Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School - National Council ...

that people of different cultures can andshould be able to engage with each otherand learn from each other.Education not only reflects society but isalso an influence in shaping itsdevelopment. As such, schools are one ofthe institutions that have a role to play inthe development of an intercultural society.While education cannot bear the soleresponsibility for challenging racism andpromoting intercultural competence, it hasan important contribution to make infacilitating the development of interculturalskills, attitudes, values and knowledge.An intercultural education is valuable toall students in equipping them toparticipate in an increasingly diverseIreland, Europe and global society. Equally,an education that has a limited culturalfocus will be less likely to develop thesecapacities in students.In Guidelines on Traveller Education inSecond Level Schools, (pp.20-21) theDepartment of Education and Science(2002) has defined intercultural educationas aiming to:• foster conditions conducive to pluralismin society• raise pupils’ awareness of their ownculture and to attune them to the factthat there are other ways of behavingand other value systems• develop respect for lifestyles differentfrom their own so that pupils canunderstand and appreciate each other• foster a commitment to equality;• enable pupils to make informed choicesabout, and to take action on, issues ofprejudice and discrimination• appreciate and value similarities anddifferences;• enable all pupils to speak for themselvesand to articulate their cultures andhistories.Some key features of interculturaleducation are:• Intercultural education is for all studentsirrespective of their ethnicity. Since allour students live in a country and aworld that is becoming increasinglydiverse, we need to prepare them forthat world. Intercultural education is animportant part of every student’seducational experience whether he/she isin a school which is characterised byethnic diversity, in a predominantlymono-ethnic school, or whether thestudent is from the dominant or aminority culture.• Intercultural education is for all studentsirrespective of their age. Recognisingthat diversity is normal in humans issomething that is appropriate at all ages.• Dialogue and story are identified asfundamental components of interculturaleducation. While it is important to giveyoung people accurate information andto challenge stereotypes andmisconceptions, equipping them withintercultural capacity is more effectiveif it is done through open dialoguewhich allows them to express theirthoughts, fears and perceptions ratherthan simply telling them the ‘right andwrong’ of the situation.• Intercultural education happensnaturally through the ‘hiddencurriculum’ of the social and visualworld within which the student learns.While it is possible and necessary toinclude intercultural ideas in the taught‘formal curriculum’, the images,messages and values that are conveyedthroughout the school culture are alsocrucial. In exploring the hiddencurriculum it is important to note thatwhat is absent can be as important aswhat is present.• Intercultural education is concerned withethnicity and culture and not simply withskin colour. Intercultural education wouldiiIntercultural Education in the Post-Primary School