EDF4014

Exploring multiculturalism and cultural difference in schools

Ms Ruth Arber

6 points - 2 hours per week - First semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subjects students should have acquired an overview of the ways that race, ethnicity and cultural difference have been represented within Australian society, their history, forms and consequences, should be able to discuss how these notions influence the ways students understand their own identities and the identities of others and to reflect on the centrality of an aboriginal presence within concepts of Australian identity. They should be able to discuss ways these notions articulate with notions of gender and class, have acquired insights into ways notions of race and cultural difference (as well as class and gender) have material effects on people in our society and schools and become familiar with multicultural and anti-racism policies and practices in schools. Students should be informed about issues of public concern and debate in relation to multiculturalism and anti-racism in education, and be able to reflect on their experiences in schools as they relate to discussions about multiculturalism and cultural difference in schools; and to formulate and critically assess ways of educating students in and for a multicultural and anti-racist society.

Synopsis This course traces some of the ways we have represented ourselves in contemporary Australian society and the way we understand others. Recently Australians are being asked to reflect on who they are as a nation and the ways `race' and `ethnicity' have been historically understood and continue to be used to understand and work with cultural difference. The centrality of an Aboriginal presence within conceptualisations of Australian identity and nationhood is only beginning to emerge as an issue for Australian debate. Multiculturalism has become increasingly contested as both policy and practice, yet still remains a most important initiative within Australian schools. In this elective we will overview ways notions of race and ethnicity have developed in Australian society and how these ways of thinking and doing have been lived out within schools. The origins of multicultural policies and their possible future as ways of dealing with difference and combating racism will be explored. Throughout the course education remains a central element for the this discussion of difference education, multiculturalism and anti racism policies and practices.

Assessment Journal (1500 words) 45%; essay (1500 words) 45%; contribution to tutorial activities 10%.

Recommended texts:
White, R "Inventing Australia revisited" in Hudson W and Bolton G Changing Australian history: creating history Allen and Unwin, Sydney 1997
Hugh Mackay Reinventing Australia: the mind and mood of Australia in the 90's Angus and Robertson 1993
Robert Miles "Representations of the other" in Racism Routledge London 1989
Floya Anthias and Nira Yuval-Davis "The concept of race and the racialisation of social divisions" in Racialised boundaries: race, nation, gender, colour and class and the anti-racist struggle Routledge London 1992
Ruth Frankenberg The social construction of whiteness: white women, race matters Routledge London 1993
Henry Reynolds The law of the land Penguin Ringwood Victoria 1992
National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families National overview : Bringing them home Commonwealth of Australia 1997
Gillian Cowlishaw and Barry Morris Race matters Aboriginal studies press Australia 1997
Ellie Vasta and Stephen Castles The teeth are smiling: the persistence of racism in multicultural Australia Allen and Unwin Australia 1996
Rizvi, F Multiculturalism as an educational policy Deakin University press Victoria 1985
Diversity and multiculturalism as an educational policy Deakin University press Victoria 1988
Rizvi, F Dealing with Diversity Occasional papers, Fourth Biennial QATESOL Conference 1995
Gillborn D "The politics of school change" in Racism and antiracism in real school: theory, policy and practice Open University Press, Buckingham 1995

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