Abstract This research presents a descriptive study regarding collaborative learning in a multicultural classroom at a vocational education school in The Netherlands. The study bridges two domains of research: research on culturally diverse learning environments - which has mostly concerned primary and general secondary education - and studies on collaborative learning. It analyzes current practices and perceptions of both teachers and students applying collaborative learning in a culturally diverse, competence-based learning environment. The results suggest that in a multicultural classroom, students, on the one hand, are mostly focused on their individual performance, resulting in poor collaboration among classmates. On the other hand, teachers seem unaware of their own role in affecting students' behavior and the influence of the cultural backgrounds of students on collaborative learning processes.
This research presents a descriptive study on regarding the use of a research-based approach by teachers to clarify problems they encountered in multicultural classrooms. It analyses the outcomes of a training in which seven teachers from a Dutch Senior Secondary Vocational Education school participated conducting a research-based approach to explore the current practice of their multicultural classrooms. To determine the learning outcomes semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers with questions matching the domains of change in Clarke and Hollingsworth(2002) Interconnected Model of Teachers Professional Growth. Our main question was to what extent a research-based approach can help teachers to clarify the problems they encountered in their multicultural classrooms. According to the external domain of Clarke and Hollingsworth they become encouraged by sources of information from experts and literature. The teachers did not always have a positive attitude towards all research activities.
Intergroup contexts of classrooms have an influence on mainstream and ethnic belonging of youth of immigrant descent. Based on the normative reference group theory, a higher level of ethic identification is expected in classrooms with a higher proportion of co-ethnic youth and, based on constrict theory, a lower level of mainstream identification is expected in ethnically more diverse classrooms. However, these relations between ethnic composition and cultural belonging may differ between countries due to differences in multicultural policies and colonial histories. Using two waves of data from CILS4EU survey, we conduct a cross-national comparison of the relation between intergroup contexts of classrooms and cultural belonging. The results imply that both theories cannot be generalized across national contexts, and other factors vary as well across countries. Therefore, research and policy in this area should pay more attention to the national context in terms of policies and histories.
