Presentació simultània d’altres sol·licituds

In GCE; where respect and interest for foreign cultures is fostered, particular importance is attached to intercultural dialogue. Intercultural encounters are the ideal setting to expand and improve one‘s own knowledge because individuals are confronted with different worldviews that eventually widen their horizon. Culturally embedded conceptions of the world can be questioned and altered when the individual gets to know alternative views through intercultural dialogue.

[…] intercultural dialogue is understood as a process that comprises an open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage, on the basis of mutual understanding and respect. It requires the freedom and ability to express oneself, as well as the willingness and capacity to listen to the views of others. Intercultural dialogue contributes to political, social, cultural and economic integration and the cohesion of culturally diverse societies. It fosters equality, human dignity and a sense of common purpose. It aims to develop a deeper understanding of diverse world views and practices, to increase co-operation and participation (or the freedom to make choices), to allow personal growth and transformation, and to promote tolerance and respect for the other. (Council of Europe 2010: 23)

Intercultural dialogue is a transformative tool that can serve the purpose of promoting respect for human rights. Engaging in a dialogue with people from other cultural backgrounds alone already furthers integration and social cohesion and if the dialogue is used to address social concerns it is an efficient means for the change and the improvement of present conditions. Intercultural dialogue helps to maintain democratic stability, combats prejudice and stereotypes and consequently can prevent violent conflicts-all objectives of GCE. (23-24)

52

The school with its frequent multicultural character is the ideal place to cultivate space for intercultural dialogue in multiple forms. It can take place in the form of school assemblies, where all children and adolescents have the right to state their opinion and share their ideas with the school community. Additionally, intercultural dialogue has to be integrated into education itself and space should be engendered in a variety of subjects across the curriculum.

The safe environment at school has to be seen as a possibility to discuss delicate cultural issues with the participation and under the guidance of the teacher. The articulation of problems and fears that affect the personal lives of girls and boys naturally evokes emotions or probably even aggressions. In the classroom the students are not left to their own resources to cope with these feelings and therefore intercultural dialogue avoids that existing tensions between cultural groups develop into severe conflicts. (Byram 2008: 149)

I argue that foreign language teaching and especially English language teaching at an advanced stage offer ideal settings for the incorporation of intercultural dialogue on the local and more global level for several reasons. First of all, the taught language can serve as a neutral tool for communication, in which the learners have similar levels of competency. The power relations between migrants and natives can be reduced because the privilege to use their mother tongue to express their ideas is withdrawn from the natives. By using the foreign language for the discussion of local and global controversial issues both groups are given equal chances to give voice to their interests and needs.

Furthermore, in countries where there are tensions about identity, like it is the case in Latvia or Ex-Yugoslavia, questions of national identity can be addressed more easily in the ―neutrality‖ of the language classroom. (Byram 2008: 148)

If intercultural dialogue takes place in the culturally heterogeneous national school of a multicultural country, GCE is brought down to the local level because the global is intertwined with the local. Social justice and equity, diversity and peace, some of the key elements for global citizenship, become relevant in the world of children and adolescents and this is where GCE has to start in a context where young people can share their own experiences. Technology in the 21st century even allows students to expand their intercultural encounters beyond the classroom. Online intercultural dialogues between language learners

53

of different countries ought to be fostered by the language teacher. I will come back to this idea in the form of practical suggestions in the last chapter.

Online intercultural dialogues and especially classroom discussions should develop into a critical discourse as it is promoted by critical pedagogy. This means that they should be related to critical reflection/thinking and action. (Phipps and Guilherme 2004: 4) However, it cannot be denied that the inclusion of dialogue either involves the risk that classroom talk develops into a casual conversation or transforms into a monologue on the part of the teacher with the intention to inform learners. The latter could even take the shape of indoctrination, even if the educator pretends to be neutral. The critical pedagogue should be aware of this danger and adopt dialogue as a form of attitude that prevents him/her from delivering speeches. (Guilherme 2002: 47) Freire developed a problem-posing approach to dialogue. (McLaren and Kincheloe 2008: 204) I argue that this method is the best means of ensuring a dialogic relationship between teacher and student in the sense that both can contribute equally to the discourse. (Darder, Baltodano, and Torres 2003: 15) In an online forum the guidance of the teacher is rather limited and therefore the problem-posing approach described above does only apply to discourse that takes place in the classroom.