Francesco Susi, Società multiculturale e risposte educative: l’educazione interculturale

Any integration policy for immigrants should be accompanied by educational measures that are needed which build a shared cultural identity, without which peaceful interaction between autochthonous and immigrant population becomes impossible. In this perspective, intercultural education is the answer to the challenges and problems posed in the world of interdependencies. It is a deliberate educational strategy which cuts across all disciplines and aims at shaping the perceptions and cognitive parameters generally used to represent the image of “foreigners”. The Author therefore argues that a global immigration policy requires a strong investment in education and information, first of all targeted at the native population, as they are often neglected in the development of an integration policy.

Jagdish S. Gundara, Intercultural teacher education and the curriculum in Britain

This paper examines issues of multiculturality of European societies. The term “multicultural” is used descriptively to point out various aspects of social diversity in historical and contemporary contexts. It is intended as a programmatic term, especially in relation to the role of teacher education for a democratic and inclusive European polity. Issues of teacher education institutions, staff development, non-centric curriculum and racism are discussed to provide quality and equality education.

Madeleine Rebaudières, L’éducation interculturelle au sein du système éducatif français

The essay deals with the role of intercultural education as understood by the relevant institution CEFISEM – Training and Information Centre for Education of Immigrant Children, subsequently renamed CASNAV – Academic Centre for Education of Newly Arrived and Travellers Children. The creation of specific institutions since 1975 was the response to a policy of family reunion that followed the official block on new immigrant workers post World War 2. There has been an attempt to implement the guidelines of the Council of Europe with regard to education. In the ’90s, the return to a philosophy of integration appeared as a compensation of the French tradition of assimilation that is in contrast to the principles of multiculturalism. The recent flows of mass arrivals has determined some changes in reception procedures. The «ethnicisation» of social relations and episodes of violence in schools bring to the fore the question of intercultural education and coexistence.

Massimo Vedovelli, Condizioni semiotiche per un approccio interculturale alla didattica linguistica: il ruolo del linguaggio verbale

The article examines the concept of “interculture” from a linguistic point of view. In particular, it compares it with that of “interlanguage” as developed in the context of language acquisition research. The comparison of these two concepts, and the theoretical and methodological perspectives they come from, allows us to highlight the need to develop their application in concrete terms. Language acquisition research, for example, has tended to examine language outside specific social interactions. Instead, an approach that is sensitive to the semiotic dimension of contact between languages and cultures might account for those elements of creativity, and expression of a language system developing during learning.

Vinicio Ongini,  “Il mantello di Arlecchino”. Alunni che non hanno cittadinanza italiana: l’indagine annuale del Ministero dell’Istruzione

The article is an overview of the most relevant outcomes derived from the Ministry report, school year 2002-03. After it was first introduced seven years ago, the report represents today an important tool to interpret the multicultural component of Italian schools, thanks to the accurate statistical picture drawn by the Information Department. The Author, a member of the Ministry’ research group, highlights the main aspects of the Italian “diffused model”. The distribution of foreign pupils is non-homogeneous and diverse. Almost all the nationalities are represented (189 out of 195): the “Harlequin’s cloak”. This year, for the first time, the report includes a comparative section to offer a broad view of the situation in other European countries (Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Germany).

Valeria Bruccola, A scuola con gli “stranieri”. Riflessioni sulla risposta alla diversità culturale in ambiente scolastico

In schools, interaction among pupils with diverse cultural backgrounds has introduced new considerations for the construction of national identity. It is in classroom where young people build their idea of what constitutes “the others”, also in connection with the society at large. This article describes the result of an empirical study of anthropological nature, conducted in the multicultural neighbourhood “Esquilino” in Rome. Schools in Italy are being challenged by the difficult balance between the transmission of values linked to national identity, and the recognition of diversity. The Author argues that the identity of non-Italian pupils, while not being denied, is nevertheless made the object of a process of “normalisation”: the “us” of classmates tends to reduce the degree of diversity of non-Italian pupils, so that they tend to lose that idea of foreigness that is typically attached to adult immigrants.

Mohsin Zulfiqar, Race, ethnicity and education in Britain

The article observes that in spite of a rising tide of racism and xenophobia in Europe, the drive to tackle these evil forces is yet to acquire necessary momentum. By recognizing that education should play an active role for social change, the article makes the case for educational institutions to take up the challenge to eradicate racism and xenophobia. In so doing, it clearly demonstrate how racism affects social, economic and cultural life of Britains’ minority ethnic communities, and provides an example how Education Leeds, which is responsible for providing education for young people for the second largest metropolitan authority in England, is responding to the educational needs of minority ethnic pupils. The article is based on personal observation and long experience of the Author, who has been working in this field for the last 25 years.

Andrew Housley, Focusing on outcomes. How anti-discrimination policy shapes school education in Britain

Britain has had specific legislation and a specialised anti-discrimination body, the Commission for Racial Equality, for over 25 years. Since the amendment of the Race Relations Act in 2000, the legal obligation placed on public bodies to be not just non-racist, but positively anti-racist in their policies and practices, has been reinforced. This article focuses on some recent and specific applications of the Race Relations Act in school education, and on the major issues of current concern.

Agostino Cilardo, Globalizzazione e internazionalizzazione. Le bozze di intesa tra la Repubblica Italiana e le Associazioni islamiche in Italia

In 1990, 1992 and 1994 three separate Islamic Associations have submitted agreement proposals to the Italian Government. The mere existence of three proposals shows the difficulty for Muslims to agree on one common entity to represent them. Their approach to the State follows the classical Islamic pattern with religious minorities, whose own unique status is tolerated by a religious majority with its own rights. This fact is shown, for instance, in the request that the charitable/religious tax benefit be applied also to Muslims, and that some aspects of the Islamic marriage tradition be preserved and respected. The common acceptance of separation between the jurisdiction of the State and that of religious bodies is one of the basic achievements of modern Western societies, meaning that the typical Islamic concept of “tolerance” must give in to the idea of “religious freedom” where men and women enjoy equal rights.

Maddalena Colombo, Measures to promote the labour inclusion of immigrants in Italy and Spain

This article reports the findings from an investigation conducted by a network of institutions in the months of July-October 2002. The author prefaces her findings with a brief description of the labour market situation in the two nations concerned, Spain and Italy, pointing out both common grounds and differences. She then continues by comparing the data collected from the questionnaires: the offer of services, the need of services requested by the immigrants, the demand for services by labour market representatives (employers, trade unions), and the discrepancy between supply and demand. The same research reveals also the various aspects of the role of public and non-profit sectors in the labour insertion of immigrants, and the problems in dealing with adult immigrants as related by those involved with them. In this fragmented social and cultural framework, a relevant contradiction becomes apparent which affects the effectiveness of these activities: the widespread demand for foreign workers on the one hand, and the attempt to limit their claim to full citizenship on the other.

Dušan Drbohlav, Ethnicity and international migration: focus on family and religion

The main goal of this paper is to explore some of the complex circumstances associated with the concept of ethnicity in an international migration context, focusing on issues related to family and religion. The reality of the 1990s is dealt with in particular, and the United States experience is often quoted. The Author argues that ethnicity within migration research should be studied along with other categories of personal identity and stratification and within social households. The model of transnationalism, with its specific patterns related to individual ethnic communities, clearly deserves further attention by scholars in the field.