Page 27 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

creation and maintenance of social cohesion and that intercultural competences are its practical basis, as "the teaching and learning of intercultural competences is important for democratic culture and social cohesion" (Council of Europe, 2008). The work of both the Council of Europe and UNESCO has played an important role in breaking down many stereotypes and prejudices in the education curricula of schools and member states (Portera, 2003, pp. 3–23).
Therefore, it can be said that the essence of intercultural pedagogy is not teaching about other cultures, which can be described as a sham, since in fact this favours privileged groups. Authentic intercultural learning is about understanding ourselves and others better and better (Grzybowski, 2008, p. 38). This form of learning may allow us to better understand the complexity of the world, but also enables us to acquire the ability to better understand ourselves in light of present challenges in this area. Interculturality in the European context is seen as a way of organising the life of individuals and groups coming from different cultural groups, where a person is not a product of his culture but is its creator and participant. In each society, identity is formed in a unique and specific way, as it is co- created by different individuals. Grzybowski (2005, p. 266; 2008, p. 22) uses the term "intercultural pedagogy" to describe a situation in which individuals from different cultures or national groups interact with each other in an open, regular, and sustained way, accompanied by an authentic exchange and mutual respect and understanding of lifestyles, values, and norms. This means that there are no better or worse people or privileged or humiliated because of their cultural identity. There is a process of active tolerance. The prefix "inter-" prompts us to reflect on our mutual relations, and interactionism, which sees the human being as an active participant in society, fits into this picture. Interculturalism can thus be described as a dynamic state of society (Grzybowski, 2008, p. 35).
According to Grzybowski, intercultural pedagogy, as a sub-discipline of pedagogy, is understood as:
• pedagogy – as educational practice;
• a scientific sub-discipline – derived from educational practice, detailed pedagogy, having its
own object of interest, system of concepts, and methodology (2005, p. 266).
Intercultural pedagogy deals with the educational problems of culturally diverse societies. It is characterised by a structural approach to the analysis of educational processes against the background of the evolution of a given social system. It has an interdisciplinary character and is embedded beyond educational science in anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, history, and other scientific disciplines (Grzybowski, 2005, pp. 269–270). In the methodology of intercultural pedagogy, one can speak of inter- and multicultural approaches corresponding to the paradigms in which certain research communities operate. It is precisely because of the rooting of the issue of cultural diversity in different paradigms and the existence of different points of reference that it is difficult to establish a uniform epistemological core of intercultural pedagogy (Grzybowski, 2008, p. 106). Intercultural pedagogy is based on a relativistic epistemology, in which there is an awareness of the perspectives and contextuality of the object of cognition.
The most frequently explored following problem areas of intercultural pedagogy are:
• identity (cultural, ethnic and intercultural) – its formation, personality, and differences; attitudes, stereotypes, prejudices, tensions, and conflicts (especially at the majority-minority interface); teaching/learning to recognise, deconstruct, and accept differences;
• the existence of clearly distinguishable cultural groups; 12