Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

Figure 2.7 The prevalence of the concept ‘multiculturalism’
Countries with high linguistic diversity tend to cover ‘multiculturalism’ widely
in education policy and curriculum.
Linguistic Diversity Index (2005) Multiculturalism (sub-category 10c)
Prevalence
Very High High Moderate Low Very Low Very High High Moderate Low Absent
Source: UNESCO. 2009. UNESCO World Report: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural
Dialogue. UNESCO, Paris.
Nine countries give a very high weightage to ‘culture and heritage’, including
Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam in Southeast Asia; Afghanistan and
Pakistan in South Asia; and all four Central Asian countries. The very high
prevalence of the concept in these countries can be partly explained by the
need for nation-building in the context of post-war reconstruction (Viet Nam,
Afghanistan) or post-Soviet transition (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan),
or of strengthening national identity to overcome ethno-religious conflicts
(Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan). Japan also gives a very high weightage to
this theme, though establishing a coherent sense of national identity would not
appear to present a similar challenge there.
Among 22 countries, China is the only country whose documents appear to
give a low weightage to this notion. This might be interpreted as a reflection
of socialist internationalism (contrasting with the turn towards ‘culture and
heritage’ in post-socialist Central Asia) and a corresponding emphasis on
‘multiculturalism/interculturalism’ and transnational interconnectedness also
suggested by the Chinese coding data. However, this supplies further support
to the need for scrutinising the coding data in relation to the relevant context,
since China's schooling system does not emerge from recent research as
the model of tolerant, pluralistic multiculturalism that such findings appear
to suggest (Leibold and Chen, 2014). The emphasis in China's documents on
‘north-south relationships, south-south relationships, developed-developing
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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