Facilitating the Construction of Cultural Diversity in Classroom Interactions

This paper focuses on the ways of constructing the cultural meanings
of diversity in classroom interactions, mingling sociological, pedagogical and
linguistic theories. Firstly, it analyzes the meanings of cultural diversity in
theories of intercultural education, the importance of analyzing this education
from a sociological perspective on classroom interaction, and the importance
of facilitation of pupils’ participation and production of narratives in this
interaction. Next, it focuses on sequences of classroom interaction to highlight
the different ways of enhancing the social construction of cultural diversity
through the facilitation of pupils’ participation, with different effects in terms
of their authority in producing knowledge. The analysis focuses on the forms
of facilitation, as social structures enhancing the production of narratives of
cultural diversity in classroom interactions. It shows that, while facilitation is
always based on the same types of actions, these actions may have different
effects on pupils’ participation and production of narratives, depending on the
form of facilitation. On the one hand, facilitation may lead to enhance narratives
of cultural identity, as based on group membership and as presupposition of
intercultural communication. On the other, it may lead to enhance narratives of
cultural diversity as based on pupils’ personal experience and knowledge.