Intercultural education in neo-nationalist Europe

Intercultural education is not an unknown topic in Europe. Since 1977, the Council of Europe has elaborated an European model of intercultural curriculum as various publications (see Micheline Rey, 19867, Leclercq 2002) underline: “It was the project on ‘Education and cultural developments of migrants’, launched in 1981, that was to afford the opportunity for systematically researching the concept of intercultural education and revealing all that it signified at the intellectual level and in teaching practice.” (Leclercq 2002:2). The Council of Europe had certainly a pioneer role of in the promotion of intercultural education in Europe. The pedagogical proposal raised, however, great interest among scholars and teachers during the eighties and nineties. A rich debate followed, the outcome of which was the idea that intercultural education had to be promoted for all pupils, not only for children of immigrant background.