Why intercultural dialogue ?

A possible way of teaching a Norwegian class.

2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue

Over 300 mother tongues are spoken in Europe

Many different ethnic groups or nationalities live together in Europe.

Objectives

Respect and promote cultural diversity in Europe

Strengthen the Lisbon strategy: knowledge-based economy requires people capable of adapting to change

Solidarity, social justice and greater cohesion - common values

Enable Europe to make its voice heard in the world

Extend the zone of stability and democracy beyond Europe

Immigration to Norway

Present situation - Norway

* Immigrants from 214 different countries

* Refugees, workers, students, join family members

10,6 % of the total population.

Multi-ethnic society

50% of immigrants from other European countries

Largest groups: Poland, Sweden, Germany, Pakistan and Irak.

Integrated ? 36 % of the migrants have obtained Norwegian citizenship

Who are they ?

Scandinavians • Pakistanis

Polish workers • How does this reflect on our society?

Visibility ?

Toya (1955) was a children’ book, written by 16 children, about a young girl coming as a refugee to Norway.It was actualized by the event in Hungary in 1956, and this was the first time of modern history that Norway took responsibility for a large number of refugees.

Literature

• 1986 -the first novel written by an immigrant (Pakkis , by Khalid Hussein). Several books and films were to follow.

Film

1966 - The African about a Norwegian girl and her African boyfriend. This was as early as 1966.

From 1990 several films per year present the theme of cultural dialogue. Not so many Norwegian films are made, so this is quite a lot.

TV - Migrapolis

A weekly program called Migrapolis. It started in 1977 and has been going on since then on the NRK, Norwegian monopoly TV channel.The programs are made by immigrants and are about immigrant life in Norway. It won a quality award in 2007 (Gullruten).

Food and taste

1963 - first Chinese restaurant in Osloset up by Chinese sailors who after having served 5 years on Norwegian ships got a permit to live in Norway

• The first Sushi-restaurant came in 1985, but it took 15 years for the population to get used to and to like this type of Japanese food.

• Today 76% of the population says that they like ”foreign food”.

Not a modern phenomenon

About year 1000 monks came from England and slaves were imported from Ireland.

A couple of hundred years later, the Germans, the Hansa, dominated the trade on the west coast.

After WW2

Refugees:Hungarians,1956Tsjecks, 1968, Chile , 1973Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Yoguslavia, Somalia, Irak etc…

Intercultural marriages

EU-members

Do we need them ?

The migrant population is relatively young and influence the average age of the population.

An increasing number of persons believe that the immigrants contribute to development.

And less persons are skeptical to welcoming immigrants into their family. Only 6 % of the population express that they would be negative to having an immigrant as a neighbour. (Survey, SSB, 2008)

But - there is a darker side

Racism and xenophobism is also becomingmore visible.

Small but active right wing groups

Some political parties feed on xenophobism and lack of knowledge.

Necessity of promoting tolerance

• Ignorence may cause conflicts – democracy is fragile.

• Some migrant groups bring international conflicts into their life in Norway.

• Different ways of living• Different sets of values

Overall goal

Diversity as a positive value

Ensure democracy for all

Do we all agree on our values ? Should we all agree ?

Values to defend?

• Women’s liberation• Democracy and participation for all• Literacy , access to schooling• Economic security for all• Political rights

Issues to explore and discuss

1.To ensure that all children learn to speak Norwegian before they start school, one of the political parties propose to provide kindergarden free of charge for all children of foreign origin.

What is your opinion on this?

Marriage – individual rights

2. In the European democracies each individual has the right to choose their partner if they want to get married.

What is the best way of making this a reality for all citizens?

Should we perhaps allow other sets of values?

Citizenship - right to vote

3. What type of knowledge do you think an immigrant should have to get the right to vote in a country?

Language of instruction

4. Some countries provide instruction in the schools in the mother tongue for the largest groups of immigrants.

What are your ideas about this?

Public funding

5. To what extent should ethnic minority groups receive public funding for activities aimed at promoting their culture, religion and language?

Curricula in private schools

6. Some religious schools focus more on teaching their religious beliefs than on the different school subjects.

• How far should our tolerance go? How is the balance between control and freedom?

Asylum - seekers

• The strenght of our democracies is to accept asylum-seekers from other nations.

• What about terrorists, should we accept them as well?

Policy

• Define the concepts :

• integretion and assimilation• give examples

Different sets of values

• Some immigrants bring with them violent ways of solving conflicts due to the fact that they are used to other societies and other social structures.

• What action would you suggest to give these immigrants a good chance of getting better integrated?

Tolerance ?• Some people seem to think that there is only

one correct way of behaving. What are your comments ?

We should not make a lot of noise in public

places, • … all dress in European clothes• … not hang out the washing on Sundays• … not make spicy food for the neighbour to

smell it

Future Europe

Make a list of important factors necessary to build a strong Europe in the future.