206 Chapter 6 same time, the joint conclusion of the outsider group was that the students lacked confidence because they were not familiar with the context of high diversity and complexity. This lack of confidence was not only related to not being used to the level of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in the classroom but also to the idea that class management in such situation was supposed to be much more complex. According to the outsider group, one of the main lessons was that students should be given the confidence to step into new contexts. What struck the outsider group specifically was the students’ frequent use in their evaluations of the word ‘eye-opener’. P1, on behalf of the outsider group, noted the following: Students said: My eyes were really opened to other situations, prejudices that fell away, appearances that are less important, the great hospitality of parents and the school and the question from students: how do you make it explicit: religious education to non-Christian students, how do you do that? And the surprise of: hey, so Christian education can go hand in hand with meeting and talking with non-Christians; that’s when it comes right out, that’s when there’s respect, when you differ. The same observation was made by the insider group. Based on the students’ experiences, the insider group advocated for a standard acquaintance in the DCU curriculum through outside-the-comfort-zone internships in the second year of teacher training—with the possibility afterwards to elaborate on it in a more optional form during longer and more intensive internships in years three and four. P2, on behalf of the insider group, stated: What struck us from what the students gave back was that they actually all experienced it as very enriching and that they were also enthusiastic, that it also really emerged that they would have to be really strong in order to work in such a school. We talked about how you should prepare for that at the pedagogical academy and what you need then. What exactly is that? Is that more something in terms of identity, that you can stand for that, or is it also in terms of skills as a teacher, with regard to classroom management and professional duties, for example. We talked about how important it is that you, at least, know who you are and how you can, for example, express what you stand for. The evaluation of the experiences and, specifically, of the students’ own evaluations strengthened the conversational community’s resolve concerning the necessity of obliging students to, at least once during their
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw