Students Thinking About Citizenship in Canada and Russia

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Students Thinking About Citizenship in Canada
and Russia

• Alan Sears
• Faculty of Education
• University of New Brunswick
• Fredericton, NB
• Canada
• asears_at_unb.ca

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The Burgess Shale
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Intelligence Testing
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The Cognitive Revolution

• Individuals do not just react to or perform in
  the world they posses minds and these minds
  contain images, schemes, pictures, frames,
  languages, ideas, and the like.
• Many early representations are extremely
  powerful and prove very difficult to change. . .
  If one wants to educate for genuine
  understanding, then, it is important to identify
  these early representations, appreciate their
  power, and confront them directly and
  repeatedly.
• Howard Gardner

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The Spirit of Democracy

• A few years ago, we witnessed a compelling
  appeal from some Argentinean educators working to
  foster an emerging democratic culture in their
  country. Dont teach us about the structures of
  democracy, they said, we know all about the
  structures of democracy teach us the spirit of
  democracy. Their appeal captured the essence of
  concerns that we had been exploring with our
  colleagues in the Russian Association for Civic
  Education. Thus, was born the organizing idea
  for this project to focus not on sterile
  mechanisms such as how elections are conducted or
  bills passed, but on the ideas and principles
  which underpin them and infuse them with
  vitality to develop an approach which will
  foster the democratic spirit.

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Key Ideas

• Privacy
• The consent of the governed and the right to
  dissent
• Respect for diversity
• Equality/Equity
• Due process
• Fundamental freedoms
• Loyalty
• Responsibility
• The common good

• The goal is to assist students understand the
  ideas to consider their origins and their
  evolution the tensions between and among them
  their relevance in the structuring and
  restructuring of civic life their value in
  molding the principles of how we might live
  together in neighbourhoods, national states and
  the global community.

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The Centrality of Diversity

• In Public Policy Canada is distinctive in the
  extent to which it has not only legislated but
  also constitutionalized practices of
  accommodation. Kymlicka, 2003
• In Education The program of studies emphasizes
  how diversity and differences are assets that
  enrich our lives. Students will have
  opportunities to value diversity, to recognize
  differences as positive attributes and to
  recognize the evolving nature of individual
  identities. Alberta Learning (2003)

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The Russian Context

• Emerging democracy in Russia few democratic
  institutions, weak civil society
• Soviet heritage of submerging ethnic differences
• Desire for recognition/accommodation by ethnic
  groups
• Shortage of trained teachers and good materials
  for teaching democratic civic education

"The Russian Federation has significant ethnic
diversity. Twenty-eight million people belong
to more than 100 different ethnic groups. One
hundred twenty million people identify
themselves as Russians.
One can conclude that modern Russia can be
characterized by growing ethnic tensions and a
lack of critical public discussion of these
tensions and government strategy in the field.
Froumin, 2004
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Diversity Meets Standards

• NCSS standards
• Students will be able to
• Explain and give examples of how language,
  literature, the arts, architecture, other
  artefacts, traditions, beliefs, values, and
  behaviours contribute to the development and
  transmission of culture.
• Articulate the implications of cultural
  diversity, as well as cohesion, within and across
  groups. (p. 79)

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Diversity Meets Standards

• Atlantic Provinces standards
• By the end of grade 6 will be expected to
• Describe the influences that shape personal
  identity
• Identify examples of informal and formal groups
  to which they belong and describe the function of
  those groups
• Use examples of material and non-material
  elements of culture to explain the concept of
  culture
• Discuss why and how stereotyping, discrimination,
  and pressures to conform can emerge and how they
  affect and individual
• Describe how culture is preserved, modified and
  transmitted and
• Describe the multicultural, multiracial and
  multi-ethnic character of Canadian society.

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The Study

• Purpose
• To discover and illustrate the range of
  conceptions about ethnic diversity held by
  students in grades seven and eight in Canada and
  Russia.

• Research Question
• What are childrens conceptions of ethnic
  diversity?

When we actually ask students what they think,
we often find that our premises are in serious
need of revision. Barton and Levstik, 2004
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Subsidiary Questions

• In what ways do children understand ethnic
  diversity?
• Do children make distinctions between different
  ethnic groups in Canada and Russia?
• What are the conceptions that frame these
  distinctions?
• Do their understandings of ethnic diversity
  include conceptions of accommodation?
• Are children open to different levels of
  accommodation for different ethnic groups?
• Do children make distinctions, in terms of rights
  or privileges, between different ethnic groups in
  Canada?

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Phenomenograpy

• Phenomenography is an empirically based
  approach that aims to identify the qualitatively
  different ways in which different people
  experience, perceive, conceptualize and
  understand various kinds of phenomena (Marton,
  1986, 1988).

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Semi Projective Stimuli

• In most cases, the phenomengraphic interview is
  structured around a concept-specific stimulus or
  springboard.
• Sometimes participant produced drawings, written
  responses to stimuli, or dramatizations are used
  in conjunction with interviews.
• The reason for using a stimulus is to provide a
  situation that makes some connection to the
  participants life world.

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Canadian Stimulus 1
These girls were told that they are not allowed
to wear their headscarves in school.
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Canadian Stimulus 2
These boys want to be exempt from their schools
No Hats rule.
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Canadian Stimulus 3
Coach Fired for not Speaking French
A championship basketball coach was fired from an
all-French school near Moncton because he
couldnt speak French. The principal told
reporters that hed rather see the sports
program die than hire an English coach.
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Canadian Stimulus 4
Native-only fishery sparks protest Dozens of
non-natives were charged with illegally fishing
in the Miramichi Bay during a native-only lobster
catch. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans
set aside two days this weekend exclusively for
the Burnt Church band. The policy has pitted
non-native commercial fishermen against native
fishermen for several years.
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Russian Stimulus 1
(Sourcehttp//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/17
51223.stm)
Moldavians protest compulsory Russian in schools
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Russian Stimulus 2
(Source http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/not_in_website
/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/1335632.stm)
Jewish boys celebrate the reopening of a
synagogue in Moscow
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Russian Stimulus 3
(Source http//www.friends-partners.org/oldfriend
s/asebrant/life/2002/apr_2002.html)
(Sourcehttp//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/18
51088.stm)
Orthodox Christians protest a visit by Pope John
Paul II to Ukraine
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Russian Stimulus 4
Top banner reads, Russia for Russians.
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Data Collection

• 44 Canadian students interviewed in one rural
  and one urban setting in New Brunswick.
• 100 Russian interviewed in five locations in
  Western Russia.
• Interviews lasted between 20 60 minutes
• Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed

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Russian Sites
Ryazan
Orel
Samara
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Categories of Description For Canadian Data
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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• A Strong Sense of Our
• Natasha (Moscow) I dont know about these events
  and dont know how many Krishnaites there are in
  Moscow, but I am not against their temple. Only
  not downtown, but somewhere in the outskirts,
  maybe out of town. If their faith is strong, they
  would go far. Although I understand the feelings
  of Orthodox believers. Not all of our churches
  have been restored, and here we have Krishnaites.
  Where do they come from? If from India, they
  could make a praying house on the territory of
  their Embassy, and if they are Russians they
  dont need such religion. No, tomorrow the
  Chinese would like some kind of pagoda, and the
  Vietnamese. No. Jews have lived for a long time
  in Russia, and Muslims too. Let their temples be
  here, but we dont need others.
• Teacher But you yourself spoke about freedom of
  faith, how to forbid then?
• Natasha Nothing should be forbidden, but it is
  not possible to build temples for all those who
  want.
• Teacher Why?
• Natasha Its not in our tradition. There are
  three world religions, let there be temples for
  those three religions, we dont need others. Or
  if some people want it, then somewhere far.

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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Knowledge Confused and Superficial
• Alexy (Orel) Knows that Muslims regard the Koran
  as a sacred book then says, I know less about
  Buddhism than Islam. I know they profess the God
  Buddha. This is the faith of India. This God is
  pictured with an elephant head and horns.
• Natasha (Orel) When asked what characterizes
  Islam They believe in Allah, they read the
  Koran.
• Dimitry (Orel) Muslims have a big lent.

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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Knowledge Confused and Superficial
• Food, Fun and Festivals
• Irina (Orel) Asked about traditions of the
  peoples who live in Russia They celebrate
  different holidays probably.
• Tatiana (Kinel-Cherkassy) I like to socialize
  with Armenians. They are merry, I am never bored
  with them. I like to visit them when they
  make pilaf.
• Ludmilla (Moscow) Asked how Tartars might be
  different from Russians, They have more carpets
  in their apartments.
• Peter (Moscow) Every people has its pluses and
  minuses. The Japanese, for example, make cars
  better than anyone else in the world the
  Georgians sing wonderfully.
• On Shrovetide People make pancakes.

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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Hostility to Accommodation
• Marina (Kinel-Cherkassy) Every country has one
  nationality.
• Victoria (Moscow) Asked about a Russian speaker
  born and brought up in Moldova where Russian has
  been an official language He should learn the
  Moldavian language or He can emigrate
• Natasha (Moscow) I am sorry for my own
  language, but Moldova is an independent state.
  They have their own language, why should they
  need Russian? Let them study Moldovan. She
  goes on to argue that Russian is the language of
  great artists and thinkers and says, If they
  (Moldavians) want to be culturally backward, let
  them be so.

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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Hostility to Accommodation
• Ludmilla (Ryzan) When a Russian person comes to
  another country, he feels like a guest there and
  if they come here they feel like hosts. . . .
  If he came as a quest, he is not a citizen of
  this country. He should live like a guest, be
  modest.
• Peter (Moscow) The majority of people are
  Orthodox, so the country is Orthodox too.
• Teacher And should other religions have the
  same rights as the Orthodox Church?
• No, they can believe, they have this right, but
  there are more Orthodox believers here, their
  interests are more important for the country . .
  . I am not against it. I dont impose my faith
  on them, but I dont want to have in my city more
  mosques than churches.
• Yuri (Orel) Asked if Russian should allow
  immigrants, Yes, but not too many of them.

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Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Hostility to Overt Intolerance
• Gregori (Moscow) I live by a code and one
  provision in it says not to respect neo-fascists
  and to fight with them.
• When asked what the state could do about
  neo-fascists, It can forbid fascist parities.
  For instance the Radical National Party. It
  takes roots in fascism. During the Second World
  War there were Hitlerjugend teams in Berlin. So
  the radical national party just took the idea.

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Other Emerging Categories from Russian Data

• Ethnic conflicts exist elsewhere in space and
  time are expressed in large scale conflicts
  Chechnya insurgency, Catholic and Protestant
  conflicts in middle ages.
• Diversity is intellectually and socially
  interesting.
• Separation of Islam and the bandits who
  perpetrate terrorism.
• Ethnic differences are superficial and conflict
  should be easy to resolve.
• The root of cohesion/conflict lies with
  individuals not groups.

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Concerns

• Ignorance
• Diversity as Foreign
• Hostility to Diversity and Accommodation

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Approaches to Accommodation

• Passive accommodation if it doesnt cost me/us
  anything
• Pragmatic accommodation if I/we can avoid a
  fight
• Principled accommodation flowing from some
  sense of principles or rights

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Conclusion Early Maps
Peck, Carla, Sears, Alan Donaldson, Shanell
(2008). Unreached and Unreachable? Curriculum
Standards and Children's Understanding of Ethnic
Diversity in Canada. Curriculum Inquiry, 38, 1,
63-92. Peck, Carla Sears, Alan (2005).
Uncharted Territory Mapping Students
Conceptions of Ethnic Diversity. Canadian Ethnic
Studies, XXXVII, 1, 101-120. Sears, Alan,
Voskresenskaya, Natalia, et al. Nurturing the
Spirit of Democracy in Russia and Canada A
Collaboration in Civic Education. Presented at
the Annual Meeting of the American Educational
Research Association, San Diego, California,
April 12-16, 2004