Schools and cultural diversity

Abstract

Schools reflect the cultural diversity in today’s societies. This calls for reflection on educational models of dealing with cultural diversity and educational policies that constitute a framework for interventions in this rea. Also, contexts have influence on conceptions of cultural diversity, so that different realities set trends about intercultural models and reflect priorities at political level. In this sense, Spain and Argentina are marked by the diversity of the cultural backgrounds reflected, among other reas, at schools. In both contexts, there are differences in the connotations associated with the conception of cultural diversity. While in Spain, this diversity is closely linked to migration, we find that in Argentina there is a huge connection with the presence of indigenous or native population.This paper presents a view of the main aspects that make the models focus on cultural diversity as well as main directions of educational laws that meet the socioeducational and educational demands of both realetes, in order to obtain an overview about the cultural diversity at schools in Spain and Argentina.