Minorities, Migrants and Refugees in European Education

Course Code: MMACOM_23

Masters Level Module

Maintaining the identity and stability of states with multi-ethnic and multilingual populations has been a major aim of national educational systems all over the world for at least the last hundred years. How this has been done, what models there are to choose from, and how education systems can be changed to meet the needs of minorities, migrants and refugees are some of the principal concerns of this module. This module's main focus is on how state education systems define and deal with 'the other' within the current political context across Europe, America and Asia. The main groups considered are national minorities, migrants, and refugees but other groups such as Roma, travellers and indigenous peoples will be discussed as well. The module has various aims: (1) to examine the origin of cultural diversity and its relation with nationalism and nation-building (2) to explore the range of policies adopted in different historical and geographical contexts to deal with such diversity and the response of minority groups to these policies (3) to assess the applicability of sociological theories on cultural diversity for education and multicultural schools.

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