final fulbright presentation
TRANSCRIPT
LOOKING BACK TO UNDERSTAND THE FUTURE OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
IN SRI LANKA
From Tigers to Textbooks
Shiyana Gunasekara
Introduction and Context
Education has played a particularly decisive
role in the beginnings of the war
January 8, 2015: Sri Lanka elected
Maithripala Sirisena as President
2007/2008 : Education for Social Cohesion and
Peace framework
Tri-segmented Study
Policy Analysis
Quantitative Analysis –
Access and Outcomes
Evaluating Program
Implementation
Purpose
Objectives
Provide empirical
evidence of the results of the demand
for a multicultural
education over the past five decades
Contribute to dialog aiming
to build a national
consensus on social science
education reform in this
new era for Sri Lanka
Offer a single evaluation of the impact of
the 2008 ESCP
initiative
Two Main Questions
Diversity Management How do the ethnic and
religious makeup/segregation of school environments as well as extra curricular activities outside of school influence what students are learning about “the other” ?
Implementation of “inclusive” education policy Do recent textbooks,
classroom experiences and overall social science curricula reflect the kind of social cohesion education the Ministry of Education outlined in its ESCP framework of 2008? Previous policies mention “national integration” ?
Guiding TheoriesGuiding TheoriesCultural
Reproduction: Education systems have the power to
reproduce the culture of the
dominant group in order to allow that dominant group to
hold power (Bourdieu).
School environments are microcosms of the greater society
(Parsons).
Ministry of Education’s ESCP Framework
Problems to tackle Intercultural disharmony Inability to communicate due to language
barriers Lack of knowledge and respect of human
rights Improper distribution of power Mistrust among communities
Hypothesis According to Existing Literature
Management of diversity: Assimilationist and Separatist (Smith 2006)
Implementation of the Ministry of Education’s initiative has not achieved goals of inclusivity (Gaul, 2014)
Data Collection - Textbooks
History and Civics (Citizenship Education)
Sample Books used in government schools Textbooks and supplementary readers 1960s until after 2008 Grades until O/L (11th)
Data Analysis - Textbooks
Content & Storyline Analysis Which groups’
narratives are prioritized? Sidelined?
Proposed Coding Scheme Definition of
“us/we”, “them”
Vertical Analysis Comparing findings
and analysis to that of older textbooks
Qualitative Data Collection– School Environment
Established Field Visits Colombo Matara Jaffna
Ideal Field Visits Batticoloa Kandy
Schools National/Local Buddhist, Hindu,
Muslim, Catholic English Medium
Data Collection – School Environment (cont.)
Primary Method- Interviews Key Informants
(Experts) Teachers Pupils School Officials
(Principals) Parents
Vertical Analysis
Secondary Method-Observations On and outside school-
grounds History and Civics
classrooms Assemblies
Schools have an important role to play…[in] diminishing social and cultural distances by building a sense of solidarity among children through the shared experience of learning not only about their own culture and identity but also the cultures and identities of their classmates (Andruszkiewicz, 2006)
Thank you