Learn multicultural responsibility by Global Studies

Citation

Ahamer, G. (2012), "Learn multicultural responsibility by Global Studies", Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, Vol. 6 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/metj.2012.32206daa.001

Learn multicultural responsibility by Global Studies

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, Volume 6, Issue 4

This is the second METJ special issue in a series that comprises several Austrian approaches to multicultural developmental education including its support through technologies.

Already three Austrian universities (Graz, Salzburg, Linz) offer curricula on “Global Studies” (GS) in varying length and depth. Their target is self-responsible education towards global equity and justice along the dynamics of globalising socio-economics, thus responding to a deep societal need. All these curricula – plus the historically older “International Development” (IE) curricula in Vienna are threatened by lacking funds and administrative hurdles.

Both METJ special issues also publish contributions to the 5th Austrian Conference on Development in Krems in October 2011 and show that Global Studies and Multicultural Learning represent cutting-edge contributions to academia responding to core needs of practice extending across all continents (Figure 1). To the understanding of all authors, “responsibility” is the fundament and key notion; “learning” one way out of dilemmas.

In the articles in this special issue, Birgit Habermann et al. show how complexities of (agri)cultural diversity are interwoven into the social fabric of regions and communicating communities using the example of Ethiopia. Margarita Langthaler et al. critically discuss the role and potential of knowledge for development and address inequality, exclusion, and uneven development. Veronika Wittmann contributes to Global Studies in Linz and fosters research into the management of multicultural education regarding gender empowerment in South Africa. A multi-university group of authors united against the background of teacher-learner equity (partly affiliated to Global Studies in Graz and Salzburg) made use of learning technologies to develop a set of questions assessing economic, technological, environmental and socio-cultural impacts of technologies. Johanna Damböck analyses options to act across ethnic, cultural and linguistic boundaries to assess whether these are ethically intact from the perspectives of multicultural and international actors. Ingrid Schwarz provides a case study of innovative practice in curricula analysis designed to educate for economic and developmental competence. A contribution to the theoretical underpinning of technologically enhanced multicultural learning across space and time is attempted in the next article through analysis of historical series of paradigms in geographic thinking and developmental economics.

Figure 1 The “Peter’s projection” maps countries’ sizes according to their real dimensions and thus offers a perspective on our globe facilitating geodetic equity

At first sight, the map in Figure 1 shows a geographic overview of the contributions to this special issue. A second look on the symbolic level shows the multiplicity of viewing angles of the narrated case studies that benefit both from the authors’ immersion in local cultures and their multiparadigmatic standpoints. May readers follow such journeys on their own mental maps!

Gilbert AhamerGuest Editor