Difference and Sameness in Schools: Perspectives from the European Anthropology of Education By LauraGilliam, ChristaMarkom (Eds.), New York: Berghahn Books. 2024. 366 pp. £31.95 (eBook). eISBN: 978‐1‐80539‐477‐8
Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: Difference and Sameness in Schools: Perspectives from the European Anthropology of Education, edited by Laura Gilliam & Christa Markom, is a book that comprehensively discusses the dynamics of education in the context of social and cultural diversity.This book provides continuity between policy, curriculum, and structure of education by presenting empirical studies from several countries in Europe.The book's discussion touches on the challenges of diverse cultural, social, and historical backgrounds as well as the centralization efforts undertaken by the state, which have various consequences for the provision of education.The analysis presents micro level student-teacher interactions, meso level curriculum policy and school centricity, and national macro aspects.This book argues that education is not just a transfer of knowledge in the learning process, and the reader is invited to reflect on why such education can reach the community within a certain context.The presentation in this book is very dynamic so that readers can see that different countries will potentially experience different consequences for similar educational events, as well as why historical sociocultural contexts have such an impact on student learning.The book also highlights the importance of teachers' understanding of life outside of school to understand the social and cultural context of students as a basis for designing relevant and effective teaching practices.Through an ethnographic approach, the book seeks to explore in depth the interactions between students and teachers in the classroom by examining the challenges faced by teachers in managing diversity, such as stereotyping, discrimination, and the difficulties in creating equitable policies that respond to the needs of diverse students.The book consists of three parts with 11 interconnected chapters.Section 1 focuses on how education interacts with issues of sociality, identity, and integration in different contexts.Teachers and education systems try to manage differences and similarities in the classroom, such as teachers' adaptation to the needs of diverse students through demarcation processes and involvement in creating neutral environments to overcome social threats, especially in relation to migrant children in a pedagogical context.Chapter 1 describes how the concept of neutrality can be used as the main moral value in Swiss kindergarten to overcome social differences and create a comfortable educational zone that ignores the existing conflict hierarchy in society.Chapter 2 discusses the educational practices in Danish public schools that teach students about moral learning and social differences to create a
DOI: 10.1111/aeq.70001
Authors: Rahmat Siregar, Nuzul Solekhah
Institution: Universitas Gadjah Mada
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407384249