Primary schools get guidelines on cultural diversity

Putting up multilingual signs, ensuring teachers and pupils can pronounce each other's names and developing strategies to deal with racist behaviour are among new guidelines on interculturalism being issued to primary schools.

The guidelines, Intercultural Education in the Primary School, were published by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin in Dublin yesterday.

Running to 167 pages, the guidelines cover school planning, classroom planning, language, cultural diversity and methods of exploring cultural diversity.

They were drawn up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment following extensive consultations since 2001.

They were introduced in St Audoen's national school in the Liberties, Dublin, a school with pupils from Poland, Moldova, Romania, Mongolia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Slovakia and Ireland.

Marking the event, the school choir sang Frere Jacques in English, Irish, French and Polish. The Polish element, Panie Janie, was sung solo by Milena Matejko, aged 10. She told The Irish Times that she had been born in Poland, and had started at St Audoen's "nearly more than a year ago".

"I love it here," she said in perfect English with a tinge of a Dublin accent. "I have friends in my class from Moldova and Niamh is from Dublin and Aoife is too. I love painting and art."

Ms Hanafin said the changes in Irish society were visible in every school. "I've been in 13 schools in the past week, and it would be a rare school that didn't have diversity. Teachers and pupils are excited by the changes, and this is visible in the art work and the music in the schools."

She had spoken in the past fortnight at a "March of the Living" in Auschwitz, Poland, on behalf of ministers of education on the Council of Europe "pledging that what happened in Auschwitz would never happen again".

It was through education that racism would be prevented, and it was in "small but practical ways that diversity is respected, and that we celebrate and appreciate it".

It would be in this way "that we ensure differences don't end up as hatreds".

The guidelines stress that intercultural education is for all children, whether they attend an ethnically-diverse school or one that is wholly white, Irish and Catholic. The benefits of such an education were encouragement of the child's curiosity, development and support for the child's imagination by normalising difference and the development of their sensitivity.

The guidelines say parents' involvement and support are crucial, but acknowledge parents, particularly those whose first language is not that of the school, may feel reluctant to approach the school. The guidelines suggest ways these issue may be addressed.

There are also checklists to cover such issues as what information should be gathered about a child from an ethnic minority joining a school. Included on this list is that the school should find out key phrases in the child's first language, such as "please" and "well done", and check whether there will be issues around food, jewellery or clothing.