Given the current era of global turmoil and strained relations between peoples of diverse national and cultural origins, there has never been a greater need for intercultural education than there is today. This edited volume is in honour of Jagdish Gundara, a renowned pioneer in the field, and brings together contributions from experienced educators and researchers who focus on problematic aspects of intercultural education, as well as on crucial issues related to different regional contexts. Contributors draw upon national, comparative and international perspectives, in addition to theoretical and empirical studies, to inform thinking and discussion in relation to innovative policies and pedagogies. The content of the book will be found to be both challenging and stimulating. Accordingly, it will be welcomed by graduate students and researchers, as well as educators and policy-makers both nationally and across the globe. As such, the volume reflects an endeavour to establish intercultural education as a fundamental aspect of educational discourse in general.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The ability to recognise and understand your own cultural context is a prerequisite to understanding and interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. An intercultural learning approach encourages us to develop an understanding of culture and cultural difference, through reflecting on our own context and experience.

A central purpose of this book is to question the claims commonly made about the educational benefits of study abroad. Traditional metrics of enrollment increases and student self-report, and practices of structural immersion, are being questioned as educators voice growing uncertainty about what students are or are not in fact learning abroad. This book looks into whether these criticisms are justified—and what can be done if they are.The contributors to this book offer a counter-narrative to common views that learning takes place simply through students studying elsewhere, or through their enrolling in programs that take steps structurally to “immerse” them in the experience abroad.Student Learning Abroad reviews the dominant paradigms of study abroad; marshals rigorous research findings, with emphasis on recent studies that offer convincing evidence about what undergraduates are or are not learning; brings to bear the latest knowledge about human learning and development that raises questions about the very foundations of current theory and practice; and presents six examples of study abroad courses or programs whose interventions apply this knowledge. This book provokes readers to reconsider long-held assumptions, beliefs and practices about teaching and learning in study abroad and to reexamine the design and delivery of their programs. In doing so, it provides a new foundation for responding to the question that may faculty and staff are now asking: What do I need to know, and what do I need to be able to do, to help my students learn and develop more effectively abroad? Contributors:Laura BathurstMilton BennettGabriele Weber BosleyJohn EngleLilli Engle Tara HarveyMitchell HammerDavid KolbBruce La Brack Kris Hemming LouKate McClearyCatherine MenyhartR. Michael PaigeAngela PassarelliAdriana Medina-López PortilloMeghan QuinnJennifer Meta RobinsonRiikka SalonenVictor SavickiDouglas StuartMichael Vande BergJames ZullWhile the authors who have contributed to Student Learning Abroad are all known for their work in advancing the field of education abroad, a number have recently been honored by leading international education associations. Bruce La Brack received NAFSA’s 2012 Teaching, Learning and Scholarship Award for Innovative Research and Scholarship. Michael Paige (2007) and Michael Vande Berg (2012) are recipients of the Forum on Education Abroad’s Peter A. Wollitzer Award.

This book primarily analyses the current situation in intercultural education and intercultural competences, and addresses the challenges to, and possible ways of dealing with, different perspectives in intercultural education. Advances in the new millennium, such as the revolution in information technologies, have led to a reduction in distances between people, stronger ties between different geographical areas, and greater mobility. This volume examines how these advances seem to have given rise to profound economic, environmental, political, social, and cultural crises, not just within nations, but also in relations between cultures. Such crises are of concern to all aspects of human life, including family, work and mass media, but they particularly affect educational institutions. The papers in this collection explain, therefore, why it is necessary to invest in education.

`Jagdish Gundara has made a very substantial contribution to the field with this work and it is to the rest of us to make connections with it and help in the gigantic tasks of finding solutions′- Tony Booth, Canterbury Christ Church University, British Journal of Educational Studies `This work deals with the question of how education can help in the task of developing cohesive civil societies by turning notions of singular identities into those of multiple ones, and by developing a shared and common value system and public culture. Jadgish S Gundara begins with a mini-biography of his own history, which he describes as an "intercultural apprenticeship", and in which the interweaving of different strands of identity is strikingly described. His first chapter then presents "Multicultural Britain". Here Jadgish S Gundara argues that the post-war immigrant presence has highlighted aspects of British historical diversity - Britain′s permanent multi-culturalism and addresses issues of group identity, culture and racism. Following chapters discuss basic issues in intercultural education; practicing intercultural education; post-school intercultural education; interculturalism in Europe; the role of the state; building a common and shared value system; Asian and global perspectives; and knowledge, social science and the curriculum. Jadgish S Gundara has a personal perspective on education issues influenced by his involvement for many years. This is an eloquent book′ - Race Relations `Jagdish S Gundara′s own early experiences have given him unique insights into both the problems and the possibilities of relationships between cultures. His book reflects a life dedicated to fostering positive intercultural relations and provides an analysis of the role of education in overcoming the barriers. All who are interested in building genuinely inclusive notions of education and citizenship will benefit from reading this impressive book′ - Geoff Whitty, Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education, University of London `This is a most interesting, accessible and useful book, which deserves to be read by a wide range of education practitioners from school, further education and not least the policy makers in these sectors′ - Stephen Bigger, Escalate Jagdish S Gundara raises a range of critical issues for educators as a consequence of historical and contemporary aspects of social diversity. Using a historical and social science framework, the author examines issues concerning national minorities and immigrant communities. He outlines a view of multicultural Britain, and shows how education at all levels needs to change to embrace an intercultural position. The book also deals with interculturalism in Europe and Asia, the role of state organizations, and the need to foster `communities of hope′. Based on the authors professional experience in schools, the community and further and higher education, the book assumes no detailed knowledge, and aims to make the concepts of intercultural education accessible to a wide audience.

Intercultural learning is an important topic for the priorities of both the European Commission and the Council of Europe, and of their partnership in the field of youth. Intercultural learning is an educational approach that can lead to social transformation, so that people from different cultural backgrounds can develop positive relations based on the values and principles of human rights and on seeing cultural differences as positive things. It is a form of political and social education that needs to pay attention not only to intercultural relations, but also to different understandings of culture and diversity, power relations, distribution of resources, political and social context, human rights, discrimination, history and daily interactions among different groups. This T-Kit was developed for the context of youth work and non-formal education with young people, both of which support the personal development, social integration and active citizenship of young people. Educators and youth workers have an important role in addressing intercultural learning in their work with young people. They can stimulate young people’s learning in their daily lives, so that they can question and extend their perception, develop competences to interact positively with people from different cultural backgrounds and embrace the values of diversity, equality and dignity. In today’s Europe, these values and skills are fundamental for young people and for society as a whole in order to continue building peace and mutual understanding.