Isabel Torrijos

Cultural diversity has existed in society for centuries, but the interest in it has increased since the middle of 20 th century. For the last 20 years, the world has been experiencing the process of globalization, the main consequence of that is the sharp increase of migratory movements and, hence, an accentuation of the presence of diversity. Linked to this, there has been an increase of intolerant attitudes, prejudices and categorizations that education has to confront as early as possible. With the aim of solving this situation, educational researchers have proposed the development of the intercultural competence in schools centres. With this competence, future citizens will acquire skills that will enable them to manage their coexistence with people culturally different from them. In the future, and only after the application of proper institutional measures and improvements in the competences of study plans, societies will not be defined as coexistence between different people but as a real cohabitation sharing lifestyles and opinions freely.

The presence of many cultures in the same society has been a constant in the History of Humanity, but its increase has become so pronounced in the last quarter of a century that it has aroused the interest of many researches from different perspectives. This cultural diversity has brought with it an increase in antidemocratic attitudes based on the promotion of immoral values such as intolerance, lack of respect or racist attitudes. From Education, various approaches have been adopted in order to put an end to these stances and with the aim of instilling in students the democratic values gathered in Human Rights. Have these approaches reached their objectives? The article includes the contributions of different authors who analyse some of these approaches, and it proposes the Intercultural Education and its competence as the optimal methodology to instil respect and cooperation in students. This should not only appear in the School-based Education Project but in every subject. As an...

Cultural diversity has existed in society for centuries, but the interest in it has increased since the middle of 20 th century. For the last 20 years, the world has been experiencing the process of globalization, the main consequence of that is the sharp increase of migratory movements and, hence, an accentuation of the presence of diversity. Linked to this, there has been an increase of intolerant attitudes, prejudices and categorizations that education has to confront as early as possible. With the aim of solving this situation, educational researchers have proposed the development of the intercultural competence in schools centres. With this competence, future citizens will acquire skills that will enable them to manage their coexistence with people culturally different from them. In the future, and only after the application of proper institutional measures and improvements in the competences of study plans, societies will not be defined as coexistence between different people but as a real cohabitation sharing lifestyles and opinions freely.

The current society is marked by a series of changes in its demography and in its attitudes towards diversity. Thanks to this current situation in society, numerous important educational approaches have been developed in the last half century. The objective of these approaches is not other than to reinforce the democratic values and to establish the basis for a more equitable and equal education for all citizens. Among these approaches, intercultural education stands out, which together with its competence, is based on the integration and cooperation of all students without distinction. For the implementation of this approach, an educational reform is necessary not only in the school's curriculum but also in the training of teachers in this area, as it is considered insufficient and outdated. In the future, only through an educational reform and a correct legislation, taking into account the intercultural competence, will it be possible to adequately train citizens for cooperation and common social development.

The presence of many cultures in the same society has been a constant in the History of Humanity, but its increase has become so pronounced in the last quarter of a century that it has aroused the interest of many researches from different perspectives. This cultural diversity has brought with it an increase in antidemocratic attitudes based on the promotion of immoral values such as intolerance, lack of respect or racist attitudes. From Education, various approaches have been adopted in order to put an end to these stances and with the aim of instilling in students the democratic values gathered in Human Rights. Have these approaches reached their objectives? The article includes the contributions of different authors who analyse some of these approaches, and it proposes the Intercultural Education and its competence as the optimal methodology to instil respect and cooperation in students. This should not only appear in the School-based Education Project but in every subject. As an example of that, the study suggests one proposal based on this methodology for English as a Foreign Language classes. Thanks to this Intercultural Education, students will have the tools to respect people who belong to another culture, race or religion, and above all, value them and live with them in harmony.

The history of migratory movements dates back to Antiquity but it is true that thanks to the technological and communications advances, migratory movements have increased in recent years. The management of cultural diversity, therefore, is not a problem of the present but it is necessary that it becomes one of the challenges of the 21 st Century in order to put an end to the wave of violent and anti-tolerant attitudes. For this reason, social and educational researches with the aim of promoting tolerant and respectful attitudes among citizens have been developing from the middle of the 20 th Century to the present. The study seeks to make a theoretical synthesis on the issue for then, suggesting the service-learning as a methodological proposal to address cultural diversity in the schools but in the community also. The most striking conclusion is that active methodologies, the ones in which the teacher takes a backseat and students have all the tools to achieve knowledge, are the most effectives when it refers to manage diversity. Students are more motivate to work as a team, to respect and to create an atmosphere of exchanging opinions without having to do anything else than collaborating between them.

Cultural diversity, despite being a reality in society throughout history, increased considerable last century. Educational research focuses on giving a response to the negative attitudes that emerged due to this increase. After many years of investigation, researchers concluded that the Intercultural Approach was the only method to manage cultural integration. Taking this into account, the article proposes different methodologies that help to promote Intercultural Education within the Foreign Language classes. In the same way, after the analysis, two activities are proposed based on these methodologies that seek to promote attitudes of tolerance, equality and solidarity among students. The objective of the article is to prove that educating in values should be the first objective of education and to offer methodological resources to guide student learning. Thanks to this, students will be citizens capable of interacting and respecting the cultural diversity present in societies.