A Theoretical and Discursive Framing of Multiculturalism and Global Citizenship Education in the Canadian Context
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RELATED AND CONFLATED: A THEORETICAL AND DISCURSIVE FRAMING OF MULTICULTURALISM AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN THE CANADIAN CONTEXT by Karen Pashby A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Karen Pashby 2013 RELATED AND CONFLATED: A THEORETICAL AND DISCURSIVE FRAMING OF MULTICULTURALISM AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN THE CANADIAN CONTEXT Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Karen Pashby Graduate Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education University of Toronto Abstract There is a public perception that Canada is an ideal place for cultivating global citizenship because of its culturally plural demographics and official policies of multiculturalism. Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a growing field in Canadian education and is an explicit focus in the Alberta social studies curriculum. This thesis brings together four conversations within which multiculturalism and GCE are both related and conflated: (a) the public perceptions of Canada as a model of cultural diversity and global citizenship, (b) the scholarly discussions of GCE and multiculturalism, (c) the policy context where multiculturalism is set alongside GCE, and (d) the practical ways that the two are mutually related in curriculum and lesson documents. There are four interrelated sections to this thesis; each identifies the tensions inherent to multiculturalism, GCE, and the perceived relationship between these fields. First is a wider philosophical and theoretical framing of the topic. Second is the examination of educational research on the topic. Third is a critical discourse analysis of policy, curriculum, and lesson plan documents in the province of Alberta. Last is a synthesis of the findings from all three sections. The analysis finds that there are philosophical and ideological tensions inherent to both fields and to the relationships between them. This contributes to conceptual and ideological conflation and confusion. This finding raises some important concerns in terms of ii possibilities and constraints to thinking about cultural diversity and social inequities in new ways. It highlights how multicultural contexts of GCE can lead to the recreation of tensions, conflation, and ambiguity. However, the Alberta context demonstrates that a multicultural context can also open critical spaces and possibilities for GCE through engagements with tensions and complexities. Thus this thesis contributes theoretically, by presenting a framework and perspective for interrogating and critically inquiring into the relationship between the two fields. It also contributes to the policy and curriculum discussions in educational research and practice by highlighting the importance of foregrounding key tensions inherent to each field and by identifying the potential negative consequences of leaving these tensions implicit. iii Acknowledgements I would like to dedicate this thesis to my mother, Elizabeth Pashby, who passed away during the course of its writing. She was a high school English, History, Law, and Business teacher and was Head of Guidance at East York Collegiate. She was a committed educator who brought out the best in students while helping them to navigate and overcome the barriers they faced including being newcomers to Canada. She inspired me as a person and as an educator and was the most significant person in my life. I would also like to dedicate this thesis to my grandfather Dr. Thomas Pashby who passed away just as I started my doctoral studies. He always dreamed of having a grandchild graduate as a doctor from the University of Toronto. Although, I don’t think a PhD in education was exactly what he intended, it is as a result of his generosity and guidance that I started this journey. In his final days, he advised me to have a mission in life and to follow what I believe in. This thesis is based in my principles of equity and inclusion and in working to better the world by interrogating our good intentions, making assumptions evident, and engaging with tensions towards, as Andreotti (2010b) would say, thinking otherwise. I would like to acknowledge the love, support, and generosity of my father, Bill. Thanks also to my sister Kath and her husband Dan for many warm cooked meals and enormous moral support, and to their daughters Grace and Maeve for always being impressed that I was “still working on my book” and for being the most fun distractions. Thanks to my sister Christie for keeping me calm and believing in me. Thank you to my Aunt Janie for always having a Kim Crawford Sauvingon Blanc and supportive ear on hand. I would also like to acknowledge my personal therapist, strategist, editor, and kindred spirit Erin Irish. Thanks to my partner in initial teacher education, Jill Goodreau for supporting my work and my growth as an educator. Thanks so much to my thesis support group Leigh-Anne Ingram and Mary Drinkwater. I could never have gotten through this without you. I would like to acknowledge the support of my supervisor Reva Joshee for the time, meals, and travels, and for bringing out “the Pashby” in my work. Thank you very much to John Portelli and Mark Evans for their patience and support when life circumstances caused a slowdown in my productivity. I would also like to make a special acknowledgment of Vanessa de Oliveira (Andreotti) for her personal moral support and mentorship and for inspiring me with her brilliant work. iv Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iv Chapter One Global Citizenship Education in a Multicultural Context ....................................1 Context: Multiculturalism and Global Citizenship Education: Parallel Imaginaries ................................................................................................................4 Background to the Problem: The Parallel Histories of Multicultural and Global Citizenship Education in Canada ...................................................6 Global Citizenship Education in Alberta: A Complex Political Context ..............................................................................................16 Breakdown of Research Questions ......................................................................................19 Organization of the Thesis ...................................................................................................20 Chapter Two Locating the Research and the Researcher: Theoretical and Praxis Context ................................................................................................24 Situated Philosophy and the Discursive Turn: Theorizing From the Pivot-Point ..........................................................................................28 Applying the Discursive Turn to Education: Praxis .............................................................36 Chapter Three Imagined Communities and the Modern Citizenship Dynamic .......................41 Unpacking the Metanarrative From the Pivot-Point: The Imagined Nation ............................................................................................................42 Tensions Inherent to the Nation: Paradoxes of History (new and old) and Spatial Construction (includes and excludes) ......................................................................44 Historicity and the Situated Context of the Imagined Nation: National Citizenship and the Enlightenment Dynamic ........................................................45 Historical Materialism and Nationhood’s Complicity with Colonialism: Spatial Dimensions of Political Community ........................................................................48 Contestations of Citizenship and the Expansion of Rights ..................................................51 Liberalism and the Extension of Rights: Broadening the Imagined Community .................................................................................54 Contemporary Theorizing of Citizenship .............................................................................58 Identity Politics in Canada: Culture as a Discursive Field ...................................................62 v Contestations of the Spatial Dimensions of Citizenship: Globalization as a Discursive Field ......................................................................................64 Chapter Four Citizenship and Globalization: The Global Imperative and the Cosmopolitan Turn ................................................................67 Citizenship in the Cosmopolitan Turn: Mediating the National and the Global ................................................................................69 Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism and Historicity: The Paradox of Modernity ...................................................................................................71 Categories of Cosmopolitanism: Liberal Versus Universal Theories ..................................73 Will Kymlicka: Group-Differentiated Rights, Interculturalism, and Domestic Versus Cosmopolitan Versions of Multiculturalism .......................................74 Martha Nussbaum: Universalist Cosmopolitanism and