Intercultural Education Essay

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The goals of intercultural education focus on the improvement of relations between individuals and groups, for it seeks to increase respect for the various individualized differences among diverse populations in order to strengthen a national identity (Giles, Ingram, & Pitkin, 1946). The objectives of intercultural education are theoretically connected to notions of inequality, discrimination, ethnic and cultural diversity, and national identity (Leeman & Ledoux, 2005). Through historical evaluation of intercultural programs, there is much disagreement on the perspectives, target groups, boundaries and key concepts of intercultural education. The value attached to its ideals varies, and it is closely linked to visions of equity of multicultural …show more content…

Therefore, an approach to intercultural education for children in Esmeraldas was intended to be inclusive of all cultures. This differs from the many traditional inclusive education efforts that failed to promote intercultural learning. Gundara (2000) provides an example of religious schools in Europe. Although, the aim of these schools is to promote cultural identity, Gundara argues that they merely perpetuate unequal relations amongst groups because of the lack of inclusiveness in their curriculum development. Therefore, intercultural curriculum in Esmeraldas can only promote self and cultural awareness if it is less of an ethnocentric education and more of a promotion of self-awareness in relation to …show more content…

Coulby (2006) argues that intercultural education discourse must provide adequate context for discourse to be valuable. This means not only the immediate context, but also the wider framework in international education discourse. Coulby (2006) provides an example of the Albanian language teaching in supplementary schools in Athens. For Coulby (2006), this context cannot be understood without adequate mention of the complexities of historical context of Albanians in Greece, for teaching of Albanian language is not separated from these contexts. This not only includes historical context, but concepts of globalization. Coulby (2006) argues that to ignore global relations of cultures in intercultural education is to depoliticize the content desired to be learned. Therefore, Coulby (2006) would argue that international education for Afro-Ecuadorians must include discourses of pre-colonial as well as post-colonial contexts of slavery in relation to European imperialism to current systematic policies that benefit one ethnic group over another in Ecuador and how these policies connect to the United States and

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