Document Abstract
Published:
2008
Planning for cultural diversity
An introduction to providing education in a multi-cultural setting
Aimed at those with an interest in educational or social planning, this booklet provides an introduction to some of the initiatives and issues associated with providing education in multicultural and multi-ethnic societies. It examines popular curricula and school-based initiatives to address diversity.
The core contention is that educational planners should not be expected to provide a simple answer to resolving the challenges posed by diversity, although they are now better informed about the issues and options available to assist them than were their counterparts of 30 years ago. Nevertheless, they do have an important role to play in ensuring that encounters with diversity become positive, rather than negative, experiences for students and members of society. The case studies examined in this booklet demonstrate that democracies are variously multi-cultural, and the varieties of groups make a difference in the kind of education that can be realistically expected at any time.
Key points include:
The core contention is that educational planners should not be expected to provide a simple answer to resolving the challenges posed by diversity, although they are now better informed about the issues and options available to assist them than were their counterparts of 30 years ago. Nevertheless, they do have an important role to play in ensuring that encounters with diversity become positive, rather than negative, experiences for students and members of society. The case studies examined in this booklet demonstrate that democracies are variously multi-cultural, and the varieties of groups make a difference in the kind of education that can be realistically expected at any time.
Key points include:
- education is a major agent of cultural transmission and transformation. This makes it an extremely significant player in the way in which societies adjust to the social and political challenges posed by the evolving patterns of diversity in national and international inter-ethnic relationships
- allocation of the material and human resources, including finances and the teaching force as well as other support mechanisms available to planners and policy makers, are critical to the success or failure of specific programmes
- the multi-dimensional nature of the challenge posed by multi-ethnic student populations is reflected in the variety of non-language based responses and strategies developed to address issues of diversity
- whilst it is easy to criticise some initiatives for their tokenism, they nevertheless constitute a basis for developing a more extensive commitment to changing the was schools and systems respond to diversity in an inclusive fashion that addresses issues of educational inequality and racism.
