Pilietinė komunikacija ir tarpkultūrinis ugdymas
CIVIC COMMUNICATION AND INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the theoretical and practical problems of intercultural education. The major goals of the article is to present and analyse the results coming from the international, comparative research on effectiveness of the certain methodology for multicultural education. The concepts of “civic communication” as well as “intercultural education” are discussed from sociological (Putnam, 2001; Gidens, 2005; Maþeikis, 2005) and educational (Bitinas, 2004; Gundara, 2000; Podgorecki, 2004) perspectives the first part of the article. And it is shown that civic communication is one of the components of the content and the main actor for intercultural education. The Methodology of the Structured Academic Controversy are presented in the second part of the article as well as the results of the international research on effectiveness of the methodology mentioned above is analysed. The respondents were coming from really multicultural community: 2000 students and 90 teachers from six USA sites and 6 European sites participated in the research (Lithuania, Russia, Checz Republic, Turkmenistan, Estonia, Azerbaijan). Analyses of data did show significant changes in students knowledge and understandings of political processees; in students attitudes towards presenting different opinions; in students behaviours. The results in the article are iliustrated by the comments from interviu and focus groups with teachers and students. On the bases the analyses of literature and the results of the research the major conclusions about effectiveness of the methodology of the Structured Academic Controversy are drawn by auther of the article. And assumption that civic communication is eesiantial bases for intercultural education. Key words: civic communication, multiculturality, intercultural education.

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