Zoekresultaten

Learning language that matters

Background: Courses for migrants in Europe are mostly aimed at literacy in western languages as a means for participation in society. These curricula are not suitable for migrants without previous basic education, which leaves groups of migrants vulnerable to alienation and without support for social integration.Method: The IDEAL-programme (Integrating Disadvantaged Ethnicities through Adult Learning), which takes a participatory didactic approach and in which daily personal and family life is the starting point for learning, was provided and evaluated in the Netherlands and Sweden in 2011–2013. The participants (N = 16) were migrant mothers of Berber and Arabic origin without formal educational experience. The teachers shared the same back-ground and served as role model facilitators and social brokers.Results: Through exploring their personal narratives, the participants showed new insights,skills, and attitudes on the topics of communication, health and parenting. All participants showed progress in language acquisition and participation in society. The Dutch group of migrant mothers reported to use less physical punishment and threats to their children,and to practise more positive parenting skills instead.Discussion: Literacy oriented programmes for social integration are not suitable for all migrants and do not encourage acculturation. The proposed method offers a feasible alter-native, so that migrants may be more adequately supported in their efforts for social integration in receiving societies. In order to advance the future development of participatory programmes for civic education, several key intervention design principles and political conditions are discussed.

Changing shapes of care: expressions of filial piety among second-generation Chinese in the Netherlands

This study explored perceptions of filial care among second-generation Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands. The provision of filial help or care can be regarded as a cultural phenomenon known as filial piety and it can be considered within the broad scope of caregiving as “family care”. Fifteen interviews were conducted, and a thematic analysis was applied. The findings showed that care was given in the form of language brokering, information inquiry, home visits, and facilitative and social support. Care was perceived as a moral duty among the participants and was grounded in their perceived sense of responsibility. The participants’ perspectives on current and future care included practical and normative considerations for meeting parental needs, and included opinions based on filial piety norms. In conclusion, this study showed that filial piety, specifically filial care, is still relevant to the younger immigrant Chinese community in the Netherlands.

Future probing

Digital technologies permeate and transform organisational practices. As a society, we need means to explore the uncharted terrain that lies ahead and the desirability and consequences of possible courses of action to move forward. We investigate a design approach, called ‘future probing’, to envision and critically analyse possible futures around digital technologies. We first reconstruct our journey and describe related insights on the process, content and context level. Reflecting on the journey, we then extract a key insight revolving around the challenge for participants to link back from exploring the future to their present practice. In a first attempt at theorizing these difficulties, we see future probing as a practice that opens up adaptive space (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017) in which people from different backgrounds engage in dialogue about possible futures of digital technologies. We found that adaptive processes, like semi structuring, temporary decentralisation, and collaboration (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018) were supported by the future probing practices and seemed to create space for employees to engage in exploration. There was still a lack of compelling acts of brokering and network cohesion (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). This may indicate why linking back to daily practice is challenging. We assume that organising for adaptability requires a deliberate act of connecting far future explorations with present action, and propose that besides explorative skills, ‘adaptive anticipating’ action is needed to make the connection and that linking back through near future experiments might be a way to achieve this.

Learning across boundaries during the design and implementation of a hybrid learning configuration

Staging the Oriental Other

For German-speaking tourists, an Oriental market (in Arabic: souq) is an exotic place representing the ‘Otherness’. Referring to this Oriental context, the article aims to answer the following questions: What are the tourists’ imaginaries and social narratives and what is the role that cultural brokers play? Gaining insight into the imaginaries and on-site performances of German-speaking tourists of a mega-cruise liner will contribute to the discussion of imaginaries and embodied performances in general as well as the mediation and the construction of space. The research reported upon in the article is part of a larger field study (2012–2014) in Souq Muttrah, the oldest and formerly main market in Oman. Participant observation, photography and in-depth interviews with different types of tourists, local customers, cultural brokers and on-board employees were conducted and marketing material was analysed. Results indicate that in the marketing material, the tourists are already beginning to travel backwards in time. During their visit to the souq, the multi-sensory performances and embodied imaginaries are enhanced by stories of the Arabian Nights. Cultural brokers play an essential role in ‘localizing’ the tourist experience. They adjust their own identities and direct the tourists’ performances at different stages, similar to an Oriental theme park, for example, they stop at a frankincense shop.

Translanguaging within and across learning settings: A systematic review focused on multilingual children with a migration background engaged in content learning

This systematic review aims to take stock of the current knowledge regarding the possible processes, challenges, favourable conditions, and potential for change involved in translanguaging within and across learning settings in the case of multilingual children with a migration background engaged in disciplinary content learning. This study includes 94 publications identified and selected following the PRISMA guidelines. The results point towards seven constitutive and leveraging processes involved in translanguaging. Constitutive processes refer to processes through which translanguaging practices can be enacted (i.e., combining linguistic features attributed to different named languages; employing semiotic features multimodally; translating; comparing). Leveraging processes are processes through which such practices can be promoted (i.e., collaborating; brokering; designing a multilingual linguistic landscape). Furthermore, both challenges to and favourable conditions for translanguaging in in-school and out-of-school settings are linked to efforts to maintain and challenge the prevalent monolingual norm at the level of policies, institutions, educators, children, and caregivers. Finally, building on a boundary-work lens, we show that translanguaging involves significant potential for change, establishing continuity across learning settings for multilingual children with a migration background; however, this continuity emerges in a dynamic interplay with discontinuities for institutional settings and even children themselves.