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Diversity is not the Enemy: Promoting Encounters between University Students and Newcomers

Author

Listed:
  • Janieta Bartz

    (Department of Social and Emotional Development in Rehabilitation and Education, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund, Germany)

  • Wibke Kleina

    (Institute of General Didactics and School Pedagogy, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, TU Dortmund, Germany)

Abstract

In today’s globalized world with dynamic processes of political, social, and societal change (Mergner et al., 2019) the university should be a place of encounter between people with different (cultural) backgrounds. The learning arrangement presented here therefore initiates intercultural exchange and aims to help students see diversity as an asset rather than a challenge (Roos, 2019). To this end, an intercultural project was initiated at TU Dortmund in Germany in 2017. In the context of different learning environments future teachers were invited to have encounters with young newcomers through a nearly completely self‐managed learning arrangement. The students were prepared for the encounters in focused courses dealing with theoretical backgrounds and didactic concepts. They would then prepare the lessons with the newcomers. In the context of this learning arrangement the following questions were important: What did the university students expect with regard to the encounter with newcomer students from schools? How did they prepare the lessons? What did students and newcomers think about the encounters later? What have they learned? And what do these reflections mean for inclusive and intercultural teacher education at universities? In the project we could observe that the didactic approach supports the students’ level of sensitivity towards differences and encourages future teachers to train the education of newcomers in a non‐judgmental framework (Bartz & Bartz, 2018). Based on a selection of qualitative empirical findings (ethnographic approach during six lessons in a period of two years and 147 interviews including the students’ and newcomers’ points of view about their learning encounters at TU Dortmund), this article discusses opportunities to create more innovative spaces for inclusive practices and cultures under the restricted terms of a mass university.

Suggested Citation

  • Janieta Bartz & Wibke Kleina, 2021. "Diversity is not the Enemy: Promoting Encounters between University Students and Newcomers," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 154-162.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:154-162
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v9i3.4121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Julia Mergner & Liudvika Leišytė & Elke Bosse, 2019. "The Widening Participation Agenda in German Higher Education: Discourses and Legitimizing Strategies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 61-70.
    2. Julia Mergner & Liudvika Leišytė & Elke Bosse, 2019. "The Widening Participation Agenda in German Higher Education: Discourses and Legitimizing Strategies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 61-70.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liudvika Leišytė & Rosemary Deem & Charikleia Tzanakou, 2021. "Inclusive Universities in a Globalized World," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 1-5.

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