Sociopsychological principles for intercultural interventions to reduce intergroup bias in school

Abstract

The role of educators includes promoting cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in order to create an inclusive school climate, and for this role, they need multicultural knowledge and skills. This article presents theory-based and evidence-based principles, adopted from social psychology, to reduce intergroup biases and to improve intergroup attitudes. These principles are proposed here for use in intercultural educational intervention programmes with the aim of promoting cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in schools. Awareness of these principles and their implementation in educational programmes can contribute to acquaintance with the ‘other’, heterogeneous perception of groups, identifying similarities between cultures, addressing stereotypes, reducing intergroup biases, and enhancing intergroup attraction. All of these have the capability to contribute to an optimal and inclusive educational climate in schools and in society.