7 feb 2023 – Pauline Slot – Cultural Diversity
Superdiversity in the Netherlands
- 26% of population of foreign origin. Almost 90% of population growth result of international
migration. 3 largest cities > 50%
- Turkey, Morocco, Surinam, Indonesia, Dutch Caribbean
- Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia,
Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia labour & education, family migration
- Refugees
Other types of diversity:
- Rural vs urban
- Religious vs non-religious
- Family composition
Single parent, nuclear, extended family
Heterosexual vs homosexual
All different types of diversity provide different settings for children, different view for parents about
parenting & childrearing. No longer a majority/minority because of the diversity.
Most behavioral science based on WEIRD samples (western, educated, industrialized, rich,
democratic). Assumption of generalization to humanity… possible outliers? What is universal and
what is culturally specific? what is culture?
Vélez-Agosto
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective
- Individual and cultural processes as separate entities
- Culture as the ‘macro layer’ culture as an external influence
Vygotksy & Weisner
- Culture as system in which every human activity is realized and eventually internalized
(internalization process)
- As people, we experience culture as something outside of us, but eventually we internalize it.
- Transactional (bidirectional over time) and contextual
New model:
- Culture as everchanging system consisting of practices of social communities and the
interpretation of these practices through language
- Culture as inherently part of all settings (proximal and distal)
- Importance of daily, cultural practices
Rogoff
- Culture involves the ways of life, including their ways of thinking and orienting, of
generations of people in communities that are shared among members of the community
and in which individuals engage and which individuals contribute to maintaining and
modifying
- Culture is shaped by individuals and vice versa culture shapes individuals’ lives
- Studying the lives experiences of children
Individualistic and relational cultural orientations
Individualistic orientation
- Individual development, independence, and autonomy
Relational orientation
- Relations with others, interdependence loyalty
,But, major risk of oversimplification (stigmatization)
- Also, influence of migration, globalization, and social media
Berns
Main theoretical framework: Developmental niche (Super & Harkness)
- combining insights from developmental psychology and
anthropology
- Three components of a system aimed at homeostatis;
change in one of the components affects the others as well
1. Physical and social settings (setting – fysieke en sociale omgeving)
- Physical aspects of the settings (housing arrangements, family structure, available materials
and toys, neighborhood (danger))
- Social aspects (relations with family members (adults & children) & significant others,
parental roles & gender roles)
2. Customs & practices (opvoedpraktijken – vanuit visie handelen in praktijk)
- What do parents do? Actual behavior (sleeping arrangements (own room or with others?),
social traditions)
3. Parental ethnotheories (opvoedvisies – bepaalde waarden/ideeën die je hebt over
opvoeding)
- Parental beliefs (‘metaphor’) about children and processes of development and education
- Beliefs about milestones or ‘developmental timetables’
- Socialization goals, cultural values
- Beliefs on effective parenting
Dutch & American culture – sleeping (Harkness & Super, 2006)
Beliefs & practices of Dutch and American parents.
Dutch infants slept on average 2 hours more per day than
American infants at age 6 months.
Dutch & American culture – development
More focus on child development (American more).
Actively stimulate child development (American more). American
kids seem to bit a bit ‘earlier’ with things like crawling, walking etc,
following a few studies.
Each child develops at its own pace (Dutch).
,14 feb 2023 - Semiha Sözeri – Cultural identity
development
Erikson’s psycho-social theory of development
- Lifespan = divided into 8 stages of development, from birth to death
- Each stage has a crisis/tension that needs to be resolved and that resolution affects the next
stage
- How the challenge of each stage is solved impacts personality and identity development
- Erikson: the first to recognize the role of social context in identity development. Coined the
term ‘identity crisis’.
Identification in childhood (6-11)
- Children start recognize themselves as a separate being from their parents
- Copying (identifying with) characteristics of their parents or other significant adults
- Ends when the children experience a desire for uniqueness and greater differentiation from
their parents.
Identity formation during adolescence (12-24)
- Search for a self-categorization and existential purpose in the world/role in society
- Very important for the development of a sense of well-being, sense of belonging (to a place,
group, one’s body), and for a sense of direction in life
- Identity crisis in this stage: sense of loss and confusion; the importance of having outlets of
expression
Identity development in adulthood (25+)
- Shift of focus from identity concerns towards intimacy issues and bonds with others
- New life events and experiences can still have impact on identity development (bv migration,
having children, coming out)
- Mid-life crises & identity development: related to examination and evaluation of one’s life
path, and changing values & norms.
Intersectionalities in identity development
- Experiences in both documentaries:
1. Mensen hebben vooroordelen over bepaalde huidskleuren
2. Man is homoseksueel
- How are those experiences related do identity development of the people telling their story:
Beiden voelen zich niet veilig en moeten leren omgaan met het hebben van een donkere
huiskleur of het homoseksueel zijn.
Gevoel verantwoordelijk te zijn voor andere leden van de groep, laten zien dat het niet erg is.
Different uses of the term ‘identity’
Brubaker & Coopers’s critique: categories of practice and categories of analysis are often being
conflated (mixed).
Hard/strong/essentialist understandings of identity:
- Group members share fundamental characteristics with each other: sameness over persons
and sameness over time. Ignores (part of) diversity existing between group members. People
are bound by each other for what they do (bv all the Dutch, all the Turkish)
- High homogeneity of group members, strong boundaries with other groups.
- Reflect the everyday meaning of the term (i.e. in categories of practice).
Soft/weak/constructivist understandings of identity:
, - Identities of people belonging to the same group may vary over time, over contexts and even
from one group member to the other. (Nederlander in Nederland is anders dan Nederlander
in Suriname)
- Often used in theoretical discussions over the term (i.e. in categories of analyses).
Brubaker & Cooper’s critique:
- Due to tension and in some cases, contradiction between the different uses of the term
‘identity’ and due to a focus on identity as a condition rather than a process:
Three interconnected alternatives:
1. Identification & categorization: who are the agents who do the identifying and the
categorization?
Self-identification vs identification by others: does not always match.
What are the implications of a mismatch for identity development?
The state as a powerful identifier (and a gate-keeper). (wie is er wel/niet Nederlands? Bv
mensen met Marokkaans paspoort blijven altijd Marokkaans)
2. Self-understanding & social location
Less explicitly articulated than self-identification; with a higher emotional & cognitive
undertone.
One’s understanding of who they are changes per social location. Implies ‘situated
subjectivity’.
3. Commonality, connectedness, groupness
‘The emotionally laden sense of belonging to a distinctive, bounded group, involving both a
felt solidarity of oneness with fellow group members and a felt difference from or even
antipathy to specified outsiders.’ (p. 19)
Identity negotiation of Turkish-Dutch mosque students
Based on fieldwork in the mosque classrooms of the two largest Turkish Islamic communities in NL.
Observing how learning happens & interviews (students 6-16, focusing on their self-identification and
sense of belonging).
The development of reactive identification
- Exposure to public discourses of fear, experiences with discrimination and exclusion trigger
the development of reactive identification as a defense mechanism and a coping strategy.
- Risk of academic disengagement and disengagement with boundary crossing interactions.
- More attention is needed for the protective role that can be played by schoolteachers,
mosque educators and other pedagogic stakeholders.
21 feb 2023 – Pauline Slot – Multicultural society
Acculturation theory:
- Psychological well-being, educational aspirations, school effort and adjustment.
Multicultural society in research (examples):
- Multiculturality in (pre)schools: selection processes
- Another perspective on classroom quality
Acculturation: Process of social, psychological and cultural change stemming from the encounter
between two (or more) cultures. People adopt, acquire and adjust to a new cultural environment as
a result of moving into a new culture.
In a broad sense, so also when moving from the city to the countryside, moving into a highly religious
community and moving to another country.
2 or more cultures, different than the culture people grew up in. Ongoing process.
Superdiversity in the Netherlands
- 26% of population of foreign origin. Almost 90% of population growth result of international
migration. 3 largest cities > 50%
- Turkey, Morocco, Surinam, Indonesia, Dutch Caribbean
- Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia,
Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia labour & education, family migration
- Refugees
Other types of diversity:
- Rural vs urban
- Religious vs non-religious
- Family composition
Single parent, nuclear, extended family
Heterosexual vs homosexual
All different types of diversity provide different settings for children, different view for parents about
parenting & childrearing. No longer a majority/minority because of the diversity.
Most behavioral science based on WEIRD samples (western, educated, industrialized, rich,
democratic). Assumption of generalization to humanity… possible outliers? What is universal and
what is culturally specific? what is culture?
Vélez-Agosto
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective
- Individual and cultural processes as separate entities
- Culture as the ‘macro layer’ culture as an external influence
Vygotksy & Weisner
- Culture as system in which every human activity is realized and eventually internalized
(internalization process)
- As people, we experience culture as something outside of us, but eventually we internalize it.
- Transactional (bidirectional over time) and contextual
New model:
- Culture as everchanging system consisting of practices of social communities and the
interpretation of these practices through language
- Culture as inherently part of all settings (proximal and distal)
- Importance of daily, cultural practices
Rogoff
- Culture involves the ways of life, including their ways of thinking and orienting, of
generations of people in communities that are shared among members of the community
and in which individuals engage and which individuals contribute to maintaining and
modifying
- Culture is shaped by individuals and vice versa culture shapes individuals’ lives
- Studying the lives experiences of children
Individualistic and relational cultural orientations
Individualistic orientation
- Individual development, independence, and autonomy
Relational orientation
- Relations with others, interdependence loyalty
,But, major risk of oversimplification (stigmatization)
- Also, influence of migration, globalization, and social media
Berns
Main theoretical framework: Developmental niche (Super & Harkness)
- combining insights from developmental psychology and
anthropology
- Three components of a system aimed at homeostatis;
change in one of the components affects the others as well
1. Physical and social settings (setting – fysieke en sociale omgeving)
- Physical aspects of the settings (housing arrangements, family structure, available materials
and toys, neighborhood (danger))
- Social aspects (relations with family members (adults & children) & significant others,
parental roles & gender roles)
2. Customs & practices (opvoedpraktijken – vanuit visie handelen in praktijk)
- What do parents do? Actual behavior (sleeping arrangements (own room or with others?),
social traditions)
3. Parental ethnotheories (opvoedvisies – bepaalde waarden/ideeën die je hebt over
opvoeding)
- Parental beliefs (‘metaphor’) about children and processes of development and education
- Beliefs about milestones or ‘developmental timetables’
- Socialization goals, cultural values
- Beliefs on effective parenting
Dutch & American culture – sleeping (Harkness & Super, 2006)
Beliefs & practices of Dutch and American parents.
Dutch infants slept on average 2 hours more per day than
American infants at age 6 months.
Dutch & American culture – development
More focus on child development (American more).
Actively stimulate child development (American more). American
kids seem to bit a bit ‘earlier’ with things like crawling, walking etc,
following a few studies.
Each child develops at its own pace (Dutch).
,14 feb 2023 - Semiha Sözeri – Cultural identity
development
Erikson’s psycho-social theory of development
- Lifespan = divided into 8 stages of development, from birth to death
- Each stage has a crisis/tension that needs to be resolved and that resolution affects the next
stage
- How the challenge of each stage is solved impacts personality and identity development
- Erikson: the first to recognize the role of social context in identity development. Coined the
term ‘identity crisis’.
Identification in childhood (6-11)
- Children start recognize themselves as a separate being from their parents
- Copying (identifying with) characteristics of their parents or other significant adults
- Ends when the children experience a desire for uniqueness and greater differentiation from
their parents.
Identity formation during adolescence (12-24)
- Search for a self-categorization and existential purpose in the world/role in society
- Very important for the development of a sense of well-being, sense of belonging (to a place,
group, one’s body), and for a sense of direction in life
- Identity crisis in this stage: sense of loss and confusion; the importance of having outlets of
expression
Identity development in adulthood (25+)
- Shift of focus from identity concerns towards intimacy issues and bonds with others
- New life events and experiences can still have impact on identity development (bv migration,
having children, coming out)
- Mid-life crises & identity development: related to examination and evaluation of one’s life
path, and changing values & norms.
Intersectionalities in identity development
- Experiences in both documentaries:
1. Mensen hebben vooroordelen over bepaalde huidskleuren
2. Man is homoseksueel
- How are those experiences related do identity development of the people telling their story:
Beiden voelen zich niet veilig en moeten leren omgaan met het hebben van een donkere
huiskleur of het homoseksueel zijn.
Gevoel verantwoordelijk te zijn voor andere leden van de groep, laten zien dat het niet erg is.
Different uses of the term ‘identity’
Brubaker & Coopers’s critique: categories of practice and categories of analysis are often being
conflated (mixed).
Hard/strong/essentialist understandings of identity:
- Group members share fundamental characteristics with each other: sameness over persons
and sameness over time. Ignores (part of) diversity existing between group members. People
are bound by each other for what they do (bv all the Dutch, all the Turkish)
- High homogeneity of group members, strong boundaries with other groups.
- Reflect the everyday meaning of the term (i.e. in categories of practice).
Soft/weak/constructivist understandings of identity:
, - Identities of people belonging to the same group may vary over time, over contexts and even
from one group member to the other. (Nederlander in Nederland is anders dan Nederlander
in Suriname)
- Often used in theoretical discussions over the term (i.e. in categories of analyses).
Brubaker & Cooper’s critique:
- Due to tension and in some cases, contradiction between the different uses of the term
‘identity’ and due to a focus on identity as a condition rather than a process:
Three interconnected alternatives:
1. Identification & categorization: who are the agents who do the identifying and the
categorization?
Self-identification vs identification by others: does not always match.
What are the implications of a mismatch for identity development?
The state as a powerful identifier (and a gate-keeper). (wie is er wel/niet Nederlands? Bv
mensen met Marokkaans paspoort blijven altijd Marokkaans)
2. Self-understanding & social location
Less explicitly articulated than self-identification; with a higher emotional & cognitive
undertone.
One’s understanding of who they are changes per social location. Implies ‘situated
subjectivity’.
3. Commonality, connectedness, groupness
‘The emotionally laden sense of belonging to a distinctive, bounded group, involving both a
felt solidarity of oneness with fellow group members and a felt difference from or even
antipathy to specified outsiders.’ (p. 19)
Identity negotiation of Turkish-Dutch mosque students
Based on fieldwork in the mosque classrooms of the two largest Turkish Islamic communities in NL.
Observing how learning happens & interviews (students 6-16, focusing on their self-identification and
sense of belonging).
The development of reactive identification
- Exposure to public discourses of fear, experiences with discrimination and exclusion trigger
the development of reactive identification as a defense mechanism and a coping strategy.
- Risk of academic disengagement and disengagement with boundary crossing interactions.
- More attention is needed for the protective role that can be played by schoolteachers,
mosque educators and other pedagogic stakeholders.
21 feb 2023 – Pauline Slot – Multicultural society
Acculturation theory:
- Psychological well-being, educational aspirations, school effort and adjustment.
Multicultural society in research (examples):
- Multiculturality in (pre)schools: selection processes
- Another perspective on classroom quality
Acculturation: Process of social, psychological and cultural change stemming from the encounter
between two (or more) cultures. People adopt, acquire and adjust to a new cultural environment as
a result of moving into a new culture.
In a broad sense, so also when moving from the city to the countryside, moving into a highly religious
community and moving to another country.
2 or more cultures, different than the culture people grew up in. Ongoing process.
