Students' Agentic Roles for Critical Interculturalism

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Authoring the Self and Others (Table 21)

Abstract

Critical scholars argue for the imperative need to turn towards critical interculturalism by focusing on critical analyses of power, control, and oppression. However, to deconstruct power relations in the context of a critical type of intercultural governance of education, we must cultivate student agency in reform processes, as an exercise of liberty and responsibility. Students’ agency presupposes intercultural responsibility, and leads to student leadership. Therefore, our research goal is to examine the ways in which school students critically challenge structural and institutional inequalities and move towards practices of critical interculturalism. Our research questions are: (a) how do students perceive the assumption of interculturally responsible roles on their part? and (b) how do students practice deliberate acts of informal intercultural leadership?

Authors

• Christina Hajisoteriou, University of Nicosia

• Georgios Sorkos, University of Thessaly

• Panayiotis A. Angelides, University of Nicosia