Cooperative learning in intercultural education

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Cooperative learning in intercultural educationPieter Batelaan & Carla van HoofPublished online: 28 Jul 2006.

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European Journal of Intercultural Studies Volume 7 Number 3

AbstractImplementation of intercultural educationimplies that teachers command the stra-tegies to use the skills and knowledge thatchildren bring into the classroom, to createopportunities to communicate and co-operate in heterogeneous groups, and toprovide equal opportunities to participatein the learning processes which are or-ganised in the classroom. The use of smallgroups in which students learn together andbenefit from each others skills and know-ledge is a logical option, but conditionshave to be fulfilled on the levels ofteachers' communication and managementskills, curriculum and pedagogical climatein order to achieve the aims of 'doing jus-tice to diversity' and the provision of equalopportunities to participate.

Intercultural education is education whichaims to prepare individuals for participationin a democratic, multicultural society. Amulticultural society is characterised byboth (cultural, ethnic, linguistic, religious)diversity and inequality. Status differencesbetween groups exist (e.g. betweenminority and majority, between certainimmigrant groups and that part of the popu-lation which has remained in one locationfor many centuries, between different socialclasses). Education policies in westerndemocracies have (or should have) as a goalthe provision of equal opportunities.Democracy implies pluralism and respectfor cultural differences.

If we observe the 'intercultural state ofaffairs' we see a striking dissonance. Thereexists a general consensus about the pur-poses of education on the level of educa-tional rhetoric. Most countries have sub-scribed to the Convention of the Rights ofthe Child and many other conventions stem-ming from the UN, UNESCO and (inEurope) the Council of Europe (for furtherdetails see Batelaan and Coomans, 1995).

Cooperative learning inintercultural education

Pieter Batelaan and Carla van Hoof

However, at the level of the school, aswell as in national and local educationalpolicy we encounter a totally differentscenario. In spite of the extensive profes-sional literature (see for instance Batelaanand Gundara, 1991) about 'multicultural'and/or 'intercultural education' the issue of'education in a multicultural society' isoften limited to provisions for students whobelong to immigrant communities. The gapbetween theory and practice can be identi-fied on different levels:

1. The policy level: increasing nation-alism restricts pluralism. This consti-tutes a problem in some East Europeancountries (Nikolajevic and Van Driel,1996), but also in some Western coun-tries (see for instance Campani andGundara, 1994), where issues of'national culture' and 'national cur-riculum' are at stake.

2. The professional level: issues of multi-culturalism have been marginalised inteacher education (Visitatiecommissie,1996; Batelaan et al., 1993), andteachers fail to be impressed by mes-sages from scholars about what theyshould do, what ought to be taught;teachers are tired of hearing rhetoric

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without receiving practical guidelinesfor their daily work.

3. The level of school policy: since inter-cultural education effects all aspects ofthe school organisation, it requires atype of reform which has implicationswhich go beyond simple additions tothe curriculum or special care forspecial groups.

PluralismOne of the lessons that can be learned fromthe process of the establishment of demo-cracy in the post-communist countries inEastern Europe is that the recognition ofpluralism is a decisive condition for theestablishment of democratic relationsbetween people. The basis of any truedemocratic system is the acceptance ofpolitical and religious or philosophical dif-ferences. The acceptance of pluralism anddemocratic rights for all citizens is thecornerstone of all western democraticsocieties. Inclusive rights, equal opportuni-ties to participate in society, equal employ-ment opportunities, educational access, etc.are key issues for any democratic society,although people may differ in their opinionsregarding how these ideals can be achieved(for example the discussion concerning'affirmative action').

Pluralism is not something which can betaken for granted. Pluralism is, also in

Western societies, threatened by individualsand groups who promote another option:the monocultural option. Table 1 juxtaposesthese two options.

In each society we can find dominantgroups who define the normative condi-tions of (co-)existence and (in most cases)minorities who have to stand up for theirinterests and rights. This state of affairs isnot necessarily problematic, as long as the'norm' is democratic.

Pluralism implies that people havelearned to look at the world from differentperspectives, that they have learned toaccept other cultures, other languages andother beliefs, and to respect the right to bedifferent. It also implies that they havelearned to communicate with 'the other',which includes the obligation to take eachother seriously. In today's world it is clearthat cultural, ethnic, and social diversity arestill phenomena which are problematic formany, because they have never learned toaccept and to value diversity, and to realisethat in a functioning democracy all citizens,regardless of ethnic origin, skin colour, reli-gion or language need to be included insociejtal discourse.

'Inclusiveness' is not something that canonly be realised in the social-politicalrealm. It is equally essential in the educa-tional realm, at all levels: at the classroomlevel (the professional responsibility of theteacher); the level of school policy (the

Table 1: Options for multicultural societies

The intercultural option

Pluralism based on human rights,which are inclusive

Interdependence, which requires mutualunderstanding, based on shared values

Equal opportunities

the monocultural option

Nationalism and fundamentalism, basedon superiority, exclusive rights

Apartheid, separatism leading to suppression,ethnic purity, racism, based on group values

Protection of privileges of the own group.

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Cooperative learning in intercultural education

responsibility of the school community inits entirety, particularly of school manage-ment); and at the level of the educationalsystem (educational legislation).

Intercultural educationThe initial care for children coming fromimmigrant communities or other minoritygroup communities is still, and will alwaysbe, a concern. However, such care is themost effective if it does not occur in isola-tion, but is placed in the broader context of'intercultural education'.

Education can be termed interculturalwhen it does justice to diversity, when itcontributes to the provision of equal oppor-tunities, and when it prepares all childrenfor living together in a democratic, pluri-form society (see also Delors et al., 1996,for his discussion of the need to 'learn tolive together'). Intercultural education is notrestricted to activities that 'do justice to cul-tural diversity' or 'to celebrate our diver-sity', it is not restricted to 'combating in-equality' or (particularly when inequality isbased on any kind of racism) 'anti-racisteducation'. Issues of diversity and in-equality are two sides of the same coin. It isimpossible to combat inequality withoutvaluing diversity. On the other hand, it does

not make much sense to accentuate 'diver-sity' in festivals or in an exotic curriculumwithout real concern about existent in-equalities.

Within the classroom environment,which will be our focus in this paper, inter-cultural education should be characterisedby the following criteria:

1. As much as possible, start with, and usethe knowledge and skills studentsalready have, including linguistic andcultural knowledge and skills;

2. create opportunities in the classroomfor children to communicate and coop-erate in heterogeneous groups;

3. provide equal opportunities to partici-pate in the learning processes which areorganised in the classroom;

4. the curriculum should reflect the realityof the multicultural society. Thisimplies a non-ethnocentric curriculum,which does not reinforce stereotypes,but gives a fair and balanced image of'the other';

5. what applies to the curriculum, alsoapplies to student evaluations.

Educational efforts to 'do justice to diver-sity' and 'combat inequality', tend to pay

Table 2

content/curriculum

classroomorganisation

diversity

the curriculum reflects the realityof a multicultural society;different perspectives

work in heterogeneous groups,create opportunities for cooperation;use abilities and knowledge ofall children

equality

curriculum includes issues ofhuman rights, prevention ofracism and discrimination;students learn about their rightsand responsibilities

create equal opportunities forparticipation in the learningprocess and for access to thematerials;validate different skills andknowledge equally

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special attention to content. However, inter-cultural education also has its implicationsfor the organisation of the learning pro-cesses, as is demonstrated in table 2.

Learning in multicultural /heterogeneous groupsBefore we describe how the above men-tioned criteria can be implemented, it isnecessary to address a phenomenon in thediscourse about multiculturalism and inter-cultural education that tends to complicatethe issue. Intercultural education has apolitical dimension. Political scientists andpoliticians have always played an importantrole in the discourse about interculturaleducation. Political discussions tend to re-volve around the interests of varioussocietal groups: elderly people, immigrants,unemployed people, workers, etc. Politicalaction or inaction is often connected tostatistics and statistics are about groups:immigrants, national minorities, gypsies,refugees, asylum seekers, etc. Viewed fromthis vantage point, we easily lose site ofindividuals.

In the classroom, however, we encounterindividual students. Each student is charac-terised by a host of factors that determinehis/her identity. We cannot teach for amulticultural society if we reduce the dif-ferences between individuals to differencesof colour, ethnic origin or nationality. In thelife experience of children other differencesare often more relevant.

Students in any classroom may differ interms of:• ethnicity and nationality

• legal status

• social - economic background (socialclass)

• geographical origin (urban - rural)

• language / dialect

• religion and value system

•• knowledge and skills

• academic status / talents / interests

• gender and sexual orientation

age

• physical possibilities

• personal history, including family con-ditions.

All these differences can influence class-room dynamics. As in society at large,inequality and status differences also existin the classroom. Although status dif-ferences have a large impact on classroomparticipation, we also have to realise thatstatus differences in the classroom are notby definition defined by membership of aparticular ethnic or national group.

Cooperative learningIn schools throughout Europe we see moreand more classrooms where the students'tables and chairs are not arranged in rows,but organised into so-called 'learningstations'. Learning stations consist of 4-6tables with 4-6 chairs grouped around them,creating one large learning surface. Thismakes it possible to work together, talktogether, and share materials. However,oftentimes, when we actually observe chil-dren working in a such group situations, wecan see them working individually on indi-vidual tasks, or listening to teachers talk(some of them straining their backs).Teachers who have arranged the furniture inthis way claim that they are engaged in'group work'. Cooperative learning, how-ever, entails more than arranging furniturein a non-traditional way: cooperative learn-ing requires cooperation. In the words ofJohnson and Johnson (1991): 'CooperativeLearning is the instructional use of small


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groups so that students work together andmaximise their own and each other'slearning'.

Cooperative learning is a logical optionfor those who want students to learn tocommunicate and cooperate. Teachersreadily understand this, especially if theyare asked to think about their own experi-ences. This can be illustrated by describinga reflective exercise we do with teachers. Insome of our training sessions we askteachers why they think it could be valuableto have students work in small groups. Theyusually do not immediately give reasonsthat adhere to the general criteria for inter-cultural education. Reasons they mentiontend to include:

• children are more active;

• together children produce more ideasthan when they work individually;

• in a group children learn to shareresponsibility;

• in a group shy children are more likelythan in a larger class to contribute to theconversation;

• in a small group children get to knoweach other;

• it is good for social skills development,such as cooperation (which are impor-tant in most j obs);

• children learn more by talking witheach other about the subject matter;

• problem solving is easier in a groupthan on your own.

In each session and with each group we getother reasons. What all the responses havein common is the belief that group work cancontribute to the achievement of socialskills and that it improves the quality oflearning.

When we ask teachers to reflect on theirown learning experiences and share theseexperiences with each other, they all realisethat they learn far more in situations wherethey can talk about their knowledge, applywhat they learn, and teach others aboutwhat they know. In other words, they learnfar more from interaction and presentinginformation than from listening. As amatter of fact, 'listening' is mostly identi-fied as an activity which has the least effecton one's learning results.

Some teachers also realise that coopera-tive learning contributes to the goals ofintercultural education. Slavin concluded adecade ago (Slavin, 1985) that the 'resultsof the studies relating cooperative learningto intergroup relations clearly indicate thatwhen students work in ethnically mixedcooperative-learning groups, they gain incross-ethnic friendships. This research indi-cates that the effects of cooperative learningon intergroup relations are strong and long-lasting, and are more likely on close, recip-rocated friendship choices than on distantor unreciprocated choices. There are noclear patterns indicating more consistentresults for some methods than for others.All methods have some positive effect onintergroup relations.'

Our next step is to ask teachers why theythink one tends to see children workingindividually when a classroom is entered.Common answers include:

• it is difficult to control the class whenchildren are working in groups. You donot know if they are talking about theirtask or about other things;

• it is so difficult to organise cooperativegroup work in an ordinary classroom;

• children working together in smallgroups make too much noise, whichnegatively influences their concentra-tion;


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• because of misunderstandings aboutthe subject matter children do not pro-ceed, there is a loss of quality;

• it is so difficult and time-consuming todesign useful assignments that can beaccomplished through cooperativegroup work;

• it is difficult to evaluate the results ofindividual students when they work ingroups;

• it costs more time than 'normalteaching';

• students sometimes argue becausesome want to dominate;

• some students don't feel safe with otherstudents;

• students cannot cooperate;

• not all students participate, some do noteven get a chance to touch the materials.

Having been provided with a list like this,and the lists can be very extensive (!), it isnot difficult to make clear that, in order to

have students cooperate in groups, certainconditions need to be fulfilled. These con-ditions relate to issues of organisation andmanagement, materials, and pedagogicalclimate. Learning to live and to learn to-gether requires teachers skills which are -in most cases - not taught in institutes forteacher education!

When adopting an 'intercultural educa-tion' perspective, issues of participation andsafety are very important. ProfessorElizabeth Cohen of Stanford University,director of the Programme for ComplexInstruction1, defines (cooperative) group-work as 'students working together in agroup small enough so that everyone canparticipate on a task that has been clearlydesigned' (Cohen, 1994). The more activethis participation, the better. In order toensure that all children have a learning ex-perience we have to create conditions thatallow all children to participate. But how isthis accomplished? Putting students to-gether in small groups, even with an inter-esting or challenging assignment is notenough. We have all had experiences at

Figure 1

participantsexpectationsstatus

participation

content

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some point with 'group work', and we allknow that in most situations some membersof the group do all the work while the restassume a passive role. Cohen (1994) foundthat the degree of participation in groupwork depends highly on the status of thestudents. Her findings point to the fact thatif we want to encourage students to partici-pate we have to deal with status issues. 'Ifstatus characteristics are allowed to operateunchecked in the classroom, the interactionof children will only reinforce the preju-dices they entered school with'. If this is thecase cooperative learning is counterproduc-tive.

When designing cooperative learningactivities one of the most important require-ments is that all students can participate inthe interaction. This demands a certainamount of awareness on the teacher's part.Teachers need to be aware of the processesand dynamics which affect participation ininteraction. These relate to:

* the organisation of the interaction;

* the content of the interaction (subjectmatter, assignments);

* the participants themselves (status,expectations, skills, motivation andnorms).

The foregoing is reiterated in figure 1.

OrganisationTeachers who are planning to organiselearning activities in small groups need tomake decisions with respect to:

1. group composition

In general we give teachers the followingsuggestions:

• Don't let students choose with whomthey want to cooperate (it reinforcesstatus problems);

• Change the composition of groupswhen the class starts with a new cur-riculum unit;

• Make the group as heterogeneous aspossible.

2. the division of tasks and responsibilities

There are many tasks that need to be ful-filled when people enter into a situationin which they have to cooperate, in orderto produce answers to questions, helpprepare a presentation, etc. These tasksinclude:

• to make sure that communicationwithin the group is open;

• to make sure that the presentation willbe ready on time;

• to make sure that the best possibleresult is achieved;

• to organise the presentation (writtenor oral);

• to make sure that all materials areavailable;

• to make sure that everything will becleaned up and returned to its properplace after the presentation;

• to make sure that the group receivesall information;

• to make sure that each individual hasaccess to the information.

In our training programmes teachers areasked to make lists of tasks and explorepossibilities for the division of tasks.Tasks are rank-ordered according tostatus, which assists in the difficult issueof tackling status problems. A good divi-sion of roles is essential.

Cohen (1994) has described the variousroles participants can take, but there aremore possibilities than she describes,

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depending on the tasks and structure ofthe work.

3. the role of the teacher

It is important to delegate responsibili-ties to the group. This is one of the mostdifficult management skills. It is impor-tant to give groups a good deal of inde-pendence, not to help them by givinganswers, but by clarifying students'questions. It is also important to holdboth individuals and the whole groupaccountable.

ContentOne of the main goals of education is toprovide students with the qualifications tofully participate in society. Qualification forthe job market is - quite rightly - one of themain concerns of politicians, employers andtrade unions, students and parents. In our

training -we ask teachers to analyse jobadvertisements and to list the attitudes,skills and knowledge which are required inthese advertisements. Many items con-tained on these lists relate to communica-tion and cooperation skills, initiative,organisation and planning. After comparingthe generated lists with teaching and testingpractice, one can better appreciate why em-ployers complain about education. Educa-tion, however, has a further purpose. It isalso aimed at 'the development of thechild's personality, talents and mental andphysical abilities to their fullest potential'(article 29a of the Convention of the Rightsof the Child). If we ask teachers to considerthe implications of such a goal, they readilyrealise that much of what is learned intoday's classrooms is limited to a few abili-ties. '... an education built on multiple intel-ligences can be more effective than one

Intelligence

Linguistic

Musical

Logical-mathematical

Spatial intelligence

Bodily-kinaestheticintelligence

(Intra-) Personal

Social(inter-personal)

Related skills include

write, talk, read, listen

compose, interpret,perform, improvise

order, classify, reason,measure

construct, read maps,transform from 2D - 3D

any sport, operate aninstrument, use a knife, shoot

reflect, develop an opinion

cooperate, lead, empathise

Related tasks

write a poem, tell a story, makean oral presentation, tell me whatX said....

create a melody,choose a melody which could beused in your presentation, analysethe rhythm in ...

make a scheme of...why should....

find your way with the helpof this map,make a map of ...interpret a model....

make a maquette of,score a goal, perform a dance,

What do you think of...What did you do to make this asuccess?

Solve this problem together,What should you do if you were...


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built on just two intelligences. It candevelop a broader range of talents, and itcan make the standard curriculum acces-sible for a wider range of students'(Gardner, 1991, p. 81).

Knowledge implies more than repro-ducing definitions. Knowledge also entailsunderstanding when such definitions can beapplied, explained, expressed in images orschemes, and when they are connected toalready existing knowledge. Making con-nections, making applications, and trying toexplain leads to deeper understanding.Understanding can be understood in manyways, since human intelligence goes be-yond verbal intelligence. The implication ofthinking about 'the development of thechild's personality, talents and mental andphysical abilities to their fullest potential' isthat learning should contribute to thedevelopment of the multifaceted nature ofstudents' intelligence, and not only theirverbal intelligence. Such an educationalapproach (using a multi-ability classroom)not only makes education more valuable forsociety. It also legitimates cooperation ineducation and provides opportunities for allstudents to participate, since it is recognisedthat nobody has all the abilities necessary tocomplete a complex task and that every-body is capable of making some kind ofcontribution. A multiple ability approachmakes it possible to meet the first criterionof intercultural education: start with, anduse, the knowledge and skills students bringwith them into the classroom.

Howard Gardner's theory of 'Multipleintelligences' offers a useful theoreticalframework when discussing these issues.

Gardner (1993) distinguishes 7 types ofintelligences. These types can be related toskills and to tasks, as shown in the table onpage 12.

According to Gardner,'.... intelligencesare always expressed in the context of spe-

cific tasks, domains, and disciplines. Thereis no 'pure' spatial intelligence: instead,there is spatial intelligence as expressed in achild's puzzle solutions, route finding,block building, or basketball passing. Bythe same token, adults do not exhibit theirspatial intelligence directly, but are more orless proficient chess players or artists orgeometricians' (Gardner, 1993, p. xvii).

In order to be able to fulfill the purposesof education, which includes the develop-ment of job-related skills and the develop-ment of a child's personality, a 'multipleability approach' is required. A multipleability approach makes group work" mean-ingful: it makes - as in real life - participantsinterdependent. Children will be motivatedto cooperate when they cannot completetasks individually. Children will be moti-vated to participate when others depend ontheir skills. These criteria have implicationsfor task design. Other task-related criteria arethat tasks should be explicitly related to thelearning objectives, that there is a 'big idea',and that tasks are open-ended. Rachel Lotan,co-director of the Stanford Programme forComplex Instruction, has provided us withcriteria for examining multiple-ability unitsand tasks (see box overleaf).

ParticipantsIt is important that participants share thenorms and values upon which their cooper-ation is based. There are programmes todevelop these norms and values, and todevelop the skills needed to work in accor-dance with these norms.

The most important problems thatteachers mention when we talk about stu-dent participation:

• there are always students who wait forsomebody else to take the initiative;

• there are always students who leave thework to others who, in turn, like to be


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Big idea: Is the Organising concept or big idea a big idea indeed? Howdo you know? Is it an epistemological question? How centralis the concept to the discipline? Are the different activitieswell-connected to the 'big idea' or the central concept? Howso?

Multiple abilities:

Open-endedness:

Interdependence:

Individualaccountability:

c/Rachel A. Lotan

Are the resources multiple ability? Is there a tight connectionbetween these multiple ability resources and the activity? andthe big idea? What are the multiple abilities that are calledupon to complete the activities? To what extent are they atthe forefront and tightly connected to the problem to besolved? How will these multiple abilities enhance students'access to reading and writing?

Is there a problem to be solved in each activity? Is there aright or wrong answer, or an 'expected' answer? (Is theanswer: 'It depends'?) Are there different ways of getting to apossible solution?

Is there enough to do for the group? Is the activity rich andcomplex? Is there a group product? What is the relationshipbetween the group product and the discussion? the resources?Is there group data to be collected among members? How isthe group discussion essential?

Are there individual reports included in the activities? Arethese individual reports tightly connected to the activity? tothe big idea? How will the group discussion become criticalfor a student completing the individual report?

active;

• there are always students who hardlytake or get the chance to act;

• there are always students who take theinitiative, who have leadership capaci-ties, take all the space, etc.;

Of course, these types of inequality can alsobe seen outside the classroom in society.

The most crucial factor which deter-mines participation in interaction situationsis the status of the participants. A person's

status is - besides many other things onwhich the teacher has no influence at all -determined by expectations: the expecta-tions of other group members, of theteacher, of oneself. Students tend to 'know'what they can expect from each other,teachers 'know' what they can expect fromtheir students, and each student 'knows'what their teachers and peers can expectfrom them. Particularly in a situation wherelearning and testing take place followingroutine procedures, and where the emphasisis on traditional school knowledge and

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Figure 2rotation of roles

accountability

expectationtreatment

assigningcompetence

status I > interactiorfjf learning

multipleabilities

skills, teachers know exactly from whichstudents they can expect a good answer andfrom which students a 'stupid' answer or noanswer at all. Students know exactly whatteachers 'know' about them and about theirpeers. Teachers who do not take risks intheir classroom, follow traditional proce-dures and provide students with traditionaltasks, are surprised by the performance ofsome students during school camps whereother abilities are called upon. By usingmultiple ability assignments, teachers havea powerful instrument that allows them toalter the expectations that s/he has, andwhich students have of each other. Theseassignments provide teachers with moreopportunities to give feedback to studentsfocusing on results instead of deficiencies.It provides them with the opportunity 'toassign competence' (Cohen, 1994). There-fore, students have to be convinced thatmany different abilities are needed to com-plete complex tasks and that all these abili-ties are valuable. Teachers need the abilityto observe the specific contributions ofindividual students to the completion of thetasks, particularly those of low status stu-

dents, and to communicate these observa-tions to the students. Cohen (1994, p. 132)mentions three critical features of effectivecompetence assignment:

• evaluations must be public;

• evaluations must be specific, referringto particular intellectual abilities/skills;

• the abilities of low status students mustbe made relevant to the group task.

Through this feedback teachers can avoidthe self-fulfiling prophecies which are aresult of prejudices about each otherscapacities.

Figure 2 summarises the informationgiven above.

Consequences for teacher trainingCooperative learning which contributes tothe fulfilment of intercultural educationgoals (doing justice to diversity and con-tributing to the creation of equal opportuni-ties to participate) requires from the teachermore than a curriculum which addressescultural diversity and anti-discriminationactivities.


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In many European countries, as well asin the United States, the teaching professionhas a low status. In our opinion some of thefactors that have caused this low statusrelate to the fact that the profession itselfhas hardly changed, that research in educa-tion is always marginal, and that there arefew if any professional standards.

Whenever we discuss education-relatedissues, we should not forget that educationtakes place in the classroom, and that teach-ing is a far more complex process than thetransmission of knowledge from books andteachers' memories into the. heads ofstudents. If we want to discuss the role ofeducation in society, we have to be aware ofthis complex process.

A teacher's skills and knowledge shouldbe based on a commitment to a philosophyof education in which democracy, plu-ralism, human rights and equity are funda-mental concepts. There also needs to be anawareness of the purposes of education, andthe role of the teacher in the learning pro-cess. Commitment is a first condition, butcommitment is not enough. What is reallyneeded to meet the challenge's of pluralismin education is professionalism in thedomains of knowledge and skills.

References:Batelaan, P. and Gundara J. (1991) Introduction to:Intercultural Education: a selected bibliography.Bulletin of the International Bureau of Education.No. 260 July-September 1991.Batelaan, P. et al. (1992): Interculturalism inSwedish Teacher Education: an evaluation of theintercultural, bilingual end international dimen-sion. Stockholm: UHÄ.

Batelaan, P. and Coomans, F. (1995) The Inter-national Basis of Intercultural Education includingAnti-Racist and Human Rights Education. Hilver-sum: International Association for InterculturalEducation.

Batelaan and Van Hoof (1995) De Rol van Kennisen Vaardigheden in het SLIM-project. Vernieu-wing.

Campani G. and Gundara, J. (1994) Overview ofIntercultural Policies within the European Union.In: European Journal of Intercultural Studies. Vol5Nr. 1.

Cohen, E. (1994) Designing Groupwork. Strategiesfor the Heterogeneous Classroom. New York:Teachers College Press (second edition).

Delors, J. et al. (1996) Learning: The TreasureWithin. Report to UNESCO of the InternationalCommission on Education for the Twenty FirstCentury. Paris: UNESCO.

Gardner, H. (1991) The Unschooled Mind. NewYork: Basic Books.

Gardner H. (1993). Frames of Mind: The Theory ofMultiple Intelligences. 10th Anniversary Edition.New York: Basic Books.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. (1991) Learningtogether and alone: Cooperative competition andindividualisation (3rd Edition). Englewood Cliffs,NJ: Prentice Hall.

Nikolajevic, D. and Van Driel, B. (1996)Implementing Intercultural Education: Report onthe joint IAIE - Anne Frank House Mini-Conference for European Teacher Trainers.European Journal of Intercultural Studies. Vol. 7Nr.2.

Slavin, R.E. (1985) Cooperative Learning: Apply-ing Contact Theory in Desegregated Schools.Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 41, No. 3, 1985, pp45-62; p. 59.

Visitatiecommissie Tweedegraadslerarenopleidin-gen (1996): Beleidsihema's voor de TweedegraadsLerarenopleidingen. Tussentijdse notitie. DenHaag: HBO-Raad.

Address for correspondence: Sumatralaan37, 1217 GP Hilversum, The Netherlands

Note1. Complex Instruction is an instructional approach

designed for academically heterogeneous class-rooms, permitting the teacher to teach at a very highlevel despite the wide academic range amongstudents. The project is based on many years oftheory, research and development by the staff of theProgramme for Complex Instruction under theleadership of Professor Elizabeth G. Cohen ofStanford University. SLIM (Learning together inmulticultural groups) was a project aimed at thedevelopment of a training programme for teachers,developed by a small team at the Hogeschool vanUtrecht, which included the authors of this article.


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Cooperative learning in intercultural education