Multiculturalism and its impact on education

Abstract

The article considers the problems of multiculturalism, which are primarily related to socio-economic and political inequalities and misunderstandings between people of different cultural backgrounds and ethnic backgrounds. The cultural diversity of modern society provides the basis for a heightened imperative to develop multicultural education as an education that should help to live together in multicultural societies. Multicultural education, which began its development more than half a century ago in the USA, Canada, Australia, and now is dynamically developing today and in many Western European countries. On the territory of the European educational space, the multicultural dimension of higher education has become particularly important over the last decade, owing to the cultural diversity of European countries, owing to the openness of borders and the critical increase of immigrants, to which national authorities in European countries have responded with new legal and educational institutions. In view of the stated above, research into the development of multicultural education is important, based on the theoretical developments of educators and scholars, and on the best practices of educational institutions of the leading countries in the world, which are actively implementing this strategy. The author proposes to focus on the multicultural dimensions of education strategies as one of the key cultural and humanitarian education development strategies in the context of dynamic social transformations and globalization processes. In conclusion, the author emphasizes that the educational policy of many countries of the world pays much attention to multicultural education in order to improve social cohesion, reduce social exclusion, inequality, and to develop human capital, as well as defines the perspectives of development of multicultural education in Ukraine.