One manifestation of division and the history of conflict in Northern Ireland is the parallel education system that exists for Protestants and Catholics. Although recent decades have seen some advances in the promotion of integrated education, around 95% of children continue to attend schools separated on ethno-religious lines. In 2007 a programme…

There is growing interest in the impact of Jewish and Arab historical narratives on intergroup relations and conflict. A randomized placement comparative study set out to examine it empirically. Conventional-Authoritative official narrative, Empathetic Dual narrative, and Critical-Disciplinary multiple-source teaching interventions were designed…

In public high schools across the country young people deal with issues of discrimination and bullying that are often the result of intolerance and misunderstandings across social identities. Progressive educators who advocate for critical multicultural and critical pedagogical approaches have proposed that young people need to have educational…

The purpose of this article is to examine the process of collaborative working between teachers located in separate faith-based schools in Northern Ireland. Drawing on theories of intergroup relations, and with reference to in-depth interviews with teachers in post-primary schools, the article shows that despite earlier research which identified a…

Malaysia is a multicultural country constituting three major ethno-cultural groups, Malay and Bumiputera, Chinese and Indian. Owing to its diverse cultures attempts through a number of channels, politics, economics and social were made to bring about national integration. School is thought to be the most effective platform to bring about national…

The case of education in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Jaffa, Israel, demonstrates the dialectical role of education in conflict-affected societies. As scholars of transformative education and critical pedagogy have noted, education tends to serve as an instrument of the dominant ideology of social and political elites, yet it is also a…

We examine the influence of factual and perceived world knowledge on global citizenship identification. Perceived world knowledge directly predicted global citizenship identification, while factual world knowledge did not (Study 1). Students' factual (Study 1) and perceived (Study 2) world knowledge predicted students' normative environment…

This study examined the effects of exposure to international students on American student and faculty perceptions at a regional Appalachian University. A revised and improved version of Jaleh Shabahang's (1993) "International Education Opinionnaire" was used to survey American students and faculty regarding their perceptions of the…

This study examined the impact of an assignment involving intergroup contact (The Voices Project [TVP]) on student racism toward Muslims, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics in Introduction to Psychology. TVP students interviewed members from racial groups and wrote autobiographical memoirs of their lives. A faculty-writing team integrated…

In an article in the May-June 2009 "American Psychologist," we discussed a new approach to reducing prejudice and encouraging more positive intergroup relations (Crisp & Turner, 2009). We named the approach imagined intergroup contact and defined it as "the mental simulation of a social interaction with a member or members of an outgroup category"…

Debate continues about the relationship between schools divided on ethno-religious lines and their implications for social cohesion. One argument against the existence of separate schools is that they limit opportunities for children from different groups to engage with each other, promoting intergroup suspicion and sectarianism. Using intergroup…

Interfaith education has been boosted recently by the imprimatur of current and previous political world leaders. However, a critical analysis of what makes good interfaith education is yet to emerge. Indeed the attention may distract from the effort needed to ensure positive outcomes. This paper questions whether the uncritical nature of some…

This study investigates the sense of community and interethnic relations in two different metropolitan areas that vary in ethnic heterogeneity. The study was conducted in Milan, Italy using a sample of 318 participants living in different city districts that vary in ethnic heterogeneity (low vs. high). The participants completed a questionnaire…

After decades in the political wilderness, school integration seems poised to make a serious comeback as an education reform strategy. A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for the increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy.…

To supplement research on adolescent social identities, the current study examined how social identity complexity relates to ethnic inter-group attitudes in a young adolescent sample (N = 97; "age range" = 12-14 years). Social identity complexity refers to the perceived overlap of groups with which youth align themselves. Descriptive…