Europeanisation in Situ: The Case of Cypriot Intercultural Education

Author(s):

Christina Hadjisoteriou(presenting / submitting)Panayiotis Angelides(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

07 SES 06 B, Intercultural Education: Contextual Differences

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-14

15:00-16:30

Room:

KL 23/140,G, 23

Chair:

Ghazala Bhatti

Contribution

European citizens originate from many diverse cultures, coming from national minorities or newly settled communities (Stalker, 2002). Nonetheless, the official removal of the internal borders of the EU has resulted in the hardening of the external borders, the emergence of religious fundamentalism and the internal ostracism of migrants of non-European origin (Modood, 2007). The national educational policies across Europe have been inextricably linked to the nation-building project. As a result, national governments have been often at odds with the EU regarding non-EU migrants’ rights and thus unwilling to endorse a supranational policy regarding intercultural education. Accordingly, intercultural education was given diverse institutional meanings in different states according to the national political culture.

Cyprus transformed from an emigration to immigration country in the late 1990s and particularly after its 2004 accession to the EU. Cypriot educational policy has been inextricably linked to the nation-building project, mainly because of the unresolved Cypriot problem (Trimikliniotis et al., 2006). However, the operation of the Cypriot educational system in an increasingly supranational context (i.e. EU) has challenged the territorially attributed identities by its artificially constructed nation-state. Although, Cyprus has attempted to develop a policy for intercultural education, there is a gap between policy documentation and policy implementation.

This study explores the transformation of intercultural education in the context of European integration. It indicates the ways in which European education policies are mediated and re-framed by national institutions; through a case study of the development of intercultural education in Cyprus. The overarching purpose of this project is to provide a number of important insights into the Europeanisation mechanisms of Cypriot intercultural education. More specifically, the study informs policy-makers and practitioners about how Cypriot intercultural policy has been formed by complex and often counteractive influences.

Historically, education policy-making has been interwoven with the nation-building project. However, the centrality of the nation-state in education policy-making has been constrained by a wide range of new socio-political and economic phenomena that relate to European integration. The current project seeks to examine: (a) how European and national intercultural policies interact, (b) how are European intercultural policies mediated by national institutions, and (c) how does this process of Europeanisation influence Cypriot educational policy-making for intercultural education.

Method

This project was carried out in three phases. During the 1st phase we mapped the current state of affairs with regards to the national and European levels. Theoretical insights from policy sociology (Ozga, 2000) and theories of Europeanisation were utilised to examine this research endeavour. During the 2nd phase, we conducted policy analysis at the European and Cypriot levels. We collected interview and documentary data from both European (Council of Europe and EU) and Cypriot (Ministry of Education and Culture) arenas. During the 3rd phase, we conducted four primary-school case studies in Cyprus. We collected data through observations, head-teachers’, teachers’ and students’ interviews. The interviewees were selected according to the level of their involvement in the development and implementation of intercultural education. The total body of data was inserted in an analytic cycle that implied a multiple-readings approach to examine from whose perspective the documents and the interviewees were speaking.

Expected Outcomes

European institutions, including the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, have played an important role in Cypriot intercultural policy processes by deploying different mechanisms of influence (i.e. legal and financial incentives, mimetism, diffusion of ideas and elite learning). Nonetheless, intercultural discourses often run counter to nationalistic notions of identity. Cypriot education has been inextricably linked to the nation-building project because of the unresolved Cypriot problem. Discourses arguing for students’ assimilation to the national identity remain present in Cyprus. Intercultural policy discourses permeating the Cypriot socio-political environment reflected contemporary socio-political developments, such as Cyprus’s accession to the EU. Influenced by still-nascent European developments, intercultural education became an important part of the Cypriot state’s rhetoric. The concept came to be seen as evidence of Cyprus’s adherence to the EU educational goals, which provided a concrete expression of Cyprus’s sovereignty. While the terminology has been adopted, it was interpreted as an endeavour to provide immigrant children with equal educational access. Intercultural education policy primarily emerged from attempts to ensure equality of resources, while not acknowledging the need for reform of systemic and school structures, which allow for immigrant students’ exclusion within physically integrated settings.

References

Angelides, P., Stylianou, T. and Leigh, J. (2004). Multicultural education in Cyprus: A pot of cultural assimilation(?), Intercultural Education, 15(3), 307-315. Modood, T. (2007). Multiculturalism: A civic idea. Cambridge: Polity Press. Ozga, J. (2000). Policy Research in educational settings: Contested terrain. Buckingham: Open University Press. Stalker, P. (2002). Migration trends and migration policy in Europe. International Migration, 40(5), 151-179. Trimikliniotis, N. and Fulias-Souroulla, M. (2006). Mapping of policies affecting female migrants and policy analysis: the case of Cyprus. A Specific Targeted Research Project of the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission.

Author Information

Christina Hadjisoteriou (presenting / submitting)

University of Nicosia Research Foundation

Nicosia

Panayiotis Angelides (presenting)

University of Nicosia

Education