ABSTRACT This study examines how Artist Educators (AEs) cultivate multicultural dispositions in Singapore’s harmony-driven and exam-oriented school system. Drawing on 60 lesson observations and 30 interviews, we identified two pedagogical processes – critical thinking through empowerment and understanding positionality of power – through which AEs foster reflexivity, empathy, and awareness of cultural narratives. These processes reflect AEs’ dispositions of authenticity, relationality, and social mediation, and enact key dimensions of Banks’ multicultural education framework. The findings extend transformative multicultural education theory by showing how artistic inquiry can open space for identity work and critical dialogue in conflict-avoidant contexts. Implications for policy, theory, and practice highlight the potential of artistic pedagogy to support deeper, culturally responsive engagement in diverse classrooms.
In contexts of growing social polarisation and cultural complexity, tertiary educators are increasingly called upon to move beyond celebratory multiculturalism towards critically informed intercultural praxis in preparing students for 21st-century classrooms. Drawing on a sustained transnational collaboration between Australia and Spain within initial teacher education, this paper adopts a collaborative autoethnographic approach to critically reflect on our pedagogical practices and their implications for culturally responsive music education. We examine how intercultural musical encounters, particularly those involving culture bearers, can foster cultural competence and critical reflection among pre-service teachers, while also generating tensions related to knowledge, cultural ownership, authenticity, and appropriation. Building on these reflections, we reconceptualise authenticity as a relational and dialogic process, co-constructed through interaction, mediation, and context-sensitive engagement. We propose a conceptual framework grounded in three interrelated dimensions: collaborative partnerships, relational authenticity, and dialogic mediation through educator facilitation. Together, these principles offer an ethically informed and pedagogically grounded approach to intercultural music education that moves beyond representation towards sustained, meaningful engagement with cultural diversity. By foregrounding the role of the educator as a cultural mediator and drawing on insights generated through sustained intercultural practice and prior research, this paper contributes to ongoing debates on belonging, inclusion, and the development of culturally responsive practices in contemporary music teacher education.
A. Cabedo-Mas, Dawn Joseph· Education sciences· 0 citations
This constructivist grounded theory study examines how Islamic school teachers adapt social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula for Muslim Middle Eastern American (MMEA) students. Drawing on intensive interviews, focus groups, and graphic elicitation with 20 educators across two North New Jersey USA Islamic schools, three key adaptation areas emerged: promoting cultural awareness, addressing gender roles, and reframing collectivism as a foundational worldview. Findings reveal a critical disconnect between the CASEL framework’s individualistic assumptions and MMEA students’ communal values, challenging SEL’s foundational premises about selfhood and identity. Practical curriculum recommendations are offered with implications for educators in Islamic school and public school settings.
Zenab Eldreny, Ane Turner Johnson· International Journal of Mul...· 0 citations
This study, centering on Bhutanese educators and preservice teachers, explores how digital stories as an arts-based approach can inform culturally responsive teacher education on bullying and discrimination. We examined responses from 56 educators and preservice teachers in Bhutan to three arts-based works. Analysis of these responses generated four themes: developing empathetic understanding, identifying pedagogical applications, recognizing professional development needs, and integrating cultural authenticity. Participants’ responses indicate that digital stories can strengthen emotional competencies, provide practical teaching strategies, and support culturally grounded practice consistent with Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness philosophy. The findings show the potential of arts-based approaches to prepare educators to address diversity, inclusion, and social justice. They also offer a model for international collaboration that honors local values while engaging shared educational challenges.
Ching-Chiu Lin, K. Sherab, Chimi Dema· Journal of the International...· 0 citations
This study explored how multicultural literature fosters cultural awareness, empathy, and identity formation through a narrative inquiry involving a freshman high school student in Palau who engaged with Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Grounded in Sociocultural Theory and employing narrative inquiry with thematic analysis, the study examined how the participant interpreted multicultural themes such as discrimination, intergenerational conflict, and hybrid identity. The findings indicated that the participant’s reflections on literary characters, particularly in the chapters “Rules of the Game” and “Two Kinds”, facilitated self-reflection, the reauthoring of personal narratives, and resistance to cultural stereotypes. The study further suggested that multicultural literature can promote empathy, intercultural understanding, and social cohesion, particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where local and global cultures intersect. Moreover, the findings highlighted the importance of integrating culturally diverse literary texts and learner-centered pedagogical approaches to support students’ socio-emotional development, cultural awareness, and intercultural sensitivity.
Maricon Silos· Psychology and Education: A...· 0 citations
This study aims to explore the phenomenon of cultural diversity in an Islamic elementary school and to examine students’ social interactions as well as the school’s strategic role in fostering an inclusive multicultural environment. A qualitative case study design was employed involving 36 fifth-grade students from two classes. Data were collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with school stakeholders, and document analysis, and were analyzed using data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing with source triangulation to ensure credibility. The findings indicate that students and teachers demonstrated highly positive responses toward cultural diversity through openness, mutual respect, curiosity, and collaborative learning practices that strengthened intercultural understanding. These positive outcomes were reinforced by inclusive school policies, proactive leadership in promoting tolerance, and continuous teacher guidance that emphasized equality, respect, and national unity. The integration of these strategies created a harmonious learning environment where students from different cultural backgrounds interacted constructively without discrimination. The study implies that comprehensive multicultural leadership, supported by inclusive policies and culturally responsive teaching practices, can serve as an effective framework for promoting social cohesion, equitable learning opportunities, and sustainable multicultural education in diverse elementary school settings.
Muhammad Davin Yuzaki, Sudarsri Lestari, Vina Rohmatul Ummah· Journal of Educational Manag...· 0 citations
This study aims to examine how EFL students from diverse cultural backgrounds manage their learning processes through metacognitive awareness and self-reflection in a multicultural academic setting. The importance of cross-cultural communicative competence in English language acquisition is increasing, rendering students' ability to regulate their cognition, learning strategies, and emotional responses crucial for achieving academic success. This study employed a phenomenological approach with eleven students from the English Language Education Study Program at Universitas Megarezky. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and later analyzed using thematic analysis technique. The findings found four principal themes: Self-awareness, Strategic regulation, Cultural adaptation, and Competence transformation These findings emphasize the importance of integrating metacognitive and reflection-based learning practices into the EFL curriculum to enhance students' intercultural competence, emotional resilience, and learning independence. This research provides theoretical contributions to the study of metacognitive learning and cross-cultural communication, as well as practical implications for educators designing globally responsive English language learning.
Sukmawati Sukmawati, Syarifuddin Dollah· EDULEC EDUCATION LANGUAGE AN...· 0 citations