ERIC Number: ED300154
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987-Sep-4
Pages: 26
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Interculturalism and Education Seminar (Madrid, Spain, May 12-13, 1987). The CDCC's Project No. 7: "The Education and Cultural Development of Migrants."
Olmos, Arlette
Because European culture is multicultural and multilingual, intercultural education is necessary for migrants and many others. Interculturalism rejects assimilation of minority cultures by dominant national cultures and promotes the need for harmonious integration of peoples with diverse languages and cultures. The report recommends pupil-centered approaches for effective education of migrant children. This strategy should develop a critical consciousness, teach the material conditions of life in society, and assert the individual's identity in this context. Educational and cultural development of migrants should ensure academic success, sound basic training, professional specialization and qualification, and sociocultural and professional advancement. However, research shows a high incidence of academic failure at present among migrant populations, compared with indigenous populations in similar circumstances. Rather than offering a means of advancement, schools tend to reproduce the workforce. Teaching the host country's language, therefore, is a top priority, to be accompanied by study of the pupils' ethnic and cultural characteristics which condition their integration into the educational system. Teaching the language and culture of origin is not necessarily a positive measure; the report examines problems with this approach. The report describes three intercultural experiments that point to strategies involving the larger society and the school in educational projects for migrant youths. The seminar agenda and a list of participants are appended. (DHP)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Collected Works - Proceedings
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Council for Cultural Cooperation, Strasbourg (France).
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A