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Introduction

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Young people should be enabled to appreciate the richness of a diversity of cultures and be supported in practical ways to recognise and to challenge prejudice and discrimination where they exist. (Department of Education and Science Guidelines on Traveller Education in Primary Schools, (2002), p.34)

At its core, intercultural education has two focal points:

• It is education which respects, celebrates and recognises the normality of diversity in all areas of human life. It sensitises the learner to the idea that humans have naturally developed a range of different ways of life, customs and worldviews, and that this breadth of human life enriches all of us.
• It is education, which promotes equality and human rights, challenges unfair discrimination, and promotes the values upon which equality is built.

Intercultural education is a synthesis of the learning from multicultural and anti-racist education approaches that were commonly used internationally from the 1960s to the 1990s. Ireland has long had an experience of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. This can be seen, for example, in the way in which bilingualism in Irish and English has played a part in Irish life as well as in the long-standing presence of the Traveller community and of minority religious groups. In recent years this diversity has increased through immigration. Different words like 'multicultural' and 'intercultural' have been used to describe the changes that have been happening in Irish society. Both these terms describe a situation where there is more than one culture in a country. While the term 'multiculturalism' is sometimes used to describe a society in which different cultures live side by side without much interaction, the term 'interculturalism' expresses a belief that we all become personally enriched by coming in contact with and experiencing other cultures, and that people of different cultures can and should be able to engage with each other and learn from each other. In Ireland, the approach to cultural diversity is one of interculturalism.

Education not only reflects society but also influences its development. As such, schools have a role to play in the development of an intercultural society. While education cannot bear the sole responsibility for challenging racism and promoting intercultural competence, it has an important contribution to make in facilitating the development of the child's intercultural skills, attitudes, values and knowledge. An intercultural education is valuable to all children in equipping them to participate in an increasingly diverse society. Equally, an education which is based on only one culture will be less likely to develop these capacities in children.

In Guidelines on Traveller Education in Primary Schools (2002), the Department of Education and Science has, defined intercultural education as aiming to

• foster conditions conducive to pluralism in society
• raise children's awareness of their own culture and attune them to the fact that there are other ways of behaving and other value systems
• develop respect for life-styles different from their own so that children can understand and appreciate each other
• foster a commitment to equality
• enable children to make informed choices about, and take action on, issues of prejudice and discrimination
• appreciate and value similarities and differences
• enable all children to speak for themselves and articulate their cultures and histories.

These aims have informed the development of the aims and principles of intercultural education as set out in this document.

This example of one person's very personal experience of diversity raises a number of key issues that we may encounter in our day to day business.

• Intercultural education is for all children irrespective of their ethnicity. Since all our children live in a country and a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, we need to prepare them for that world. Intercultural education is an important part of every child's educational experience whether the child is in a school which is characterised by ethnic diversity, in a predominantly mono-ethnic school, or whether the child is from the dominant or a minority culture.
• Intercultural education is for all children irrespective of their age. Recognising that diversity is normal in humans is something that is appropriate at all ages. Many of the skills, attitudes and capacities that will be crucial to the child later in life will begin to be developed at a young age.
• Language and talk are identified as a fundamental component of intercultural education. While it is important to give the child accurate information and to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions, developing the child's intercultural capacity is more effective if it is done through talking with the child about his/her thoughts rather than simply telling him/her the 'right and wrong' of the situation.
• Intercultural education happens naturally through the 'hidden curriculum' of the social and visual world within which the child lives. While it is possible and necessary to include intercultural ideas in the taught 'formal curriculum' (Primary School Curriculum, 1999), the images and resources that surround the child are also crucial. In exploring the hidden curriculum it is important to note that what is absent can be as important as what is present.
• Intercultural education is concerned with ethnicity and culture and not simply with skin colour. Although the example above makes reference to skin colour as the basis for discrimination, intercultural education should be equally concerned with discrimination against white minority ethnic groups such as people from eastern Europe or Travellers, or against other cultural minority groups such as those for whom Irish is a first language.

Aims of the guidelines

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These guidelines support the Primary School Curriculum (1999) and identify the ways in which intercultural education permeates that curriculum. The aim of these guidelines is to contribute to the development of Ireland as an intercultural society based on a shared sense that language, culture and ethnic diversity is valuable. They aim to contribute to the development of a shared ability and sense of responsibility to protect for each other the right to be different and to live free from discrimination.

The specific aims of the guidelines are to

• support the aims of the Primary School Curriculum in the context of a growing cultural and ethnic diversity in a way that will maximise and enrich learning for all children, and make the curriculum as accessible as possible for children from minority ethnic groups
• address the curriculum needs of all children, whether from a minority or the majority ethnic group, which arise in the context of growing cultural and ethnic diversity
• facilitate schools and teachers in creating an inclusive culture and environment
• raise awareness within the educational community of issues that arise from increasing linguistic, cultural and ethnic diversity in Ireland
• provide an overview of assessment in an intercultural context.

Using the guidelines

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The audience for the guidelines includes all those with a responsibility for and interest in primary education. It is of particular relevance to teachers, school managers, school support staff and policy makers. It is hoped that these guidelines will support teachers, both individually and as teams, in developing a more inclusive classroom environment. They will also support whole school planning and policy development within schools and so contribute to developing a school culture that is welcoming, respectful and sensitive to the needs of all children.

The guidelines are designed for use in a number of ways. Some will read the guidelines from the beginning and work through them to the end. Others will find it useful to focus initially on the specific chapter that addresses a need that is pressing for them, and then expand their reading to include other chapters. In order to facilitate such a range of approaches, key ideas are occasionally repeated during the guidelines

Chapter 01 provides background information that places the rest of the guidelines in context. It outlines the extent and nature of cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity in contemporary Ireland, and also defines terms like 'racism' and 'institutional racism'.

Chapter 02 articulates the major elements of an intercultural approach to education, and situates intercultural education within the Primary School Curriculum.

Chapter 03 highlights the ways in which intercultural education should be taken into account in school planning, policy development, and in shaping the whole school environment. This is premised on the understanding that all of the members of the school community have an important role to play in ensuring an intercultural ethos within the school.

Chapter 04 addresses the classroom environment and classroom planning. It explores the ways in which the social and visual environment of the classroom can maximise the intercultural experience of all children in school. It also explores the integration of intercultural themes-identity and belonging, similarity and difference, human rights and responsibilities, discrimination and equality, peace and conflict-into lesson planning and delivery.

Chapter 05 identifies and describes approaches and methodologies which are particularly suitable for intercultural education.

Chapter 06 addresses assessment and cultural diversity. It highlights the ways in which different forms of assessment can become biased or unreliable in a culturally diverse context, and it provides guidance on how teachers can interpret the data collected through various forms of assessment.

Chapter 07 explores ways in which the teacher can create a supportive language environment for learners of Irish and English, with particular reference to children who are learning the language of instruction as a second language.

These guidelines are designed to provide support for all the members of the school community, including teachers, school managers, support staff and parents. In this respect, they deal with a wide range of issues including school planning, classroom planning, assessment and the language environment. They are designed to be accessible to people approaching the curriculum from a range of different perspectives.

Scaffolds are provided within the document to support the reader's understanding of intercultural education and the potential of these guidelines to impact practice in schools in relation to school and classroom planning, the physical and social environment of the school, teaching and learning and assessment.

These scaffolds include

• references to the Primary School Curriculum and other relevant publications
• checklists for considering how areas of practice might be improved
• summaries of the learning outcomes of the five themes in Chapter 4
• an audit of the Primary School Curriculum to identify opportunities for intercultural education across the curriculum
• exemplars for classroom activities to support the development of intercultural awareness and competence
• definitional terms in the glossary.

The teaching materials and websites listed in these guidelines are primarily intended as a resource for teachers. When making use of the internet in the classroom it is important that the teacher visits the web sites in advance to ensure that the material included is suitable for children, for their class level and for the topic being explored. For further information on the use and evaluation of the internet please refer to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Primary School Curriculum: Guidelines for Teachers (NCCA, 2004).

While the guidelines focus on discrimination in the context of ethnicity, many of the underlying ideas are equally applicable to other forms of discrimination such as sexism, ageism, or discrimination against people with a disability.

Guidelines on Intercultural Education in the Primary School will be accompanied by Guidelines on Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School. The post-primary guidelines are based on the same key principles and content as the primary guidelines. Together, they ensure that there is continuity and progression in Intercultural Education from primary schools to post-primary schools.

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