Good intentions are not enough: a decolonizing intercultural education

The Double Bind of Interculturality and the Implications for Education

“…Although several academic commentators have made advances beyond the taxonomic assumptions of the nation-state as a unified field of analysis for intercultural education (Arnove 2007;Cowen 2009;Gundara & Portera 2008), others have pointed out that the drawing of national borders remains a potent symbol of cultural unity within interculturality (Bash & Gundara 2012;Gorski 2008). A similar pattern has been detected in this essay.…”

“…Without denying the existence of different interpretations and understandings of interculturality, however, several scholars have pointed out a common problem: interculturality and intercultural education, they argue, suffers from 'theoretical weakness' (Coulby 2006: 254) and the overwhelming majority of work on intercultural education tends to accentuate rather than undermine existing political and social hierarchies (Gorski 2008). In accordance with this, other academic commentators have concluded that researchers interested in this field implicitly assume the value of interculturality, in which they are often themselves engaged as activists or practitioners, and are therefore reluctant to propose any critiques of the concept in attempts to justify, elucidate and legitimize its ubiquity (Chaudhuri 2002).…”

‘Changing the context’: Tackling discrimination at school and in society

“…What is clear across the different schools we worked in is that problems in schools relating to discrimination and exclusion have their roots and consequences far beyond the school gates (Crozier & Davies, 2008;Gorski 2008). Therefore tackling discrimination and exclusion cannot be seen as solely the responsibility of teachers but needs to include local and national government initiatives in order to engage with the complexity of the social context that creates and shapes these problems.…”

“…Hence educational development programmes need to start within an appreciation of context (Gorski, 2008) -in all its different forms and ensure that 'best practice' models are located in particular contexts and address localised issues and challenges. This is very much the lesson of Social Psychology and a social representations approach in particular: knowledge processes, possibilities for dialogue and exchange and the experiences of inclusion and exclusion are shaped by but also come to shape the contexts in which they develop (see also Jovchelovitch, 2007).…”

“…Crozier, 2009;Howarth, 2004) of discrimination and stigma can lead to lower achievement (Crozier, 2005;Zirkel, 2004;Steele, 1997) and academic disengagement (Ogbu, 2003;Schmader et al, 2001) for minoritised students, contribute to their wider marginalisation (Crozier & Davies, 2008) and damage their sense of selfworth and positive identity (Howarth 2002;see Goffman, 1963). Moreover, 'multicultural' school practices in the UK and elsewhere are often shown to unintentionally perpetuate rather than resist racialisation (Andreouli, Howarth & Sonn, 2014;see also, Schofield, 2004see also, Schofield, , 2009Gorski, 2008). On the other hand, students in schools with a constructive approach to cultural diversity benefit from "enhanced learning, higher educational and occupational aspirations" (Frankenberg et al, 2003) and more secure identities (Race, 2011).…”