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The purpose of this research is to explore how immigrant library users view Auckland Libraries as a multicultural bridge in New Zealand. The research explored the various factors keeping different cultures apart in the New Zealand socio cultural systems and to find out the gaps in the provision of multicultural services in Auckland public libraries. The study also discusses the specific roles Auckland public libraries play in the development of multiculturalism in New Zealand from the perspective of immigrant users.

The study uses a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 participants including five library staff members and ten users of the Auckland library. Thematic analysis (qualitative data analysis, where data is grouped into themes) was used for data analysis.

Participants perceive that the Auckland Library had an advantage over other citizen service institutions in the development and services of multiculturalism in New Zealand. The participants understand that language, cultural background, beliefs and values are some of the causes of gaps between different ethnic groups, and only by learning from each other can groups enhance mutual understanding between them. The services and programs Auckland Library offer to immigrant enable various interactions among different cultural groups and enhance learning from one another to facilitate their integration into the New Zealand society. The findings show that Auckland public libraries have some gaps in multicultural services. In particular, there are more than 200 different ethnicities in Auckland, but the Auckland library's website does not have the function of a multilingual search tab service, lacks a multicultural book collection and some of the existing collections of books are of low quality, low literary value and so on. The study suggests that these issues need to be improved.

This was small-scale research involving the perspectives of only 15 participants. Nevertheless, the findings provide constructive insight into the development of multicultural services in Auckland libraries that can serve as a useful basis for a broader exploration of more immigrant groups in Auckland and New Zealand as a whole.

The results of this research will provide valuable information for the Auckland libraries to have a better plan for multicultural services in the future. The findings will also serve as a reference for improving multicultural services in the Auckland libraries.

Although other studies have looked at immigrants’ behavior and perception on various issues in New Zealand, this study is the first to look at how different immigrant groups percept Auckland libraries as a multicultural bridge to help integrate them.

Bridging education programs have been developed to enhance the ability of internationally educated professionals (IEPs) to access professional employment in Canada. IEPs are professionals who received their original training outside of Canada. Bridging education programs consist of specialized courses, offered by higher education institutions, focusing on skill and knowledge upgrading in preparation for meeting professional licensure requirements. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the preferred learning styles of IEPs enrolled in nursing, pharmacy and teacher programs.Design/methodology – This survey research assessed the learning styles/preferences and degree of self‐directed readiness of IEPs enrolled in three different Ontario bridging education programs: pharmacists, nurses and teachers. These professions represent some of the largest regulated professions in Canada. Three professions were selected for this study because they have similar regulatory procedures for candidates seeking licensure. These programs were situated within higher education institutions. Adult immigrant students participated by completing Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and Guglielmino's Self‐Directedness Scale.

The most significant finding of this research is that all three professions were found in the divergent quadrant of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. The learner with a divergent style of learning prefers observation rather than action and is able to view concrete situations from multiple perspectives. These learners value concrete experience and reflective observation, suggesting that they tend to consider a situation from differing perspectives. This finding suggests that being a recent adult immigrant has a stronger effect upon preferred style of learning in bridging education than profession‐specific factors. IEPs are also illustrated to be highly self‐directed learners.

The generalizability of these results must be treated with caution due to the small sample size. Several factors influenced the results such as difficulties in accruing a larger and more representative sample.

Currently, substantial funding is provided for bridging education in Canada. There is little research being conducted on the effectiveness of this type of higher education from the perspective of learning processes. More research is needed to enhance the ability of IEPs to succeed in these programs. Ultimately, it can improve new immigrant professionals' success in the labor market.

Research on bridging education is still in its infancy and there is little research evidence to guide the development of effective programs. Some research indicates that bridging education programs are useful for providing profession‐specific language training and orientation to the Canadian workplace. If the preferred learning styles of immigrant professionals can be identified, more effective courses for immigrant learners can be developed. Educators can create increased academic success and improved employment outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values in Islamic education, particularly within the context of pesantren, and to understand its implications for educational practices and outcomes.

This study adopts a qualitative research approach, using literature review and analysis of empirical data to explore the intersection of entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values in Islamic education. It incorporates findings from multiple sources, including scholarly articles, books and empirical studies, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

The findings reveal that the integration of entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values in Islamic education empowers students economically, fosters innovation in teaching methods and promotes character development and business ethics. Moreover, it emphasizes appreciation for diversity, cross-cultural collaboration and social responsibility within the educational context. This integration creates an inclusive learning environment conducive to the development of entrepreneurial skills, innovation and ethical leadership.

Generalizability: the findings of this study may be limited in their generalizability due to the focus on specific multicultural Islamic educational institutions, potentially limiting the applicability of the results to broader educational contexts. Sample size and diversity: the study’s sample size and diversity may impact the representativeness of the findings. Future research could aim for larger and more diverse samples to enhance the robustness of the results. Methodological constraints: the reliance on certain research methods, such as surveys and interviews, may introduce biases or limitations in data collection. Researchers should consider using a variety of methodologies to triangulate findings and ensure comprehensive understanding. Time constraints: the study’s timeframe may have constrained the depth of analysis and limited the exploration of the long-term effects of entrepreneurship education on student development. Future research could adopt longitudinal approaches to address this limitation. Cultural context: the findings are contextualized within the cultural and educational landscape of multicultural Islamic institutions, which may limit their transferability to other cultural or religious contexts. Researchers should consider examining similar phenomena in diverse cultural settings. Resource constraints: resource limitations may have impacted the scope and depth of the research. Future studies could seek additional resources to conduct more extensive investigations and analyses. Bias and subjectivity: despite efforts to minimize bias, researchers’ subjectivity and potential biases in data interpretation and analysis cannot be entirely eliminated. Researchers should acknowledge and address their own biases transparently. Ethical considerations: the study may have encountered ethical challenges related to participant consent, confidentiality and cultural sensitivity. Future research should prioritize ethical guidelines and considerations to ensure the protection and well-being of participants. Addressing these limitations in future research endeavors can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the role and impact of entrepreneurship education in multicultural Islamic educational settings.

Practically, the study informs educational institutions, especially pesantren, about the benefits of integrating entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values into their curriculum and pedagogical approaches. It offers insights into effective strategies for fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and intercultural competence among students.

The integration of entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values in Islamic education has broader societal implications. It cultivates a generation of socially responsible and inclusive leaders capable of addressing global challenges with creativity and empathy. By promoting cultural understanding and collaboration, it contributes to building more harmonious and resilient communities.

This study is original in its comprehensive exploration of the intersection between entrepreneurial spirit and multicultural values in Islamic education, particularly within the context of pesantren. It offers fresh insights into how these dimensions can be integrated synergistically to enhance educational practices and outcomes.

This paper aims to postulate an emerging unified cultural‐convergence framework to converge the delivery of instructional technology and intercultural education (ICE) that extends beyond web‐learning technologies to inculcate inclusive pedagogy in teacher education.

The paper explores the literature and a tech‐infused multicultural learning community to identify what a unified cultural‐convergence theory might consist of and how it could be shaped to align instructional technology and critical ICE in teacher education. Four questions are asked: What key learning do these two disciplines make available to teachers and educators that are essential for today's highly diverse, complex classrooms? What can we draw from a convergence of multiculturalism and global education that will help us derive a new theoretical understanding of a unified cultural‐convergence theory to connect IT and ICE education? What knowledge, skills and dispositions comprise three essential components of this literature synthesis? How can this new unified cultural‐convergence theory and relevant components be taught, practiced, and measured? The paper contains several tables, figures and over 50 sources in the research bibliography that were selected from a review and analysis of 100 documents.

The paper discovered instructional technology and intercultural educators employed web‐learning technologies in very similar ways to position critical ICE strategies into programs or courses in teacher education. The learning technologies models that were attempting to support multicultural education (MCE)/ICE and IT education included corporate, universities, research centers, schools, and government partners. Reportedly, according to the research, teacher educators in IT education do not employ instructional technology practices that differ from practices that are needed or valued by MCE educators to merge critical intercultural structures into teacher education through web‐learning technologies. This was good news as the researcher moves toward a recommendation for a research agenda that could be shared by educators from the two groups.

The paper is limited to literature reviews, reports, and evaluation documents.

The paper offers implications for curriculum development in educational technology and MCE using ICTs

This paper seeks to argue that global change calls for training in intercultural, interdisciplinary and interparadigmatic professional behaviour. Thus a concrete web‐based five‐level training procedure “Surfing global change” (SGC) is to be proposed that includes reflection of game players' own knowledge, views and values. Rules of SGC are to be defined in detail.

Based on a didactic analysis, the design of the negotiation game SGC is a rhythmised sequence of learning content, reviewing colleagues' work, debating competitively and constructing a consensus on a multi‐stakeholder theme. Hereby learners acquire a 360° view of the issue and learn to understand their adversaries.

For two dozens of themes, Surfing global change has successfully been implemented for students of “Global studies” and of “Environmental systems analysis” and other interdisciplinary curricula at several universities.

Practically, one or two dozen students can follow two or more weekly hours during a semester in order to play “Surfing global change”. A wealth of multi‐stakeholder themes can be explored using this gaming procedure moderated by the author. Learners bridge “geographies of perspectives”.

Resilience and employability of students increases with their improved intercultural, interdisciplinary and interparadigmatic skills.

This paper defines the normative set of rules of this original game created by the author. Surfing global change has already attracted international rewards.

Public schools are spaces where capital-T transformation in teachers is needed (Guillory, 2012). To shift schools to places where all communities are valued, teacher education programs must create spaces where shifts in beliefs and practice can occur. This study aims to describe how the use of a social justice curriculum framework impacted teacher candidates by creating such a space.

This is an ethnographic study. Qualitative ethnography is appropriate when “the study of a group provides an understanding of a larger issue” (Creswell, 2015, p. 466). In this case, studying the impact of a social justice framework on the children and teacher candidates in the program allows the researchers to capture the relationships developed during the course of the program and study.

The framework created valuable experiences for both teacher candidates and elementary age participants. Data were collected to determine the impact of the program on all participants. The authors discuss implications for practitioners planning a social justice curriculum and for teacher educators planning field experiences for teacher candidates.

The need for shifting beyond culturally relevant pedagogy has been well documented in the field (Cho, 2017; Guillory, 2012; Paris, 2012). Moving toward – culturally sustaining pedagogy, multicultural social justice curriculum, critically conscious teachers – must be a priority in teacher education (Banks, 2013; Convertino, 2016). This has been explored in other studies, particularly in studies of merging – or emphasizing – multicultural and social justice education and curricula (Cho, 2017; Lawyer, 2018; Sleeter, 2018). What sets this study apart, and what needs further exploration diverse, is how to set up multicultural social justice education projects involving culturally and economically teacher education candidates and students working together (Cammarota, 2016; Lawyer, 2018; Valenzuela, 2016).

The questions that arise from this study make it new in the field. These include how to set up these diverse field experiences, including how to increase recruitment and retention of culturally and economically marginalized students in teacher education programs (Cammarota, 2016; Castaneda, Kambutu and Rios, 2006). These are important questions to consider in designing research and recruitment projects in colleges of teacher education. Exploring how to push multicultural education into multicultural social justice education deserves additional attention and exploration (Cammarota, 2016; Lawyer, 2018; Sleeter, 2018; Valenzuela, 2016).

The article discusses some general features of the dominant discourses of ethnicity and culture, their historical roots and relations to contemporary forms of multiculturalism. It compares different expressions of cultural belonging in European societies taking Sweden as an example. Departing from the complex meaning of culture the problems of essentialism inherent in concepts of culture and ethnicity are discussed. Sweden, as well as other European multiethnic societies, is undergoing a division along ethnic lines. Social inequalities tend to be understood in terms of cultural difference. Culture is usually connected with ethnicity and race and understood as pure, as an “essence,” as related to some original and eternal ethnic core. In this way important aspects of cultural dynamics in the multiethnic society, not least among young people, are left unobserved. What are usually not recognized are cultural crossings and the emergence of composite identities and their relations to social structure.

This article features the achievements of women through four picture book biographies, all of which are National Council for the Social Studies Notable Trade Books for 2011. These notable trade book selections underscore the contributions of four distinct ethnicities, symbolizing the cultural diversity of our nation and its citizens. They draw attention to women who accomplished great things, yet remain unknown and invisible in the historical record. The contributions of these women are highlighted, and developmentally appropriate extension activities are shared to help teachers encourage children to learn more about the lives of women who changed our nation not only during Women’s History Month, but throughout the year. Finally, this article discusses tips for engaging both girls and boys in the study of women’s history.