Brussels, 10/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - Intercultural education in schools is no longer a matter of choice but one of necessity to prepare children for life in an increasingly multicultural society. While European Union member states agree that migrants must be helped to integrate, few make the link with intercultural education in schools, and appropriate policies remain the exception. That was the message delivered on Wednesday 10 September to the European Parliament education and culture committee by a number of experts in the field, who suggested that there has to be a change in attitudes requiring greater collaboration among member states and the exchange of best practice.
Cristina Allemann-Ghionda of the University of Cologne, presented the results of a study on “Intercultural education in schools”, analysing the intercultural approach in teaching in six member states (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Sweden). The study found that: 1) reducing social inequalities appeared to be the main issue in all the countries, with the socio-economic conditions in which children grow up being seen as having a great effect on academic success; 2) the stress laid on respect for diversity and the intercultural aspect of teaching found itself at odds with some national policies and OECD approaches (the PISA programme recognises courses which encourage teaching only in the language of the host country); 3) the implementation of appropriate and effective policies requires good structural conditions; 4) the importance of teaching in the migrants' own language is not sufficiently taken into account in member states. “School reforms have to be more effective to prevent unfair selection at an early stage,” Allemann-Ghionda said. She also highlighted the crucial importance of European schemes such as Comenius and Erasmus which encourage student mobility, but which are still to vague with regard to the intercultural content of classes and courses. In general terms, too little attention is paid to what is being done on the ground, in schools, and this, she contended, reflected a lack of dialogue between national political authorities and schools.
Allemann-Ghionda's words were given concrete illustration by players in the field, who spoke of the success and the difficulties they meet in their attempts to bring together children from different socio-cultural backgrounds. All highlighted the success enjoyed by schools which place a heavy emphasis on proactive integration, avoiding the “ghettoisation” of migrant students by varied teaching of the subjects and including lessons in the children's mother tongues. Respect for the culture and language of the cultural community to which the child belongs is a key factor in success at school and integration, those taking part said, highlighting, too, how vitally important it is to involve parents in the process. Many bemoaned the lack of support and sometimes the total lack of understanding sometimes shown by politicians who felt very ill at ease with methods that did not fall within the usual educational framework. The challenge facing the European Commission is to help member states learn from their neighbours' best practice and to promote political cooperation in an area which is still one of national competence, said the Commission representative at the meeting Tapio Saavala (DG Education and Culture). He drew attention to the conclusions of May's Education Council in which ministers acknowledged, firstly, that, in the process of integrating children of migrant families, teachers were of prime importance and had to receive appropriate and continuous training to be able to meet the challenges facing them, and secondly, that teacher and pupil mobility had to be encouraged.
Among the issues raised, MEPs Cornelis Visser (EPP-ED, Netherlands) and Helga Trüpel (Greens/EFA, Germany) suggested that lessons on migrant integration had to be learned from the American experience. While the US promoted the learning of the language of the host country as a means of integration (apart from the use of Spanish in some school curricula), Canada was more open in that it took account of minority languages in its school curricula. This was also the case in Sweden, where schools have to offer teaching in a foreign language as soon as that language is the mother tongue of at least five children attending the school, Allemann-Ghionda noted. Ruth Hieronymi (EPP-ED, Germany) stressed that the EU had to be brought closer to member states. “Cooperation … is very important. It must build on it and construct a common strategy,” she said. Ramon Obiols i Germà (PES, Spain) said that it was a mistake to think about the integration of young people only in the traditional cycle (primary, secondary, tertiary education). He said that integration had to begin earlier, from infancy, and continue on into adulthood. “We have to move from a traditional approach to a trans-disciplinary one,” he said. (I.L./transl.rt)