Regional Identity, Language and Education Policy in Switzerland

Abstract

This article argues that identity and language issues exert a powerful influence on the politics and policies of education in Switzerland. Regional and local linguistic and cultural differences affect the education policies of the Swiss federal government, the 26 Swiss cantons, and the more than 3000 Swiss communities. Switzerland's highly decentralized political system and its mechanisms of direct democratic citizens' participation force educational policy-makers at the national, regional, and local level to take into account not only their own locality's culture and language, but also that of their neighboring towns, cantons, and regions. The article uses the example of the introduction of second language instruction as a case study to illustrate why and how education policy at all levels of the polity reflects Switzerland's cultural and linguistic diversity and the strong local and regional identities of the Swiss citizenry.