Intercultural Education and Intercultural Learning in Europe

Since the last quarter of the 20th century, intercultural education educators have expressed an awareness of the social and political changes resulting from globalization on the part of educationists, policymakers, and teachers. These leaders and practitioners have sought to engage with contemporary cultural complexity and diversity, in part by recognizing intercultural education's potential for fostering individual and collective growing processes and active democratic citizenship.

Intercultural education is connected to a European response to multicultural societies whereby cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious pluralism is seen as an opportunity for human [Page 1218]interaction rather than for separation or segregation. In this way, the beliefs, values, and everyday habits of interacting parties can be compared, understood, and appraised. Meaningful communication contributes to the construction and sharing of a new ...