Multicultural Education: Challenges and Opportunities for Participatory Education Research: From Clash of civilisations to Co-creation and Co- determination

Abstract

The paper addresses ways for multicultural education to respond to current social, cultural, political, economic and environmental challenges in increasingly urbanized areas where the divides between rich and poor are widening. Public education needs to address human capacity and capabilities to live sustainably, because current and future generations face the prospect of ‘food deserts’ and increasingly impoverished communities in cities without adequate resources to maintain a decent quality of life. Participatory research needs to facilitate the engagement of policy makers and young people to address food, energy and water security by balancing individual and collective needs in rural and urban areas. Educators and policy researchers need to work together with many stakeholders who can contribute diverse ways of knowing to inform discipline based knowledge and better policy decisions. It will require enabling everyone to feel that they are represented, respected and heard within accountable learning communities, supported by a community of practice. Public Participatory Education in a globalised world needs to build the capacity of people to become leaders in their own right who strive not merely for basic needs but also for social and environmental justice by voicing their concerns strategically at the local and regional level.