The Ways of Intercultural Communication to Promote Multicultural Education in Georgia. Georgia. The European Conference on Education 2013

Transcription

1 The Ways of Intercultural Communication to Promote Multicultural Education in Georgia Izabella Petriashvili *1, Nino Chiabrishvili *2 *1 Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia, *2 Ilia State University, Georgia 0248 The European Conference on Education 2013 Official Conference Proceedings 2013 iafor The International Academic Forum

2 Introduction The process of globalization and technological development has given a significant importance to the detection of problems connected with intercultural communication and implementation of effective strategies for their elimination. Improvement of current situation imperatively requires focusing on the issues of multicultural education. The future generations need to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to become successful members of the Global World within their own countries and any other place. This will give them tools for effective interaction while working with people from diverse cultures. These practical requirements are encouraged by the change of public perception - the recognition of the cultural diversity as an absolute value combined with the vulnerability of the existence of many traditional cultures, and the danger of their extinction. In the global society it is crucial to recognize that there are different cultures with different cultural norms, practices and expectations. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief historical background of multiethnic and multicultural Georgia, overview the current situation and outline the needs for multicultural education (ME) in Georgia. The paper describes the measures taken by the Government of Georgia, as well as the role of international projects in promoting ME and preserving cultural diversities at the same time. As intercultural communication (IC) is the core issue in ME, it will dwell on the ways of IC focusing on the current language policy of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of Georgia and Georgian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to enhance the process of integrating ethnic minorities in educational, social, cultural and political life of society, and in a broader context, to help citizens of Georgia to integrate with the contemporary global world. General Background The emergence of multicultural education as a social phenomenon was stipulated by practical demands after World War II - fast economic development of many countries and regions, revolutionary changes in technology and the globalization of economic activities. It becomes increasingly clear that technological development and cooperation in various fields necessitates closer cooperation among different cultures. These changes highlighted the urgency of intercultural communication, which, in turn, entails considerable emphasis on issues of multicultural education. Transferring multiculturalism in education creates intercultural educational environment. Multicultural education and intercultural pedagogy has no alternative. According to Ouellet (Ouellet, 1991, cited in Intercultural Learning T-Kit 2000, p. 56) intercultural training promotes: Better understanding of cultures in modern society; Improvement of communication skills between representatives of different cultures; Open attitude towards cultural diversity; Social interaction skills, development of sense of identity and belonging to mankind.

3 National Background Georgia is a multiethnic state. Abkhazians, Osetians, Armenians, Jews, Azeris, Greeks, Kurds, Russians and other nationalities have lived for centuries side by side with Georgians. Foreign historians, alongside with Georgian scholars (Muskhelishvili, Anchabadze, Takaishvili, Javakhishvili, et al.) recognize that the religious and national conflicts, animosity towards different cultures was not characteristic to Georgia. It is well known that Georgia, where Jews have lived for centuries, is most likely a unique country where there has been no expression of institutionalized anti-semitism. The basis for ethnic, religious and cultural tolerance was formed and supported by long-term and multilateral relations with neighboring civilizations. The peaceful coexistence, communication and civic integration among various ethnic and religious groups living in Georgia have become a severe problem due to the Soviet legacy. Intercultural relations among them are impeded by ignorance of cultural inheritance and national traditions of different nations. All of these contribute to the establishment of ethnic, religious and cultural stereotypes, alienation, and isolation. The Policy of Multicultural Education has become much more consistent since Namely, the following documents determining multicultural education policy in Georgia have been worked out and endorsed by the Georgian Government: "National Concept and Action Plan for Tolerance and Civic Integration" (Government of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science, 2009) and "Multilingual Education Strategy and Action Plan" worked out by the Ministry of Education and Science (2009). Within the framework of the latter, under the auspices of the "Multilingual Education Program", bilingual education program was piloted in 40 non-georgian schools. According to the statistics (2009) of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, there are 234 non-georgian and 140 mixed type schools in Georgia, which is about 11% of the total number of public schools. There are approximately 72 thousand ethnically non-georgian students. As for the number of teachers in non- Georgian schools it amounts 9.5% (6541 teachers) of the total number of public school teachers (68779 teachers) (Government of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science, 2012). Considerable attention is given to the issue of multicultural education and relationship in certain documents and training programs elaborated by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. According to the Georgian Law on General Education (2004), the citizens of Georgia, to whom the Georgian Language is not their native language, have the right to get general education in their native language. Consistent with the second paragraph of the 13 th article of the same Law, it is stated: in a public school the use of studies for the purposes of religious indoctrination, proselytism or forcible assimilation is forbidden" (Government of Georgia, Georgian Law on General Education, p. 21). The 6 th paragraph of the same article reads: "a public school is obliged to keep and promote the establishment of tolerance and mutual

4 respect among pupils, parents and teachers regardless of their social, ethnic, religious, language and ideological affiliation" (Government of Georgia, Georgian Law on General Education, p. 21) and so forth. Curricula of social sciences, foreign and native languages stipulates to develop intercultural competences of a pupil. One of the basic goals of the mentioned curricula is to shape a tolerant citizen having human dignity and rights. This and other requirements stated in educational documents are adequate to international experience though the only declaration of the adopted decisions and no practical implementation still remains to be a basic problem. Measures taken According to the Law on Higher Education of Georgia (2010, p. 6) among the goals of higher education it is stated: A) To promote the development of Georgian and world culture values, orientation on the ideals of democracy and humanism, which are necessary for the existence and development of civil society; B) To realize personal potential, develop the creative skills, train the competent persons capable of satisfying modern requirements, provide for competitiveness of graduates on domestic and international labor markets. What specific steps are taken towards these goals? Based on the above, it is obvious that the issue of multicultural education in the context of a multicultural society is of utmost importance. Significant steps have been taken to promote multicultural education in Georgia. As language is the most powerful tool for intercultural communication, we would like to briefly outline the current language policy in Georgia. Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of Georgia has initiated several programs that focus on the importance of teaching the Georgian, as the state language, to ethnic minorities living in Georgia in order to enhance the process of their integration in educational, social, cultural and political life of society. Namely, the program Teaching Georgian as a second language trains Georgian Language and Literature teachers to send in the multiethnic regions, such as Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli, where the ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis represent the majority of the population. In teachers were trained according to this program, and 75 teachers employed in these regions. Another program aimed at promoting teaching Georgian is The Georgian language for future success. The goal of this program is to promote the process of state language teaching in the above mentioned multiethnic regions of Georgia in the framework of strategies for civic integration of ethnic minorities. Within this program volunteer native speakers of Georgian, with a bachelor s degree, are recruited to teach in multiethnic regions. Both of these programs are sponsored by the MES, providing additional incentives, like scholarships to cover the full tuition fee for MA degree studies, additional salary, etc.

5 Also, there is a special 1-year (2 semester) Georgian language preparation educational program for Azerbaijani and Armenian students at Georgian HEIs. The aim of this program is to support ethnic minorities living in Georgia to be able to fully integrate into the civic society and contribute to its development. Tbilisi state University can train up to 352 ethnic Azerbaijani and Armenian students annually. As a post-soviet country, Georgia is at a turning point in its history. For centuries, while other countries and cultures were globalizing, Georgia s borders were closed to the outside world. Now, as a sovereign state, Georgia has the opportunity to integrate with the rest of the world linguistically and culturally. As part of a series of extensive reforms to the Georgian educational system, Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG), a progressive education movement initiated by the Georgian government and the President of Georgia, was created in 2010 at the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia to bring native English speakers to volunteer in Georgian schools and live in Georgian communities, serving as language teachers, communication partners, and cultural ambassadors. The primary goal of TLG is to improve the English language skills of Georgian students, teachers and families, which is essential to Georgia s ability to assimilate into the modern world. Further, bringing native English speakers from diverse cultures into not only the classroom, but the communities, as well, encourages interaction and the sharing of values and customs. Following intensive strategic planning, the first group of volunteer English teachers arrived to Georgia in July By April 2013, three years after the program was announced, 46 groups of around 3000 volunteers, from over 43 countries, have been placed throughout all nine regions of Georgia. Besides the above mentioned, there are also a number of international projects aimed at promoting multicultural education in Georgia. Since 2012, five higher education institutions and two non-governmental organizations from Georgia have been involved in the Tempus project -" Development of International Model for Curricular Reform in Multicultural Education and Cultural Diversity Training (DOIT) initiated by Gordon Academic College of Education (Israel) and coordinated by Dr. Rhonda Sofer. Alongside six higher education and one non-governmental institutions from Israel there are five educational institutions from Europe involved in the project. The number of institutions involved in consortium and the scope of project clearly shows the topicality of multicultural education for involved countries and institutions. The project aims to promote multicultural education by creating both syllabi for theoretical courses on cultural, ethnic, religious, etc, diversity, and for pedagogical approaches proper. The latter course under the common title "Pedagogical Approaches that Promote Multicultural Understanding in the Classroom" is aimed at BA, MA level students, as well as in-service teacher training programs. Within this course, the unit titled Communication and Social Media was developed by DOIT project members Nino Chiabrishvili (Ilia State University), David Malazonia (Ilia State University), Izabella Petriashvili (Tbilisi State University) and Ina Baratashvili (Tbilisi State University). Today it is becoming increasingly obvious that collaboration in various fields entails close communication of people belonging to different cultures. Contacts with

6 cultures, that are not similar to their native, have become everyday life experiences of individuals. This makes the issue of intercultural communication and understanding extremely challenging. The unit on Communication and Social Media was designed according to holistic approach, on the basis of the following formula: Knowledge + Skills + Attitude /Disposition = Competence In the process of incorporating the holistic approach we shared the idea developed by James Banks (2004, p.7), that for multicultural education teacher should be able to learn and also be able to teach to students following three things: to know, to be able to do, and to care: Knowledge - Skills Attitudes model, which is also called "Three H" model after the first letters of three important words Head, Hand and Heart. Thus, according to the model, it is important: (a) to know, or Head one should have knowledge, (b) to be able to do, or Hands one should have skills, (c) to want to do, or Heart one should care. Let us briefly introduce the rationale for our course: Good communication can help to promote a productive multicultural environment. Communication is at the core of any business, especially in the field of education. The course is about how we share information, how we establish trust, how we develop relationships and how we maintain effective relationships in multicultural settings. The course will promote effective communication in diverse environment; show the risks and difficulties of misunderstanding reasoned by miscommunication; offer effective tools of skillful verbal and non-verbal communication. Social media as a potent tool of communication in the contemporary world can be efficiently employed for promoting effective intercultural communication among representatives of diverse cultural backgrounds. It is important to teach students how to get maximum benefit by using various new media - social media technologies to establish positive, mutually beneficial communication. The objectives of this educational unit are incorporated based on Banks 5 dimensions for Multicultural Education (2013). Namely: 1. The dimension of knowledge construction: - To improve basic skills in listening, outlining, using verbal and visual supporting materials, language use, nonverbal cues, and other components of effective oral communication; - To enhance awareness of the importance of social media in multicultural communication 2. The dimension of content integration - To provide examples of successful/unsuccessful communication; analyze/discuss the reasons; provide tips for successful communication 3. The dimension of Equity pedagogy:

7 - Learning oriented on action (e.g. creating and carrying out an event via social networking); - Project Based Learning (PBL) 4. The Dimension of prejudice reduction - To show the risks of miscommunication and offer effective tools of successful communication 5. Empowering school culture - To develop relevant skills for establishing effective intercultural communication on school level via personal communication & social networking Conclusion Georgia has a rich experience of peaceful coexistence in a multicultural environment. However, the new challenges have been posed by globalization in multicultural countries like Georgia. The responses to these challenges obviously should be found in the system of education in the form of creating and developing strategies and tools that promote multicultural education. The government of Georgia with the Ministry of Education and Sciences, Higher Education Institutions, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders have taken meaningful steps. However, the cultural threats still remain the main threat and do not allow us to be satisfied with what has been achieved, because Today, despite information technologies such as the World Wide Web, there is no global village culture and we have not reached Francis Fukuyama's 'end of history (Hofstede, 2005, p. 426). Intercultural Communication is an important tool that could be helpful in preserving and developing the multicultural environment. Perfection of intercultural communication is a continuous process and it requires constant efforts from individuals involved in the field of education and from the entire multicultural community. Finally, we hope that the work done within the TEMPUS project DOIT: Development of an International Model for Curricular Reform in Multicultural Education and Cultural Diversity Training the developed syllabi, readers and other educational materials will be beneficial not only for the participating HEIs, but other institutions working in the field of Multicultural Education.

8 BIBLIOGAPHY Anchabadze, Z Issues of history of Caucasus, Tbilisi. Banks, JA Approaches to multicultural curriculum reform in JA. Banks & CAM Banks (eds), Multicultural education: issues and perspectives, 2nd ed., pp Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Banks, James A. Multiculturalism s five dimensions in Dr. James A. Banks on Multicultural education, p. 7, viewed 10August 2013, Government of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science Intercultural Education, Publications, viewed 20 January 2013, Government of Georgia, National concept for tolerance and civic integration, May 8, viewed 28 April 2013, Government of Georgia, Law of Georgia on Higher Education Article 3. Goals of Higher Education, p. 6, viewed 11 June 2013, df Government of Georgia, National Goals of General Education Viewed 5 May 2013, Government of Georgia, Law of Georgia on General Education Viewed 10 May 2013, Government of Georgia, Consolidated education strategy and action plan ( ) viewed 11 June 2013, ion%20strategy%20and%20action%20plan% pdf Government of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, The Georgian language for future successes, viewed 24 August 2013, Government of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia 2010, viewed 10 August 2013, Hofstede, G & Hofstede, GJ Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind ( 2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede, G Future of culture, viewed 28 July 2013, Intercultural Learning T-Kit 2000, Council of Europe Publishing.

9 Javakhishvili, I History of Georgian nation, Vol. 4. Malazonia, D The issue of intercultural communication in teaching the history of Georgia, International centre for Christian studies, Journal Logos. Muskhelishvili, D A short Essay on the history of Georgia, Tbilisi. Ouellet, F Intercultural education: Essay on the content of teaching teachers (L Éducation Interculturelle: Éssai sur lecontenu de la Formation des Maitres). Paris: Éditions L Harmattan, Sobol, T Understanding diversity. Educational Leadership, 48(3), p , viewed 15 June 2013, Takaishvili E The life of Kartli, Tbilisi. Tbilisi State University, Georgian language preparation educational program for Azerbaijani and Armenian students, viewed 23 August 2013, ena.pdf

10 Susan Grider Montgomery, HEALTH COMES FIRST!!!, USA