Local Pentity and Language Issues in Switzerland's Education System

Abstract

This article examines the effects of local identity and regional linguistic diversity on Swiss education policy within the context of Switzerland's multiethnic and multilingual society. I argue that identity and language issues have an important influence on education policy at the national, state, and local level. Based on a case study of the introduction of second language instruction in Swiss public schools, the paper shows how regional linguistic and cultural differences, coupled with Switzerlands decentralized political system and mechanisms of direct democratic citizens' participation, reinforce the significant regional and local variations in educational systems andpolicies across the 26Swiss cantons.Education is one of the most important areas of Swiss cantonal sovereignty and local autonomy. But increasingly, educational issues require action at the national level. Although the education system will likely remain firmly anchored in its local context, and local identities will continue to shape the cantonal school systems, a future integrative national approach must encompass local institutions and traditions. Based on these parameters, three possible futures of Swiss education policy are conceivable: first scenario, where the federal government, in its effort to coordinate, lead and create greater national uniformity in the context of an increasingly integrated and newly dynamic Europe, supplants the cantons which do not have the capacity to address education issues of a larger scale; a second hypothesis of a cantonal predominance, where the cantons, based on their cultural traditions, their socioeconomic structures and demographic composition, remain the dominant political actors whose conflicts define Swiss reality; and a third model, where the cantons receive strong and dynamic impulses from the national government and adapt them to their local environment. This third model could ensure that the cantons maintain their local identity, but master the national and international challenges that Switzerlan must face presently and in the near future.