Confusion and frustration as catalysts for change: 'rich points' in multicultural education

Despite compelling need for transformational approaches to multiculturalism, the measures in place at many schools may be works in progress. Based on twelve months of fieldwork at the secondary-school level in El Ejido, Spain, and longitudinal interviews with key participants, this article examines...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEthnography and education Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 279 - 294
Main Author Taha, Maisa C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 03.07.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Discourse
Foreign Countries
Immigrants
Immigration
Inequality
Multicultural Education
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Political Attitudes
Political correctness
Race
Racial Bias
Racism
Secondary School Students
Spain
Spain
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Summary:Despite compelling need for transformational approaches to multiculturalism, the measures in place at many schools may be works in progress. Based on twelve months of fieldwork at the secondary-school level in El Ejido, Spain, and longitudinal interviews with key participants, this article examines conflicting articulations of race, racism, and civility shaping interactions in state mandated intercultural education courses. Interweaving analysis of in-class exchanges with attention to textual/audiovisual inputs and socio-historical contexts, this article employs a discourse-centred approach to untangle the tensions shaping local interpretations of race and racism, based particularly on the experiences of marginalised Moroccan immigrant youth. Drawing on Michael Agar's notion of ethnographic 'rich points', or points of misunderstanding, I argue that the perspectives of diverse learners be leveraged to mindfully reconfigure top-down curricula through attention to distinctly local understandings of difference and inequality.
ISSN:1745-7823
1745-7831
DOI:10.1080/17457823.2019.1578982