Fostering Multiculturalism in Higher Education : A case study of university teacher’s perception and pedagogical strategies for fostering multicultural education in Sweden

Abstract: Education should empower all students to attain their maximum potentials as learners. Equally, it makes them socially acquainted and dynamic people in local, national, and international situations. Multicultural education (MCE) emphasizes the essential need to set up institutions to promote the transformation of society in general and the elimination of misconceptions, prejudice, oppression, and injustice. This study analyses university teachers’ perceptions of and pedagogical strategies for fostering multicultural education in Swedish higher education as well as how individual teachers’ backgrounds and views influence their strategies of fostering MCE in Sweden. It embraces a qualitative research method and a case study design in attempting to answer how and what research questions. The concepts of education, culture, multiculturalism and race are examined and used to offer insights to the whole study. The theory of globalization and social justice theory have been utilized in this investigation to ground and control the research process. The findings of this study show an important pedagogical tool in teaching students of different backgrounds. However, teachers face a range of challenges on strategies of implementation, which is mainly their insufficient knowledge about what MCE actually is.