Abstract
This paper investigates the concept of “the multicultural” as it informs the national guidelines for Norwegian kindergarten teacher education (KTE). According to these guidelines, KTE students should gain multicultural knowledge that encompasses exposure to different religious beliefs. The results of an empirical study on multi-religious kindergartens in Norway serve as the context for this analysis, which identifies discrepancies between the multicultural ideal suggested in the guidelines and the realities described by pedagogues in kindergartens. Underlying this analysis is an awareness of the impact of different discourses on our understanding of multiculturalism. Anna-Malin Karlsson’s study focusing on the role of context in discourse and Susanne V. Knudsen’s work on the power of definition will be instructive here. The meanings of the term “multicultural” in different national and local contexts will inform this study, which concludes with the suggestion that the educational system—including the government, KTE, academic staff, and pedagogues in practical trainee kindergartens—must work together to contextualize and define the multicultural kindergarten.
Highlights
In this paper I will outline what the national guidelines for Norwegian Kindergarten teacher education (KTE) have to say concerning the concept of ‘‘the multicultural’’,1 and I will consider how local program plans perceive and interpret these guidelines, with1 ‘‘The multicultural’’ is throughout this paper a translation of the Norwegian word ‘‘det flerkulturelle’’.K
The national guidelines describe the desired learning outcomes for early education students as they relate to exposure to multicultural perspectives and cultural diversity in five of the six compulsory fields of knowledge: Art, culture and creativity [KKK]; STM; NHB; SRLE; and Children’s development, play and learning [BULL] (See Table 1)
The national guidelines address multicultural perspectives and cultural diversity as they apply in different fields of knowledge
Summary
In this paper I will outline what the national guidelines for Norwegian Kindergarten teacher education (KTE) have to say concerning the concept of ‘‘the multicultural’’,1 and I will consider how local program plans perceive and interpret these guidelines, with. Some previous research has focused on multicultural and multi-religious kindergartens and KTE in Europe and Nordic countries. Schweitzer et al (2011) have written on the topic from the German perspective by investigated how kindergarten personnel work with children from different cultural and religious backgrounds. According to the KTE Regulations (2012), students for kindergarten teacher positions ‘‘shall have knowledge about the different conditions under which children are raised and be aware of their different background and development in a society characterized by linguistic, social, religious, and cultural diversity’’ I will outline the meanings of the two terms used in the Regulations: cultural diversity and the multicultural
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