Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Fostering a shared social identity is a primary objective of publicly-funded schools. As western democratic nations become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse, the possibility of societal fragmentation is a worry expressed in the media, by dominant groups, in populist political discourse, and among policy makers. At one end of the spectrum of opinions on the appropriate role of public schools in the new reality of pluralism is a call for public schools to focus on assimilation. At the other end, proponents embracing the rise of multiculturalism call on public schools to become microcosms of their societal environment. The debates between these poles can be bitter. For forty six years now Canada, demographically a “new immigrant” country marked by tremendous social diversity, has explicitly and proactively embraced multiculturalism as a foundational core of its national identity. This orientation permeates all public and institutional structures, including public schools.