Intercultural Education and Teacher Education in the United Kingdom: a case of reversible decline

Abstract

This paper traces the development of intercultural education in initial and in‐service teacher education in the United Kingdom. It is argued that intercultural education in the UK has been continually locked into various political agendas and that its place in teacher education has suffered almost terminal damage as a result. It was stifled as part of the UK Conservative government's anti‐liberal ideology and its attempts to restrict analysis of social issues. The effect continues under the new Labour government because of its commitment to the rhetoric of quality and standards in the basic skills. In order to understand the nature of intercultural education in teacher education in the UK, it is necessary to understand something of the background to developments in intercultural education in schools in general, and the history of developments in teacher education. The first part of the paper will examine the development of approaches in schools and the in‐service training of teachers: the second will discuss the parallel developments in initial teacher education.