Abstract
Following the guidelines given in the White Book on Intercultural Dialogue, this article reflects on whether the use of the Complex Instruction (CI) model would create the conditions for a more equal dialogue in educational contexts. An ethnographic study was carried out in four Italian primary school classrooms to explore how this cooperative learning approach would help pupils become increasingly autonomous, especially those with low-status. This study sheds light on the ways pupils learn to participate in cooperative activities and shows what may have affected their participation. In addition, it evaluates the effectiveness of CI as a tool for creating a public space where pupils can exercise the experience of having voice and agency.
Notes
1. These are rooted in the history of European continent and enhanced by transnational migration and globalization processes.
2. Such spaces include physical spaces (schools, museums, cultural centres and so on), but also public and social initiatives aiming at providing a supportive framework for intercultural encounters (see Council of Europe Citation2008).
3. This contribution is a reflection on some findings from my PhD research thesis in Ethnography of Education, which was developed from 2007 to 2010 at the Doctorate School in Human Sciences, University of Turin, Italy.
4. Students’ different ethnic origins did not influence the CI learning process. In some classrooms, high-status pupils come from Albania or Brazil. Their position in the class hierarchy depended on their school and child competencies (see Pescarmona Citation2011b).
5. This is entitled ‘Is tasting learning?’ and examines the role played by food in the development of human civilization. See Pescarmona (Citation2010a, Citation2010b).
6. The acronym CLIP stands for ‘Cooperative learning in Intercultural Education Project’.
9. On the concept of agency as it is used in ethnography see Troman, Jeffrey, and Walford (Citation2004).
10. Challenges that teachers can meet in evaluating pupils and giving them positive and multidimensional feedback are analysed in Pescarmona (Citationforthcoming).
12. On this point see also the perspective of Griffiths, who examines a new model for working with artists in school as an example of ‘children learning to be in public spaces’ and the implications of these spaces for social justice (Griffiths et al. Citation2006).
13. Sahlberg uses the term teachers’ talk (Sahlberg Citation2010, 208).
Pescarmona, I. 2010a. “Complex Instruction: Managing Professional Development and School Culture.” Intercultural Education. 21 (3): 219–227.10.1080/14675981003760416
Pescarmona, I. 2010b. “Innovare l’insegnamento: lo sguardo di un gruppo di insegnanti all’Istruzione Complessa [Innovating Teaching: A Teacher Group’s Viewpoint on Complex Instruction].” In Cooperative Learning nelle società multiculturali: una prospettiva critica [Cooperative Learning in Multicultural Societies: A Critical Perspective], edited by Francesca Gobbo, 53–68. Milan: Unicopli. Pescarmona, I. 2010b. “Innovare l’insegnamento: lo sguardo di un gruppo di insegnanti all’Istruzione Complessa [Innovating Teaching: A Teacher Group’s Viewpoint on Complex Instruction].” In Cooperative Learning nelle società multiculturali: una prospettiva critica [Cooperative Learning in Multicultural Societies: A Critical Perspective], edited by Francesca Gobbo, 53–68. Milan: Unicopli. Pescarmona, I. 2011a. “Working on Cooperative Learning: Challenges in Implementing a New Strategy.” International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning 6 (3): 167–174.10.5172/ijpl.2011.6.3.167
Pescarmona, I. 2012. Innovazione educativa tra entusiasmo e fatica. Un’etnografia dell'apprendimento cooperativo [Stress and Enthusiasm in Innovating Education. An Ethnography on Cooperative Learning]. Roma: CISU. Gobbo, F. 2007. “Teaching Teachers Cooperative Learning: An Intercultural Challenge.” In Social Justice and Intercultural Education: An Open-ended Dialogue, edited by C. Gaine, G. Bhatti, Y. Leeman and F. Gobbo, 76–92. London: Trentham Books. Pescarmona, I. 2010a. “Complex Instruction: Managing Professional Development and School Culture.” Intercultural Education. 21 (3): 219–227.10.1080/14675981003760416
Pescarmona, I. 2011a. “Working on Cooperative Learning: Challenges in Implementing a New Strategy.” International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning 6 (3): 167–174.10.5172/ijpl.2011.6.3.167
Troman, G., B. Jeffrey, and G. Walford, eds. 2004. Identity, Agency and Social Institutions in Educational Ethnography. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Pescarmona, I. Forthcoming. “Status Problem and Expectations for Competence: A Challenging Path for Teachers.” Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, Routledge. Pescarmona, I. 2011b. “Creativity and Competence in Experimenting Complex Instruction: From the Perspective of Pupils.” Experiments in Education XXXIX (3): 81–90. Soenen, R. 2003. “Creatività e competenze nella vita scolastica quotidiana: verso una prospett pragmatica e dinamica sull’educazione interculturale [Creativity and Competence in Daily School Life: Towards a Dynamic and Pragmatic Approach to Intercultural Education].” In Etnografia dell’educazione in Europa. Soggetti, contesti, questioni metodologiche [Ethnography of Education in Europe. Subjects, Contexts and Methodological Issues], edited by F. Gobbo, 91–105. Milano: Edizioni Unicopli. Griffiths, M., J. Berry, A. Holt, J. Naylor, and P. Weekes. 2006. “Learning to Be in Public Spaces: In from the Margins with Dancers, Sculptors, Painters and Musicians.” British Journal of Educational Studies 54 (3): 352–371.10.1111/j.1467-8527.2006.00349.x
Sahlberg, P. 2010. “Hope of Cooperative Learning: Intentional Talk in Albanian Secondary School Classrooms.” Intercultural Education 21 (3): 205–218.10.1080/14675981003760408
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