CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION FOR UNITY AND DIVERSITY WITHIN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES: CRITICAL POLICY RESPONSES WITHIN EUROPE

[...]education in general, and citizenship education in particular, became the vehicle for the promotion of ethnocentric and nationalistic ideals, which based on assumptions of historical continuity from Ancient Greece through Byzantium to the Modem Era, and of a national homogeneity illustrated in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in the humanities (Indiana) 2014-01, Vol.39/40 (1/2), p.279
Main Authors: Kakos, Michalis, Palaiologou, Nektaria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education policy
Multiculturalism & pluralism
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Summary:[...]education in general, and citizenship education in particular, became the vehicle for the promotion of ethnocentric and nationalistic ideals, which based on assumptions of historical continuity from Ancient Greece through Byzantium to the Modem Era, and of a national homogeneity illustrated in terms of language, religion and territory (Frangoudaki, 1997). If this participatory pattem of activation and self-mobilisation of communities is consciously inclusive in terms of gender, age, class, religion, ethnicity, sexual diversity etc., the resulting practice of citizenship will itself be "intercultural" (Alfaro, Ansión & Tubino 2008). [...]intercultural dialogue among and across these diverse lines of identification and group cohesion is a prerequisite for a truly intercultural citizenship (Santos 2006): "An intercultural citizen is somebody who moves inside and outside specific groups, activating relational and contextually relevant competences, but always insists that power symmetry and social justice are maybe utopian, but necessary targets for political as well as pedagogical engagement",6 write Palaiologou & Dietz. [...]the re-education and training of "persons with disabilities, Roma, the elderly, the uninsured, repatriates and immigrants", so that they can "develop labour skills, and couple them with job market requirements" (NAPSI, p. 10), will hardly be a sufficient measure to insure against their social exclusion and marginalisation. The consequences of the above affect not only students from minority backgrounds, but also the Greek students, in that it restricts their chances to develop a pluralistic, intercultural notion of citizenship (Alfaro, Ansión & Tubino 2008) supported by and supporting the development of intercultural communication competencies (Byram, 1997). [...]we feel that Citizenship Education and education in general seem to do very little to support identities in the context of intercultural relations.
ISSN:0039-3800