The Quest for Intercultural Perspective in the Swedish Education System

• The purpose of this study is to explore the status of intercultural perspective in education in Sweden. The study is guided by three questions of what are the official views of intercultural perspective in education, why intercultural perspective is relevant for education and what are the possible ways of implementing it. Bennett´s definition of intercultural learning is considered as theoretical starting point for the study, ‘Acquiring increased awareness of subjective cultural context (world view), including one’s own, and developing greater ability to interact sensitively and competently across cultural contexts...’ (Bennett, 2009, S.3). A general literature on intercultural perspective and a literature on the subject with specific focus on Sweden are referred for this study. The result of the reviews show the concept of intercultural education was introduced as a policy documents in Sweden as early as the 1980s; a serious definition of what intercultural was not considered; there is a general recognition of diversity based on language, religion, ethnicity, gender, etc; while recognizing diversity, the focus is on understanding differences; on helping the “immigrant” to integrate to the society; on stating laws and policies for protection against discrimination of different groups. There is a common understanding among the authors of the reviewed texts, that more should be done to develop intercultural perspective in the different levels in the education system. 

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

diversity

education

intercultural education

intercultural perspective

multiculturalism

Sweden.

Pedagogiskt arbete

Educational Work

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)