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Evidence of modifying school curricula and teaching materials can be modified to reflect the diversity of the school population

Code:
RED84
Key Area:
Education
Strand(s):
Equality
17/02/2012 - 16:05
Short Answer

There is some evidence that school materials and methodologies can be modified to reflect the diversity of school population, although the national curricula is common to all public schools.

Qualitative Info

One example is the Portuguese as a Second Language programme in national curricula developed by the Ministry of Education for teaching Portuguese as a second language, with the children of recent immigrants in mind, nammelly those that come from non-portuguese speaking countries. The Third Report on Portugal published by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) highlights the legislation providing for the introduction in schools of these classes in Portuguese as a second language for children whose mother tongue is not Portuguese.

The ECRI report highlights initiatives taken by the Alto Comissariado para a Imigração e Diálogo Intercultural (ACIDI) [High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue] designed to raise the awareness of non-Roma teachers and pupils to Roma culture. The report also refers to the case of a minority of Roma children whose parents have a nomadic lifestyle and benefit from the school network which enables them to attend school throughout the year in Portugal.

According to the report Complementary Data Collection - Contribution from Portugal to the Annual Report of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (2009), in order to facilitate intercultural teaching and learning the Ministério da Educação [Ministry of Education] and the Alto Comissariado para a Imigração e Diálogo Intercultural (ACIDI) [High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue] provided the schools with intercultural material. The Ministry of Education provided the General guidelines for the Teaching of Portuguese as a Second Language for secondary education, an Handbook for Citizenship and a Reference Book of Portuguese for speakers of other languages.

The I Plano para a Integração dos Imigrantes (PII, 2007-2009) [I Plan for Immigrant Integration] and the II Plano para a Integração dos Imigrantes (PII, 2010-2013) [II Plan for Immigrant Integration] adopted  measures regarding teaching materials and the diversity of the school population.

In this regard, the I Plan for Immigrant Integration included the measures: providing appropriate welcoming strategies and help the integration of student children of immigrants into schools, namely by taking into account the age levels of students, language ability and length of stay in Portugal; equipping schools with pedagogical materials for supporting intercultural and anti-racist education; to improve qualitative and quantitave data on cultural diversity in schools (pp. 16-19).

The II Plan for Immigrant Integration covering the period 2010-2013 includes the measures: informing schools of intercultural teaching resources for intercultural and anti-racist education; dissemination of best practices and support for the the welcoming, aid and integration of students who are descendents of immigrants; improve the collection of statistical data on cultural diversity in schools (pp. 20-23).
 



Source

ACIDI (2007), I Plan for Immigrant Integration (2007-2009), http://www.acidi.gov.pt/_cfn/4d346c9b80687/live/Consulte+a+versão+do+Plano+2007-2009+em+inglês+, Date of access: 26.01.2012.

ACIDI (2010), II Plan for Immigrant Integration (2010-2013), http://www.acidi.gov.pt/_cfn/4d346c9b80687/live/Consulte+a+versão+da+Plano+2010-2013+em+Inglês, Date of access: 26.01.2012.

ACIDI, (2010), Relatório Final: I Plano para a Integração de Imigrantes (2007-2009), http://www.acidi.gov.pt/_cfn/4d346c9b80687/live/Conheça+o+Relatório+Final+do+PII+%282007-2009%29, Date  of access: 26.01.2012.

DGIDC, Português Língua Não Materna no currículo nacional, http://www.dgidc.min-edu.pt/outrosprojetos/index.php?s=directorio&pid=64&ppid=2, Date of access: 27.02.2012.

Dias, B. Ralha, T. and Silva, E. (2009), Complementary Data Collection - Contribution from Portugal to the Annual Report of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union, Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

ECRI (2007), Third Report on Portugal, Strasbourg: Council of Europe, http://hudoc.ecri.coe.int/XMLEcri/ENGLISH/Cycle_03/03_CbC_eng/PRT-CbC-III-2007-4-ENG.pdf, Date of access: 27.02.2012.

Groups affected/interested Migrants, Roma & Travelers, Ethnic minorities
Type (R/D) Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-roma/ romaphobia
Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas Education, Culture
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