Educación intercultural en Cataluña (España): evolución de los discursos y de las prácticas (2000-2016)

Abstract

This paper analyses the evolution of intercultural discourses and practices in Catalan schools (Spain), based on two studies contextualised in different times. The fi rst study was conducted in the 2000/2001 academic year, a time of incipient immigration and the incorporation of the intercultural discourse. The second study (2015/2016), nevertheless, took place in a context of migratory stabilisation and consolidation of the intercultural discourse in the autonomous community. Both studies took the quantitative methodological approach. The results showed that intercultural discourses and practices have evolved positively (in terms of their presence in school documents, actions taken and teacher training) and in keeping with European Union guidelines over the years. However, it still remains the challenge of debunking the belief that intercultural education is related to students of foreign nationality, and therefore the practice that intercultural education is mainly addressed at schools with high percentages of students of foreign nationality.

‘On Both Sides of the Strait’: Discourses and Policies on Cultural Diversity in Southern Mediterranean Spain

“…The Caucasian group, majoritarian in Spain, identifies cultural diversity in schools only with the arrival of the third group since the 1990s (Andrés & Giró, 2020;García-Cano et al, 2018;Garreta, 2006;Garreta et al, 2020). This fact gives rise to a 'problematic categorisation' (García-Cano et al, 2018) that evidences 'educational policy as an act of white supremacy' (Gillborn, 2005; see also Fylkesnes, 2019), since there is on the part of Spanish academics, an appropriation of a discourse that is of Anglo-Saxon origin and links cultural diversity with migration.…”

“…This period continued until the mid-1990s, which was specially characterised by the arrival of students of foreign nationality, at which point the compensatory programmes began to be combined with certain intercultural theoretical references and practices (Garreta, 2011;Márquez y García, 2014). Today, in Spain, as in most European countries (Coulby, 2006) and many others, the intercultural model is regarded as the best strategy for integration, coexistence and social cohesion (Bouchard, 2011;Garreta et al, 2020).…”

“…Historical invisibility has meant school discrimination and poor results (Andrés y Giró, 2020;García-Cano et al, 2018). Roma students have historically suffered from assimilationist and segregationist education policies (Garreta et al, 2020;Peñalva, 2009 compensatory programmes coincided with intercultural discourses, but little practice' (Garreta, 2006, p. 263). Roma students lead school failure in Spain, being 64% compared to an average of 13% in the country (Fundación Secretariado Gitano, 2013).…”

Intercultural Education in Schools: From Policies to Practices in Catalonia (Spain)

“…However, in this regard, it should be highlighted that the most recent documents published by the Ministry of Education (published after this study was conducted) point out specific strategies and recommendations to implement holistic intercultural education. It means, then, that Catalonia is going in the right direction, albeit slowly (Garreta, Macia & Llevot, 2020).…”

La equidad y la diversidad cultural en la escuela. Normativa y acciones de las comunidades autónomas en España

“…De hecho, diversos autores han detectado y criticado actuaciones dirigidas exclusivamente a la población migrante (Allemann-Ghionda, 2008;Bleszynska, 2008;Díez, 2014;Forrest et al, 2016;Leiva, 2017;OECD, 2010;Palaiologou y Faas, 2012). Esta tendencia ha sido identificada hace algunos años en varias investigaciones (Leeman y Reid, 2006;Norberg, 2000;Santos Rego y Nieto, 2000) y ratificada en investigaciones más recientes (Garreta-Bochaca et al, 2020). A pesar from compensatory polices to inclusivity, going through integration, our results show that the fundamental concepts are still equity and equal opportunities, especially the second, as equity is being mixed up with educational compensatory policies.…”