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

INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE POST-PRIMARY SCHOOL 2Both Irish and English play an importantrole in Irish identity and society, and anexperience in both languages is the right ofevery child. Experience of a secondlanguage is thought to have a number ofadditional benefits for pupils includingenhancing cognitive development andincreasing the capacity for learningsubsequent languages.Intercultural education takes timeChildren will already have developed someideas about diversity even prior to enteringprimary school. By the time they enterpost-primary school many of their ideasand prejudices are already well established.These ideas and attitudes are developedover a period of time throughout thechild’s early years experience. They can bereinforced or challenged as students movethrough post-primary education.For adolescents and teenagers conformingwith the majority view and behaviour isvery important. Kohlberg called this stageof moral development the conventionalstage when young people are typicallyconcerned with doing what will gain theapproval of others. Therefore developingthe skills and capacities to reflect criticallyand independently and act ethically withinthat world will not be achieved in one classor one term. It is acknowledged that manyadults never go beyond the conventionalstage of moral development to the postconventionallevel where one’s actions arebased on moral principals and values and agenuine interest in the welfare of others.Hence building intercultural sensitivity andchallenging prejudicial beliefs, attitudesand actions is a lifelong process.The school as a model of good practiceThe social context within which learningtakes place is a key influence on the natureand effectiveness of the learning process. Inteaching the knowledge, skills and attitudesof intercultural competence the educationsystem can model good practice for thestudents.Students will learn attitudes, values andskills through seeing them modelled bythose in the school and in the schoolcommunity. In teaching young people tothink critically about the world in whichthey live, it is appropriate for us model thisby thinking critically about our ownactions and the institutions within whichwe work, and if necessary, to vet schoolpolicies in relation to the potential fordiscrimination. Indeed, in this respect,intercultural education will bring benefitsto the school and the education system ingeneral, alongside the benefits to individualstudents.The concepts of ‘indirect racism’ and‘institutional racism’ help us to understandhow institutions such as schools may infact be unintentionally racist in theiroperations. When a school prioritises theculture of one ethnic group to thedetriment of others it may be guilty ofinstitutional racism. Those in the schoolcommunity who are responsible forpolicies, practices, and the cultivation ofthe school ethos should always be vigilantin ensuring that the culture, beliefs andway of life of all the children in the schoolare respected.Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School 19