Revisiting studies of multicultural school events from the perspective of strategic essentialism

Joke Dewilde,Thor-André Skrefsrud

doi:10.23865/ntpk.v7.2145

Abstract

The article discusses schools’ use of multicultural school events as a practice designed to enhance inclusion and to prevent prejudice and negative intergroup attitudes in school. While prior research has largely criticized such events for promoting cultural stereotypes and essentialist cultural identities, in this article we discuss a more nuanced way of perceiving such practices. Based on our previous empirical work, we apply the idea of strategic essentialism (Spivak, 1996) and discuss how multicultural school events may also represent an opportunity for minority parents to achieve certain objectives by temporarily adopting the image provided by the majority and using it in a strategic manner to act and pursue chosen political advantages. However, we also critically discuss possible limitations and pitfalls of the idea of strategic essentialism as the concept may in fact essentialize the minority group contrary to the intention of the multicultural school event. The contribution of the article is a theoretically informed discussion of how these events may ascribe agency to the participating families, reducing the way critics perceive them solely as victims of a majority-dominated and non-inclusive practice.

Highlights

In this article, we present a theoretical discussion of multicultural school events defined as a practice designed to enhance inclusion and to prevent prejudice and negative intergroup attitudes in school
The event can help confirm identities, create a common “we” and prevent prejudice and stereotypical beliefs. We find that those attending International Day view the event as an opportunity to both strengthen their group identity and stimulate critical reflection on what such a cultural identity might be (Dewilde et al, 2017; Dewilde et al, 2021).This finding is interesting in light of the research on home–school collaboration, which presents often reported challenges when it comes to engaging parents with minority backgrounds in parenting meetings and other home–school collaboration forums (Bouakaz, 2007; Holm, 2011)
We have discussed the practice of International Days from the perspectives of multiculturalism, critical multiculturalism and strategic essentialism

Summary

Introduction

We present a theoretical discussion of multicultural school events defined as a practice designed to enhance inclusion and to prevent prejudice and negative intergroup attitudes in school. From a strategic essentialism perspective, multicultural school events represent an opportunity for minority parents to achieve certain objectives by ascribing agency to the participating families and preventing others from perceiving them as victims of a majority-dominated and non-inclusive practice. The purpose of the article is to establish a theoretical understanding of both the potentially positive contributions and the criticism of such events In this way, we want to contribute to greater insight into how multicultural events in the school might work to build inclusion, what problematic issues such events raise and what opportunities for further development lie in this common but little explored practice. We conclude the article by highlighting some key themes and issues for further research in this area

Background

Concluding remarks