Multicultural Project Research Articles

Making pedagogical decisions to address challenges of joint Jewish–Bedouin environmental projects in Israel

This interpretive study identifies challenges of working with Bedouin and Jewish Israeli youth in two multicultural projects: education for sustainability and place-conscious education. It also describes the ways the adult project leaders addressed these challenges and their views on the effectiveness of their decisions. Participants comprised 16 Bedouin and Jewish educators. Data collection included interviews and observations of project meetings and staff meetings. Project leaders reported challenges related to (1) intergroup differences in environmental viewpoints, knowledge, and learning styles, (2) embedding issues of environmental justice in the multicultural discourse, and (3) Bedouin–Jewish interactions. To address these challenges, the leaders separated groups for some learning activities, directed discourses, adopted bilingual teaching strategies, and emphasized unique socio-cultural characteristics. Their level of satisfaction with most of their decisions is high. They avoided discussing the broader socio-political Arab–Jewish conflict. The findings highlight dilemmas that multicultural environmental projects pose and suggest the need to adopt critical pedagogy of place to address such dilemmas and challenges. The findings also emphasize the need to better prepare educators for environmental education in multicultural settings.

Multiculturalism and its exclusions in New Zealand: the case for cosmopolitanism and indigenous rights

In light of biculturalism's prevalence as a power-sharing agreement between New Zealand Maori and the Crown, any attempts to establish a state-sponsored project of multiculturalism have been treated by Maori with suspicion and controversy. This article presents cosmopolitanism as an appropriate solution to citizenship and cultural diversity in New Zealand that can coexist in harmony with the country's biculturalism that enjoys a constitutional-like status. A state-sponsored policy of liberal multiculturalism comparable to the legal species found in Western democracies, it is argued, would remain mutually exclusive and hostile towards biculturalism. This work concludes with a discussion on the theoretical applications of cosmopolitanism in New Zealand and how it could work empirically, in practice, without attenuating biculturalism.

The influence of cross-cultural communication on stakeholder management process in international construction projects: turkish stakeholders’ perpective

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of cross-cultural communication (CCC) on stakeholder management process (SMP) in international construction projects from the Turkish stakeholders’ perspective. The research is based on a survey of Turkish stakeholders (contractors, consulting engineers, insurance brokers, and financial advisors) operating internationally. The useable survey comprised 141 individual responses from 205 distributed, giving a response rate of 68.78 percent. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is proposed as an effective tool to investigate the relations between various factors of cross-cultural communication and stakeholder management process and data regarding the Turkish stakeholders have been used to demonstrate its applicability. The results demonstrate that “Communication behaviours” and “Communication strategies” proved to be strongly significant and positively related to SMP, whereas “Communication barriers” have significantly negative effect on SMP. Research findings may encourage the principles and practices of CCC between the stakeholders to be adequately recognized and understood by the international contracting firms operating abroad. Although findings reflect the Turkish stakeholders’ perspectives, it is believed that the parameters identified in this study can further be used as a benchmark to conduct similar studies in other countries. Managers of international contracting firms can develop a Cross-cultural Communication Statement (OCQS) to assess, report, and develop cross-cultural communication between stakeholders of a multi-cultural project environment.

Navigating the development of pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence and understanding of diversity

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of online intercultural exchange (OIE) to mediate a cross-cultural project with pre-service teachers in two countries.Design/methodology/approach– Using a population of convenience, students from one American and one German university were assigned to mixed multi-cultural project groups and collaborated outside of class to address the importance of diversity in education; two weeks later, students met face-to-face as a large group and discussed their findings. All students completed pre- and post-surveys to assess cultural preconceptions, pedagogical beliefs regarding technology-mediated instruction and globalization.Findings– Pre- and post-surveys and reflective essays indicated that OIE reduced concerns before meeting face-to-face and the process successfully facilitated a deeper understanding of cultural diversity in education.Research limitations/implications– Generalizing results given the limited time frame of OIE and face-to-face interactions to other populations is cautioned. Future research should investigate extended interactions.Originality/value– These results suggest the value of OIE with these pre-service teachers as an integrated method for teaching language and culture, broadening understanding of cultural diversity, and promoting familiarity in culturally diverse settings prior to an international field experience.

The limits of role modeling as a basis for critical multicultural education: the case of Black male teachers in urban schools

This article provides a critical analysis of the political significance of role modelling as it relates to envisaging a critical multicultural approach to educational reform. While not rejecting role modelling outright, it calls for a commitment to questioning the limits of common sense understandings that underpin the logic of gender and racial affiliation and homogeneity upon which it is based. The focus is on Black male teachers, given the attention that has been paid to their role in field of boys’ and multicultural education. The article draws on theoretical and intersectional frameworks that raise some epistemological concerns about the logics of racial and gender affiliation that lie at the heart of role modelling discourses. While stressing the limitations of role modelling as a basis for a critical multicultural pedagogic reform project, particularly as it pertains to the role of Black male teachers in the schooling of disadvantaged Black male students, it does not reject the political and transformative potentialities of their embodied presence in urban schools. By drawing on case study narrative accounts of two Black male teachers, the article presents an intersectional analysis that attends to the organizational, intersubjective, representational and experiential dimensions of race, gender and sexuality that are implicated in these men’s everyday understandings of their pedagogical actions and identities in particular urban school contexts in Toronto. While pointing to the limits of role modelling, the cases are employed to draw attention to the crucial significance of the embodied presence of these Black male’ teachers as transformative intellectuals with regards to their self-reflexive articulated activism in the urban school classroom. The article concludes with an exhortation to rejecting the master narratives of racial and gender homogeneity that lie at the heart of a politics of role modeling, but does not reject the political significance of and need for the representation of Black male teachers in urban schools.

Migrant bodies and the materialization of belonging in Sweden

Immigration and transnational adoption are both manifestations of the pervasive dislocations that characterize the contemporary era. Each illuminates as well the double movement of assimilation and internal exclusion through which racisms that are a heritage of colonialism are expanded and reactivated in the metropolitan centers of western Europe and North America. In this process, race is spatialized, different forms of migrant bodies are produced, and familiar logics of belonging that link person to place are transformed. The differential politics of adoption and immigration in late twentieth-century Sweden shed light on this process of racialization and the affective economies through which it is realized, as that nation pursues a multicultural project in which ‘Swedishness’ becomes ‘the measure of everything.’

Komunikacja a dzielenie się wiedzą w projektowych zespołach międzykulturowych

The purpose of this article is to analyse the process of knowledge sharing in a multicultural project team and to present aspects of communication to improve its effectiveness. We have conducted a qualitative research study involving 14 managers from nine international companies operating in the finance, outsourcing and IT sectors. The study was designed to isolate key areas of communication and its impact on knowledge sharing in project teams.

Identifying Ottomanisms: The Discursive Evolution of Ottoman Pasts in the Turkish Presents

This article problematizes the much-used but under-analysed concept of Ottomanism, exploring its discursive evolution from the concept's origins in the nineteenth century to its present practice. Investigating its roots in an elitist multicultural project, the paper examines its integral role as part of the opposing intellectual subculture during the early Republican era and its later re-politicization as ‘neo-Ottomanism’ in Turkey's Özal-era foreign policy. The current practice of ‘banal Ottomanism’ by the AK Party is analysed as a symbolic component of the current re-identification of Turkish society, facilitating the reintroduction of Islamic-Ottomanist traditions into everyday routines.

Impact of national culture on knowledge sharing in international construction projects

International construction projects generally involve participants from different cultural backgrounds. In this type of projects, national culture can significantly influence knowledge sharing between individuals. This research contributes to the literature by providing a deeper understanding of cultural issues that influence knowledge sharing in international construction projects. The research was carried out in three international construction joint ventures located in Qatar, Libya, and Bulgaria. A mixed method design was used to better understand the research problem and strengthen the findings. The findings are interpreted through the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and Hall. Based on the analysis, language and communication difficulties, trust, motivation, and personal relationships were found as the critical barriers to successful knowledge sharing in multicultural project teams. Findings from this study can help managers to better understand the role of national culture in knowledge sharing in the context of improving project performance.

Inspiring Change through Collaboration:

Abstract Since 2007, North Karelia College Outokumpu in Finland, and Cultural College of Petrozavodsk in Russia have collaborated in various educational and artistic exchanges. In 2012, a project called Dancing Whirlpool was launched. In addition to a teacher’s exchange, a joint full-length piece was created together with four choreographer-teachers and nearly thirty students from Outokumpu and Petrozavodsk. The piece toured in Russian and Finnish Karelia. This article reflects on the role of collaboration in multicultural projects, through the lens of the experiences of Dancing Whirlpool. Why is collaboration important for dance students? Can multicultural collaboration invoke real change in our cultures?

‘They drag my marks down!’ – challenges faced by lecturers in the allocation of marks for multicultural group projects

Our university hosts a diverse student cohort and, in certain discipline areas, international students and domestic students whose first language is not English outnumber their English-speaking peers. On the whole, group projects with these cohorts are challenging, and in particular, the allocation of marks is fraught with difficulty. Awarding the same mark to all group members is often viewed as unfair, and resented by those who feel either disadvantaged or exploited by group members they view as less able or less willing to share the workload. However, the allocation of individual marks to group members is equally difficult and elicits the same cries of injustice. In this study, 165 first-year university students were surveyed before and after the completion of assessed group projects in their different discipline areas. The findings reveal that students wanted some say into how marks were allocated and that students’ attitudes towards the allocation of group marks differed, depending on whether they were first- or second-language speakers of English. In this article, we explore the reasons for these differences and discuss the future of this vexed assessment model.

Multicultural large construction projects: the key role of trust

This paper aims to explain why trust is regarded as the cornerstone for successfully leading a large multicultural construction project, and to understand the interdependency of developing trust on different levels, interpersonal, intergroup and inter-organisational level. Issues like increasing employees self esteem, publicly acknowledge partners’ contribution, professional skills, caring attitudes and emotional intelligence helps in developing interpersonal and institutional trust during the construction project execution. The methodology applies a qualitative research. It is based on an Austrian case study which objective was to build an electricity storage power plant over five years. The research technique uses in-depth interviews with engineers who have been working in different fields of the project and participant observation. The research provides recommendations that can be taken by companies to prepare their employees in advance before the actual work begins helping them to save project costs, time, facilitate knowledge transfer and the overall project quality.

Critical Viewpoints on the Management of Conflict in Multi-National Construction Projects

International construction markets are increasingly taking economic advantage of the global workforce. It is common on international projects to find multi-cultural project teams located in multiple countries. Conflict management is becoming ever more important due to the rapid changes that are common in the current construction business environment. Global change, cultural diversity within multi-national project teams, and complexity are a few of the reasons that managing conflict is a critical skill for project team leaders. Results of this research provide an overview and describe multi-national construction projects, in which construction industry participants play an important role regarding the organization and performance, through a review of the published literature. Critical viewpoints of the paper and literature survey outcomes point in the direction that understanding multi-national or multi-cultural performances within construction projects can be a serious tool for dispute avoidance between the parties involved. DOI 10.5592/otmcj.2014.2.6 Research paper

Effective multicultural project management: the role of human interdependence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at human interdependence and its significance in project management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses solely on human interaction in the context of a short-term project consisting of preparing a small “international” fair in Gatineau, Québec (Canada). For this purpose, an established questionnaire was used which aimed to evaluate the predator-prey dynamic between team members (as described by Mesly in a recent paper). Findings – Human interdependence indeed plays a key role in the functioning of short-lived projects (and, this paper assumes, of long-term projects as well). Originality/value – The paper places emphasis on considering the human power-game factor (predator-prey) more strongly in future project endeavors.

New Zealand's Marketplace Multiculturalism: Justifying a New Approach to Citizenship

In light of biculturalism's place in New Zealand's history, any attempts to establish a state-sponsored project of multiculturalism have always been treated with suspicion and controversy. This article provides a contemporary understanding of the conceptual ambiguities found in the country's configuration of multiculturalism that governs cultural diversity through the market. As a prelude to establishing the need for a new citizenship research agenda through cosmopolitanism developed in consultation with Maori, it is argued that the strictures of New Zealand's unofficial policy of commercial multiculturalism need to be transcended before Asians and other non-European migrants to the country can contribute successfully.

Imagining ourselves then and now: nostalgia and Canadian multiculturalism

International relations has begun to take seriously the study of emotions, just as it has long acknowledged the role of collective memory in shaping politics. But the role of nostalgia as a potential driver of progressive political change has been little considered. This article engages the possibility of an ironic nostalgia for shoring up the multicultural project. Through examining the ironic potential in two contemporary popular Canadian cultural artefacts — Molson Canadian's ‘I am Canadian’ commercial and Douglas Coupland's Souvenir of Canada — the article suggests that assimilationist and separationist impulses may actually bolster the integrationist goals of multiculturalism. Contra nostalgia's critics, the article suggests that dominant groups in society may need emotional space to mourn a cognitively simpler past in order to embrace a more complex present.

Quale giustizia tra gli spazi scolastici della disuguaglianza? Un'esperienza di progettazione in corso

The paper investigates the subject of schools with a high concentration of immigrant children in the City of Milan. It looks at the factors which have contributed to the creation of a heavily polarised situation. This thinking forms the background for the description of a multi-cultural integration project organised by a broad network of participants including the Department of Architecture and Planning. The keys to interpretation connected with the idea of spatial justice help to make it possible to place the spaces of social and urban inequality back at the centre of urban planning. The focus here is on the limitations and possibilities of a policy approach based on the issues of personal and collective capacities, the relationship between endogenous and exogenous factors and the tension between the design of spaces, practices and uses.

Researching ethnic minority students in a Chinese context: mixed methods design for cross cultural understandings

Research on and with ethnic minority students is characterised by a growing international literature that privileges ‘liberal multiculturalism’ as a lens through which to understand their experiences, yet ethnic diversity is constructed and responded to in many societies that are not underpinned by liberal democratic values. In this paper we use Joppke's binary to show how researching ethnic minority students outside of a liberal democratic framework requires methodologies that enable researchers to see beyond the invisibility that is often attached to ethnic minorities. We show how invisibility (i.e. antidiscrimination) can also be further culturally constructed, confounding even more any broader multicultural project. We canvass four broad areas including the role of legally binding legislation that seeks to prohibit racism, the views of policymakers attempting to implement policy consistent with the legislation and the views of teachers about their roles in supporting ethnic minority students.

Study on Developing Elementary School Project-type Teaching-Learning Programs for the Musically Gifted: Focusing on Multicultural Music Project Activities

Study on Developing Elementary School Project-type Teaching-Learning Programs for the Musically Gifted: Focusing on Multicultural Music Project Activities

Multiculturalism and the challenge of pluralism

Today we can identify two challenges of pluralism: the ever-growing conflicts between religious, national and ethnic groups on the one hand and the oppression of dissenting individuals by their respective communities on the other hand. Both intercommunitarian and intracommunitarian conflicts find their origin in a communitarian conception of our political, cultural, or religious identities. After presenting some of the problems of the communitarian solution in particular with regard to the challenge of internal pluralism, I introduce alternative conceptions of multiculturalism that consider our commitments to be part of our personal or individual identity. Distinguishing a conception of identity based upon self-knowledge from liberal, postmodern theories (Richard Rorty) and alternative non-cognitive theories (Bernard Williams) that consider identity to be individual in nature, I propose that the awareness of the individual nature of commitments makes it possible for us not to impose our values upon other individuals who do not share them while at the same time justifying the multicultural project.