A myriad of English language textbook studies have investigated solely the dimension of ideological representation in language textbooks. Yet, little empirical evidence reports the representation of multifaceted dimensions of ideologies, including political, socio-economic, racial, cultural, gender, moral and religious in English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks. Grounded in a critical social semiotic theory through visual grammar and Fairclough's systematic analytic method (1995), we find that all ideologies (political, socio-economic, racial, cultural, gender, moral and religious) could be identified and gender ideology (gender stereotyping) was found to be the most frequent. The visualization of the ideology in the textbook also reflects a single-dominant and a multiple ideology. In response to the awareness of the textbook designers concerning integrated ideologies, the findings suggest that language teachers should be aware of ideological representation when teaching English.
The present study explored how refugee families' languages, cultures, and identities were represented in children's picturebooks portraying refugee stories. By drawing upon the theoretical perspectives on culturally sustaining pedagogy and positioning theory, the analysis of the children's picturebooks generated three themes: the positioning of languages, the representation of the characters' cultures and identities, and ending with positive thoughts. English was positioned as the language with linguistic power in a host country, while the characters' home languages and their bilingual/multilingual identities were not emphasized in every picturebook. A small group of children's picturebooks highlighted the characters' heritages, cultures, and identities. Implications include drawing upon the culturally sustaining pedagogy for selecting and using children's picturebooks.
This transnational narrative examines race- and ability-making processes in globalised academic institutions through diasporic experiences of a Korean transnational Ph.D. student in U.S. higher education. Employing autoethnographic approaches and memory-work, this study situates these experiences, connected to shifting, fluid identities, within broader geopolitical-sociocultural and institutional contexts. Tracing layered educational experiences and socialization processes across time and space reveals underlying assumptions about race, ability, and culture in South Korean and U.S. contexts, serving as a site for remembering, meaning-making, identity construction, and resistance. Juxtaposing Koreanness and Whiteness in transnational educational landscapes uncovers a complex web of global white supremacy and intertwined oppressions, highlighting racialised, ethnocentric, ableist, and neoliberal ideologies manifested through border- and identity-making processes in globalised academic institutions. This narrative invites counter-stories from racially, ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and historically minoritised communities in transnational contexts that contest global white supremacist social and educational systems shaping human existence in deeply interconnected worlds.
This qualitative study examines how multilingual teachers in the United States construct and negotiate their professional identities while working within racialized and largely monolingual K-12 educational systems. Guided by border thinking and critical consciousness, the study employs a narrative inquiry approach to illuminate how teachers' storied experiences of language, race, and culture shape pedagogical practices, professional agency, and classroom relationships. In-depth interviews with five multilingual teachers who spoke a language other than English as their mother tongue, including Taiwanese, Nepali, Hindi, Spanish, and Vietnamese/English, and who have taught multilingual students in diverse K-12 classrooms. Their narratives reveal how participants draw upon their cultural and linguistic repertoires to create inclusive, identity-affirming learning environments while simultaneously negotiating institutional norms that privilege monolingualism and whiteness. By centring the voices of multilingual teachers, this study contributes to scholarship on teacher identity, highlighting the role of multilingual teachers in advancing more equitable educational practices.
Students as Partners (SaP), originating in Anglophone cultures, is expanding globally. However, the language used to conceptualize its core values can carry different meanings across cultural contexts due to historical legacies. Understanding these cultural nuances can provide insights into how SaP functions in specific settings and promote intercultural awareness for effective pedagogical transfer. This study employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to explore the cultural interpretations of Students as Partners (SaP) values - Trust, Reciprocity, Respect, and Shared Responsibility - within South Asian contexts. Data were collected from 11 faculty members and 13 students across five universities in India and Pakistan, revealing that SaP values hold distinct cultural connotations in South Asia. The findings emphasize the need for culturally responsive and contextually appropriate SaP practices, providing valuable insights for institutional leaders, practitioners, and students seeking to establish meaningful partnerships in this region.
This study investigates how preservice teachers observe and interpret multicultural education during their practicum, focusing on curriculum implementation in South Korean classrooms. Using a fidelity-adaptive-enactment framework, reflective papers from 31 preservice teachers were analysed. Findings reveal that curriculum implementation predominantly aligns with a fidelity perspective, with most teachers adhering strictly to standardized curriculum. Within these constraints, the most visible pedagogical interventions were adaptive strategies, such as providing translated materials or individualized scaffolding; yet, these efforts often fell short of fully culturally responsive ways. Notably, schools with high populations of students from migrant backgrounds demonstrate more systemic curriculum reconstruction through institutional enactment. These findings underscores the need for teacher education programs to cultivate preservice teachers' ability to adapt and enact curriculum responsively for culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
This article draws on and compares two philosophical approaches to aesthetic education, namely the pragmatist - naturalistic approach and the deconstructive - critical approach, to propose a propaedeutic case study for aesthetic education in a multicultural environment. The former is represented primarily by John Dewey, the latter by Gayatri C. Spivak. I focus on their respective notions of education by outlining their positions on the aesthetic dimension of learning. I offer a factually verifiable conceptualization of aesthetic experience and specify the role of aesthetics as an empirical inquiry to reconcile the two standpoints. In the final section, I turn to a scientifically informed discussion on art education and the role of pleasure and emotion in analysing ordinary, practice-based examples for the conclusion.
Microaggressions are identity-based indignities that lead to significant negative consequences for receivers. Although most research has focused on the microaggressive experiences of adults, adolescents experience these transgressions in schools, and they find these experiences offensive. As such, preparing high school students to address microaggressions when they receive or witness them and to respond appropriately when they receive feedback about their microaggressive behaviour is imperative. Using a quasi-experimental design, we conducted a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of a microintervention training for adolescents at a high school in the Midwestern United States. The intervention was effective in producing improvement in assessed knowledge from pre- to post-intervention. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.
This article explores the tension between antiracism as an individual responsibility and as an institutional duty in Finnish lower secondary schools. It is based on ethnography in schools, and presents interviews with teachers, principals and other school staff. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and grounded our approach in critical theories of racism and antiracism. Although Finnish school policies provide guidance on antiracism-related values and commitments, the staff members understood antiracism in different ways: some adopted critical perspectives, but most focused on the interpersonal level. Responsibility for antiracism was shared unequally among staff. It falls onto a few specific individuals, who - especially the principals - held significant power to promote antiracism policies but often lacked support and tools to wield it. Institutional commitments to antiracism were frequently superficial or lacking. Our findings highlight the importance of shared responsibility and addressing school cultures' structural factors to effectively support antiracism.
This qualitative study focused on how two teachers employed culturally responsive pedagogy in conjunction with social emotional learning in a year-long LEGO Robotics afterschool program to facilitate STEM learning for four and five-year-olds in a Northern California elementary school. Data included class video recordings, field notes, review of curriculum documents, and the creation of content logs on 15 of the one-hour classes during the 2023-2024 school year. Also, semi-structured, informal, and teacher noticing interviews were conducted with the two teachers. By the end of the school year, their 11 diverse students had similar outcomes designing, building, and programming LEGO robots and other aspects of STEM learning to what had been achieved earlier with fourth and fifth graders. These results contribute to understanding effective, culturally responsive SEL approaches to early STEM learning that can inform instruction within both U.S. and global contexts on ways to increase achievement for early learners of STEM.
Multicultural education (ME) is crucial for societies grappling with ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been proposed as an alternative to bridge such divides by providing accessible, inclusive, and flexible learning opportunities that bring together participants from diverse backgrounds. The MOOC incorporated interactive discussions, and collaborative tasks, all tailored to address multicultural education challenges. This article explores the effect of MOOCs in promoting ME among pre-service teachers (N = 90) from a multicultural society. Pre-service teachers were chosen as they are future educators positioned to influence the next generation, making their intercultural understanding essential for fostering inclusive classrooms. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of the pre-post-course survey with a qualitative examination of open-ended questions. Results indicate significant improvements in participants' knowledge of ME concepts, particularly regarding multiculturalism, empathy, societal dynamics, and tolerance.
This study examines a series of educational reforms involving the consolidation of ethnic minority language programmes at a Minzu university in China, amid efforts to integrate these languages into higher education degree programmes. Focusing on Tibetan students' participation and experiences, it finds that while reforms provide limited interdisciplinary opportunities and modest career prospects, they have nonetheless reduced the scope of minority language instruction, thereby compromising language preservation and academic identity. The structural limitations of these programmes, specifically their inability to fully integrate ethnic languages into the broader curricula, create a tension between safeguarding these minority languages and delivering academic training that incorporates Mandarin skills essential for academic and career success in China. By examining the disconnect between global ideals of multilingual education and their local policy implementations, this study provides insights into the unique case of global-local dynamics shaping language education programmes in China's higher education.
This study explores the integration of Multicultural and Environmental Education (MCEE) in elementary science education by developing an MCEE analysis framework and applying it to South Korean third- and fourth-grade science textbooks. Using content analysis of the 2015 environmental curriculum, relevant literature, and 28 textbooks from seven publishers, the study examines the extent and nature of MCEE content in science education. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to assess the frequency and depth of MCEE content elements, while expert validation ensured the framework's reliability. Findings reveal a misalignment between MCEE policy and its representation in textbooks, with limited emphasis on multicultural and environmental values. However, the study also identifies opportunities for enhancing MCEE integration through textbook reframing and curriculum alignment. The results underscore the need to bridge values education and science education to promote inclusive and sustainable educational practices.
This study examines the ways in which teacher collaboration supports culturally responsive teaching within the South Korean educational context. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research integrates quantitative and qualitative data collected from South Korean school teachers. The findings highlight collaboration as a key intra-organizational mechanism, enabling teachers to collectively navigate the complexities associated with culturally responsive teaching. Collaboration fosters a shared understanding of effective instructional practices and facilitates adaptive teaching strategies by offering essential social resources for navigating pedagogical uncertainty. The study argues that culturally responsive teaching should be understood not merely as an individual endeavour aimed at addressing student differences, but also as a collaborative effort that often seeks to transcend these differences in order to thoughtfully embrace classroom diversity. Future research should further explore collaborative approaches to culturally responsive teaching in varied educational contexts internationally.
