Language: English

ISSN: 1470-8647

Abstract/Notes: The urban middle classes often celebrate the diversity of their neighbourhood. As soon as they have children, however, the desire to display symbolic capital may conflict with the need to reproduce cultural capital through the educational system. In the ethnically diverse Amsterdam schooling context, in which parents have free school choice and school access is not determined by fees, the socio-spatial strategies of school choice could be expected to differ from particularly the UK context. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with white middle-class parents in Amsterdam, this study argues that ethnic diversity is a major concern when they are seeing primary schools for their children, but that middle-class fractions have different socio-spatial strategies for managing it. It is argued that, despite differences in terms of housing market and school policies, the strategies of the Amsterdam middle classes are very similar to other contexts, suggesting homologies of class between national contexts.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/0042098012461673

ISSN: 0042-0980

Abstract/Notes: Les écoles Montessori se multiplient dans tous les pays du monde. L’article s’appuie sur l’étude de l’auto-présentation d’une centaine d’écoles, pour montrer qu’elles sont très diverses. Dans un contexte d’accentuation du consumérisme scolaire et du développement de nouvelles classes moyennes des pays émergents soucieuses d’éducation, le succès international de cette pédagogie tient au fait qu’elle est fondée sur l’utilisation d’un matériel très concret qui la rend immédiatement compréhensible et qu’elle est, de toutes les pédagogies nouvelles, la moins subversive et la plus acceptable socialement. Surtout, cette pédagogie réussit à concilier des exigences qui semblent en partie contradictoires : en mettant à la fois l’accent sur les apprentissages académiques précoces et sur le bien-être et l’autonomie des élèves ; en se présentant aussi comme une pédagogie « de l’élite » mais accessible à tous et favorisant la réussite des plus défavorisés ; en conciliant enfin modernité et religion. [Montessori schools are multiplying in all countries of the world. The article is based on the study of the self-presentation of a hundred schools, to show that they are very diverse. In a context of accentuation of school consumerism and the development of new middle classes of emerging countries concerned with education, the international success of this pedagogy is due to the fact that it is based on the use of very concrete material which makes it immediately understandable and that it is, of all new pedagogies, the least subversive and the most socially acceptable. Above all, this pedagogy succeeds in reconciling requirements which seem in part contradictory: by emphasizing both early academic learning and the well-being and autonomy of the pupils; by also presenting itself as an “elite” pedagogy but accessible to all and promoting the success of the most disadvantaged; finally reconciling modernity and religion.]

Language: French

DOI: 10.4000/ries.6047

ISSN: 1254-4590

Abstract/Notes: As public Montessori schools rapidly expand through the United States, the question then arises: What population of students do the schools serve? This study presents a new empirical data set examining the racial and economic diversity of 300 whole-school, public Montessori programs open in 2012–2013, where the entire school uses the Montessori Method. While school-choice scholars are concerned that choice programs like Montessori lead to greater student segregation by race and social class, this study finds a variety of outcomes for public Montessori. Public Montessori as a sector has strengths in student racial and socioeconomic diversity, but it also has diversity challenges, particularly among Montessori charters. The study concludes with recommended strategies for public Montessori schools to enroll a racially and economically diverse student body.

Language: English

DOI: 10.17161/jomr.v2i2.5848

ISSN: 2378-3923

Abstract/Notes: Early childhood (EC) is the right period to start emphasizing on teaching young children about diversity, equity and inclusion. The new vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030 target to boost educational system through continuous invest in and teachers' education and professional training focused on integrating multicultural education into the curricula. The current study dealt with two main dimensions: The first dimension revealed the different curricula, teaching strategies, and assessment of children's learning in kindergartens in the public and private sectors. The second dimension focused on investigating how these applied curricula take into account the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion for children from different cultural backgrounds. The current study used the descriptive analytical approach through the application of the questionnaire, which targeted a number of government and private kindergartens in various major cities in the Kingdom. The results revealed the interest of private kindergartens in applying modern and diverse curricula in terms of teaching and assessment strategies and in terms of respect for diversity, equity and inclusion for all children, which meets their different needs. Teachers in private kindergartens expressed their confidence and competence to teach children from different cultures, and that the applied curricula ensure respect for their cultural backgrounds in terms of teaching methods that are free of racism in any form. Continuous professional training and the employment of teachers from different cultures contributed to raising the cultural awareness of children in private kindergartens compared to government ones. The current study recommended decision-makers to update the curricula in government kindergartens in line with the global trend towards integrating children from different cultures and backgrounds in the classroom.

Language: English

ISSN: 0827-3383, 1917-7844

Abstract/Notes: Traditionally, most systems have required that parents send their children to a school within the district of residence and close to the family home, sometimes with an elite private system co‐existing alongside. In recent years, this basic model has been modified, with some countries witnessing more extensive changes than others. This article outlines the range of change that has taken place along the dual axes of promoting diversity and establishing room for the exercise of parental choice. The synthesis article draws on the material submitted by all the countries participating in the OECD study, and not only those which feature specifically in this issue. The first section reviews the current situation regarding parental choice of school and evidence relating to how that choice is exercised by different groups of parents. For choice to be exercised, there must be alternatives to choose from, and hence there follows a review of some of the policies and practices for diversity. The article then examines diversity in more forms contrasting selective and non‐selective schools, public and private schools, and formal and home schooling. Several countries have moved to greater diversification of public education, allowing for different types of schools accommodating different student ability levels or parents’ educational preferences. The role of demand is clearly a central element in their emergence and differing fortunes. This in turn is closely, but not exclusively, related to the familiar factors of social advantage and reproduction as well as to issues of value choices and beliefs.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-3435.2006.00245.x

ISSN: 0141-8211

Abstract/Notes: Oberlin was also the perfect school because of its sustained commitment to the ideas of social justice, equity, and inclusion, long before these terms were part of public consciousness. If I recognize that some have more than others and that we live in a world that has systemic privileges, and the reason that some have more than others is not only because they have worked harder than others or that others have not worked hard enough, then, for many, social justice suggests a redistribution of resources in a way that implies taking things away from those that have and giving resources to others who have not worked hard enough to earn them (meritocracy). When I think of social justice, I think of intentional strategies to create a society where everyone feels affirmed, valued, and safe-mentally, physically, and psychologically. [...]it means that whether I am born into a family that has lots of material possessions or very few, whether my neighborhood is rich or poor, whether I worship a certain deity or do not worship at all (and so on), none

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: The famous French historian Alain Corbin recently published a history of silence: Histoire du silence (Albin Michel, 2016). In this publication he argues that in the course of the twentieth century silence has lost its educational value. Based on an analysis of Maria Montessori's book The Method Montessori (1912) and a 1953 documentary entitled How quiet helps at school (Coronet films) it will be argued in this article that silence has not lost any of its didactical capacities. On the contrary, the hypothesis will be formulated that in the course of the twentieth century silence has been educationalised. In this sense a plea is made for a nuanced reading of silence's place in the contemporary Western world; a place that cannot and should not be disconnected from politics. Consequently, all hypotheses that present silence as the sine qua non for authentic diversity – understood as not being contaminated by any power structure – have to be looked at rather critically.

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/jdivegendstud.3.2.0059

ISSN: 2593-0273

Language: English

ISSN: 1470-8647

Abstract/Notes: The theme of the AMS 2014 Annual Conference is "Unity in Diversity," a concept that also describes the work of conference keynote speaker Andrew Solomon. Solomon is a writer and lecturer on psychology and politics; winner of the National Book Award; and an activist for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] rights, mental health, and the arts. In his book, "Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity," Solomon, with the utmost sensitivity, draws attention to those millions of exceptional children afflicted by such conditions as down syndrome, autism, deafness, transgender, and dwarfism. This article offers a transcript of Dane Peters' interview with Solomon in which Peters hopes to provide readers with a deeper understanding of Solomon's book and work, such that all parents and educators can gain a greater appreciation for those children and their families who "negotiate differences" every day in their lives.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040