Project Description

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 proposed study aims to explore the transformation of intercultural education in the context of European integration. It will also indicate 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. This project will examine: (a) the types of interaction between European and national intercultural policies, (b) the ways in which European intercultural policies are mediated by national institutions, and (c) the impact of this process for Cypriot educational policy-making for intercultural education.

This research project will be carried out in three phases. During the 1st phase a review of the prior research in the field will be conducted and the current state of affairs with regards to the national and European level will be mapped out. Moreover, the research team will decide upon the implementation of the study including planning for data collection and analysis methods. Theoretical insights from policy sociology, theories of Europeanisation and the socio-cultural framework of policy analysis will be utilised to conceptualise and examine this research endeavour. During the 2nd phase, the researchers will conduct policy analysis at the European and Cypriot level. Interview and documentary data that will be collected from both European (Council of Europe and European Union) and Cypriot (Ministry of Education and Culture) arenas, will be analysed using qualitative analysis methods. During the 3rd phase, the team will conduct the study in four primary schools in Cyprus. The data collected will be analysed through observations, head-teachers’, teachers’ and students’ interviews and anonymous reflections. Finally, the total body of data will be comparatively analysed to finalise the findings of this project.

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 will inform policy-makers and practitioners about how Cypriot intercultural policy has been formed by complex and often counteractive influences. The study will allow policy-makers from Europe and Cyprus but also educators to come together to contribute in the development of an innovative intercultural educational policy. Intercultural education relates to a wide range of socio-cultural, political and economic phenomena, while it is based on values that affirm cultural pluralism. Thus, the implementation of this project allows a global perspective of intercultural education in a European state (Cyprus) that seeks conflict resolution.