2.3. Behavioral domain: The behavioral dimension has been the subject of fewer
investigations than have the cognitive and affective domains, and some ambiguity remains

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regarding its features. Koester and Olebe (1988) characterized the behavioral domain as
including respect, interaction management, and tolerance of ambiguity, whereas Kelley and
Meyers (1995) considered behavioral competence to include cross-cultural adaptability. Portalla
and Chen (2010) regarded the behavioral aspect as relevant to the communication skills required
during interactions. These approaches, however, may not assess the proactive aspects of
behavior. Therefore, we borrowed a concept from the field of psychology, conation, which
Atman (1987) defined as ―vectored energy: i.e., personal energy that has both direction and
magnitude‖. The features of conation are connected to volition, will, and agency, which indicate
potential behavior (Huitt & Cain, 2005). In the current study, the behavioral aspect is defined as
students‘ willingness to learn about the target culture or their directed efforts to engage in
behavior aimed at intercultural understanding.
3.2.4. Environmental/interactional-domain: The environmental domain refers to the settings in
which relationships are built and knowledge occurs. This domain embodies the notion that what
occurs in people‘s lives is part of a complex ecology involving social networks, community,
family, schools, and libraries each contributing to how individuals make sense of every and
respond to information. The environmental domain is part of the entire the ecology of which
humans are a part and through which they acquire and use information (Davenport, 1997).
Understanding one‘s own environmental domain is a prerequisite to understanding the
environmental domain of others and requires the same self-reflection required in the cognitive
domain. The environmental domain also refers to numerous environmental conditions that must
be understood in order to be culturally competent. The environmental domain includes
knowledge of community resources and assets such as the languages and dialects of the
community.

Culturally competent library professionals recognize the influence of first language acquisition
on the development of subsequent languages (August & Shanahan, 2008). They also recognize
political factors associated with language acquisition (Cashman, 2009). For example, dialect
differences are associated more with political factors and power structures than linguistic
differences (Joseph, 2005). In the environmental domain, the role of the culturally competent
librarian is to respect linguistic differences and to inculcate this respect throughout the
professional activities and policies of the library organization. The environmental domain also
involves knowing about how mundane aspects of people‘s complex ecologies such as

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transportation, home mobility, safety issues, and housing conditions (e.g., occupancy, lighting,
noise, and comfort) affect development of literacy and access to information.
3.5. Cultural competency in education context
Cultural competence entails recognizing the differences among students and families from
different cultural groups, responding to those differences positively, and being able to interact
effectively in a range of cultural environments (Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell, 2003). Cross (1995)
defines cultural competencies more explicitly as ―a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes,
structures, and policies that come together to work effectively in intercultural situations‖. The
term refers to culture in the very broadest sense. The first step for teachers in developing cultural
competencies is recognizing how their own perspectives and knowledge of the world are rooted
in a particular cultural, racial, and ethnic identity and history (Lindsey et al., 2003). Some use the
term cultural proficiency instead of cultural competence, to represent the highest level of ability
to understand and work with people from different backgrounds (Lindsey et al., 2003). Still
others distinguish between the two, considering cultural proficiency to be a more advanced state
of understanding and capacity to act constructively (Lindsey et al., 2003). Ladson-Billings
(2001) states that cultural competence is present in classrooms where:
―The teacher understands culture and its role in education.
The teacher takes responsibility for learning about students‘ culture and community.
The teacher uses student culture as a basis for learning.
The teacher promotes a flexible use of students‘ local and global culture‖.
Generally, Cultural competence is the ability to recognize differences based on culture, language,
race, ethnicity, and other aspects of individual identity and to respond to those differences
positively and constructively.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

4.1. The concept of Multicultural Education

Multicultural education is a global issue. It is difficult or may be impossible to find a country
where all its students are from the same cultural background and ethnic group. For example, our
country, Ethiopia, is composed of more than 80 nations and nationalities. Thus, teachers, have to
know that students have differences in many terms such as: culture, ethnicity, economy, gender
and others. Multiculturalism as a concept is a 20th century phenomena. This chapter acquaints
you with some definitions and concepts of multicultural education. To define multiculturalism
from your own experience and understanding. I am sure you know the words ―multi‖ and
―culture‖ and try to understand what you get by combining these words. Defining Culture:-
Broadly speaking, culture is the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors,
technologies and products that a society holds, follows, uses and produces to live in its
environment, and passes on from generation to generation.
4.1.1. Defining Multicultural Education
Since its earliest conceptualization in the 1960s, multicultural education has evolved both in
theory and practice. It is rare that any two classroom teachers or education scholars will share the
same definition for multicultural education. As with any dialogue on education, individuals tend
to mold concepts to fit their particular contexts and disciplines. Therefore, we should expect that
they will use different points of reference in discussing ethnic diversity and cultural pluralism.
Yet, when considerations are made for these differences, a consensus on the substantive
components of multicultural education quickly emerges. The definitions of multicultural
education vary. Some definitions rely on the cultural characteristics of diverse groups, while
others emphasize social problems (particularly those associated with oppression), political
power, and the reallocation of economic resources. Some restrict their focus to people of color,
while others include all major groups that are different in any way from mainstream Americans.

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Other definitions limit multicultural education to characteristics of local schools, and still others
provide directions for school reform in all settings regardless of their characteristics. The goals of
these diverse types of multicultural education range from bringing more information about
various groups to textbooks, to combating racism, to restructuring the entire school enterprise
and reforming society to make schools more culturally fair, accepting, and balanced. For this
reason, the field of multicultural education is referred to interchangeably as multicultural
education, education that is multicultural and antiracist. The following are the most frequently
used definitions of multicultural education: An idea, an educational reform movement, and a
process intended to change the structure of educational institutions so that all students have an
equal chance to achieve academic success. A philosophy that stresses the importance, legitimacy,
and vitality of ethnic and cultural diversity in shaping the lives of individuals, groups, and
nations A reform movement that changes all components of the educational enterprise, including
its underlying values, procedural rules, curricula, instructional materials, organizational structure,
and governance policies to reflect cultural pluralism. An ongoing process that requires long term
investments of time and effort as well as carefully planned and monitored actions (Banks &
Banks, 1993). Institutionalizing a philosophy of cultural pluralism within the educational system
that is grounded in principles of equality, mutual respect, acceptance, understanding and moral
commitment to social justice (Baptiste, 1979).

These various definitions contain several points in common. Advocates agree that the content of
multicultural education programs should include ethnic identities, cultural pluralism, unequal
distribution of resources and opportunities, and other sociopolitical problems stemming from
long histories of oppression. They believe that, at best, multicultural education is a philosophy, a
methodology for educational reform, and a set of specific content areas within instructional
programs. Multicultural education means learning about preparing for and celebrating cultural
diversity or learning to be bicultural. And it requires changes in school programs, policies, and
practices. Multiculturalists explicitly value diversity and agree that the specific content,
structures, and practices employed in achieving multicultural education will differ depending on
the setting. Multiculturalists also agree that multicultural education has implications for decision-
making that will affect operations at all levels of education, including instruction, administration,
governance, counseling, program planning, performance appraisal, and school climate. Thus,
everyone involved must play an active role in implementing multicultural education. Promoting

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diversity means acknowledging diversity, incorporating diversity into all levels, and
demonstrating pride in cultural pluralism along with a sincere belief that diversity is desirable.
4.1.2. Nature of multicultural education
Multicultural education is at least three things: an idea or concept, an educational reform
movement, and a process. Multicultural education incorporates the idea that all students-
regardless of their gender, social class, and ethnic, racial, or cultural characteristics—should have
an equal opportunity to learn in school. Another important idea in multicultural education is that
some students, because of these characteristics, have a better chance to learn in schools as they
are currently structured than do students who belong to other groups or who have different
cultural characteristics. Some institutional characteristics of schools systematically deny some
groups of students equal educational opportunities. For example, in the early grades, girls and
boys achieve equally in mathematics and science. However, the achievement test scores of girls
fall considerably behind those of boys as children progress through the grades (Clewell, 2002;
Francis, 2000). Girls are less likely than boys to participate in class discussions and to be
encouraged by teachers to participate. Girls are more likely than boys to be silent in the
classroom. However, not all school practices favor males. Sadker and Zittleman point out that,
boys are more likely to be disciplined than are girls, even when their behavior does not differ
from that of girls. They are also more likely than girls to be classified as learning disabled
(Donovan & Cross, 2002).

Males of color, especially African American males, experience a highly disproportionate rate of
disciplinary actions and suspensions in school. Some scholars, such as Noguera (2008), have
described the serious problems that African American males experience in school and in the
wider society. In the early grades, the academic achievement of students of color such as African
Americans, Latinos, and American Indians is close to parity with the achievement of White
mainstream students (Steele, 2003). However, the longer these students of color remain in
school, the more their achievement lags behind that of White mainstream students. Social-class
status is also strongly related to academic achievement. Persell, describes how educational
opportunities are much greater for middle- and upper-income students than for low-income
students. Knapp and Woolverton (2004), as well as Oakes, Joseph, and Muir (2004), describe the
powerful ways in which social class influences students‘ opportunities to learn. Exceptional
students, whether they are physically or mentally disabled or gifted and talented, often find that

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they do not experience equal educational opportunities in the schools. Multicultural education is
also a reform movement that is trying to change the schools and other educational institutions so
that students from all social-class, gender, racial, language, and cultural groups will have an
equal opportunity to learn. Multicultural education involves changes in the total school or
educational environment; it is not limited to curricular changes (Banks, 2009; Banks & Banks,
2004). Multicultural education is also a process whose goals will never be fully realized.
Educational equality, like liberty and justice, is an ideal toward which human beings work but
never fully attain. Racism, sexism, and discrimination against people with disabilities will exist
to some extent no matter how hard we work to eliminate these problems. When prejudice and
discrimination are reduced toward one group, they are usually directed toward another group or
take new forms. Whenever groups are identified and labeled, categorization occurs. When
categorization occurs, members of in-groups favor in-group members and discriminate against
out-groups (Stephan, 1999). This process can occur without groups having a history of conflict,
animosity, or competition, and without their having physical differences or any other kind of
important difference. Social psychologists call this process social identity theory or the minimal
group paradigm (Rothbart & John, 1993). Because the goals of multicultural education can never
be fully attained, we should work continuously to increase educational equality for all students.
Multicultural education must be viewed as an ongoing process, not as something that we ‗‗do‘‘
and thereby solve the problems that are the targets of multicultural educational reform (Banks,
2006).
4.2. The historical development of multicultural education
Multicultural education grew out of the ferment of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
During this decade, African Americans embarked on a quest for their rights that was
unprecedented in the United States. A major goal of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was
to eliminate discrimination in public accommodations, housing, employment, and education. The
consequences of the Civil Rights Movement had a significant influence on educational
institutions as ethnic groups—first African Americans and then other groups—demanded that the
schools and other educational institutions reform curricula to reflect their experiences, histories,
cultures, and perspectives. Ethnic groups also demanded that the schools hire more Black and
Brown teachers and administrators so that their children would have more successful role
models. Ethnic groups pushed for community control of schools in their neighborhoods and for

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the revision of textbooks to make them reflect the diversity of peoples in the United States. The
first responses of schools and educators to the ethnic movements of the 1960s were hurried
(Banks, 2006). Courses and programs were developed without the thought and careful planning
needed to make them educationally sound or to institutionalize them within the educational
system. Holidays and other special days, ethnic celebrations, and courses that focused on one
ethnic group were the dominant characteristics of school reforms related to ethnic and cultural
diversity during the 1960s and early 1970s. Grant and Sleeter, call this approach ‗‗single-group
studies.‘‘ The ethnic studies courses developed and implemented during this period were usually
electives and were taken primarily by students who were members of the group that was the
subject of the course. The visible success of the Civil Rights Movement, plus growing rage and a
liberal national atmosphere, stimulated other marginalized groups to take actions to eliminate
discrimination against them and to demand that the educational system respond to their needs,
aspirations, cultures, and histories. The women‘s rights movement emerged as one of the most
significant social reform movements of the 20th century (Schmitz, Butler, Rosenfelt, & Guy-
Sheftal, 2004). During the 1960s and 1970s, discrimination against women in employment,
income, and education was widespread and often blatant. The women‘s rights movement
articulated and publicized how discrimination and institutionalized sexism limited the
opportunities of women and adversely affected the nation. The leaders of this movement, such as
Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, demanded that political, social, economic, and educational
institutions act to eliminate sex discrimination and to provide opportunities for women to
actualize their talents and realize their ambitions.

Major goals of the women‘s rights movement included offering equal pay for equal work,
eliminating laws that discriminated against women and made them second-class citizens, hiring
more women in leadership positions, and increasing participation of men in household work and
child rearing. When feminists (people who work for the political, social, and economic equality
of the sexes) looked at educational institutions, they noted problems similar to those identified by
ethnic groups of color. Textbooks and curricula were dominated by men; women were largely
invisible. Feminists pointed out that history textbooks were dominated by political and military
history—areas in which men had been the main participants (Trecker, 1973). Social and family
history and the history of labor and of ordinary people were largely ignored. Feminists pushed
for the revision of textbooks to include more history about the important roles of women in the

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development of the nation and the world. They also demanded that more women be hired for
administrative positions in the schools. Although most teachers in the elementary schools were
women, most administrators were men. Other marginalized groups, stimulated by the social
ferment and the quest for human rights during the 1970s, articulated their grievances and
demanded that institutions be reformed so they would face less discrimination and acquire more
human rights. People with disabilities, senior citizens, and gays and lesbians formed groups that
organized politically during this period and made significant inroads in changing institutions and
laws. Advocates for citizens with disabilities attained significant legal victories during the 1970s.
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975—which required that students with
disabilities be educated in the least restricted environment and institutionalized the word
mainstreaming in education—was perhaps the most significant legal victory of the movement for
the rights of students with disabilities in education.
4.3. The Need for Multicultural Education
We are living in a small world. At no point in our history, we had such quick access to so much
information. But this also means that ignorance is becoming less and less of a virtue every day.
Our exposure to people from diverse races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, has increased
exponentially. The multicultural education of young children prepares them to respectfully
coexist in this increasingly diverse environment. It plays a vital role in shaping their
understanding of the different cultures they encounter. It informs their interactions and
influences how they perceive cultural diversity (University of Washington, 2012). Children are
imbibed with greater knowledge and understanding about how to behave in a more culturally
responsible manner. They acquire skills to navigate various cultures. They learn about societal
evils like racism and discrimination, and how to stave off those. There are a myriad of
benefits of a multicultural classroom for students. Here are a few:
1. Exposes students to different cultures: One of the top reasons why a multicultural classroom
is beneficial is because students are encouraged to learn about the cultural backgrounds of other
students in a class. Students interact with various communities and get first-hand knowledge
about multiple celebrations.
2. Fosters acceptance and tolerance in a learning environment: A multicultural education at
provides educational opportunities to learners from diverse ethnic cultural groups and social
classes. It enables students to acquire skills and develop a positive attitude to communicate,

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interact, and foster acceptance and tolerance with individuals from varied cultures to create a
moral and civic community. A Multicultural Day is also celebrated annually to engage students,
teachers, and parents in a global environment. The community gets the opportunity to bond over
sports, food, and by donning traditional costumes and performing local songs and dances.
3. Teaches multiple perspectives: The multicultural classroom provides an opportunity for
students from different cultures to bring their enormous range of experiences, knowledge,
perspectives, and insights to the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate learning
experiences and content relevant to their personal cultural perspectives and heritage. Teachers
also participate in Professional Development Days to stay up-to-date on new teaching techniques
that cater to multicultural students and their requirements. The Contextual Learning program also
emphasizes on teaching cultural awareness by providing opportunities for students to partake in
activities from around the world.
4. Encourages critical thinking: Students are given the liberty to examine learning materials to
identify potentially prejudicial or biased materials. Both teachers and students evaluate their own
cultural assumptions and then discuss how learning materials, teaching practices, or schools
policies reflect cultural bias, and how they could be changed to eliminate bias. The Wise Skills
Character Education program is integrated within the curriculum to impart ethics, values, and
civic sense to the students.
5. Helps build an international network: The creation of international markets and the
lowering of trade barriers worldwide have led to many businesses that span the globe. In
international scenario students bring a broad network of international contacts to the school.
With students and faculty from many nationalities, students are encouraged to start networking
from a young age and build a network of contacts that can not only help them forge lifelong
friendships but can also help expand their career perspectives to a global level. Several
internships are also offered to students from universities all over the world to foster global
networking as well as to study and observe a truly international environment.
4.5. Goals of Multicultural Education
4.5.1 Major Goals
The first and most obvious goal of multicultural education is to encourage the values of openness
and acceptance towards people belonging to different cultural and ethnic backgrounds (Koppelm
an, 2011). Multicultural education focuses on nurturing admiration and appreciation about

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diverse ethno cultural heritage, in young minds. So, the following are the main goals of
multicultural education:
To keep Educational Equity
To Empower Students and Their Parents and Caretakers
To bring the Development of a Society that Values Cultural Pluralism
To bring about Intercultural/Interethnic/Intergroup Understanding in the Classroom,
School and Community
To bring Freedom for Individuals and Groups
To make an Expanded Knowledge of Various Cultural and Ethnic Groups
To bring the Development of Students, Parents and Practitioners (teachers, nurses,
journalists, counselors, principals, custodians, documentary producers, bus drivers,
curriculum coordinators, etc.) Whose Thoughts and Actions are guided by an Informed
and Inquisitive Multicultural Perspective.
To respect and appreciate cultural diversity.
To promote the understanding of unique cultural and ethnic heritage.
To promote the development of culturally responsible and responsive curricula.
To facilitate acquisition of the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to function in various
cultures.
To eliminate racism and discrimination in society.
To achieve social, political, economic, and educational equity.
4.5.2. Specific Goals
To provide opportunities for learning in order to advance multicultural education, equity and
social justice.
To proactively reframe public debate and impact current and emerging policies in ways that
advance social, political, economic and educational equity through advocacy, position
papers, policy statements, press releases and other strategies.
Provide the preeminent digital clearinghouse of resources about educational equity and social
justice.
Promoting effective relationships between home and school.
4.5.3. Social Change as Goal in Multicultural Education

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Child poverty is a major concern globally. Children are vulnerable in many parts of the world for
several reasons and their rights are undermined very often in developing and middle-income
countries. However, children in the industrialized countries are not safe always. Their lives are
challenging too. Poverty creates more vulnerability for children. Lack of education, drop-out
from school, socioeconomic disadvantages, climate change, flood, drought, malnutrition and
political violence have seen some common reasons for child poverty. Natural disasters in many
countries accelerated the rate of child poverty. The alleviation of child poverty is therefore a
great challenge for countries all over the world. The basic reasons of child poverty are deep
rooted with other factors such as, women‘s social status, their literacy rate, women‘s
reproductive health, and their participation in the development index, guarantee of their safe life
and natural death and so forth. The low standard of living because of insufficient income, poor
household resources, blurred job prospect, risky health condition and deprived education can
prolong child poverty in a country. International organizations, for example, UNICEF and World
Bank, are working in numerous sectors to alleviate child poverty. Education is the top among
these. Although worldwide the current education policy focusing that science and technological
education along with business and vocational training can contribute positively to alleviate
poverty. The researchers argue that ―multicultural‖ education can make these initiatives more
meaningful and significant. Multicultural education could signify the status of personhood and
help to create a ―self‖ identified with local culture but bonded with global values. As a result,
children can overcome numerous social and cultural barriers those are seem very difficult to
overcome only through a single national policy.

The Meaning of Education: Education plays a crucial role in our life to transform values, skill,
knowledge and lifestyles. In modern days, education is closely related with the development of a
meaningful life. Education helps us to use our knowledge and skill for the improvement of
society. Sometimes, education is seen as a process of socialization. The knowledge and skills
society demand can achieve only through education in modern times. Form a just society where
there is no poverty or ignorable poverty level exists is the aim of many social and development
organizations. So, there is a significant changes is the aim and nature of education throughout the
years. Many people from researchers, policy-makers to common one are directly or indirectly
taking part in education. Education plays a very crucial role in the development of a country and
nation building. It is hard to imagine a country without an education system. The aims of

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education are closely related to culture. Culture is activity of thought, and receptiveness to
beauty and humane feeling. Scraps of information have nothing to do with it. A merely well-
informed man is the most useless bore on God's earth. What we should aim at producing are men
who possess both culture and expert knowledge in some special direction. Their expert
knowledge will give them the ground to start from, and their culture will lead them as deep as
philosophy and as high as art. We have to remember that the valuable intellectual development
is self-development, and that it mostly takes place between the ages of sixteen and thirty.

Multicultural Education: Culture is an important phenomenon in this globalized world.

Education systems must incorporate it for creating global citizen. Many thinkers (e.g. Will
Kymlica) suggested for a multicultural education to the citizens. UNESCO emphasizes
multicultural education not just to provide a better education but to alleviate poverty and to build
up a peaceful society. Multicultural education has been defined from various perspectives.
According to the Glossary of Education Reform ―multicultural education refers to any form of
education or teaching that incorporates the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives of
people from different cultural backgrounds‖. The Victoria State Government notes that
―multicultural education gives students opportunities to build understanding and communication
skills across cultures.‖

Among other goals of multicultural education it says that, ―an appreciation of the importance of
local, national and international interdependence in social, environmental, economic and political
arenas and an understanding that mutual support in these areas is vital to local and global
harmony.‖ All nations in the world are devoted to establish and maintain harmony both locally
and globally. Multicultural education will help their citizens to achieve a deeper knowledge and
understanding of own cultures and other‘s cultures. Promoting diversity is the main feature of
multicultural education. Hence, like many other Governments, Victoria State Government of
Australia sets their vision in line with multicultural education and states. The Victorian
Government’s vision is for all Victorian learning and development settings to equip children and
young people with the knowledge and skills to participate in and contribute to our diverse
society as active and informed citizens - locally, nationally and internationally. Multicultural
education is not only seen as a new conceptual paradigm but it is also considered as a
―movement‖ and a ―process‖. In this context, Yilmaz comments, Multicultural education is a

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movement dating back to the end of 1960s and the beginning of 1970s. It is an intellectual
concept, a reformist movement and a process. Its basic idea is that all students have the equality
of opportunities in education without being subjected to racial, ethnic, social class, or gender
discrimination.

Some scholars find multicultural education to foster core values essential in our social and
professional lives such as, freedom, justice, equality, dignity and human rights. Multicultural
education is a philosophical concept built on the ideals of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and
human dignity as 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. It affirms our need to prepare
student for their responsibilities in an interdependent world. It recognizes the role schools can
play in developing the attitudes and values necessary for a democratic society. It values cultural
differences and affirms the pluralism that students, their communities, and teachers reflect. It
challenges all forms of discrimination in schools and society through the promotion of
democratic principles of social justice. So, multicultural education is a holistic approach in
education system where cultural differences were acknowledged and the value of diversity is
promoted to achieve some fundamental goals such as democracy, freedom, rights, justice and
equality to build a harmonious society globally.

The Goal of Multicultural Education: The main goal of multicultural education is to ensure that
all students can have an opportunity to learn in an equally treated, justified and congenial
atmosphere irrespective of their cultural background. Culture therefore may not a barrier but it is
an advantage to learn in a diverse cultural environment. Along with teachers‘ training and
competence in this new philosophy the school environment and teaching methodology must be
changed. However, schools are obliged to teach various kinds of subjects including literature,
sociology, humanities, arts and most confined subjects such as, mathematics and science. Now, a
question is very much relevant about the goals of multicultural education. Is there anything to do
multicultural education with universally designed subjects such as mathematics and science? So,
one might be convinced that for arts, humanities and literature multicultural education might be
relevant but is it relevant for sciences? Several educationists have outlined different goals of
multicultural education. The content integration creates an opportunity for the education provider

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to use examples and evidences from other cultural traditions. This practice will help the learners
to think beyond their own culture and create respective attitude to other cultures. For some
subjects such as arts, music and sociology, this integration is much easier and helpful but for
other subjects, e.g. math and science it can help to understand the different perceptions even in
the case of logic and reasoning. Knowledge which is constructed in a cultural tradition is much
more vivid than when it is constructed in abstract and imaginary ideas. The construction of
knowledge is a complex process and culture plays a significant role in it. However, one might
argue that knowledge is universal and culture has nothing to do with it. This kind of argument is
shallow as we all know that children learn first from their own culture and society. All
knowledge whether scientific or social has deep rooted historical identification and without
understanding the background construction of any kind of knowledge will be superficial. It is a
very common observation that policy makers have different goals to achieve peace and resolve
conflict. Prejudice reduction is a way to reduce negative attitude toward other culture, values and
traditions through education. Children attend schools might have some preconceived ideas
constructed through family values, print, online and social medias and news channels worldwide.
Now, family, relatives or other members might not have enough training, education and time to
clarify this. Multicultural education has an advantage to discuss, analyze and reduce the
prejudice or negative attitudes toward other cultural values and traditions. According to Banks,
the initiative of prejudice reduction may include ―positive images of the ethnic groups in the
materials and the use of multiethnic materials in a consistent and sequential way.‖

Equity pedagogy helps the students to understand the different solutions of the same problem in
various cultural traditions. Students may not be aware that people living other parts of the world
might face the same problem and they have their own solution to face this problem. A
pedagogical approach would create a mental setup among the students to respect others'
knowledge and achievements. Teachers will play an active role to realize the importance of
multicultural initiative to face global challenges. Banks notes ―equity pedagogy exists when
teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic achievement of students
from diverse racial, cultural, gender, and social-class groups. ‖Without implementing a
multicultural school environment and social structure, the main goal of multicultural education
cannot be achieved. When students from diverse cultural traditions find that their cultural values;
and traditions were well accepted and cherished by the school they can feel equally important.

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This is a continuous process to empowering students. An empowering school culture and social
structure will enable students to be confident, trustful, and respectful upon his own as well as
others‘ culture. Among other things, empowering school culture and social structure would
include, as Banks mentions, Grouping and labeling practices, sports participation,
disproportionality in achievement, disproportionality in enrollment in gifted and special
education programs, and the interaction of the staff and the students across ethnic and racial
lines are important variables that need to be examined in order to create a school culture that
empowers students from diverse racial and ethnic groups and from both gender groups.
Child Poverty and Multicultural Education: Education has a profound influence in our life and
policy making. Education helps us to realize and to perceive our lives from diverse insights.
There are several problems in our society for example, poverty, scarcity, malnutrition,
environmental pollution, global warming, climate change and illiteracy, which require a
combined initiative to overcome. Education is the most important and effective initiative among
these. Education can change our lives and perceptions from our deep rooted believe. Many
people in the world especially children are in poverty worldwide. Child poverty is a serious
worry for a nation since children are the future citizens and leaders of the nation. Poverty is a
significant barrier for the physical and mental development of a child. Malnutrition decreases
children's performance. It can create life-long struggles for children. Education and poverty
closely linked as poverty can push young children leaving education at a very early stage. So, we
can say that poverty can damage a child's life, a society even a nation. In recent days, child
poverty has been conceived from much broader perspective.

According to Polakow and Owiti, Child poverty constitutes a global crisis with far-reaching
implications for children’s psychosocial, cognitive, and physical development, educational
achievement, and future citizenship. Child poverty must also be understood in the broader
context of children’s rights, women’s poverty and women’s rights and examined in terms of the
impact of globalization and neoliberal policies on the lives of children and their families in both
poor and wealthy nations. Here, the authors‘ claim that child poverty is not just related to the
psychological, physical, social and cognitive development of the children rather it is also related
to rights, globalization and effective policy-making.

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Many organizations, such as UN, UNICEF, WB working on the alleviation of poverty.
Multicultural education has many potentialities to alleviate poverty. Lewis notes, Meeting the
challenges of poverty and understanding how poverty relates to and impacts student academic
achievement requires much more from teachers than just teaching but rather an understanding
of social awareness as well as a level of empathy and genuine concern for students and their
families. What will help us achieve this level of understanding further is to grasp where our
achievement gaps are with lower income students as well as how to effectively reach them and
provide opportunities for their growth and progress. Here author points out that to alleviate
poverty we must need to understand the deeper meaning of poverty first and teachers have a
great role to play in this context. General curriculum may require understanding of inequalities
among different levels in society. However, multicultural education requires understanding of
these inequalities with a participation of teachers, parents and children with more empathy and
concern. All of our poverty in society is not momentary. Some poverty is created artificially and
establish for social structure and practice.

In another words, for our social and cultural values. In a report, Humanism which works on
child‘s rights globally notes that: In developing and developed countries alike, children do not
have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural
identity (ethnic origin, language, religion). These children find themselves on the margins of the
education system and do not benefit from learning that is vital to their intellectual and social
development. Therefore, multicultural education has a very positive effect on child's poverty
alleviation both at individual and collective levels.
4.6. Dimensions of Multicultural Education
Multicultural education is a broad concept with several different and important dimensions
(Banks, 2004). Practicing educators can use the dimensions as a guide to school reform when
trying to implement multicultural education. The dimensions are (1) content integration, (2) the
knowledge construction process, (3) prejudice reduction, (4) Equity pedagogy and (5) an
empowering school culture and social structure. Each dimension is defined and illustrated in the
next sections.
1. Content Integration: Content integration deals with the extent to which teachers use
examples and content from a variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, principles,

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generalizations, and theories in their subject area or discipline. The infusion of ethnic and
cultural content into the subject area should be logical, not contrived. More opportunities exist
for the integration of ethnic and cultural content in some subject areas than in others. In the
social studies, the language arts, and music, frequent and ample opportunities exist for teachers
to use ethnic and cultural content to illustrate concepts, themes, and principles. There are also
opportunities to integrate multicultural content into math and science. However, the
opportunities are not as ample as they are in the social studies, the language arts, and music.
2. The Knowledge Construction Process: The knowledge construction process relates to the
extent to which teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine how the implicit
cultural assumptions, frames of reference, perspectives, and biases within a discipline influence
the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it (Banks, 1996). Students can analyze the
knowledge construction process in science by studying how racism has been perpetuated in
science by genetic theories of intelligence, Darwinism, and eugenics. Scientific racism has had
and continues to have a significant influence on the interpretations of mental ability tests in the
United States. Herrnstein and Murray contend that low-income groups and African Americans
have fewer intellectual abilities than do other groups and that these differences are inherited.
3. Prejudice Reduction: Prejudice reduction describes lessons and activities teachers use to help
students develop positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Research
indicates that children come to school with many negative attitudes toward and misconceptions
about different racial and ethnic groups (Aboud, 2009; Stephan & Vogt, 2004). Research also
indicates that lessons, units, and teaching materials that include content about different racial and
ethnic groups can help students to develop more positive intergroup attitudes if certain
conditions exist in the teaching situation (Bigler & Hughes, 2009). These conditions include
positive images of the ethnic groups in the materials and the use of multiethnic materials in a
consistent and sequential way. Allport‘s (1954) contact hypothesis provides several useful
guidelines for helping students to develop more positive interracial attitudes and actions in
contact situations. He states that contact between groups will improve intergroup relations when
the contact is characterized by these four conditions: (1) equal status, (2) common goals, (3)
intergroup cooperation, and (4) support of authorities such as teachers and administrators
(Pettigrew, 2004).

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4. Equity Pedagogy: Teachers in each discipline can analyze their teaching procedures and
styles to determine the extent to which they reflect multicultural issues and concerns. Equity
pedagogy exists when teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic
achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, gender, and social-class groups. This
includes using a variety of teaching styles and approaches that are consistent with the wide range
of learning styles within various cultural and ethnic groups, being demanding but highly
personalized when working with groups and using cooperative learning techniques in math and
science instruction in order to enhance the academic achievement of students of color (Cohen &
Lotan, 2004; Slavin, 2012).
5. An Empowering School Culture and Social Structure: Another important dimension of
multicultural education is a school culture and organization that promote gender, racial, and
social-class equity. The culture and organization of the school must be examined by all members
of the school staff. They all must also participate in restructuring it. Grouping and labeling
practices, sports participation, disproportionality in achievement, disproportionality in
enrollment in gifted and special education programs and the interaction of the staff and the
students across ethnic and racial lines are important variables that need to be examined in order
to create a school culture that empowers students from diverse racial, ethnic, and language
groups and from both gender groups.
4.7. Approaches to Multicultural Education
Educators often work with students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and White
female students according to one of five approaches to multicultural education. Good teaching
requires that you have a comprehensive understanding of what you are doing in the classroom,
why, and how you are doing it.
1. Teaching of the Exceptional and the Culturally Different
If you believe that a teacher‘s chief responsibility is to prepare all students to fit into and achieve
within the existing school and society, this approach may appeal to you. It may be especially
appealing if categories of students, such as students of color, special education students, or
language-minority students are behind in the main subject areas of the traditional curriculum.
The goals of this approach are to equip students with the cognitive skills, concepts, information,
language, and values traditionally required by the society and eventually to enable them to hold a
job and function within society‘s institutions and culture. Teachers using this approach often

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begin by determining the achievement levels of students, comparing their achievement to grade-
level norms, and then working diligently to help those who are behind to catch up. A good deal
of research documents learning strengths of students of different sociocultural groups, suggesting
that if a teacher learns to identify and build on their strengths, students will learn much more
effectively than if a teacher assumes the child cannot learn very well.

For example, based on a study of high-performing Hispanic schools, Reyes, Scribner, and
Scribner (1999) found that these schools share four characteristics: They (1) proactively involved
families and communities, (2) were organized around collaborative governance and leadership
that was clearly focused on student success, (3) widely used culturally responsive pedagogy, and
their teachers viewed children as capable of high levels of achievement and viewed their cultural
background as a valuable resource on which to build, and (4) used advocacy-oriented assessment
to support high achievement by giving information that could improve instruction and guide
intervention on a day-to-day basis. Language sensitivity was part of this process. Teachers who
understand how to build on the culture and language of students will read the classroom behavior
of such children more accurately and adjust their instructional processes accordingly without
lowering their expectations for learning. As another example, Moses and Cobb (2001) taught
algebra to inner-city middle school students by building on their experience. Students were
having difficulty with numerical directionality—positive and negative numbers. The teachers
sent the students to the local subway and had them diagram the subway system in terms of
directionality. The teachers then helped the students represent their experience with the subway
numerically in the process, helping them to translate the familiar—subway routes—into the
unfamiliar—positive and negative numbers. Starting where the students are and using
instructional techniques and content familiar to them are important. For example, one teacher
who used this approach helped two African American students who had moved from a large
urban area to a much smaller college town to catch up on their writing skills by having them
write letters to the friends they had left behind in the city.

Another teacher grouped the girls in her ninth-grade class who were having problems in algebra,
allowing them to work together, support one another, and not be intimidated by the boys in the
class who had received the kind of socialization that produces good math students. One other
teacher provided two students with learning disabilities with materials written at their reading

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level that covered concepts comparable to those the rest of the class was reading about. Another
teacher provided intensive English language development to her two limited English-speaking
Latino students. A teacher may believe that only one or two students in the classroom need this
approach or that all of them do, especially if the school is located in an inner-city community. In
sum, the heart of this approach is building bridges for students to help them acquire the cognitive
skills and knowledge expected of the so-called average White middle-class student. This
approach accepts the concept that there is a body of knowledge all students should learn but
proposes that teachers should teach that knowledge in whatever way works so students
understand and learn it.
2. Human Relations Approach: If you believe that a major purpose of the school is to help
students learn to live together harmoniously in a world that is becoming smaller and smaller and
if you believe that greater social equality will result if students learn to respect one another
regardless of race, class, gender, or disability, then this approach may be of special interest to
you. Its goal is to promote a feeling of unity, tolerance, and acceptance among people: ‗‗I‘m
okay and you‘re okay.‘‘ The human relations approach engenders positive feelings among
diverse students, promotes group identity and pride for students of color, reduces stereotypes,
and works to eliminate prejudice and biases. For example, a teacher of a fourth-grade multiracial,
mainstreamed classroom spends considerable time during the first two weeks of each year, and
some time thereafter, doing activities to promote good human relations in the class. Early in the
year, he uses a socio-gram to learn student friendship patterns and to make certain that every
child has a buddy. He also uses this activity to discover how negative or positive the boy–girl
relationships are. He uses sentence-completion activities to discover how students are feeling
about themselves and their family members.

Using data, he integrates into his curriculum concepts of social acceptance and humanness for all
people, the reduction and elimination of stereotypes, and information to help students feel good
about themselves and their people. Also, he regularly brings to his classroom speakers who
represent the diversity in society to show all students that they, too, can be successful. The
curriculum for the human relations approach addresses individual differences and similarities. It
includes contributions of the groups of which the students are members and provides accurate
information about various ethnic, racial, disabilities, gender, or social-class groups about whom
the students hold stereotypes. Instructional processes include a good deal of cooperative learning,

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role-playing, and vicarious or real experiences to help the students develop appreciation of
others. Advocates of this approach suggest that it should be comprehensive, integrated into
several subject areas, and school wide. For example, a school attempting to promote gender
equality is working at cross-purposes if lessons in language arts teach students to recognize sex
stereotypes while in the science class girls are not expected to perform as well as boys and thus
are not pushed to do so. These contradictory practices simply reaffirm sex stereotypes. While the
teaching-the-exceptional-and-the-culturally-different approach emphasizes helping students
acquire cognitive skills and knowledge in the traditional curriculum, the human relations
approach focuses on attitudes and feelings students have about themselves and each other.

3. Single-Group Studies Approach: We use the phrase single-group studies to refer to the study
of a particular group of people, for example, disability studies or Native American studies. The
single-group studies approach seeks to raise the social status of the target group by helping
young people examine how the group has been oppressed historically despite its capabilities and
achievements. Unlike the two previous approaches, this one (and the next two) views school
knowledge as political rather than neutral and presents alternatives to the existing Eurocentric,
male-dominant curriculum. It focuses on one specific group at a time so the history, perspectives,
and worldview of that group can be developed coherently rather than piecemeal. It also examines
the current social status of the group and actions taken historically as well as contemporarily to
further the group‘s interests. Single-group studies are oriented toward political action and
liberation. Advocates of this approach hope that students will develop more respect for the group
and the knowledge and commitment to work to improve the group‘s status in society. For
example, women‘s studies was created with a ‗‗vision of a world in which all persons can
develop to their fullest potential and be free from all ideologies and structures that consciously
and unconsciously oppress and exploit some for the advantage of others‘‘ (National Women‘s
Studies Association, 2005).

Gay and lesbian studies develop ‗‗an intellectual community for students and faculty that is
ethnically diverse and committed to gender parity‘‘ (A National Survey, 1990–1991). Ethnic
studies helps ‗‗students develop the ability to make reflective decisions on issues related to race,
ethnicity, culture, and language and to take personal, social, and civic actions to help solve the
racial and ethnic problems in our national and world societies‘‘ (Banks, 2009b). Since the late

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1960s and early 1970s, scholars have generated an enormous amount of research about various
oppressed groups and have mapped out new conceptual frameworks within various disciplines.
For example, Afrocentric scholars redefined the starting point of African American history from
slavery to ancient Africa, in the process rewriting story lines for African American history.
Beginning history with a group other than European males enables one to view historical events
very differently. A group‘s story may begin in Asia and move east, begin in South or Central
America and move north, begin in Europe and move west, or begin right here on the North
American continent thousands of years ago.

Furthermore, the story is different if one views the group as having started from a position of
strength (e.g., African civilizations [Gates, 1999]), having then been subjugated, and now
attempting to rebuild that strength rather than starting from a position of weakness (such as
slavery) and to rise. A single-group studies curriculum includes units or courses about the history
and culture of a group (e.g., African American history, Chicano literature, disability studies). It
teaches how the group has been victimized and has struggled to gain respect as well as current
social issues facing the group. It is essential that such curricula be based on scholarship by
people who have studied the group in depth rather than on your own ideas about what you think
might be important. A single-group studies focus mainly on the curriculum, they also give some
attention to instructional processes that benefit the target group. Women‘s studies programs, for
example, have developed what is known as ‗‗feminist pedagogy‘‘ a teaching approach that
attempts to empower students. The main idea is that in the traditional classroom, women are
socialized to accept other people‘s ideas. By reading text materials that were written mainly by
men and provide a male interpretation of the world, women learn not to interpret the world for
themselves. In the feminist classroom, women learn to trust and develop their own insights.

The feminist teacher may assign material to read and may encourage students to generate
discussion and reflections about it. The discussion and personal reflection are important parts of
the process during which ‗‗control shifts from me, the teacher, the arbiter of knowing, to the
interactions of students and myself with the subject matter‘‘ (Tetreault, 1989). In summary, the
single-group studies approach works toward social change. It challenges the knowledge normally
taught in schools, arguing that knowledge reinforces control by wealthy White men over
everyone else. This approach offers an in-depth study of oppressed groups for the purpose of

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empowering group members, developing in them a sense of pride and group consciousness, and
helping members of dominant groups understand where others are coming from.

4. Multicultural Education Approach: Multicultural education has become the most popular
term used by educators to describe education for pluralism. We apply this term to a particular
approach that multicultural education theorists discuss most often. As you will notice, this
approach synthesizes many ideas from the previous three approaches. Its goals are to reduce
prejudice and discrimination against oppressed groups, to work toward equal opportunity and
social justice for all groups, and to effect an equitable distribution of power among members of
the different cultural groups. These goals are actualized by attempting to reform the total
schooling process for all children, regardless of whether the school is an all-White suburban
school or a multiracial urban school. Schools that are reformed around principles of pluralism
and equality would then contribute to broader social reform. Various practices and processes in
the school are reconstructed so that the school models equality and pluralism.

For example, the curriculum is organized around concepts basic to each discipline, but content
elaborating on those concepts is drawn from the experiences and perspectives of several different
groups. If you are teaching literature, you select literature written by members of different
groups. This not only teaches students that groups other than Whites have produced literature but
also enriches the concept of literature because it enables students to experience different
literature forms that are common to all writing. It is important that the contributions and
perspectives you select depict each group as the group would depict itself and show the group as
active and dynamic. This requires that you learn about various groups and become aware of what
is important and meaningful to them. In this approach, instruction starts by assuming that
students are capable of learning complex material and performing at a high level of skill. Each
student has a personal, unique learning style that teachers discover and build on when teaching.
The teacher draws on and uses the conceptual schemes (ways of thinking, knowledge about the
world) that students bring to school. Cooperative learning is fostered, and both boys and girls are
treated equally in a nonsexist manner. A staff as diverse as possible is hired and assigned
responsibilities none stereotypically. Ideally, more than one language is taught, enabling all
students to become bilingual. The multicultural education approach, more than the previous
three, advocates total school reform to make the school reflect diversity. It also advocates giving

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equal attention to a variety of cultural groups regardless of whether specific groups are
represented in the school‘s student population.
5. Multicultural Social Justice Education: Multicultural social justice education deals more
directly than the other approaches with oppression and social structural inequality based on race,
social class, gender, and disability. Its purpose is to prepare future citizens to take action to make
society better serve the interests of all groups of people, especially those who are of color, poor,
female, or have disabilities. The approach is rooted in social Reconstructionism, which seeks to
reconstruct society toward greater equity in race, class, gender, and disability. This approach also
questions ethics and power relations embedded in the new global economy. This approach
extends the multicultural education approach in that the curriculum and instruction of both are
very similar, but four practices are unique to multicultural social justice education. First,
democracy is actively practiced in the schools (Banks, 2007; Parker, 2003). Reading the U.S.
Constitution and hearing lectures on the three branches of government is a passive way to learn
about democracy. For students to understand democracy, they must live it. They must practice
politics, debate, social action, and the use of power (Osler & Starkey, 2005).

In the classroom, this means that students are given the opportunity to direct a good deal of their
learning and to learn how to be responsible for that direction. This does not mean that teachers
abdicate the running of their classroom to the students but that they guide and direct students so
they learn how to learn and develop skills for wise decision making. (Shor, 1980) describes this
as helping students become subjects rather than objects in the classroom, and Freire (1985) says
it produces individuals ‗‗who organize themselves reflectively for action rather than men [and
women] who are organized for passivity‘‘. Second, students learn how to analyze institutional
inequality within their own life circumstances. Freire (1973) distinguished among critical
consciousness, naive consciousness, and magical consciousness: Critical consciousness
represents things and facts as they exist empirically, in their causal and circumstantial
correlations, naive consciousness considers itself superior to facts, in control of facts, and thus
free to understand them as it pleases.

Magic consciousness, in contrast, simply apprehends facts and attributes them to a superior
power by which it is controlled and to which it must therefore submit. To put it another way, a
person with critical consciousness wants to know how the world actually works and is willing to

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analyze the world carefully for him- or herself. A person with naive or magic consciousness does
not do that. If one sees the world through magic, one assumes that one cannot understand or
affect the world; things just happen. If one sees the world naively, one assumes cause–effect
relationships that one wants to assume or that one has been told exist without investigating them
or thinking critically for oneself. In a stratified society, Freire (1973) argued, most ordinary
people see the world naively or magically as the elite would wish them to see it. Ordinary people
believe either that they have no power to change the way the world works for them or that their
problems have no relationship to their position in the power hierarchy. For example, students are
taught that education is the doorway to success and that if they obey the teacher and do their
work, they will succeed.

However, in reality, education pays off better for Whites than for people of color because of
institutionalized racism that can be challenged but only when people recognize it and work
collectively to dismantle it. Education also pays off better for men than women due to
institutional sexism. This approach teaches students to question what they hear about how
society works from other sources and to analyze experiences of people like themselves in order
to understand more fully what the problems actually are. Third, students learn to engage in social
action so they can change unfair social processes. Parker (2003) explained that teaching for
democracy should mean preparing young people for enlightened political engagement: ‗‗the
action or participatory domain of citizenship‘‘ (such as voting, contacting officials, deliberating,
and engaging in boycotts, based on the ‗‗knowledge, norms, values, and principles that shape this
engagement‘‘. In other words, democracy is not a spectator sport.

For example, some stories that elementary school children read could deal with issues involving
discrimination and oppression and could suggest ways to deal with such problems. Students of
all ages can be taught to identify sexist advertising of products sold in their community and how
to take action to encourage advertisers to stop these types of practices. Advocates of this
approach do not expect children to reconstruct the world, but they do expect the schools to teach
students how to do their part in helping the nation achieve excellence and equity in all areas of
life. Fourth, bridges are built across various oppressed groups (e.g., people who are poor, people
of color, and White women) so they can work together to advance their common interests. This
is important because it can energize and strengthen struggles against oppression. However,

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getting groups to work together is difficult because members often believe that they would have
to place some of their goals second to those of other groups. Furthermore, racial groups find
themselves divided along gender and class lines to the extent that middle-class males of all
colors fail to take seriously the concerns of women and of lower-class members of their own
groups. You now have an idea of the approaches used to teach multicultural education.

An important question is: Which approach will best help to bring excellence and equity to
education?
4.8. Key Principles of Multicultural Education
Communication of high expectations – Both teachers and schools convey the message
that students will succeed, while appropriately challenging them to think critically.
Utilization of diverse learning strategies – Incorporate cooperative learning and
differentiated teaching that recognize different learning styles.
Reshaping the curriculum – Interdisciplinary and connected to students‘ real lives, while
challenging students to develop higher-order knowledge and skills.
Student-centered, student-controlled classroom discourse – Students are given
opportunity to control some portion of the lesson, providing teachers with insight into the
ways that speech and negotiation are used in the home and community.
Teachers serve as a facilitator – They have positive perspectives on parents and families
of culturally and linguistically diverse students, show cultural sensitivity, and provide
culturally mediated instruction.
4.9. Effects of Multicultural Education
Cross cultural efforts in academic environments have been found to have significant effect on
students, particularly students within a primary academic school context. One such impact would
be an increased knowledge of multiculturalism and the differences that make others unique (Blue
et al., 2018). This allows students to become more open minded to other cultures and to be more
readily accepting of intercultural differences. By engaging in such multicultural dialogue,
students are able to effectively communicate with peers from diverse backgrounds and achieve
improved results due to a better understanding. This also establishes a skill to communicate with
peers coming from diverse backgrounds (Blue et al., 2018). Within a classroom environment,
multiculturalism serves as the crossroads between roles pertaining to gender, social status,

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economic status, and one‘s ethnicity (LaCour & Tissington, 2011). Multiculturalism has the
potential and the ability to bridge these differences and lead to an increased degree of
cohesiveness within each class as well as within a school‘s campus. Multicultural education has
been found to have a significant and positive impact on society as a whole. When these types of
models are integrated into academics, there is a greater degree of national unification, as
different social groups are more willing to come together and work in unity (Akar & Ulu, 2016).
This motivates members of the community to work towards a common goal that they all happen
to share. Additionally, multicultural education helps to foster a sense of democracy as well as
help to create a critical foundation for social peace. Educators integrating these types of models
into their academic structure create a basis for students to better understand not only themselves,
but also others without employing a purely ethnocentric approach that would otherwise work to
skew their worldview (Akar & Ulu, 2016).

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 CHAPTER FIVE
UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ADULT
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
5.1. Perspectives on Culture and Learning Ideology
Worldwide there is growing concern about how to educate all people and understand the
intricacies of human learning. Given this fact, culture has become a preeminent factor in
understanding learners and learning. The role of culture in learning moves beyond challenging
dominate ideologies or world views; it is about defining and identifying instances, methods and
processes of learning that are specific to individuals and groups. Thereafter, the selection of
instructional strategies begins. That is, instructional strategies cannot be applied to learners; in
this sense, instructional strategies must be developed from an ethnographic evaluation of the
learner. Instructional strategies are derived from versus applied to the learner.
5.2. Linking culture and instruction
5.2.1. Culturally mediated instruction: Culturally mediated instruction incorporates diverse
ways of knowing, understanding and representing information. Multicultural viewpoints are
encouraged. "Ongoing multicultural activities within the classroom setting engender a natural
awareness of cultural history, values and contributions" and we need to consider: WHAT?
Instruction is culturally mediated when it incorporates and integrates diverse ways of knowing,
understanding, and representing information. Instruction and learning take place in an
environment that encourages multicultural viewpoints and allows for inclusion of knowledge that
is relevant to the students. Learning happens in culturally appropriate social situations; that is,
relationships among students and those between teachers and students are congruent with
students' cultures. WHY? Students need to understand that there is more than one way to
interpret a statement, event, or action.

By being allowed to learn in different ways or to share viewpoints and perspectives in a given
situation based on their own cultural and social experiences, students become active participants

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in their learning (Nieto, 1996). Hollins (1996) believes that culturally mediated instruction
provides the best learning conditions for all students. It may help decrease the number of
incidences of unacceptable behavior from students who are frustrated with instruction not
meeting their needs. Also, students from cultural groups who are experiencing academic success
will be less inclined to form stereotypes about students from other cultures. HOW? 1. Research
students' experiences with learning and teaching styles Ask educators who come from the same
cultural background as the students about effective ways to teach them Visit the communities of
the students to find out how they interact and learn in that environment Ask students about their
learning style preferences Interview parents about how and what students learn from them 2.
Devise and implement different ways for students to be successful in achieving developmental
milestones Ensure success by setting realistic, yet rigorous, goals for individual students Allow
students to set their own goals for a project Allow the use of the student's first language to
enhance learning 3. Create an environment that encourages and embraces culture Employ
patterns of management familiar to students Allow students ample opportunities to share their
cultural knowledge Question and challenge students on their beliefs and actions Teach students
to question and challenge their own beliefs and actions.
5.2.2. Cultural accommodation
Conflicting claims about culture are a familiar refrain of political life in the contemporary world.
On the one side, majorities seek to fashion the state in their own image. They want to see their
own values, traditions, norms, and identity expressed in meaningful ways in public institutions.
From the majority‘s perspective, the expression of their culture in collective decisions is simply a
matter of majority rule or democracy. It is normal for states to be shaped by the majority‘s
culture, and there is nothing objectionable about such shaping so long as certain liberal limits are
observed on how it is done. On the other side, cultural minorities often press for greater
recognition and accommodation by the state. They want public institutions to be designed in
such a way as to leave them spaces in which to express and preserve their own distinct cultures.
For minorities, these demands for recognition and accommodation of their distinctiveness are
consonant with liberalism‘s concern about tyranny of the majority, its commitment to tolerating
difference, and its ideals of equal citizenship.
We can observe these different claims in a variety of contexts. One important area is language
policy. Majorities frequently prefer to establish their own language as the principal medium of

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public communication—the languages in which services are offered to the public and in which
public business is conducted. Minorities, by contrast, ask the government to provide services in
their languages and to make it possible for them to use their own languages when they participate
in public institutions. Another area in which claims of culture are voiced is in the design of
democratic institutions. Statewide majorities tend to be comfortable with a unitary state, which
reflects their sense of political community and which allows their preferences to predominate.
Minorities, by contrast, typically want institutional and jurisdictional spaces to be carved out in
which they can enjoy a measure of autonomy and self-government. Other flashpoints include the
school curriculum, the use of public space, and the designation of symbols, flags, anthems, and
other conspicuous markers of identity. We might think of the differing claims about these issues
as claims of majority nationalism, on the one hand, and minority rights, on the other. These
claims are in considerable tension with one another. Suppose we understand the majority
nationalism claim as saying that no injustice is produced when state institutions and policies are
made to reflect the values, traditions, narratives, and identity of the majority, so long as standard
liberal constraints are satisfied.

And let us take the minority rights claim to be insisting that, as a matter of justice, the state ought
to recognize and accommodate the cultures of minorities by leaving spaces in which at least
some institutions and policies can reflect minority values, traditions, narratives, and identity.
Without significant further qualification, these assertions cannot both be true. If it is consistent
with justice for the majority to shape the state‘s institutions and policies according to its own
culture, then it cannot be a requirement of justice that some of the state‘s institutions and policies
be shaped by minority cultures. For instance, if there is no injustice in the statewide majority
declaring its own language to be the sole official language of public communication, then it
cannot be true that providing minority-speakers with rights to the public use of their language is
a matter of justice.

If it is not wrong for the statewide majority to establish a unitary system of government that
corresponds to its sense of political community, then an autonomy scheme designed to empower
some cultural minority cannot be considered a requirement of justice. And so on. There is no
single view among liberals about the merits of these competing claims. In practice, many liberal
democracies around the world do offer some recognition and accommodation of cultural

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minorities. A list of states extending significant language rights to minority language speakers
would include dozens of entries. Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom,
India, Israel, and South Africa are just a few of the most prominent examples. Many states have
also incorporated arrangements into their constitutions, such as regional and other forms of
autonomy, that are aimed at giving cultural minorities a measure of self-government. Federalism
in Canada, Belgium, India, and Iraq can be understood, in part, through this lens, as can Scottish
and Welsh devolution in the United Kingdom, the Swiss system of cantons, Spain‘s autonomous
regions, and various experiments around the world with indigenous self-government. Examples
of states providing accommodations and exemptions for cultural and religious groups are also
quite prevalent. Some well-known cases include special hunting and fishing rights for members
of indigenous groups; exemptions from workplace helmet requirements for Sikhs; requirements
that publicly funded cafeterias (e.g., in public schools) be sensitive to the religiously and
culturally based diets of those they serve; and exemptions from sport, school, and workplace
dress codes.

While the practice of extending recognition and accommodation to cultural minorities is

widespread, it is certainly not universal. The political traditions and reigning ideologies of many
states remain deeply suspicious of minority rights. In France, and in countries influenced by the
French republican model, there is a tradition of identifying equal citizenship with the notion of a
common public culture and with the relegation of particular cultural and religious identities to
the private sphere. Inevitably the common public culture is aligned in certain respects with the
majority culture: it is the majority‘s language that serves as the common language of the
republic; it is the majority‘s sense of political community that determines the boundaries and
internal constitution of the republic; and it is the majority culture that influences the choice of
public symbols and norms. While harder to encapsulate in a single model than the French
tradition, the American case has also been an important example of a successful state built
around a single, common language and a strong and generally shared sense of national identity.

Although the United States is notable for its tradition of accommodating religious differences,
Americans remain reluctant to extend significant language or self-government rights to cultural
minorities. Indeed, if anything, the political impetus has been pushing in the opposite direction,
with English-only and English-first laws and ordinances finding support in many states and

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municipalities, and with politicians rarely missing an opportunity to remind immigrants of their
obligation to learn English.
5.2.3. Cultural immersion
Cultural immersion is defined as ―direct, prolonged, in vivo contact with a culture different from
that of the counselor trainee‖ (Pope-Davis & Coleman, 1997, p. 232), which requires stepping
out of one‘s own culture and comfort zone as opposed to importing cultural elements into one‘s
own sphere of familiarity (Canfield et al., 2009). This is one example of facilitating an
environment in which students may encounter a disorienting dilemma as participants may be
placed in situations that do not align with their existing cultural schemas. Cultural immersion
programs can provide participants with the experience of being ‗other,‘ illustrating the struggles
for minority clients and highlighting the influences of culture on behavior and the need for
helping professionals to be culturally sensitive. Immersion experiences are intended to enhance
the understanding of course content while moving beyond the narrow scope of knowledge
acquisition: by involving students in ways that allow them to gain a greater breadth and depth of
experience through experiential involvement and immersion in the social, political, cultural and
environmental realities of their communities, and by providing a critical experience for counselor
trainees that cannot be achieved solely by didactic instruction (Burnett, Hamel, & Long, 2004;
Shannonhouse & West-Olatunji, 2013).

Several researchers examining the development of multicultural counseling competence have

argued that contact and exposure with people from diverse backgrounds develops higher degrees
of cultural empathy, increased awareness, self-efficacy and competence when compared to
primarily didactic instruction (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Barden & Cashwell, 2014; DeRicco
& Sciarra, 2005; Diaz-Lazaro & Cohen, 2001; Kim & Lyons, 2003; Rundstrom, 2005).
Immersion experiences enable participants to have direct involvement with people from diverse
backgrounds, engaging in cross cultural learning that increases participants‘ skills, self-efficacy
and ability to critically think and conceptualize the cultural contexts of others. Through engaging
in cultural immersion, learners can challenge their existing worldviews and assumptions,
progressing along the continuum of multicultural competence as they interact with persons from
diverse backgrounds (Canfield et al., 2009; Pope-Davis & Coleman, 1997).

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In a 2013 study, Barden and Cashwell employed consensual qualitative research methodology to
examine the phenomenon of international immersion on counselor education students‘ (N = 10)
development and growth. Results indicated that participants attributed their international
immersion experience to increases in empathy, self-awareness, cultural sensitivity, and
expanding worldviews. Specifically, results suggested when participants were out of their
comfort zone they experienced some form of cognitive and cultural dissonance, which
contributed to shifting their worldviews and cultural schemas (Barden & Cashwell, 2014).
Another example of the influence of immersion experiences is highlighted by a study
investigating the impact of an immersion experience for social work students who participated in
an international immersion experience in Scotland (Lindsey, 2005). Enhanced self-awareness
seemed to be a central theme for all participants, with participants stating that the most
significant learning that occurred was learning about them-selves. Results from qualitative
journals indicated that participants reported increased self-awareness, cross cultural knowledge,
and commitment to social justice. Student reflections illustrated critical reflection on their
attitudes and abilities about working with people from diverse backgrounds. In sum, literature on
international immersion experiences clearly highlights the potential changes in interpersonal and
intrapersonal development for participants across helping professions. Despite evidence
suggesting positive shifts for participants, further research is needed to more specifically
evaluate the effectiveness of international immersion on counselor development. Furthermore,
although both domestic and international immersion experiences have been accepted as effective
pedagogical tools in counseling, differences between how immersed students change relative to
their non-immersed peers has not been explored, particularly for counseling graduate students
(Majewski & Turner, 2007; Pedersen, 2009).
5.3. Preparing adult educators for Multicultural learning environments
The world today experiences cultural diversity more than yesterday. Within this situation,
education is a primary means of the socializing people into mainstream culture and serves as a
vehicle for defining the cultural values that are held or viewed as central to be approved in
society. In this regard, difficulties arise for many adult learners when they attempt to negotiate
educational environments that have been constructed within a cultural base of values, behaviors,
beliefs, and ways of doing things which are different from their own. In order to create an
inclusive educational setting, multicultural adult educational strategies should be developed to

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minimize the potential for further exclusion and marginalization of the adult learners. Then, the
importance of multicultural adult education comes to the agenda since it is essential to combat
cultural domination, oppression and exclusion for people in that society via providing a sharing
atmosphere for social inclusion through the learning atmosphere. Focusing on a multicultural
adult education as both the object and subject of individual and/or group learning serves not only
as a way of breaking the destructive cycle of cultural oppression but also racial, class, gender,
and ethnic oppressions. This understanding of multicultural adult education has implications for
adult educators who work with persons coming from traditionally marginalized social groups.

In the context of multicultural relevant education, then, educators have begun to question the
relationship between the cultural origins of adult learners and the educational settings in which
they participate (Martin, 2003). However, it is not enough simply to be culturally inclusive in a
pluralistic environment (Cassara, 1990) and inclusion does not always guarantee equity. Rather,
educational setting and praxis should be reevaluated for their potential to assist adult learners
whose individual and group identities are most at risk in terms of the dominant culture‘s
components (Guy, 1999). Learners from marginalized cultural backgrounds too often resort to a
rejection of dominant cultural norms and standards (Ogbu, 1992; Quigley, 1990). However, such
a stance consigns those individuals to further marginalization and exclusion (Darder, 1991). The
nature of the fit between learners‘ cultural backgrounds and their educational experiences is of a
central concern because of culture‘s importance in establishing criteria for success or failure.
Thus, a principal focus of the educational experience, from the perspective of cultural relevance,
is the reconstruction of learners‘ group-based identity from one that is negative to one that is
positive. By virtue of the discrimination they face, members of marginalized groups are forced to
accommodate themselves to the dominant culture or be even further marginalized.

One educational response to this situation is termed biculturalism (Guy, 1999). Darder (1991)
argues that biculturalism should frame educational environments and defines biculturalism as ―a
process wherein individuals learn to function in two distinct sociocultural environments: their
primary culture and that of the dominant mainstream culture of the society in which they live‖.
Darder (1996) also states that biculturalism is based on a philosophy of cultural democracy,
asserting that people of color who come from subordinate cultures have the right to maintain
their home culture as well as to become competent in the mainstream culture. Cultural

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democracy, then, refers to the goal of living in a society in which a multiplicity of cultures not
only coexists but thrives (Guy, 1999). This requires an examination of educational practices to
make them culturally relevant to the needs and cultural backgrounds of learners. For example,
Geertz (1973) argues that culture is essentially about shared meaning within a group. Then, it is
needed to start first not to use the term ―classroom‖ as used in pedagogy, instead, the term ―share
room‖ should be preferred for the educational atmosphere of adult education praxis in line with
andragogy. Knowles (1989) states that adults bring the richness in experience that comes from
their own life into the learning atmosphere.

Through this richness, their cultural biographicity is an important resource for the share room
learning atmosphere, so what they already live should never be ignored and biographical learning
activities for a better understanding of each other should be also planned. By this way, the
learning atmosphere could be enhanced through their cultural experience allowed to be voiced
freely in that share room learning atmosphere. Moreover, the curriculum should be examined
whether it has any discriminative and stereotypical contents and materials or not since the
curriculum may not be designed conveniently for the multicultural atmosphere of the learning
environment. This kind of curriculum may cause injustice and be offensive for the learners
whose daily lives are completely irrelevant. Thus, learners‘ cultural backgrounds should be cared
for their inclusion because they may not be volunteer to participate in and share due to their
cultural values and the fear of exclusion. To avoid these obstacles in front of learning,
maximizing learner participation and power sharing through the well-chosen and applied
instructional methods and processes are really crucial.
The Role of Adult Educator
Ladson-Billings (1994) emphasized that adult educators are well advised for knowing their
students and cultural backgrounds; and use this information effectively and creatively during
instruction. Hence, the adult educator should understand the culturally constructed nature of
educational environments and develop an awareness of the effect her/his own point of view on
adult learners‘ cultural backgrounds since cultural sense of self, of education and of learning can
be defined by them as cultural beings not to cause more culturally construction in culturally
diverse environment. However, the main problem is that cultural manifestations are generally
applied unconsciously by the adult educator, so this causes difficulties for the adult learners
because of their cultural background since the ways of doing things during the learning progress

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are different from their own values. If the adult educator behaves insensitively, s/he ignores their
life experiences and creates an ineffective learning environment. Within that condition, they feel
themselves blocked and restricted and unmotivated to learn, so the adult educator should
construct multicultural praxis, which lets all learners included and motivated and inclusive
curricula, which let multicultural ways of learning.

In addition, s/he should form a potent learning community in which learners could become a
unique member of it and share their multiculturality without feeling any restriction in it.
Actually, an adult educator can motivate all learners by forming such a creative learning
atmosphere that balances different cultural norms, by designing collaborative and individual
tasks, encouraging reflective and discussion activities, and using visual, written, relational, and
other types of learning styles (Gardner, 1997).

At this point, they do not have to experience learning environments grounded outside their own
cultural background (norms, values, beliefs etc.). To be able to achieve this purpose, a curricula
and activities should be designed consciously and visibly to include a variety of worldviews and
bases of knowledge for a multicultural learning framework and to let them have multicultural
and self-reflective skills via creating a positive multicultural learning environments through self-
sharing ways in a kind of share room which encourages and offers nonjudgmental processing of
multiple perspective and facilitating a sense of respectful community. By this way, a
multicultural understanding and skill for future work and community learning environments
could be developed to help learners understand the significance of that, and then the attention to
these concerns could greatly enhance the learning experience for everyone and avoid cultural
differences and learning inequalities. Besides, adult educators should reorient educational
practices to incorporate adult learners‘ culture into this multicultural educational process and
should also question the relationship between the cultural origins of adult learners and the
educational setting in which they participate.

For adult educators interested in addressing the ways in which cultural domination affects
learners in adult education settings, educational strategies must be developed to minimize the
potential for further exclusion and marginalization of learners. It is of course possible that there
may be a significant difference in socialization between the learner and adult educator, but also

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they may have something in common with each other as female/male, young/old,
single/married/divorced etc. On the other hand, the barriers of class, race, gender, and ethnicity
can lead to important misinterpretations and misunderstandings about how the adult educator and
learner view the learning environment. Then, the cultural meanings of life such as beliefs,
assumptions, and values shared by the adult educator and the learner may be quite different from
each other. In this situation, if the adult educator could suicide her/his cultural background first
and then the learner will sure react in a same way. He also underlines that for an organic
intellectualism, there should be a dialectic relationship between the educator and learner, by this
way, the roles could exchange mutually, then a better understanding is realized in context of
education (Borg et al, 2002).

During the instructional practices, teaching in a culturally relevant way is required since the
learning environment may be culturally incompatible with the culture of the learners and
unexpected viewpoints can be heard but should be calmly analyzed. There is a useful model for
the adult educator who wants to conceptualize the learning environment culturally relevant
perspective. In this model, the four elements of the learning environment are addressed in order
to be examined through the lens of culture. These are ―the instructors‘ cultural identity‖, ―the
learners‘ cultural identity‖, ―the curriculum‖ and ―the instructional methods and processes‖
(Marchisani and Adams, 1992). As Adams stated (1992), if the learners are from different
cultural backgrounds the mono-cultural educators are generally vulnerable to misinterpretation of
learners‘ attitudes and actions. Then, an engage in a process of self-examination is needed
through examining her/his own cultural values, beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and assumptions. In
this manner, instead of viewing the learners from an ethnocentric perspective, s/he could manage
to understand the learners via finding the meaning that they attach to the learning materials,
activities, and processes. By this way, the learners who generally share little in common will get
accustomed to share more day by day in a share room learning atmosphere.

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 Course Three

Gender Responsive Education and Development

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 CHAPTER ONE
THE CONCEPT OF GENDER
1.1. Gender “and its Difference from “Sex”
1.1.1. What is Gender and Gendering?
 Gender is the social construction to define the roles, status, needs, and experiences of
Men and Women, Boy & Girls on the bases of their biological differences, it is learned,
& socially determined behaviors and role. It is a focus on unequal relations b/n Men and
Women. It is the roles, behavior, attitudes, and activities that society assigns to Men and
Women. It is the power relations b/n M & W in a given society. It is the result of the
interplay of cultural, religious & similar factors of a society. Gender changes over time
and place, culture, environment etc. Gender is learnt through a process of socialization
‗the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained‘ and through the culture
of the particular society concerned.
 Gendering: This is the process by which females and males learn and do the common
action for them. Each culture defines for its members what it means to be a boy or a girl,
a man or a woman. It decides for example, who goes to war, and looks after children,
who does heavy construction work, and who does commercial or subsistence farming.

1.1.2. What is Sex?

Refers to the biological which define humans as Men and Women and determined by genetic.
1.1.3. Difference
SEX GENDER
Biologically determined Socially constructed/learned
Born with Not born with
Universal Differ within/between cultures
Permanent Men and Women can take care of children and
the elderly

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E.g. Only Women can give birth Men and Women can work as teachers,
engineers, laborers etc.
Only Men can impregnate Dynamic, changes over time

1.2. Why We Study Gender?

 Gender Identity
It is the way one perceives one‘s male or female being. A given society governs the allocation of
resources, tasks & power at the level of the individual, the house hold & society, According to
the existing gender r/ship in a given society and act/ plan / & design our activities accordingly, It
is true that in all societies, social factors underlie and support gender based disparities through:
institutional arrangement, the formal legal system, socio-cultural attitudes & religious practices.
Such differences b/n Men and Women and disparities should, therefore, is part of the ―baseline‖
situation in which you should plan your interventions.
 Poverty Reduction
Women are the bigger majority (50% - 54%) of the population and are bear the brunt of
poverty. Their empowerment is critical for poverty reduction.
 Rights & Justice
Human Rights are:
Universal, indivisible and inter-dependant, inalienable, bear accountability, participation,
internationally agreed and legally protected, beyond state sovereignty, It also states that every
individual shall be entitled to equal protection, worth and dignity, They include the rights to
health, education, better livelihood /work for all equally.
 Sustainability: There can never be any sustainability if half the world‘s population is
deprived and dispossessed of livelihood resources. Policies /programs/interventions are
evaluated according to their impact and results on the concrete situation of individuals
and social groups.
 People Centred approach
It involves both Women & Men and makes, full use of human resources so as to contribute for
the wellbeing of the nation at large.
But facts show that

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Up to 1950s & 60s with in the development policies and programs, women were mainly viewed
as mothers, housewives and dependants, their economic roles were unrecognized and devalued.
Planners & policy makers usually saw men as the sole agents and actors of development; &
theories, inputs & experiences were mainly derived from the male point of view.1950 to 90s
diverse attempts were taken by various groups to address women‘s issues in the development
arena while most of the measures treated women as passive agents & mostly left adverse
consequences.
1.3. Gender Inequality
It is simply the obvious differences b/n M and W. It is the lack of rights or restrictions of women
that the men have access too. Exists where there are unfair differences in status, wealth or
opportunities. It actually harms the wellbeing of people and affects development. There cannot
be sustainable development without active participation of both M and W. Although the number
of women accounts for about half of the total population in many African nations, the inequality
of gender is exercised greatly in different forms and at various levels.
1.3.1. Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotype is the assignment of roles, tasks and responsibilities to a particular gender
based on persons‘ biases. It is socially determined and influenced by cultural beliefs about what
the roles should be. The stereotypes beliefs are so fixed in our minds and thus many of us think
gender roles are natural. As a matter of fact we don‘t ask why it happen that way or the other.
Gender Stereotyping is the expectation that individuals within a certain culture have about the
behaviors that are characteristics of male or female in their given culture. It can be a
disadvantage to both males and females because it can damage their self-image and may limit
their expectations of themselves. Gender stereotypes are very powerful and persuasive in the
different societies of the world and this affects people, especially in the stages of children‘s
development.

1.4. Gender Equality & Equity

1.4.1. Gender Equality
It refers to the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of men and women and girls &
boys. Equality does not mean that Men and Women will become the same but that women‟s
and men‟s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are

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born male or female. Implies that the interests, needs, and priorities of both Men and Women
are taken into consideration – recognizing the diversity of different groups of Men and Women
Gender equality is not a ‗women‘s issue‘ but should concern and fully engage Men as well as
Women. Equality b/n Men and Women is seen both as a human rights issue and as a
precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.

1.4.2. Gender Equity

Is the process of being fair to Men and Women? To ensure fairness, measures must often be put
in place to compensate for the historical & social disadvantages that prevent Men and Women
from operating on a level playing field. Equity is a means. Equality is the result.

1.4.2.1. Why Gender Equity?

Ethical reasons (discrimination on the grounds of sex is considered as a violation against human
rights). Economic reasons (Women constitutes half of the population & if dev‘t has to succeed,
the untapped potential of all M & W must be fully utilized in the process).Political reasons
(gender discriminations weaken a country‘s governance & the effectiveness of its development
policies.
1.4.3. Access to & Control Over Resources
Access: can be defined as the opportunity to use resources without having the authority to
decide on the product /output and the exploitation methods.
Control: is the power or full authority to decide how resources and outputs of the resources are
used including whom has access to them.
Resources = include 3 types
Productive or economic resources: e.g. Land, equipment/ tools, money, credit, employable or
income generating skills;
Political resources: e.g. leadership, representative organization, education and information,
prestige self confident, etc. This resource is scarce for women particularly those in developing
countries.
1.5. Essential Terminologies of Gender
Gender Issues: are the needs, problems and concerns brought about in the distinction of
perceptions and roles between men and women. It is the different values of men and women

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arising from their different positions in society. Gender issues are revealed when relationships
occur between men and women.
Gender Socialization: In sociological theories, gender is a social construction rather than a
biological given. The sources of gender differentiation lie more in social and institutional
practices than in fixed properties of the individual.
Gender Relations: Refers to the relationships between people and their broader community, if
these relationships vary with the sex of the people concerned. These are the social relationships
between women and men. Gender relations are simultaneously relations of co-operation,
connection, and mutual support, and of conflict, separation and competition, of difference and
inequality. Are concerned with how power is distributed between the sexes. They create and
reproduce systemic differences in men‘s and women‘s position in a given society. They define
the ways in which responsibilities and claims are allocated and the way in which each are given a
value.
Gender Neutral: Interventions targeted at the actors - be they are women or men, which are
appropriate to the realization of pre-determined goals, which leave the existing division of
resources and responsibilities intact.
Gender Blindness - refers to the unwitting or deliberate failure to perceive that there are
different gender roles, responsibilities, problems and profits and consequences. The failure to
realize that any development has gendered implications It is also the failure to realize that
existing gender relationships and gendered patterns also have profound impact on development
processes targeted at any level.
Gender Awareness:- refers to the state of knowledge of the differences in roles and relations of
women and men, how this result in differences and in power relations, statuses, privileges and
needs.
Gender Perspective: - often refers to an approach in which the ultimate goal is to create equity
and equality between women and men. Such approach has a set of tools for and guidelines on
how to identify the impact of the relations and roles of men and women on development
Sexual Harassment: This is unwanted sexual attention that intrudes (imposes) on person's
integrity.
Gender Sensitivity: This refers to the ability to perceive existing gender differences, issues and
inequalities and incorporate these into strategies and actions.

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Gender Gap: This is when the gender is not represented or is totally absent. It means unequal
participation of women and men in socio-economic and political activities
Gender Disparity: This is the situation where there is no level playing field for all genders to
excel and is usually based on gender bias. Gender disparities occur due to factors such as
unequal accessibility to production resources, social attitudes, cultural differences, educational
attainments and disproportionate participation in decision-making, both at political and economic
levels.
Gender Bias: This is any form of discrimination directed toward a given gender usually based
on a socio-cultural background.
Gender Planning: A planning approach that recognizes the different roles those women and
men play in society and the fact that they often have different needs
Gender Discrimination: a pattern of preferential treatment of males in education, employment,
and leadership roles, etc
Gender Oppression: denial in political, educational, economic, religious, cultural, and social
systems

CHAPTER TWO: Gender Relations, Roles and Needs

2.1. Definition of Gender Relations
Gender relations refer how Men & Women relate to each other, resulting in manifestations of
gender based power. The social relationships between women & men which concerned with
how power is distributed b/n the sexes.
2.2. Gender Roles
Roles are classified by gender. The classification is social. They are learned and vary widely
within and between cultures and determine access to rights, resources, and opportunities.
2.3. Sex Roles
They are roles that are performed in relation to the biological, reproductive attributes of a
person‘s body.
2.4. Gender Division of Labor
Is the result of how society divides work among M & W according to what is considered
suitable or appropriate?. Gender roles are socially constructed, learned, & dynamic. They
demarcate responsibilities b/n M & W in social and economic activities, access to resources

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and decision-making authority. Society assigns different roles to M and W. These gender-
differentiated roles are moreover shaped by ideological, historical, religious, ethnic,
economic and cultural determinants.

2.5. Categories of Role

2.5.1. Productive Role
Which are any kinds of activities/ works done to obtain payment in cash or kind and have
exchangeable value, Includes marketable goods that have exchange value & consumable goods
(at home) which have use value? . Both women and male undertake this role. Yet, the role is
mainly considered to be male role & even if women undertake the role it is mostly unrecognized.
E.g. Wage workers, farming activity
2.5.2. Reproductive Role
There are 3 levels at which the term is used.
1. Biological Reproduction- comprises childbirth and lactation
2. Labor Reproduction- involves the daily regeneration of the labor force through
cooking, cleaning, washing, nursing and so on.
3. Social Reproduction- is an all-embracing category that is maintenance of ideological
conditions, which reproduce class relations and uphold the social and economic status
quo. In most societies, reproductive role mostly tend to fall upon the shoulders of women.
2.5.3. Community Management Role
It is activities undertaken at local community level. These include, voluntary unpaid or paid
work, undertaken in ―free & volunteer time‖. It is important for the spiritual and cultural dev‘t of
communities and as a vehicle for community organization and self determination. It is the role
of both male & female. Nevertheless, in most cases men‘s participation is paid in cash or kind
(status & leading position)
5.6. Practical & Strategic Gender Needs/ Interests
5.6.1. Practical Gender Needs
Are needs identified by women that do not challenge their socially accepted roles. Relate to
fulfilling their productive, reproductive and community roles and responsibilities. Needs do
not challenge the gender division of labor or women's subordinate position in society,
although rising out of them. Needs are a response to immediate perceived necessity,

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 identified within a specific context. practical in nature and often are concerned with
inadequacies in living conditions such as water prevision, health care, and employment,
shelter, employment and food. .

5.6.2. Strategic Gender Needs

Reflect demands that aim for equity for women, and begin with the assumption that women are
subordinate to men as a consequence of social and institutional discrimination against women.
Women identify because of their subordinate position to men in their society. They relate to
gender divisions of labor, power and control and may include such issues as legal rights,
domestic violence, equal wages and women's control over their bodies. Challenge existing
gender roles. It helps women to achieve greater equality also it known as strategic interests
referring to needs of power or capacity to have ‗control over one self‘.
5.6.3. The Difference
The Difference
Practical Needs Strategic Needs

Main Features
 Mostly short –term  Mostly long-term
 Site specific  Common to almost all women
 Can be identified easily by women  Not easily identifiable by women themselves
themselves  Relate to the status of women, lack of resources,
 Related to daily needs – food, education, limitations on rights, vulnerability to
shelter, income, health, violence, poverty
 Can be addressed by provision of  Can be addressed by awareness raising, increasing
specific inputs education, opportunities, strengthening women‘s
organizations etc
Strategy

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 Tends to involve women as  Involves women as agents of change, or enables
recipient or beneficiaries women to become agents
 Can improve the condition of  Can improve the position of women in a society
women‘s lives  Can empower women and transform relationships
 Generally does not alter traditional
roles and relationships

CHAPTER THREE: Gender Theories and the Development of Feminist

Framework
1.1. Feminism Theories
The term feminism refers to women‘s movement focusing on the agenda of equality between
women and men.
1.1.1. Socialist Feminism
It is the movement which focuses on how power has been denied to women because of their
class position. Socialist sometimes is also called ‗Marxist‘ and it believes that:

 The need of an organized collective response:-

When women are organized they can fight for their rights. The women‘s group which is termed
as ―Sisterhood‖ means a struggle for real power and political involvement over their rights.
Through ―sisterhood‖, women have tried to act and raise the needs of all women. They tend to
support and encourage other women rather than competing with each other.
Relationship of women with others and the sense of sisterhood:-
These had created strength and developed a feeling of powerfulness in women‘s personal lives.
Examining the structure of institutions that dominate women:-
The socialist system tried to see who has power and how that power is used to dominate women.
It states the relation between the economic sector and the social institutions such as, the family,
church, schools and institutions. These can have influential characters because of the cultural
dominance that controls women‘s private lives.

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 1.1.2. Radical Feminism
Encourages basic changes to make and it has similar philosophy with socialist. But it does not
offer its own theory rather it selects from other sources which shows borrowing concepts from
others thus it uses ‗Marxist‘ language as for instance, the term ―women‘s oppression‖. Radical
feminism presents:
The exercise of women‟s oppression: - this may indicate that the form of women‘s exploitation
is almost the same throughout the world.
But some other feminists argued in different ways and expressed their views, saying that the
cultural diversity of human societies is hard to understand and thus it cannot be the same
everywhere. The expression that says ―all women have been oppressed by all means throughout
time and across all societies’ culture‖ creates a negative feeling and therefore cannot be
accepted by some other reasonable feminist scholars. The radical feminism also states, women‘s
oppression comes from the attitude of considering „women‟ themselves as an inferior class
than the class of „men‟. It aims to eradicate the root cause of male domination because it occurs
due to male supremacy. Its philosophy shows the patriarchal roots of inequality of gender, which
is social dominance of women by men.
The term patriarchy refers to social systems in which the role of the fathers is central and
thus they have authority over women, children and family property. Patriarchy is considered
as a practice that gives privileges and power based on gender but in favor of men. It is a form
of social organization in which men are dominant that means there is:
 Lack of property rights that can be controlled by women
 Lack of power of women in the society
 Low value or no recognition given on labor of women
 Male based authority and power structure
1.1.3. Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminism reflects the belief of democratic reform that indicates individual freedom. It is
believed that equality of women and men can be achieved through legal reform.
Liberal Feminism focuses on:

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  Women‘s ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and
choices and personal interactions of men and women which enables a society to believe
on more gender-equitable actions
In short, liberal feminism expresses that women are capable of using their ability to achieve
equality, thus it is possible for change to happen, as in accepting gender equality.
Liberal feminists are more concerned on different issues such as: reproductive and abortion
rights, voting, education, "equal pay for equal work," affordable childcare, affordable
health care, and an effort to make to reduce or avoid domestic violence against women. It
stresses the implementation of better laws on gender equality.
1.2. Approaches from Women in Development to Gender and
Development
1.2.1. Welfare Approaches (1950s and 60s)
Benefit women on their reproductive roles as mothers and homemakers. Approach on Western
stereotypes of the nuclear family (women economically dependent on the male bread winners)
1.2.2. Women in Development Approach (WID early 1970s)
 Women to be concerned with anti-poverty and efficiency: - The WID approach
supports women to be engaged in solving their problems of poverty and resource
utilization
 Integrates women into existing development: - by making more resources available to
women they can work effectively and contribute into the existing development activities
However other scholars argued about WID approach, by indicating its negative effects
because it:
 Increases women‟s workloads,
 Reinforce inequalities, and
 Increases the gap between men and women.
In WID approach women‘s contribution in all sectors of development tasks could not get
recognition as it was concentrating only on an increase of women‘s income and productivity.

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 Criticism to the WID approach
 Women‘s issues tended to be increasingly relegated to marginalized programs and isolated
projects.
 Did not implicitly have a direct impact on development
 Provided women with additional resources but no power to manage these resources
 WID concept led to increased workloads and heavy schedules for women and prevented their
empowerment. In addition, the WID approach also did not specify the root cause of gender
discrimination that prevented women from active participation in the society. Towards the end of
1970‘s, the Women and Development (WAD) perspective was established. This was for the
purpose of omitting WID, although they are used interchangeably. The WAD supporters had the
idea that women were already integrated into development processes but on unequal terms.
Projects were being developed to benefit women but they could not have full access to resources
and decision-making power. According to the argument of WAD, class structures were more
oppressive than gender which this means that the poor, marginalized women have more in
common with men of their class than with women of another class
1.2.3. Gender and Development Approach (GAD 1980s )
In the 1980‘s GAD was emerged with modified concept about equitable, and sustainable
development. It focuses on:
 Intellectual view of the need of shifting from WID to GAD and looks in a broader
context: - this approach includes economic growth and women‘s empowerment.
 Shifting in attention from „Women‟ to „Gender‟:- occurred because of the wrong
interpretations given to women‘s biological differences from men, rather than with regard
to their gender.
 Devising women‟s programs in a broader context :- to change the view from increased
efficiency in meeting development goals, to greater equity and empowerment for women.
In short, the equity and empowerment approaches are considered as ―Gender and Development‖
approaches (GAD). This approach supports the analysis of men and women‘s roles in order to
empower women. It has a positive approach for all the people in terms of the human rights in

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general. GAD stresses that women can play great roles in every development strategies and its
concept shows that:
 Both men and women maintain the society and form the division of labor:-But they
benefit and suffer unequally thus on this perception more focus must be given to women
as they have been more disadvantaged.
 Men and women have different priorities: This is based on socially constructed gender
roles which men can constrain or expand women‘s options.
 Development affects men and women differently: -Because they have different
impacts on programs and projects.
Gender equity can be maintained in both WID and GAD, but, WID projects enable women to
address their practical needs or basic needs and gain experience for projects in which they
participated. An approach of GAD enables women to addresses both practical and strategic
needs. It also includes the needs of men and women, which they can work together toward
mutual goals and greater equality.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
Gender Issues in Rural Development
1.1. Gender in Rural Development
1.1.1. What is Rural Development?
It refers to the growth of the rural economy and the improvement of people‟s wellbeing.
The majorities of the Ethiopian population lives in rural areas, and they are mostly dependent on
natural resources for their livelihoods, such as forests and water. Directly or indirectly
agriculture is the backbone of the society, but most of the farmers operate at a smallholder level
which is limited for subsistence. Both men and women have combined efforts in undertaking
agricultural production and in the process of development of the rural areas. Rural women like
their male counterparts engage in agricultural activities but their contributions do not get
recognition compared to men, in fact they are seen as simple assistants to men. In this essence
then it can be said that ‗the male farmer is the head of the household, the decision-maker and the
dominant in agricultural related decision making. According to The World Bank Group (2011),
where women are the majority of smallholder farmers, failure to use their full potential in
backward agricultural practices is a contributing factor to low growth and food insecurity in the
rural communities.
1.1.2. Women in Leadership
In Ethiopia, women are being actively involved in different sectors as in political, economic and
social aspects of the society. But despite the efforts made there are still under representation of
women in higher positions of employment and government political structure especially in the
rural areas. Few women are in decision-making hierarchy and at local levels; they are rarely
involved in family arbitrary councils or in traditional authority structure of the rural
communities. In the process of development of a nation it is however important that women
should be promoted in to leadership positions because they contribute greatly in agricultural
production and rural producers‘ organizations. It is the joint effort of both men and women‘s
leadership that can ensure justness, good governance and build food secured society.

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 1.1.3. Constraints and Prospects about Women‟s Leadership
 What are the constraints that women face in getting leadership positions?
In the Ethiopian context, there are a number of drawbacks which women face in reaching high in
the ladder, some of these include:
 Luck of self confidence:-- not believing on ‗self‘ the potential women themselves have
 Work burden and family responsibilities:- women may experience problems in
handling both household tasks and leadership positions
 Social norms:-- acceptance of traditionally formed gender roles, the social bias devalue
women in the sharing of power and decision making
 Low self-esteem:-- the sentiment of putting oneself in to lower level positions and the
anxiety which limit their roles
 Luck of exposure:-- invisibility of women and luck of experience sharing, not
supporting one another
 Low levels of education:- women lag behind in the educational level than men

Solution
To solve the constraints that hinder women from leadership positions?
Conduct trainings in skill building and leadership roles for women
Devise pro-women agricultural policies and follow effective implementation
Develop women‘s economic empowerment
Strengthen capacity building programs that include exchange visits
Encourage self confident and competent women to hold leadership roles
Facilitate the process of organizational changes to include women in leadership positions
Create favorable conditions for women‘s active participation in leadership
Leadership committee must be gender balance
Day care services must be established so that women can work as leaders in different
positions, Devise strategies on how to strengthen leadership in women, Facilitate rural
women participation in decision making, Use quotas system in leadership when

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 necessary, Ensure women‘s access to information communication technologies, Build
institutional structures to support women leaders

1.1.4. Barriers to Women‟s Involvement in Extension

Property Rights Related Barriers
Women‘s property rights are their rights to inherit or own through purchase and gift. They
have the right to administer their property such as land, housing, money livestock, and crops.
Some scholars‘ estimation shows that women in Africa receive less than 10% of all credit
going to small holder farmers (IFAD, 2003 in Rural Poverty Portal). Women‘s participation
in extension work can be affected due to lack of access to credit and financial services as
they cannot be able to benefit from the extension packages.
 Land is a form of collateral: - many women do not have land title
 Husbands have to sign for the credit:-In many cases their husbands have to sign for the
credits because women have no or lower level of numeric ability and general education
 Land holding:- rural women may not get title to land and even if they do it can be
smaller plots allocated to them or may be the plots are not at a short distance from their
homes.
Agricultural Production Related Barriers
Women constitute half of the rural population which this means that half of the agricultural
production is done by women. In Ethiopia as well as in other sub-Saharan Africa nations,
household-based agricultural activity is the primary means for rural livelihoods and women do
a great deal of the work. Their activities are under increasing stress which shows they and their
children are falling into poverty especially when their need for cash income is increasing in
today‘s world. Despite women‘s share in the agricultural production they have not been
recognized for their contributions. Agricultural policies and programs need to address issues
related to the needs of women and men for improving production capability. According to the
Ministry of Agriculture (1992), there are many activities which women perform in agriculture
related activities and some of these include:
o Weeding: - activity is mostly performed by women

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 o Land preparation: - Men assisted by women do the field clearing, leveling and picking
away unwanted plant materials. Women also bring food to the field for those engaged in
plowing.
o Sowing: - women transport seeds to the field and provide required amount to the men
who mostly do the planting
o Hoeing: - this activity is performed by women almost on an equal basis with the rest of
the family.
o Harvesting:- women harvest ―enset‖ and home garden while all other crops are done by
collective basis
o Threshing and storing: - Women prepare the ground for threshing. They do the cleaning
and smearing by applying cow dung and water.
o Winnowing and separating seeds from chaff: - Men do these activities but before
putting grains in storage women do the cleaning, drying and use traditional methods of
pest control to prevent from post-harvest storage losses.
o Household garden: in most cases this is the responsibility of the woman with the
assistance of the children. Women decide what is to be planted and controls the
production. Most of the produces from the garden is used for household consumption
and also for sale to earn income and buy items such as kerosene, salt and the like.
o Livestock Production: in farming communities, women and girls do activities like, barn
cleaning, fetching water, milking and milk processing. Men and boys with the assistance
of women and girls also perform the task of herding, hay processing, and trekking
animals to drink water. In many communities of Africa, large livestock usually belong to
men.
Training and Education Related Barriers
In some African societies, extension related trainings are mostly given to men. Education is more
available for boys than for girls. There is a perception that education does little to women in their
traditional roles. In some societies there are traditional biases in determining women‘s mobility
or their ability to interact with men in public places because it is considered as indecency and
low morale. In most cases rural women are illiterate than rural men, and they are also lower
literate than urban women. Educational wastage is higher in rural areas especially for female
students and this wastage is more often due to the repeating of grades.

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 1.1.5. What needs to be done?
 Extension services need to have woman farmers‘ focused approaches in order to ensure
equal participation
 Changing the attitudes and aspirations of women themselves is important in order to
break the traditional barriers
 Improving women‘s training and they must learn different skills rather than depending
always on men‘s skill
1.2. Gender Sensitive Extension Packages
1.2.1. Gender Situation analysis and Review of Technologies
Concerns and comments needs to be gathered from the rural women and it should be addressed
in the extension packages. Any support services and improved technologies that is needed in the
community must be identified. A review of the appropriateness of the existing extension
packages has to meet the daily activities of women.
 Ensure responsiveness to felt needs of women: As much as possible the pressing needs
of women must be well addressed. Progresses achieved must be reported to the women
because achievements can help women to build confidences.
 Involve the women in the process of package development: a brief discussion and
comment gathering with women farmer representatives is important to do for the
applicability and reliability of the packages in to their practices. Consulting the women
farmers is a way to identify their problems clearly and gives them assurance to extension
services.
 Be flexible in the development of extension package: Flexibility is recommended in
using packages as it allows women farmers to have more inputs and practices in the
progress of using the package.

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 CHAPTER FIVE
Concept and Types of Empowerment
1.1. Definition of Empowerment
The word empowerment is used in many different contexts and by many different organizations
and has different meanings in different socio cultural and political contexts, and does not
translate easily into all languages. Empowerment is the expansion of assets and capabilities of
poor people to participate in negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions
that affect their lives. It has different elements access to information, inclusion, participation and
accountability. Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups
to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes.
Empowerment is a process of internal and external change. The internal process is the person‘s
sense or belief in her ability to make decisions and to solve her own problems. The external
change finds expression in the ability to act and to implement the practical knowledge, the
information, the skills, the capabilities and the other new resources acquired in the course of the
process (Parsons, 1988).

1.1.1 Economic Empowerment

Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and
benefit from growth processes in ways that recognize the value of their contributions, respect
their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth.
Economic empowerment is thought to allow poor people to think beyond immediate daily
survival and to exercise greater control over both their resources and life choices. For example, it
enables households to make their own decisions around making investments in health and
education, and taking risks in order to increase their income. There is also some evidence that
economic empowerment can strengthen vulnerable groups‘ participation in the decision-making.
For example, microfinance programmes have been shown to bolster women‘s influence within
the household and marketplace. The evidence also suggests that economic power is often easily
‗converted‘ into increased social status or decision-making power.

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 1.1.2 Social Empowerment
Social empowerment is understood as the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-
confidence, and acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and the
institutions and discourses that exclude poor people and keep them in poverty. Poor people‘s
empowerment, and their ability to hold others to account, is strongly influenced by their
individual assets (such as land, housing, livestock, savings) and capabilities of all types: human
(such as good health and education), social (such as social belonging, a sense of identity,
leadership relations) and psychological (self-esteem, self-confidence, the ability to imagine and
aspire to a better future). Also important are people‘s collective assets and capabilities, such as
voice, organization, representation and identity.

1.1.3 Political Empowerment

Decentralization is believed to improve service delivery, bring government closer to the people,
and allow citizens greater opportunity to participate in decision making, as well as to learn
democratic skills and how to exercise their rights. The ‗empowerment‘ of local authorities
through decentralization is seen as a way of localizing democracy and making public services
more accountable. It is also argued that decentralization can empower communities to hold
authorities to account through direct contact with service providers. It is commonly argued that
supporting people to influence the policy-making process and participate in decision-making is
critical to the development of policies that reflect the needs and interests of the poor. Promoting
political participation is an important way of improving state accountability and responsiveness,
and empowering the poor. This can encompass a range of approaches, including strengthening
democratic citizenship, promoting engagement between the state and civil society, promoting
access to information, and strengthening citizens‘ associations. Decentralization, civil society
activism, and the transparency of and access to information also play a key role in strengthening
accountability.

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 CHAPTER SIX

Leadership and Development

1.1. What is Leadership?

Tead has defined leadership as ―… the activity of influencing people to cooperate toward
some goal which they came to find desirable‖. Kreitlow, Action, and Torrence add the word
democratic and define democratic leadership as ―… the means by which one or more persons
aid a group in setting and attaining desirable goals‖. The major difference in the two
definitions is the substitution of the word aid for influence. As defined by Haiman, ―Leadership
refers to that process whereby an individual directs, guides, influences or controls the
thoughts, feelings, or behavior of other human beings”. On the other hand, the way in which
youth define leadership is often very different from the way adults define leadership. Youth
see leadership in a group context where all participants contribute and each person has a share of
the overall leadership. Therefore, it is necessary for adults to understand the youth perspective of
leadership in order to best help them develop as leaders.
 Leadership is a group phenomenon and it occurs in a situation. Four essential elements
are in any leadership situation a group of people, a leader or leaders, a problem, and a
possible solution. These are the four minimum conditions from which leadership can
develop. Members of a group will operate most effectively toward reaching a goal if the
members are of common background, race, creed, color, age, education, socioeconomic
status, or neighborhood, or, it may mean simply having a common problem or situation
which all wants to change. One of the first steps in leadership may be to help a seemingly
heterogeneous group to recognize its common grounds for becoming a group.
Three factors are generally considered essential to effective leadership.
Knowledge of the area in which leadership is to develop;
Knowledge of human nature; and
Acceptance of leader by the group

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1.2. Types of Leadership Styles: - It is believed that generally there are three primary forms
of leadership; namely participative, laissez faire, and autocratic.
However, there are many other types of business leadership styles which have come up today
due to a change in managerial methods at the workplace.
1.2.1. Participative Leadership
Participatory leaders accept input from one or more group members when making decisions and
solving problems, but the leader retains the final say when choices are made.
 Group members tend to be encouraged and motivated by this style of leadership.
 This style of leadership often leads to be more effective and accurate decisions, since no
leader can be an expert in all areas.
 An input from the group members with specialized knowledge and expertise creates a
more complete basis for decision making.
 This is probably the best leadership style followed in the business world.
 Many study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is
generally the most effective leadership style.
 Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the
group and allow input from other group members.
 Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say over
the decision-making process.
 Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative.

1.2.2. Autocratic Leadership

 The leader solely carries out the decision making process.
 A very suitable method for managing team members who require close supervision to get
the work done.
 Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for
what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done.
 There is also a clear division between the leader and the followers.
 Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of
the group
 Researchers found that decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership.

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  Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group
decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group.
1.2.3. Laissez Faire Leadership
 The leader leaves it on the team members to do the work which they are supposed to.
 A good style to be implemented if the members are skilled enough and understand their
responsibilities properly.
1.3. Issues in Youth Leadership
Youth leadership is
(1) ―The ability to guide or direct others on a course of action, influence the opinion and
behavior of other people, and show the way by going in advance‖ and
(2) ―The ability to analyze one's own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and vocational
goals, and have the self-esteem to carry them out. Youth leadership is the involvement of youth
in responsible, challenging action that meets genuine needs, with opportunities for planning and
decision making. For the most part, our culture places youth in powerless situations with no
meaningful role other than as consumers. In addition, many adults do not understand that their
role is not to mold participants in their programs but to provide tools and opportunities for youth
to discover their unique spirit, genius, and public life.

1.4. Points to Consider for Effective Leadership Training Programs

When designing an effective leadership training program for youth, consider the following:
Know where the youth are developing mentally: - Adolescence is a period when youth
are establishing a sense of personal identity. They are learning to be goal directed and
principle–oriented rather than parent directed and feeling–oriented. During adolescence,
family ties are growing weaker and peers are becoming more important.
Help build self esteem: - Each youth develops a sense of his or her identity that is
unique from everyone else. This identity can best be found in interaction with significant
other people. Adolescents need to know that they have special talents that are unique to
them. By helping them develop a positive self image, they will have the confidence
needed to meet the demands of leadership.
Provide a none threaten atmosphere: - Youth need to feel comfortable in participating
in scheduled activities and in voicing their opinions. One of the first activities should be

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one in which members of the group can get to know one another. This will help set the
pace for the rest of the training program.
Help youth build social skills trough group activities: - Leaders need to know how to
communicate with their followers. This includes talking with the group members,
listening to their ideas and concerns, and reading their reactions through non–verbal
communications. Youth should be given opportunities to practice these communication
skills.
Provide opportunities for different youth to emerge as the leader: - In order to
provide leadership training for youth, each individual needs to have the opportunity to
experience the leader role. At times, one person in the group may dominate and not let
others have the experience of leading the group. Program planners should make an effort
to see that each participant has his or her turn at being the leader.
Provide for planning and decision making: Invite youth to be a part of the program and
give those tasks that are relevant. This will help them make the transition of using newly
learned skills when they are actually in the leadership role in their organization, school or
community.
Provide additional leadership opportunities beyond the length of the training
program: Allow the participants to further develop the skills they were exposed to
during the training program and to accept additional leadership roles in their club, school
and community. If youth are not given the opportunity to reinforce the skills learned and
continue to build on these skills, they tend to forget them.
Include the topic of followership in the training program: - Not only do youth need to
learn how to be effective leaders, but also how to be good followers. This includes
learning how to build good leader–follower relationships and learning how to build
strong team attitudes.
Use and effective measurement tool to assess program outcomes: - What skills will
the youth learn when they participate in your training program? How will you know if
they actually learned those skills? One of your priorities should be in establishing clear
program goals that can be measured. Effective measurement tools should be developed
and used to track the progress that youth are making by attending the training program.

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 CHAPTER SEVEN
Gender Sensitization and Mainstreaming
1.1. Gender Mainstreaming
The term "mainstreaming" came from the objective to bring attention to gender equality
into the mainstream or core of development activities.
Gender Mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implication for women and men of
any planned action, including legislation, policies, or program in all areas and at all
levels.
It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences as an
integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies
and program in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men
benefit equally and inequality is not repeated. .
The ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.
Experience shows that for gender equality to be effectively promoted in development program it
is necessary to addressed gender issues at all levels. In other words, gender needs to be put into
the mainstream. Gender mainstreaming implies that gender is not a separate set of issues; it is an
element of all issues at all levels.
1.1.1. Objectives Gender Mainstreaming Strategy.
 Provide a framework for action that will ensure access to resources and benefits for both
men and women.
 Help identify key priorities and strategic actions required for promoting gender-equality.
 Promote the inclusion of gender concerns in all stages of programs, projects and policy
development and in the budgets, administrative arrangements and procedures.
 Enable the identification of the main constraints that work against women's equal rights
to productive me resources and opportunities.
 Provide the framework for dialogue with all development stakeholders on gender issues.
1.1.2. Mechanism Gender Mainstreaming
 Formulation of national gender policies, establishing ministries responsible for gender,
appointing gender focal points in line with ministries. Setting up task forces and/or high
level advisory groups. Look into existing rules and regulations and procedures and how
they address gender issues. Carrying out training program including for top management.

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  Developing action plans
 Process needs guideline (checklist)
 Apply at planning, implementation; monitoring and evaluation level senior management
is the first center of responsibility to provide active leadership in implementing the
commitment to gender equality.
 The bureau heads active "advocacy and support is a requirement for progress in
mainstreaming gender equality.
 Effective information flow is a prerequisite for gender mainstreaming.
1.1.3. Issues Important in Gender Mainstreaming Strategy
There are issues that need to be taken in to account in gender mainstreaming. These include the
necessity to ensure:
Attention to gender equality from the initial stages of processes so that there is potential
to influence goals, strategies and resource allocations to bring about changes in policies,
programs and other activities. Gender analysis of the roles, responsibilities, contributions
as well as potential impact of planned actions on women and respective men as the first
essential step before any decisions are taken
A focus on both women and men and the relations between them, especially in relation to
access to and control over resources and participation in decision making processes.
Explicit attention to gender perspectives, making them visible and showing the links
between gender equality and the achievement of the overall goals of all sectors.
It requires moving beyond focusing on increasing the number of women participants to
bring gender perspectives to the centre of attention in analyses, policies, planning
processes and resource allocations.
Identification of the need for changes in goals, strategies and actions, as well as in
changes –changes in institutional structures, procedures and cultures.
1.1.4. Challenges in Gender Mainstreaming
A large gap continues to exist between policy commitments made at the Fourth World
Conference and actual implementation. These limitations are presented as follows:
Lack of integration of gender perspectives in sector policies and strategies, Lack of
capacity to identify and address gender perspectives in many critical area, Failure to use
the full potential of training, Inadequate resources, Ineffective utilization of gender

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 specialist resources, Many organizational cultures were not supportive of the promotion
of gender equality, There was little awareness of and commitment to gender equality
goals and strategies at global or national levels or capacity to implement them
1.2. Gender Advocacy
1.2.1. Definition and Concept of Advocacy
1.2.2. ―Advocacy is an action directed at change. It is putting a problem on the agenda,
providing a solution to that problem, building support for that solution and for the action
necessary to implement that solution. " Advocacy is a process that involves a series of
political actions conducted by organized citizens in order to transform power
relationships. The purpose of advocacy is to achieve specific policy changes that benefit
the population involved in this process. These changes can take place in the public or
private sector. Effective advocacy is conducted according to a strategic plan and within a
reasonable time frame." Planning an advocacy campaign is a dynamic process. It
involves identifying the issue, developing solutions, building support, and bringing
issues, solutions, and political will together to ensure that the desired change takes place.
Finally, it involves monitoring and evaluating the entire process. Gender advocacy
involves defending, change, communication, persuasion, influence, exposure intervening,
providing a solution, lobbying, decision making, attracting attention, and sensitizing.
1.2.3. Elements of Advocacy
Advocacy only happens when there is a crisis
Advocacy requires need to address power imbalances (information resources, gender)
Advocacy takes time. Advocacy means pleading for, or supporting, a cause, and lobbying
campaigning for legislative change.

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 Course Four

Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development

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 Chapter One

WHAT IS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE?

DEFINITION OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Indigenous knowledge (IK) is, broadly speaking, the knowledge used by local people to make a
living in a particular environment (Warren, 1991). Terms used in the field of sustainable
development to designate this concept include indigenous technical knowledge, traditional
environmental knowledge, rural knowledge, local knowledge and farmer‘s or pastoralist‘s
knowledge. Indigenous knowledge can be defined as “A body of knowledge built up by a
group of people through generations of living in close contact with nature” (Johnson, 1992).
Generally speaking, such knowledge evolves in the local environment, so that it is specifically
adapted to the requirements of local people and conditions. It is also creative and experimental,
constantly incorporating outside influences and inside innovations to meet new conditions. It is
usually a mistake to think of indigenous knowledge as ‗old-fashioned,‘ ‗backwards,‘ ‗static‘ or
‗unchanging

A WORKING DEFINITION OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN THE AFRICAN

CONTEXT:

 Indigenous systems are localized African systems developed over long periods and whose
patterns are based upon local knowledge systems and expressed in local languages.

 Indigenous systems would generally be viewed to be in balance with the local environment or
would have sought such balance.

 The systems would have been influenced by innovations emerging from within themselves,
from other indigenous systems and from national and international systems. Nonetheless, they
are essentially African in origin even though they may display foreign attributes. (Source:
Matowanyika 1994}

Indigenous knowledge on its part refers to what indigenous people know and do, and what they
have known and done for generations – practices that evolved through trial and error and proved
flexible enough to cope with change (Melchias, 2001).

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Warren (1987) defined indigenous knowledge as a local knowledge that is unique to a given
culture or society. According to Rajasekaran (1993), indigenous knowledge is the systematic
body of knowledge acquired by local people through the accumulation of experiences, informal
experiments and intimate understanding of the environment in a given culture.

To Haverkort and de Zeeuw (1992), indigenous knowledge is the actual knowledge of a given
population that reflects the experiences based on traditions and includes more recent experiences
with modern technologies. It is also described as a non-conventional body of knowledge that
deals with some aspects of the theory, but more of the beliefs, practices and technologies
developed without direct inputs from the modern, formal, scientific establishment; in this case,
towards the management of farms (Chambers et al. 1989, Gilbert et al. 1980).

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND INDIGENOUS

KNOWLEDGE
Definitions that should be considered

Local knowledge (LK) is a collection of facts and relates to the entire system of concepts,
beliefs and perceptions that people hold about the world around them. This includes the way
people observe and measure their surroundings, how they solve problems and validate new
information. It includes the processes whereby knowledge is generated, stored, applied and
transmitted to others.

Traditional knowledge (TK) implies that people living in rural areas are isolated from the rest
of the world and that their knowledge systems are static and do not interact with other knowledge
systems.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is indigenous or local knowledge and is the body of
knowledge or natural history built up by a group of people through generations of living in close
contact with nature, which through trial and error they have developed an understanding of the
ecosystem in which they lived. TEK includes a system of classification, a set of empirical
observations about the local ecology, and a system of self-management that governs resource
uses such as hunting, trapping and fishing.

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Ethno-ecology is the study of local or native people‘s interaction with the environment in which
they live and work, including their perceptions, use and management, and knowledge
(Warburton and Martin 1999)

Indigenous knowledge (IK), Traditional knowledge (TK) and Local knowledge (LK),
generally refer to the matured long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional,
indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge also encompasses the wisdom,
knowledge, and teachings of these communities. In many cases, this knowledge has been orally
passed for generations from person to person. Some forms of traditional knowledge are
expressed through stories, legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and even laws.

Other forms of traditional knowledge are often expressed through different means. Such
knowledge typically distinguishes one community from another. In a sense, it becomes their
"identity". For many communities, traditional knowledge takes on a personal and spiritual
meaning. Traditional knowledge can also reflect a community's interests. Some communities
depend on their traditional knowledge for survival. Cosmological connections and differences in
worldview distinguish "Traditional Knowledge" from "Local Knowledge". Social scientists
often place knowledge within a naturalistic framework, and emphasize the gradation of recent
knowledge into knowledge acquired over many generations. These accounts use terms like
"Adaptively Acquired Knowledge", "Socially Constructed Knowledge," and other terms that
emphasize the evolutionary and social aspects of knowledge. Local Knowledge and Traditional
Knowledge may be thought of as distinguished by the length of time they have existed - decades
to centuries versus millennia. A large number of scholarly studies in the naturalistic tradition
demonstrate that Traditional Knowledge is not a natural category, and may reflect power
struggles and relationships for land, resources and social control than adherence to a claimed
ancestry or heritage.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

 It is practical common sense, based on teachings and experience passed on from

generation to generation.
 It is holistic - it cannot be compartmentalized and it is rooted in the spiritual health,
culture and language of the people.

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  It sets out the rules governing the use of resources - respect; an obligation to share. It is
dynamic, cumulative and stable.
 It is a way of life - wisdom is using knowledge in good ways. It is using the heart and the
head together. It comes from the spirit in order to survive.
 It gives credibility to people.
 It is based on experience, acquired from observations over time - it is argued that it may
be most useful for local scale decision-making;
 It can show an understanding of the complex relationships between these individual
components and the dynamic ecosystems within which they act;
 It is frequently linked with the sustainable use of local resources.
 It describes the health of the local environment, wildlife, etc., promotes consideration of
the relationships between human and biological systems;
 It often describes these symbiotic relationships and provides the basis for lifesustaining
decisions about how to relate to the environment

Ellen and Harris (1996) have provided following characteristics of indigenous knowledge
that are very comprehensive and conclusive.

 Indigenous knowledge is local. It is rooted to a particular place and set of experiences,

and generated by people living in those places. The result of this is that transferring the
indigenous knowledge to other places runs the risk of dis-locating it.
 Indigenous knowledge is orally-transmitted, or transmitted through imitation and
demonstration. The consequence is that writing it down changes some of its fundamental
properties.
 Indigenous knowledge is the consequence of practical engagement in everyday life, and
is constantly reinforced by experience and trial and error.
 It is dynamic, systematic and universal in principle. It is unwritten and known through the
oral traditions.

WHY IS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IMPORTANT?

There are two basic reasons why indigenous knowledge is important, first and foremost,
the contribution of indigenous knowledge to local empowerment and development, increase

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the self-sufficiency and strength self-determination (Ulluwishewa 1993). Utilizing IK in
research and management plans gives it legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of both local
people and outside scientists, increasing cultural pride and thus motivation to solve local
problems with local ingenuity and resources. Second, indigenous people can provide
valuable input about the local environment and how to effectively manage its natural
resources

 Indigenous knowledge provides problem-solving strategies for local communities,

especially the poor. Indigenous knowledge represents an important component of global
knowledge on development issues.

 Indigenous knowledge is an underutilized resource in the development process.

 Learning from indigenous knowledge can improve understanding of local conditions.

 Understanding indigenous knowledge can increase responsiveness to clients.

 Adapting international practices to local conditions can improve the impact and
sustainability of our work.

 Investing in disseminating indigenous knowledge can help to reduce poverty.

 Sharing of Indigenous Knowledge within and across communities can enhance cross-
cultural understanding In general indigenous knowledge represents a way of life that has
evolved with the local environment, so it is specifically adapted to the requirements of local
conditions Flexible: Indigenous Knowledge is able to adapt to new conditions and
incorporate outside knowledge.

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 Chapter Five

Challenges to Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous Knowledge is easily overlooked: - indigenous practices are sometimes not very
spectacular. Despite their effectiveness, they can easily be overlooked. For example, a traditional
irrigation system consisting of mud canals and bamboo pipes looks less impressive than an
introduced system of eat, straight, and cemented canals. Nevertheless the local system can
effectively distribute water to the fields. In the long run, it might even conserve water better than
cement canals. IK is often overlooked because it seems ―messy‖ and is not obvious to outsiders.

Indigenous Knowledge is an endangered species

―When a knowledgeable person dies, a whole library disappears ‖ This old English proverb is very true
for indigenous knowledge since most of it is not documented and is passed on from one generation to
another by word of mouth. Grenier (1998) observed that IK is stored in people‘s memories and activities
and is expressed in stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, dances, myths, cultural values, beliefs, rituals,
community laws, local language and taxonomy, agricultural practices, equipment, materials, plant
species, and animal breeds. IK is communicated orally, by specific example and through culture.
Indigenous Knowledge systems around the world, especially in the developing countries of Africa, Asia
and Latin America are at risk of becoming extinct. They are threatened by modernization, urbanization
and globalization. Furthermore, little recording of IK is also leading to its extinction. IK is often
transmitted by word of mouth rather than in written form. This makes it vulnerable to rapid change
especially when people are displaced or killed in famine or war, or when younger generations acquire
values and lifestyles different from their ancestors. Experience indicates that some IK is lost naturally as
techniques and tools are modified or fall out of use. Development processes and populations changes like
rural urban migration have further accelerated this loss, endangering the survival of IK. Younger
generations are acquiring different values and lifestyles as a result of exposure to global and national
influences, and traditional communication networks are breaking down, meaning that Elders are dying
without passing their knowledge on to children. Furthermore, there are also local capacity limitations and
the way global content is pushed .Even in the remote areas of the country, the powers that push global or
just non-local content are much stronger than those pushing local content. This can be seen in television
programming, in advertising, the spread of global brands, in classrooms using imported curricular and
examinations, use of foreign languages in schools and universities and low status of local languages on

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the Internet, in research, in the dissemination of reliable scientific information and over reliance on
foreign technical assistance.

Indigenous Knowledge is not well managed: - the roles of creators and keepers of information tend to
be quite distinct. The European Commission on Preservation and Access noted that those who created
materials (IK) had no interest in their preservation, and those who kept materials had no control over their
creation. Library and information professionals have not been at the forefront in terms of managing IK,
despite the fact that it is becoming an important resource in planning and managing sustainable
development projects. The dominant information management model has been based on acquiring,
organizing and preserving recorded and codified knowledge, which is largely generated by researcher‘s
laboratories, research stations and universities. Such a model has little room for IK, which is not formally
codified and resides wholly in minds of local people. Because IK is not well managed, it is very difficult
to tap it for use in development projects. Underlying this is also the question of whether or not to use the
western paradigm for preserving IK. Furthermore, the collection of indigenous information is laborious,
time consuming and costly. For instance, as a result of inadequate management, most of the indigenous
knowledge accumulated by colonial district officers and early missionaries cannot be located in many
archival institutions.

Limited access to Indigenous Knowledge: - access to the indigenous information collected so

far is very limited because it is not well organized in terms of being indexed and abstracted
(UNESCO 1982). This partly explains the underutilization of IK in development projects. In
addition, the lack of marketing strategies can also account for the low levels of use of IK (Dewalt
1994).

Unwillingness to share Indigenous Knowledge: _ it is common practice that some of the local
people are not willing to share their IK. Some IK is generic and can be freely accessed in many
communities, both by members and outsiders. Ordinary people are also generally happy to share
their knowledge. However traditional healers and herbalists are not so willing to share their
knowledge, and the ability to access supernatural sources of information to cure diseases as well
as to solve social, political and economic problems.

Indigenous Knowledge may not always be accurate: - just like other knowledge systems, IK
has its limitations and weaknesses. IK may not be appropriate and accurate in all circumstances.
It may be unwise to accept all traditional knowledge as good practice or as sustainable practice.
Indigenous peoples have at times mismanaged resources. For example, according to Kalland

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(2000), nomadic hunters and gatherers who are not tied to any specific resource base may not
have a conservation ethic.

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