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The Diversity Imperative: Building aculturally responsive school ethosLaurie Shepherd JohnsonPublished online: 02 Jul 2010.

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Intercultural Education, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2003

The Diversity Imperative: building aculturally responsive school ethosLAURIE SHEPHERD JOHNSON

ABSTRACT In the wake of increasing globalization and the growing migration of refugeesand asylum seekers from conflict, post-conflict and third world societies, dramatic changesare taking place in the cultural demography of many western European nations. Corre-spondingly, schools in these countries are experiencing increasing ethnic diversity in theirstudent enrolments and, as such, are facing an imperative that challenges their traditionalwestern, monocultural foundations. In trying to manage this diversity, these schoolscommonly are ill-equipped to address the different needs of ethnically diverse learners. Thispaper presents a framework of practical considerations and strategies for pursuing awhole-school approach toward building a culturally responsive ethos in which all studentsare valued and assured equal opportunities for success.

Introduction

Population demographics are markedly changing in many of the western Europeancountries that traditionally have considered themselves culturally homogeneousstates. In addition to the human mobility effects brought on by worldwide globaliza-tion, these changes are partly a reflection of the growing number of asylum seekersand refugees trying to resettle in countries that are seen to offer greater opportunityand safety. In its Report on Legal and Social Conditions for Asylum Seekers and Refugees,2000, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) details migrationtrends for 19 countries in western Europe and highlights the associated implicationssuch changes engender for various components of society such as housing, employ-ment and education. Reports such as this validate what is otherwise anecdotallyevident in terms of the notable increase of ethnically diverse new immigrants settlingin these nations over the past five to seven years. As a result of surges of migrationfrom central and eastern European, and Asian and African countries, schools in thenew host countries are experiencing the enrolment of more and more children fromdiverse cultural backgrounds, many coming from conflict or post-conflict societiessuch as the former republic of Yugoslavia, Romania, Nigeria, DR Congo,Afghanistan and Somalia. In response to this exigency, many western Europeancountries are now instituting policies that ensure the right to schooling for allchildren of asylum seekers, convention status refugees and people with temporaryleave to remain (ECRE, 2000). Formal policy notwithstanding, the educational

ISSN 1467-5986 print; 1469-8489 online/03/010017-14 2003 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/1467598032000044629

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systems of these nations are uncertain as to how to best address pluralism inpractice.

By and large, the nations of western Europe have traditionally conceived them-selves as being monocultural and, as such, their schools have reinforced a sense ofwhite, middle-class, western cultural hegemony (Kamali, 2000). While educationalsystems have long played a role in reinforcing notions of cultural homogeneity, thegrowing ethnic heterogeneity occurring in contemporary states today must compelschools to question the legitimacy of promoting a common culture (Bush &Saltarelli, 2000). While escalating diversity is fashioning dramatic change in thesociocultural fabric of these nations, their school systems are being confronted withchallenges that many find themselves ill-equipped to address (Rutler & Jones, 1998).Using Sweden as an example, Kamali (2000) suggests that, by tending to categorizecultural variations from the majority norm as “abnormalities”, “behavioural prob-lems” and “deviations” that need to be controlled or eliminated, schools contributeto the “negative integration” of immigrant students. The culturally responsivealternative would be to have schools deconstruct these inequitable categorizations of“the other” and constructively move toward a pluralistic ethos. Indeed, it has beenargued that pluralism, which entails looking at the world from different perspectivesand accepting other cultures, languages and beliefs, is the sine qua non for demo-cratic relations between people (Batelaan, 1995).

Schools can, and should, play a pivotal role in facilitating interculturalism.Mindful of the human rights of the child, schools must respond to the significantchallenges involved in meeting the educational needs of all children (Fernekes,1999; Schmid, 1993; Spafford & Bolloten, 1995), whether native or foreign,privileged or disenfranchised. The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rightsof the Child (CRC), endorsed by nearly every country in the world, obligatesratifying states to ensure every child a right to education without discrimination(Bush & Saltarelli, 2000). More than simply assuring an immigrant child a seat ina classroom, an “education without discrimination” implies providing a learningenvironment that is integrally responsive to all. With this in mind, the imperative forthe 21st century would be to promote culturally responsive education where theoverarching goal is to foster an ethos, a way of thinking and being, that valueshuman rights, diversity and equity, and ultimately facilitates successful learning forall members of the school community. However, given the human inclination todislike change, mistrust those different from self, and hold on to monoculturalconceptions of national identity, societal acceptance of pluralism is typically slow tooccur. Such reticence likewise hinders meaningful implementation of culturallyresponsive policy and practice in schools (Boyden & Ryder, 1996).

In considering ways of fostering a school environment where diversity is acceptedand well managed, it can be instructive to look at other systems that have pursuedsimilar objectives. While transferability is not automatic, there is much to be gainedfrom looking at diversity initiatives that have been successfully undertaken in othercontexts as the first step in building good-practice considerations that can besubsequently tailored to meet the unique circumstances of other venues. Myresearch and consultation work in schools in the USA and Northern Ireland would

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suggest that the most constructive way to address diversity is by committing to awhole-school approach that is aimed at achieving a culture of tolerance, equity andinterdependence in which all students can thrive. In order to build a culturallyresponsive ethos successfully, a system-wide initiative needs to be pursued whereinmeasures that impact all facets of the school operation are carried out in an ongoingand integrated fashion. Effectively to promote understanding and acceptance ofdifferences across the entire community, school initiatives need to be integrative(infused through all elements of the educational enterprise), egalitarian (assuringequitable status for all parties), substantive (ongoing, significant and purposeful),inclusive (involving all stakeholders) and culturally responsive (sensitive to thecultural backgrounds of all member groups) in their orientation (Johnson, 1995).

This paper presents a whole-school approach to building a culturally responsiveschool ethos, which focuses on five major components of the educational enterprise:school management, teachers, curriculum and instruction, parents and community,and student development and support services. The framework of strategies pre-sented here is not intended to be prescriptive but rather suggestive of the types ofpolicy and practice initiatives that might be considered.

School Management

The trend in contemporary educational policy making and governance is movingtoward decentralization, where decisions regarding how schools operate on a practi-cal level are now being placed in the hands of local stakeholders. The “site-basedmanagement” approach to educational administration, wherein designated membersof the school community come together as a planning and managerial body collab-oratively to determine standard school operations and address special areas ofconcern is being promoted in many nations (Abu-Duhuo, 1999).

Through site-based management, all stakeholders are empowered to contribute tothe school mission. Through this representative mechanism, schools can plansystemic initiatives constructively to address the growth of ethnic diversity in waysthat are tailored to the specific experience and constituency of the individual schoolcommunity. One way that many site-based managed schools in the USA initiallypursue such planning is through forming a “diversity task force”. These advisorycommittees, comprising representative members of the school community includingteachers, administrators, students, parents and community members, are commis-sioned to serve both a policy planning and a monitoring function related to issues ofdiversity in areas ranging from recruitment to curriculum and instruction. Theseadvisory groups are authorized to promote a learning environment in which diversitywill be acknowledged as a positive force throughout the school community. Thediversity task force is typically the body that shepherds the development of an overallaction plan for the school. Such a task force would also be empowered to identifyand challenge institutional forms of discrimination, ensure that an accurate andequitable image of all cultural groups is presented in the teaching of all subjects, andsee to it that all students are helped to develop mutual understanding as well as theintercultural relations skills needed for success in an increasingly diverse world.

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Schools that form such advisory councils need to recognize of course that effectiveinitiatives take time to evolve and that moving too quickly or expecting immediateresults can be counterproductive (Johnson, 1995).

While it may take time to get everyone “on board” ideologically, some form ofovert action needs to be taken from the outset by schools if commitment to buildingan ethos that embraces different cultural ways of knowing and being is to becomemore than lip service. As a first step, schools can develop and publicize their ownmission statement as a means of specifically articulating their collective aim to valuecultural differences and to promote respect for all members of the school com-munity. This mission statement would then be publicized and reinforced in allsectors of the school community and included in printed materials and publicationsproduced for general distribution. As an outgrowth of the mission statement, anaction plan that outlines the goals and strategies of a whole-school initiative can beformulated to serve as a framework to guide efforts over, let us say, a period of threeto five years.

Culturally responsive schools anticipate and are sensitive to the needs of the newimmigrant student from the outset of enrolment. By establishing culturally respon-sive admission procedures for enrolling students from diverse backgrounds, schoolscan provide reliable direction to school staff on matters such as evaluating astudent’s previous education and academic ability and assessing special language orlearning needs for appropriate placement and service provision decisions.

A diverse faculty, like a diverse student population, helps to ensure that studentswill come in contact with a variety of ideas, experiences and beliefs as part of theirlearning and personal development. Toward this end, increased efforts can be takenby schools to implement practices in teacher recruitment and hiring that account forcultural diversity. This might involve defining qualifications that include experiencewith diversity, advertising teacher openings and recruiting staff through sources thatreach minority populations, and hiring teachers who can demonstrate an awarenessof and commitment to the principles and practices of culturally responsive edu-cation.

It has been my experience that teachers often feel uncomfortable and uncertainabout addressing the issues of prejudice and conflict that can arise in classroomswhen ethnic and cultural minority students enroll. Many teachers will avoid dealingwith contentious issues rather than responding to the situation as a teachablemoment from which all students can learn. In addition to providing targeted staffdevelopment to address this need (which will be discussed later in this paper),schools need to establish policy guidelines and protocols to help provide guidance toteachers in these matters. As part of this, a user-friendly staff handbook on schoolpolicy and practice related to treatment of diversity issues in the classroom can bedeveloped. Although not intended to be definitive or constraining in practice, sucha manual would offer reliable guidance and direction to teachers for addressingsensitive areas for which they otherwise might not be trained. Such a guidebookshould contain specific illustrations of how to deal with incidents of prejudice in theclassroom or in parent interactions and include relevant examples of potentialscenarios with recommended strategies to pursue. By specifying policy expectations

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The Diversity Imperative 21

and offering guidelines for carrying them out judiciously, schools can better equipteachers to be sensitive to and deal with contentious incidents as opportunities tofoster cultural tolerance and respect in the classroom.

In order to promote an environment where interculturalism is viably fostered,schools need to take a look at their course scheduling practices, enrolment patterns,participation rates in school activities and special services, as well as their appraisaland placement methods to check for indications of institutional bias. Areas that callfor more equitable treatment can be targeted in this way. For example, if adisproportionate number of ethnic minority students are being targeted for specialeducation or classified as “special needs”, or if class scheduling procedures seem toresult in minority student isolation, or if there appears to be underrepresented ethnicstudent participation in school activities, the associated policies and practices needto be revisited (Johnson, 1995). Additionally, it goes without saying that, as part ofbuilding a culturally responsive ethos, appropriate educational support services suchas those addressing second-language needs on the part of immigrant children andtheir parents need to be put in place.

At the most comprehensive level, school leadership can consider implementing aschool-wide program initiative that has been strategically developed (i.e. usually byan outside organization) to promote system-wide awareness and engage the entirecommunity in common practice related to tolerance, social responsibility, team-building and/or conflict resolution. Through an organized program structure thathas built-in training, resources and accountability, schools can more efficiently fosterthe understanding and skills needed to get along responsibly with others across theentire school community. There are a number of organizations worldwide that havedeveloped well-tested packaged programs devoted to promoting intercultural rela-tions and conflict management in schools that are flexible enough to be adapted todifferent countries and cultural settings.

Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR), for example, is an organization whosemission is to make teaching social responsibility and conflict resolution a corepractice in education. ESR offers comprehensive programs, resources and trainingfor adults who teach children at every developmental level, preschool through highschool. Through its structured school programs, it seeks to foster children’s ethical,emotional and social development by helping them learn to commit to the well-being of themselves and others, manage and resolve conflicts non-violently, solveproblems cooperatively, value diversity, understand cultural differences, counterbias, confront prejudice, make responsible decisions and take meaningful action.ESR’s largest program, the “Resolving Conflict Creatively Program” (RCCP) is acomprehensive, school-based program in conflict resolution and intergroup relationsthat provides a whole-school model for preventing violence and creating caringlearning communities in schools. (For information related to international applica-tions: www.esrnational.org or educators@esrnational.org)

Another programmatic intervention in the area of diversity and human relationseducation in schools is the “A World of Difference” Prejudice Reduction Programdeveloped by the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai Brith. The AWOD Programaims to assist educators to create multicultural, non-biased learning environments in

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which all children have the opportunity to be successful. The Institute’s “A Class-room of Difference” Program delivers on-site workshops on anti-prejudice edu-cation and diversity awareness training for teachers, administrators, support staff,parents, family members and school boards. This program has produced a“Teacher/Student Resource Guide” which includes curriculum resources for pri-mary and secondary levels on diversity awareness, anti-prejudice skills, criticalthinking and self-esteem enhancement. (For program information contact:www.adl.org/awod/classroom.html; for international applications contact: www.adl.org/regional/vienna/default.htm)

While instituting these types of structured program initiatives can help to build aculture of tolerance and peace within the school, they require dedicated vision andcommitment on the part of school management if they are to work and be sustainedover the long haul. Extraordinary management decisions must be made involvingresource allocations, providing release time for training and development, classroomcurriculum involvement and instituting new and time-invested practices into thedaily schedule. While partnerships with community, local business and NGO’s canbe fruitful in getting these programs off the ground, it is absolutely critical thatcommitted energy be guaranteed on the part of school managers and governingboard members who will essentially shepherd the process.

The Teaching Faculty

Most would agree that teachers are the heart of the school’s educational enterpriseand, as such, serve as the primary facilitators of student learning. Increasingly,teachers are finding themselves teaching students who come from very differentbackgrounds from their own. In western Europe, where changes in classroomdemography are taking place in rapid order, the emphasis given to diversity trainingin teacher education programs is still inadequate, despite the obvious inference thattraining curricula need to account better for the increasingly diverse world in whichtheir graduates will be teaching (Batelaan, 1992; Craft, 1996; Dussen, 1995; Fox &Gay, 1995; Kodron, 1993; LeRoux, 2001). In order to be able to provide ademocratic and unbiased learning environment for all students in their classrooms,teachers critically need professional development training aimed at helping themrecognize their own biases and cultural assumptions (e.g. low expectations of ethnicminorities) and learn specific strategies and approaches that are inclusive andpluralistic in orientation (Boyer & Baptiste, 1996; Davidman & Davidman, 1997;Marshall, 1996). LeRoux (2001) argues that teachers need to be trained to provideculturally responsive education that goes beyond adding multicultural aspects tosubject matter and holistically incorporates approach, attitudes, learning materialand the reality of various learning and teaching styles and implicit assumptions.UNESCO underscored these needs in 1995 when it endorsed a Declaration andIntegrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights andDemocracy, which, among other directives, set out to enhance the role of educatorsand give priority to pre-service and in-service training oriented toward culturaldiversity. Given the reality of worldwide patterns of migration where great numbers

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of school-aged new immigrant children are increasing the multicultural enrolmentsin western Europe’s schools, the continued lack of diversity training in teachereducation programs would appear to be negligence.

Until pre-service teacher education demonstrates a stronger commitment todiversity training in its preparation of classroom teachers, the onus falls on theschools and regional educational boards themselves to provide this critical trainingthrough relevant staff development and in-service training. Schools seeking topromote an ethos of equity and interdependence throughout the school communitywill want to identify intercultural competence as an expectation on the part of allstaff and provide appropriate opportunities for them to acquire the essential knowl-edge, skills and awareness. Towards this end, an ongoing staff-development initia-tive can be implemented through which teachers are trained in areas such as theeffective treatment of diversity issues in the classroom; pedagogical approaches toteaching students from different sociocultural backgrounds; and community rela-tions and conflict management skills. Such efforts are most effective when they areincorporated into a comprehensive approach specifically defined by the individualschool staff to meet stated needs and foster consensus of practice (Lakerveld &Nentwig, 1996). All teaching faculty, new and veteran alike, would be expected toparticipate in such an initiative and be professionally recognized for their commit-ment to culturally responsive practice. Obviously, the full commitment of the schoolmanagement is essential if any success is to be achieved in this area, especially inrelation to the decisions to be made in terms of the scheduling, time and resourceallocations needed for implementing a comprehensive staff-development program.While doing research and consultation work in integrated schools in NorthernIreland (96% of whose children are educated in a sectarian system), I came acrossan extraordinary example of this commitment in a primary school whose principalinstituted a staff-development initiative that seemed to be the backbone of theoperation by bringing all of the teaching faculty regularly to the table on mattersrelated to promoting a school ethos of mutual understanding, respect and interde-pendence. By instituting well-organized days of high-level training each year, carvingout weekly slots for in-service workshops and discussion, and incorporating affectiveas well as cognitive activities throughout, this principal was able to engender a fiercesense of shared ownership and commitment to the school mission not only amongthe teachers but throughout the school community.

In the effort to provide teachers with an ongoing, well-designed, school-wideprofessional development program that will meet these needs, schools can undertakestrategies such as:• designating a professional development working group comprising selected teach-

ers, administrators and teacher educators to provide leadership in these matters;• providing release time for participation in professional development activities that

enhance ability to teach effectively in a diverse world;• providing incentives for teachers to develop curriculum and learning activities that

enhance student appreciation of and ability to successfully negotiate diversity;• establishing teacher exchange programs where teachers can gain exposure to

diverse settings and populations.

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Curriculum and Instruction

Culturally responsive schools are guided by the principle that diverse ways ofunderstanding and interpreting the world are an asset and a resource, not a liability,and that it is in the best interest of all learners to build on the strengths andexperiences that children collectively bring to the classroom (Novick, 1996). As partof this, increasing the congruence between children’s home experiences and theschool environment is particularly critical to the success of children from diversecultures and social classes (Bowman & Stott, 1994). Trumball et al. (2000) devel-oped the “Bridging Cultures” framework as a tool to help teachers understand howeveryday patterns of classroom interaction can conflict with the values of a student’sfamily background and work at cross-purposes to the behavioral norms childrengrow up with. The framework describes two contrasting value systems: individual-ism and collectivism, which differ in their relative emphasis on fostering indepen-dence and success of the individual versus interdependence and success of the group(Greenfield, 1994). While individualistic cultures stress self-reliance and personalachievement, collectivistic cultures focus more on developing and sustaining astable, mutually dependent group. Teachers need to be aware of these differentcultural ways of knowing and behaving and attempt to allow for different orienta-tions on the part of classroom learners; in the tradition of teaching for differentlearning-styles, the assumption here is that children from different cultures do notnecessarily respond to instruction in the same ways.

The curriculum and instruction that is employed in a school underpins its ethos.Culturally responsive schools purposely incorporate and model social responsibility,pluralism and mutual understanding throughout classroom instruction. As part ofthis, schools need to equip teachers across the different subject areas with methodsand resources that constructively address diversity issues in the classroom.

As opposed to early multicultural education efforts, which largely reflected stand-alone or add-on strategies, current approaches favor an infusion or integrative modelwhereby diversity considerations are infused throughout the curriculum. Contem-porary practice has shown that interculturalism can be fostered in the context of thestandard curriculum subjects and incorporated in all instructional efforts, fromselection of textbooks to methods of assessment. Curricular schematics that illus-trate ways of incorporating these objectives into specific subject course instructionare now available (e.g. Amnesty International, 1998; Humphries, 1996; Madrazo,1998; Novick, 1996; Young, 1990).

Recent curricular reform efforts have included renewed interest in adding humanrights and civic education to the standard curriculum as one means by which socialresponsibility in an increasingly diverse world can be taught (British Council, 2000).Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an apolitical, non-profit organiza-tion working with schools and agencies throughout the world with the mission tosupport efforts to introduce human rights concepts and values into educationalcurricula and teaching practices. Through its website (www.erc.hrea.org), one canaccess the HREA Library which contains over 600 full-text guides, curricula,textbooks and other documents that provide educators with specific strategies and

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resources in the area of cultural diversity and human rights education. Equippedwith such resources, teachers are in a better position to give voice to pluralism intheir classrooms.

In addition to identifying specific teaching resources that can be incorporated intosubject content as a means of proactively addressing diversity in the classroom,teachers need to implement instructional methods that foster the development ofcooperation, dialogue and mutual understanding among students. Discussion-oriented and group methodologies are central to facilitating a climate in the class-room that is responsive to diversity. Cooperative learning, as an instructionalapproach paradigm that fosters intergroup relations while honing critical thinkingskills, has been widely used in the USA. Cooperative learning emphasizes opportu-nities at every grade level for structured and open group discussion and experientialactivities in the classroom that promote positive interdependence rather than com-petition among students. Such pedagogy has significant potential for offering stu-dents skills in being able to negotiate different perspectives. By their very nature,cooperative learning groups are set up to be heterogeneous with regard to gender,academic ability, ethnic background, and physical disability. Through cooperativelearning methods, students come to understand that it is to their advantage for otherstudents to learn well and to their disadvantage for others to do poorly (Johnson &Johnson, 1989). Aronson and Patnoe’s “Jigsaw Classroom” (1997) provides a goodexample of a cooperative learning strategy that can be employed in the classroom tofacilitate cooperative interdependence on the part of diverse students by dividingstudents into diverse groups to work together on a segmented project.

Pedagogical methods that foster critical thinking, debate, conflict resolution,tolerance-building, problem-solving and social responsibility, traits relevant to livingsuccessfully in a pluralist society, can be creatively incorporated throughout mostsubjects and co-curricular activities. Assigning in-depth project and team work, andutilizing a variety of learning materials, including non-text sources, are also ways ofenhancing opportunities for learning and better accommodating the diverse learningstyles of pupils (Tibbitts & Torney-Purta, 2000). Similarly, the competent teacherwho has children with language differences in class will incorporate projects that freestudents from the absolute requisite of expressing themselves only in words and, inso doing, foster other ways to build concepts and bridge language difficulties(Abramson et al., 1995).

Building Partnerships with Parents

Teachers who are culturally responsive recognize how their own views and behaviorsare influenced by their own particular cultural perspective and understand thatperspectives differ across groups. These teachers value parents as sources of essentialknowledge about their children’s learning behaviors in the classroom and openthemselves beyond the cultural assumptions that they themselves were reared andtrained under (Dauber & Epstein, 1993; Moll & Greenberg, 1991).

As part of any endeavor to nourish cross-cultural understanding in the school, the

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active engagement of the minority parent community is critical, not only in theclassroom as related to their child’s learning but in the overall planning anddecision-making processes as well. This entails open communication, team-building and collaboration with all parents as equal stakeholders in the schoolcommunity. It is essential that efforts be taken to expand the ethnic representationof parents participating in the school enterprise and that the commitment to theprinciples and practices of pluralism inform these efforts. When, in an otherwisediverse community, there are few ethnic minority parents involved in school activi-ties, the school’s cultural responsiveness can be called into question (rather thanpresuming disinterest on the part of the absent parents). When disproportionatelyfew ethnic minority parents are involved in the school, it might suggest that theprevailing (eurocentric) ways of decision making and communication are incompat-ible with their home cultural norms and a disincentive for participation. For thesereasons, it is critical that all members of the school community be sensitized to thedifferent cultural ways of thinking and behaving represented. A responsive schoolwould take these cultural variations into account in all its interactions with parentsand not assume that the traditional means of doing things were comfortable for all.

Initially, schools can form a working group designated to develop a game plan forbuilding linkages between parent and school, taking special account of any parentswho might be otherwise marginalized. As part of this, opportunities could beestablished for ethnic minority parents to participate in regular ongoing schoolactivities and serve as volunteer resources in school trips, classroom assistance, guestspeakers, and in sharing their expertise in relevant school initiatives. Through suchinvolvement, ethnic minority parents can develop a higher level of ownership in andsense of belonging to the school community. It is important to recognize thatparents, especially those from different cultural and ethnic groups who might befrightened or wary of school authority, need to be helped to trust the schoolleadership and made to feel welcome and that their participation will be respected.

Pastoral Care and Student Development

One of the most obvious means of constructively addressing diversity and movingtoward a more tolerant society is by facilitating the personal, social and emotionaldevelopment of young people throughout their school years. As part of building aculturally responsive ethos, all children need to be helped to achieve the psychoso-cial competencies required for success in life such as self-esteem, responsibledecision making, interethnic relations, social skills and the ability to deal effectivelywith issues such as racism, conflict, peer pressure, loss and anger. Such studentdevelopment is unlikely to be achieved, however, without providing system-widesupport services that are specifically designated to help students develop psychoso-cially as part of enabling them to be effective learners.

Unfortunately, the educational systems in a number of western European coun-tries do not adequately provide designated counseling and student developmentservices as a standard part of the educational experience. Pastoral care provisions inschools vary widely in substance and viability. In many schools it is still the teacher,

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already loaded with classroom responsibilities and with little or no training incounseling and guidance, who is designated to carry out this role. In NorthernIreland and other parts of the UK, for example, schools rely on personal-socialeducation classes to “satisfy” these vital needs (Watkins, 1995). Even the recentmovement to include Citizenship Education (CE) and Human Rights Education(HRE) in the required curriculum will not be sufficient to meet this critical area ofstudent need. Given the significant psychosocial challenges that emerge when peoplefind themselves in diverse contexts, there is perhaps greater urgency today than everbefore to provide student support services that go beyond didactic classroominstruction and rushed contact with busy teachers. As a better means of preparingyouth to live successfully in an increasingly complex world, schools need to institu-tionalize comprehensive counseling and student development services for all stu-dents.

In the USA and throughout many other countries, educational systems haveinstituted specially designated school counseling and guidance departments in theirschools. These departments are staffed by trained school counseling professionalswho address the emotional, social, career and educational development needs ofstudents. School counselors devote their skills, time and energies to providing directservices to students, staff and families and, as such, do not typically have classroomteaching responsibilities. School counselors, as members of the educational team,consult and collaborate with teachers, administrators and families to assist allstudents to be successful academically, vocationally and personally. Because they aretrained to address both proactive objectives (such as running human relationstraining for staff and students) as well as responsive needs (such as mediatinginterethnic conflicts among student groups), school counselors can serve an instru-mental role in promoting a school culture in which all members of the communityrespect each other, accepting differences and embracing similarities. The AmericanSchool Counselor Association (ASCA) serves as a resource for countries seeking toinstitute counseling and guidance services in their educational systems. (For resourceinformation, contact www.schoolcounselor.org or contact the International Associ-ation for Counselling at www.iacc-irtac.org/affiliated.htm).

At the end of the day, perhaps the most significant means of promoting a culturallyresponsive ethos is by empowering the students themselves to participate as active,responsible citizens within the school community. In outlining the role of educationin developing a democratic, multicultural European society, Batelaan (1995) arguedthat schools need to provide students with the widest range of opportunities topractice communication skills and to cooperate in heterogeneous groups. Towardsthis end, students should be provided opportunities to participate in decision-makingand problem-solving roles that affect the school community. By being given a voicein the school to express opinions and engage in dialogue that entails differentperspectives, students will learn first hand of the rights and responsibilities involvedin living in a diverse world. By fostering participation in representative studentcouncils, advisory and governing bodies and promoting student involvement in theprocesses of democratic decision making, schools will further enable students to learnhow to interrelate effectively in a diverse and complex world.

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28 L. S. Johnson

Conclusion

Increased migration worldwide has resulted in growing numbers of new immigrantstudents in countries that up to this time have had little exposure to the ways andneeds of other cultural groups and even less understanding about how to addressthem in the school setting. Reflective of this, incidents of culturally motivatedracism, intolerance, conflict and discrimination are now increasingly part of theeducational scene. As schools in western Europe are being faced with the challengesentailed in appropriately addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse studentpopulation, the lessons that have been learned and practices developed in othersystems that have already faced these demographic changes can potentially serve asuseful jump-off points in guiding policy and practice. While the considerations andpractical strategies presented in this paper address the individual roles of administra-tors, teachers, parents, students and community, they are intended to be understoodas integrated elements of a dynamic initiative. As is always the case, suitableapplications will need to be tailored to fit individual contexts. Allowing for societaland contextual differences, the framework presented here is intended to encourageschools to commit to purposeful, ongoing, systemic effort to build culturally respon-sive learning environments for all of their students and, in so doing, embrace the richopportunity that ethnic diversity is now providing them.

Address for correspondence: Lauri Johnson, 21 Stratford Avenue, Garden City NY 11530USA. E-mail: laurettajohn@hotmail.com

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