Promoting Social Cohesion through Education : Case Studies and Tools for Using Textbooks

In a world where students will have to co-exist with people different from themselves, sensitivity and openness to diversity--ethnic, religious, linguistic, and ability-related--is a core part of any good education. 'Social Cohesion through Education' provides case studies and tools to help educators, policymakers, and the development community improve the ways in which education systems can promote tolerance and respect for diversity through improved management of existing inputs such as curriculum and textbook reform. The book address different issues in different countries and regions, but the fundamental message is the same: the explicit and implicit messages about inter-group relations that children receive in school shape the form and sensitivities of young minds with respect to other human beings. If education is to contribute to economic and social development, it is critical that we understand those messages and the means of their transmission.