relief efforts. Older students plan class trips and elect representatives to the student council. The student council developed a new ‘school constitution’ and they organised a protest against the state’s new rules to discourage integrated Gesamtschulen. With respect to pedagogy, as in many German secondary schools I’ve visited over the years, social studies teachers often lead their students through a text – frequently photocopied materials that present different theoretical perspectives. The teacher’s questions seek comprehension and the teacher elaborates on student answers. It is also quite common to have Pro-Contra (for-against) discussions. A teacher at this school explained that citizenship, “is a mix of politics and civic duties… We have to open their perspective, so they ask, what can I do about this?” His class discussed: Should Turkey become a member of the EU? Should Georgia become a part of NATO? This teacher also noted that although theirs is a European School that serves students from ‘migration backgrounds’, they do not have an explicit goal of focusing on either a global or multicultural perspective. Rather these perspectives run through the curriculum and school activities. For example, when students were studying for the Abitur in their English classes they looked at multiculturalism in Dublin and when they studied the American South and South Africa, they discussed issues related to multiculturalism in those countries. The teacher explained that in every class there are some students who fled, or their parents fled, from Afghanistan or as Kurds from Turkey. He said that it is “ very enriching” when such students contribute information and perspectives that the other traditional German students do not have. Reflections The purpose of this study is to learn from the perspectives of a few teachers in schools that serve students from transnational backgrounds. My intent is not to generalise to all such teachers but to gain insights into what factors might influence some teachers’ understandings and viewpoints. I noticed that among the teachers I interviewed so far, those who had experiences themselves
Among the teachers I interviewed ... those who had experiences themselves crossing borders and living in multiple societies – as immigrants and children of immigrants – seemed to have the most awareness of their students’ transnational life experiences
crossing borders and living in multiple societies – as immigrants and children of immigrants – seemed to have the most awareness of their students’ transnational life experiences. Overall, a few schools celebrate cultural diversity and everywhere most of the teachers with whom I spoke said they enjoyed leading discussions when diverse cultures and views were represented in their classes. However, some teachers from the dominant culture seemed to have only vague ideas of what students’ transnational lives were like out of school. No one mentioned that students’ families came from cultures that had varied political institutions and processes, that political views and attitudes were formed under differing conditions, and how that might affect the ways students thought of themselves and others as citizens. Some teachers recognized that students’ cultural backgrounds influence how they think about some contemporary social and political issues. Over the next year, I will continue to listen to the voices of teachers – and students – in diverse schools, and I expect that some of these early impressions will change. I welcome comments and participation from readers of this journal as together we tackle the challenges of citizenship education in varied multicultural democracies. ▪ References Bron, J (2009, November). Personal correspondence. Doppen, FH (2008, November). Citizenship education and the Dutch national identity debate. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies, Houston. Hahn, CL (1998). Becoming political: Comparative perspectives on citizenship education. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Herweijer, L (2009). Making up the gap: Migrant education in the Netherlands. The Hague: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research. Luchtenberg, S (2009). Migrant minority groups in Germany: Success and failure in education. In JA Banks, The Routledge international companion to multicultural education. New York, NY: Routledge.
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