Negotiating Cultural Difference in Divided Societies

Abstract

While political theorists contest issues of equality, culture, identity, and group rights and debate the relative merits of multiculturalism or egalitarianism, educators are left to navigate their own route when policies lag behind the urgent realities of meeting the needs of diverse groups of students. The challenge of appropriate educational responses to cultural diversity is a universal one, but it is arguably more urgent in countries that have suffered from protracted violence, where the rights of diverse societal groups are in conflict and where group affiliation is of critical importance.