In a recent article entitled “Greek education policy and the challenge of migration: an ‘intercultural’ view of assimilation” Ruby Gropas and Anna Triandafyllidou argue that there is a conceptual confusion in Greek education policy between intercultural and multicultural education approaches while what is actually practiced is full scale assimilation of immigrant children into the dominant national culture. The article is published in Race, Ethnicity and Education (Vol 14: 3, 2011).
Abstract
This article explores the policy responses and conceptual underpinnings of intercultural education in Greece. In the past two decades, and as a result of migration, Greece has seen its demography significantly and irreversibly altered in social, cultural, economic, ethnic, racial, and religious terms. Faced with an increasingly diverse student population, novel education policies are required. This article addresses the following questions: How has intercultural education been designed in Greece in response to growing immigration? What are the main objectives of Greek educational policy as regards contemporary Greek society overall and the immigrant population in particular? Are these changing, and if so in what direction? Is intercultural education perceived differently on the part of the various stakeholders? Based on our empirical research we highlight the connection between education policy approaches, practices and national identity discourses in order to explore the conceptual confusion of intercultural vs multicultural education approaches and the importance of the national context. We also raise a number of issues that we consider merit further examination both in policy and research terms in order to expand and enrich intercultural education in Greece.
Authors: Ruby Gropas and Anna Triandafyllidou