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Roma, today perceived as the most numerous European minority, face marginalisation and exclusion. Education is considered to be one of the focal points for improvement, and numerous studies have analysed and reported on the educational situation of Roma. Several studies have argued that Romani cultural values are not compatible with institutional schooling and that Romani families perceive schools as an alien institution. Other studies have drawn upon cultural–ecological theory (CE theory), developed by Ogbu and colleagues, and argue that the Romani cultural frame of reference is oppositional to academic success and thus suggest that successful Romani students distance themselves from Romani culture. The paper discusses the application of CE theory in the context of the academic discourse about the educational achievement of Romani students. Drawing on interviews with Spanish Romani university students, the paper argues that Romani students themselves challenge the assumption that educational success leads to cultural alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to study the perception of 208 students [37 gitanos (gypsies), 138 payos (non-gypsies), 22 mixed ethnicity (gitano-payo), and 8 other ethnicities] in areas and schools with gitano populations in the City and Province of Granada, Spain, considering nine factors related to the segregation, discrimination and racism towards the gitano community. A questionnaire with a Likert scale of 1-5 points was utilised to understand the perceptions of the respondents on the controlled variables and the reasons for their opinions. This study also gathered students’ ideas on ways to help improve integration and social acceptance of the gitano minority. Perceptions of students (especially those of gitano and mixed gitano-payo ethnicity) show that despite efforts towards social inclusion, discriminatory beliefs and practices still linger and need to be actively reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to share the conclusions of a recent ethnographic study carried out in Madrid from 2005 to 2008 to analyze the effects of a program implemented by the Community of Madrid, Spain, to address diversity in schools. The Program was given an English name - 'Welcome Schools' - and was aimed at preparing children recently arrived from outside Spain for entry into the regular school system. The Program was implemented through different measures, including (in English) 'Linking Classrooms.' Linking Classrooms are separate classrooms for immigrant children in regular schools where they are taught Spanish for a period of up to nine months, after which the children are supposed to enter the regular school system (preferably in the same school, but this is not always possible) and follow the Program without any other official support. This paper aims at analyzing the aims of the Welcome Schools Program and, given these, what the Program solves and what it leaves unresolved. The paper ends with a general discussion of immigrant student opportunities with respect to participation in the host society. What I shall present here are the final conclusions of this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines educational practices in Spain and in particular Madrid. With this contextual frame as the starting point the following issues are discussed: the 'official' conceptualization of cultural diversity, educational policies and resolutions related to cultural diversity, and school programs and resources facilitated by educational authorities to address diversity. The analysis was undertaken using an intercultural approach. El articulo describe y analiza el contexto en el que profesorado y estudiantes de primaria desarrollan su practica educativa en Espana, especialmente en Madrid. Para caracterizar este marco contextual, los puntos que se han tenido en cuenta son los siguientes: la idea 'oficial' de diversidad cultural, las politicas y recomendaciones educativas relacionadas con diversidad cultural, y los programas y recursos facilitados por las administraciones educativas para atender a la diversidad. El analisis se ha llevado a cabo desde una perspectiva intercultural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study of prejudice against immigrants in secondary schools in the Basque Country, in Spain. We carried out a review of the best-known questionnaires and catalogues on prejudices regarding immigration and we drew up a new questionnaire, with positive and negative scales of prejudices, in order to apply them to secondary school students in Euskadi (the Basque Country). We analysed the responses of almost 1500 students and thus obtained results for the main types of prejudice that exists amongst the students. We subsequently examined these prejudices and compared them with the scientific data, reports and other research that have generated much debate. As a result of this research, we have made available to educators, both inside and outside the classroom, the basis for drawing up strategies and plans for educational interventions with secondary school students. We propose a solid foundation for undertaking an educational programme that will be useful for combating prejudices and xenophobia in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the results of a case study looking at the views of teachers and other educational professionals pertaining to the academic progress and general integration of immigrant schoolchildren in multicultural schools in the province of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). It is organised into three sections: first, the geographical and social context of the study is described, focusing in particular on the impact on schools of migratory trends within the province associated with strawberry cultivation. This is followed by a presentation of the results of a field study into the educational panorama of immigrant pupils from various countries, drawing on verbal reports by teachers and school administrators. Finally, some conclusions are suggested for possible categories of analysis with a view to opening new lines of research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the last few years, changes in the Spanish educational system have had a far reaching impact. Several factors have been critical: (1) the progressive decentralization of education by the government, now a responsibility of regional governments; (2) the extension of compulsory education to the age of 16; and finally (3) the increase in the number of immigrant students, which has significantly added to the existing cultural diversity. The enrolment of immigrant students in Spanish schools is a relatively recent phenomenon (starting 15 years ago) when compared with other European countries. Madrid is the region in Spain with the largest number of students. As most of these students were born outside of Spain, we cannot yet speak of a second generation. The research described here investigated how the educational system in Madrid confronted the challenge of an increasing number of immigrant students. The institutional response was the Madrid Regional Government's Compensatory Education Regional Plan. This encompasses several measures, which are described here. After a critical analysis of educational policies pertaining to immigrant pupils, the paper suggests ways of overcoming a purely compensatory approach. Intercultural education plays a key role is such considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides data from individual interviews conducted with 15 and 16 year-old non-immigrant students from a highly multiethnic secondary urban school in Barcelona, Spain. In this school, mixed classrooms (immigrant and local) and small linguistically heterogeneous working groups are frequent in the mathematics lessons. The focus is on the non-immigrant students’ perspectives on the notion of learning. Findings show that these students interpret certain whole-class and small-group interactions among local and immigrant students as not constitutive of learning. In particular, I explore some of the meanings associated with the representation of the multiethnic classroom as a conflictive place for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Intercultural University of Veracruz (UVI), an institutional Programme at the University of Veracruz in Mexico (Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural), as a product of the analysis and research carried out over a 10‐year period on cultural diversity and education. There were several institutions and over 20 people involved in the project. In November 2004, the UVI was formally created and, within a record time, it was operating. By December 2005, four centres were established in four different intercultural regions of Veracruz: Selvas, Grandes Montañas, Huasteca and Totonacapan. A web site, partially written in several indigenous languages, was created to disseminate its activities. UVI is working closely with the Laboratory of Intercultural Studies at the University of Granada and INTER Group of UNED, both in Spain. We present its rationale, the process that led to its creation, and its current status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a number of issues relating to educational responsibility for increasing social cohesion and preventing the segregation of people from different cultures who have to pass through the Spanish educational system. Using a descriptive analysis, we review the present situation. Our review shows that the treatment of cultural diversity by Spanish universities is, in general, insufficient with respect to the training needs that students will demand from the educational system both now and in the future. Simply taking a single course on intercultural issues is not enough to prepare teachers to cope with cultural diversity in the school and classroom. Therefore, educational approaches, curriculum planning, teacher organization and teaching methodology all need to change in the earliest stages of teacher training. A important first step would be to develop positive attitudes toward diversity and inclusion, which can then guide new educational approaches. In turn, these can focus on innovation within an intercultural framework in order to allow the implementation of increasingly committed and complex projects and educational experiences (investigation‐action, social action projects, etc.). Such developments are intended to provide teachers with teaching‐learning strategies in five fundamental core areas. These represent the minimum content of any intercultural education program: friendship with people from other cultures, multicultural coexistence, coexistence and learning about other cultures at school, intercultural cooperation and respect for cultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociocultural content of foreign language textbooks has become a concern of scholars and practitioners owing to the fact that the traditional emphasis on purely linguistic issues has been expanded to embrace a language in context approach. This paper studies the English-speaking communities that are described in English language teaching textbooks marketed in Spain. It examines to what extent an international and/or intercultural approach is a constituent element in their design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent shift has been noticeable in foreign language education theory. Previously, foreign languages were taught as a linguistic code. This then shifted to teaching that code against the sociocultural background of, primarily, one country in which the foreign language is spoken as a national language. More recently, teaching has reflected on language and culture in an integrated way with a view to preparing learners to use the foreign language in intercultural contact situations. Though in many countries national curricula for the teaching of foreign languages have been slow in the uptake of this shift in thinking, recent curricular guidelines tend to focus more explicitly on the sociocultural dimension of foreign language education, distinguishing between cognitive, attitudinal and behavioural objectives to be attained in the area of language-and-culture teaching. This change in focus in curricular guidelines entails a change in the expectations voiced towards foreign language teachers. Research on innovation in education has shown that teachers' perceptions of the innovation to a large extent determine the success of that innovation. This paper reports on an investigation among Spanish secondary school EFL teachers, focusing on the extent to which teachers support the new culture-and-language teaching objectives. Our findings suggest that teachers are willing to support the new objectives, but that they experience conflicts when having to prioritize language teaching and culture teaching objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Spanish prison system has undergone major changes, with a marked increase in the number of immigrant inmates. Thus, educational interventions in prisons must be set against this backdrop of ethnocultural diversity, especially if the aim is re-education and reinsertion into society. This paper focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive educational intervention programme for closed prisons, adaptable to diverse prison situations and educational aims. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between immigration and crime, the potential for educational intervention in this context, and possible strategies favouring intercultural communication within prisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on bilingual education in the Basque Country. The main achievements of the Basque educational system are to be found in the progressive expansion of more intensive linguistic models, the social acceptance of teaching through and in Basque, and the positive academic results of pupils. The main problems associated with bilingual education are: (1) the difficult situation of Basque in Navarre and the French Basque Country; (2) the contradictions involved in what we refer to as linguistic model A (Castilian) of the education system, as well as the need to completely reassess it; (3) the uncertain future of Basque language use at the secondary and tertiary school levels, especially in vocational training and at the Universities; (4) the large gap between schooling and competence in the Basque language (on the one hand) and its use in everyday life (on the other); (5) the existence of two comprehensive plans for the revitalisation of Basque, and the introduction of a plurilingual programme (Basque -- Spanish -- English), and the extent to which generalisation is suitable; and finally (6) the need to review all existing bilingual educational systems to transform them into genuine intercultural programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union and those countries that make up the region of South-eastern Europe are built on the pillars of a multicultural society, with different languages, cultures, religions and ethnic groups. This diversity gives rise to various kinds of conflicts. The way in which we resolve these will determine the kind of future we can create for next generations. In this paper, we look at the situation of Roma and Educational provisions for Roma in the Basque region of Spain. It is clear that improvements are being made, but that much work is still necessary. Too few Roma children succeed at the moment in the Spanish and Basque educational systems. We use the case study of one school, the La Esperanza School, to highlight opportunities and barriers to effectively addressing the issue of Roma education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formerly a country of emigrants, Spain has now become a receptor of immigrants from other countries. In spite of the great diversity that existed in our country's past, reflection, legislation and educational concern pertaining to cultural pluralism developed only after this phenomenon. In this paper we examine the adoption of the intercultural perspective in education in Spain, and the relationship between policy and practice. We first discuss the theoretical framework that we use. Second, we look at European policies in this area and finally we describe how cultural diversity is dealt with in Spain, both from a legislative and a practical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the variable 'age' was analysed in terms of its influence on the development of social skills among immigrant students enrolled in compulsory secondary education (12 to 18 years old) in the South of Spain. The social skills construct was defined with responses of N = 749 immigrant students using the Social Skill Scale for Young Immigrants (SSSYI). Six dimensions were evaluated: the ability to say 'no' and cut off interactions; self-expression in social situations; defending one's own rights; ability to express anger or disagreement towards others; ability to make requests, and the ability to initiate positive interactions with the opposite sex. The analyses were carried out with the statistical software packages SPSS and STATA. The results showed that the probability of immigrant students to acquire social skills increased with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article describes a study carried out in a rural school in the province of Valencia (Spain) that is currently immersed in a process of transformation towards becoming an inclusive intercultural school. The objective of this study is to learn about the process of constructing the school's educational community and the factors involved in this process. The study used intrinsic case study methodology in which, through interviews, focus groups, participatory social diagnostic techniques and participant observation, we examine how this educational community is being constructed. The results show the dynamism and complexity of this process. The search for identity symbols, the need to continually inspire motivation among the members of the community and the emergence of a dichotomous discourse determines its evolution. The democratic participation of the community is demonstrated as a core element in the process of constructing this inclusive intercultural educational community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English-speaking learners of L2 Spanish who were taking part in a four-week study abroad program in Spain and Japanese-speaking learners of L2 English who were individually studying in year-long abroad experiences participated in the present study. Quantitative and qualitative data from language questionnaires and contact profiles along with open-ended responses revealed details on learners’ engagement with and use of their languages while abroad. We discuss the findings and their implications for programs, educators and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is suffering from the consequences of strengthening neoliberal policies, which impose an education model that serves the interests of the hegemonic economic system. The market rationale is being implemented in schools, moving the interests from equity to efficiency, from equal opportunities to performance. Starting from setting out a panoramic view of the way in which the intercultural focus in Spain has been used, with an approach to the different educational spheres in which we have carried out our work and research –educational policies, teacher education, school practice and education outside the school – we discuss the paradoxes and ambiguities that remove the transformative capacity of intercultural education and propose the reformulation of interculturality as an ethical and political project to subvert inequality by mobilizing to collectively create and enable images of education that contribute to a sustained way of building an equitable and fair society. Assuming our role as academics, we design a specific collective proposal on who mobilizes, with whom, as well as the attributes of the processes to be generated are discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]