EUROPE: A CRADDLE OF DIVERSITY
Maria Villanueva.
The recent history and developments in Europe placed issues on culture, identity and citizenship in the front page. The traditional geography textbooks used to present the European space as based in fixed physical elements and geopolitical divisions instead of analysing the dynamics of a contested and controversial spaces resulting from the struggle among the different cultural and political identities which are sharing the territory.
The definition of political frontiers left behind, cultural, linguistic and national minorities all over the continent; frequently, they have no strict borders but a historical space and a shared collective counsciensnes. These hidden realities, explains the mismatches between the political map and some of the social and cultural realities of Europe. Changes in European maps help to realise that concepts as nationality, identity, minority and citizenship are arising when approaching European places and people.
In last decades, the increasing development of economic activities on a global scale has modified the relationships between local and international spaces with a growing number of interactions between places, countries and regions which results in the fragmentation of state sovereignty into different agents. It is through globalization is eroding territorial frontiers and provoking confrontations of culture and identity. While cultural and linguistic minorities are claiming their identity and territorial recognition, new movements are calling the attention on identities, emphasising the value of historical and dayly spaces.
Identity matters because it raises fundamental questions about how individuals and groups fit or are excluded from communities and the social world. The turn of the 21rst century represents a shift towards more fluid and transitional relationships among places and regions. Living in a borderless world with increasing movement between communities produces a permanent negotiation between spaces and developing identities within them. Places may thus no longer be the clear, unique support for identity, and are certainly no longer tied to the political borderlines of nations. The sense of citizenship though, will develop in different ways than in the past, and our nested loyalties will become salient and much more complex.
The European space is experiencing a new cultural diversity, which is adding even more complexity to the wealthy and grey-haired European societies. In this context, Europe appears as an heterogeneous space, where the diversity of territories are reflecting the diversity of places and how they are used by different communities.
This approach affords a clearer image of an European identity not only based in geography but taking into account other agents as globalisation, consumerism, technologies of communication and the effects of mass media, which are influencing as well, european identity/es. Current migratory waves from the rest of the world as well as the intra-European mobility, are changing fast our societies which are developing new multi-faceted and layered identities, terms that suggests the idea of adding instead of excluding: from a monolithic identity to various layers of identity bringing together different faces, from the most personal to those defined by our social and political roles, which are not excluding each other.
The consolidation and widening of the integrated European space, is also creating new challenges. This means a need to promote not only awareness but also respect for the diversity, even more required because mass migration is transforming the human landscapes of our cities and villages. A continent used to the emigration for centuries, is becoming, since the second half of 20th century, the arrival harbour for people from all continents. The understanding of the past is essential to analyse present features and issues like identity, culture, place or citizenship that concern the society nowadays.
Diversity is the essence of Europe, although history demonstrates the difficulty of living within it. The linguistic, national and religious mosaic, the differences in lifestyles and cultural manifestations, the variety and multiplicity of languages, the fluidness of spaces and places, they all are the common heritage but also, the origin for misunderstandings. European history is full of pain, war and hate because diversity has been used-too many times-to provoke confrontation with neighbours.
Nowadays, the multi-identity dimension of the European population will not be assumed easily nor without contradictions and tensions. Europeans are faced to live on this cultural mix and to foment a new mentality able to avoid stereotypes and the fear of “others”. The new European society requires citizens able to work within this complex cultural environment; diversity needs new competences which, at their turn, bring educational challenges in higher education. Present features and issues like identity, culture, place or citizenship that concern the society need some retrospective analysis to create a European level of consciousness that place plurality as the essence of the continent.
The construction of Europe must be based on an encounter with difference which is drawn from national or regional histories and has a dimension which reflects the continuing mobilities that are transforming Europe’s cultural shape. In general terms, all groups tend, at least to a certain extent, to glorify their own culture/identities while devaluing that of others; such identity building could be even stronger if one or both sides consider the other as a threat as a consequence of ideas, social attitudes and stereotypes. Identity though, is constructed through difference, not as just opposition, and it means that we ought to recognize others as equal, and at the same time as being different. Sharing values and also being recognized and accepted are important elements for inclusion. Different cultures should be considered to be a piece in the broader global pattern that brings richness and improvement and represents different and creative ways of dealing with cultures.
The “cultural mix” means also, a need for change in attitudes and in this context the school system has inevitably experienced a growing demand for providing new competencies. The fluidity of the European society requires teachers to be able to work within the complexity of an intercultural and plurilingüistic society; teachers are now expected to involve learners in the process of acquiring knowledge of their own culture as well as other cultures. A European Teacher has to have values that show that he or she is not just a national teacher but also one who teaches “beyond” the national curriculum. They should see themselves as someone with roots in one particular country, but at the same time being engaged with the pluricultural nature of European society and open towards other cultures.
This role requires committed teachers who can face these challenges not only with the appropriate attitudes, but also with the necessary procedural knowledge about this new dimension of teaching. It requires a new curriculum approach that prepares citizens through promoting abilities like talking, observing, listening, studying artifacts, reflecting, questioning and participating; abilities to learn from local communities and to tolerate ambiguity in order to develop cultural awareness and understanding. Avoiding a tourist-based curriculum that has the potential to be ethnocentric and promoting awareness of other cultures involving an appreciation of one’s position in relation to tolerance, diversity, cultural judgment and cultural and social barriers. To achieve this level of knowledge means a deep understanding of one’s own culture is a basic step to study the other ones. Teacher training institutions should be invited to teach cultural and inter-cultural competences with the aim of improving the professional identities to become international teachers.
European citizenship creates new educational challenges in terms of promoting and respecting diversity; education systems are considered, indeed expected, to be a central instrument for facilitating the mutual understanding and respect for this diversity, on both and the individual and cultural level. In order for educators to be able to face these challenges, special attention must be paid to teachers as they are essential components in the eventual education of all future European citizens For teachers to provide effective education for their students, they must be aware of human development within a World context and within intercultural parameters, so that their students will be responsible and informed citizens, capable of living in an ever-connected World. One element for achieving this is through greater international awareness of the educators themselves. Thus the emphasis is on the building of strategic, collaborative international relationships .
All of these changes require new regulations and educational responses for the aforementioned common political space since they must respond to both local, European and international dimensions. The need to develop a democratic and educational framework to accommodate this has meant that the concept of citizenship has become a priority in the political and educational European agenda
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