Contribution to knowledge

It seems, from this research, that Banks’s (1989) framework is a useful tool to evaluate the range and qualities of multicultural curricula, pedagogy and practices from the viewpoints of teachers and student groups across continents.

It is possible to identify some distinct contributions to knowledge that have come out of this research. This study supports the work on multicultural education, specifically in Sri Lanka, where limited research had been conducted. The findings help to identify the specific areas that might be considered in schools where these are applicable and transferable to their practice. These findings have the potential to help policy makers, principals, teachers, and researchers to know which aspects of multicultural education work well, and which require change.

The review of the literature shows that the language policies in education encourage the acquisition of three languages among students in Sri Lanka. However, research findings show that, overall, the majority of Sinhala students across the five schools have limited language competence in relation to students from other ethnic groups. Therefore, there needs to be serious consideration of how to ensure equity in language competence among all students. At the same time, teachers in these multicultural schools wanted language

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training to build a good intercultural relationship between teachers and students. This same issue did not apply in the school in England where English is the only designated language and support has been given to non-English speaking to minority students to increase their English language skills for many years.

The results have shown that training opportunities for CPD in multicultural education was low. Therefore it is important to consider ways to provide opportunities to multicultural educational training for teachers in both countries.

The research makes clear how extra/co-curricular activities are important to promote social cohesion in Sri Lanka. The key findings indicated that the majority of Sinhala and Tamil students were engaged in the school activities but Muslim students less so. How to increase the participation rate of Muslim students in the co-curricular activities should be considered carefully. In addition, all five schools had a variety of extra-curricular activities that were designed for minority ethnic groups. This is a good example for other multicultural schools in Sri Lanka. The schools in England did not have a variety of extra-curricular activities that were designed for minority ethnic students, so this issue may raise a concern about co-curricular activities for minorities. Schools in both countries perhaps should carry out an audit of whether concerts and special events include all cultures.

Research outcomes also highlight equity issues. For example, there was a perception that rules and regulations were designed to take account of cultural differences in schools in Sri Lanka. Teachers had mixed responses about whether the school rules and regulations were designed to take account of cultural differences in the schools in England, however. This may be because the school had adopted rules that were applicable to all cultures. Schools in both countries allowed students to wear traditional clothes that were important in different cultures, indicating that the schools showed respect to all cultures. Having said that schools might need to consider the balance between cultures and ethnicities when schools assemblies are organised, so that all students’ backgrounds are represented. There were very few racist incidents reported in schools in both countries. Overall it seems that, in these schools with the reputation of good practice in multicultural

education practices were successful in maintaining peaceful interactions between ethnic groups.

The research outcomes indicated that the national policy in both countries of ensuring class textbooks and the curriculum help students understand people from different backgrounds is successful. The research also confirms the implementation of national

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policy guidelines that students from all ethnic groups should be able to study some of their own history in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has three major ethnic groups. Therefore, it is straightforward to include some of the histories in the syllabus. However, in England, the majority of White British students had the opportunity to study some of the history of their own culture but it was not easy to include every student’s cultural history in the school curriculum, especially when numbers were small and the numbers of different ethnic groups were considerable.

This study has indicated that, in these schools at least, there was a feeling among the teachers themselves that they should respect the cultural, racial and ethnic differences of their students and be aware of the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of all students in their classroom in both countries. Most students in the schools in Sri Lanka thought that their teachers knew some expressions in the languages of different students. However, teachers did not necessarily know expressions in the languages used by different students in England. This may be one reason why teachers said they would like the opportunity for further professional development.

The finding that, generally, the majority of teachers in Sri Lanka reported that their peers would like to teach students with the same backgrounds and that teachers with higher level qualifications and training were more likely to say that their peers had no preference for teaching students from the same backgrounds as themselves is an important one. This evidence implies that teachers with training may have more positive attitudes about multicultural education. All teachers reported that their peers were comfortable teaching students with different backgrounds in England.

The issue of whether academic results should be published by ethnic groups is a

contentious one. In Sri Lanka all principals said that they did not have this type of system in order to avoid misunderstandings about ethnic attainment. The Department of

Examinations does not publish examination results according to the different ethnic groups. However, they publish results by language medium. Schools in England had a system for monitoring the progress of all groups of students by ethnicity that was requested by law in an attempt to expose the underperformance of particular groups and highlight where additional resources and effort should be focused to ensure equity. The research has indicated quite a lot of evidence that, in these schools, students are encouraged to engage in peaceful interactions with peers from other cultures. This may be one contributory factor in ensuring that there is little reporting of racism and bullying. Students in both countries were encouraged to eat their lunch together. They often work

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with partners from different ethnic groups or in peer tutoring relationships and with co- operative learning groups in the classroom. Teachers supported this peer group

collaboration by helping students to manage group work and share responsibilities. The research has highlighted a degree of need for training in counselling in multicultural needs. Teachers in Sri Lanka felt that the counselling services did not match students’ academic and social needs. Counsellors and teachers did not have the knowledge and skills required to provide cross-cultural counselling. Therefore, both teachers and counsellors need proper training. In England school counselling services gave support to students’ social and academic needs and they had the skills required for effective cross- cultural counselling. Teachers, however, agreed that they did not have such skills. This might also be an area that requires further consideration.