At the Mini-symposium dedicated to the Erasmus+ project CRELES (Culturally Responsive Leadership and Evaluation in Schools) the members of the international consortium of researchers from Ireland, Austria, Spain and Russia discussed the issue of cultural responsivity and inclusiveness in education, as well as the challenges and supports of promoting the concept of culturally responsive leadership in schools.
Martin Brown (Dublin City University) presented the project outline and context, Herbert Altrichter (Johannes Kepler University Linz) and Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger (University of Innsbruck) explained the conceptual framework underlying the project, while Daria Milyaeva and Natalia Ageeva (Moscow City University) shared the findings of the comparative study that included an in-depth statistical analysis of the data obtained through a cross-country survey of schools leaders’ attitudes.
The presentations were followed by an insightful discussion which was joined by Joe O’Hara, Sarah Gardezi (Dublin City University) and Igor Shiyan (Moscow City University). The researchers pointed out the fact that cultural responsivity is often perceived by educators as being responsive to the dominant culture, while the concept of diversity incorporating such aspects as multilingualism, ethnic and religious diversity is only partially covered by the school curriculum.