‘Diversicracy’? Endogenous and Exogenous Cultural Diversity and Interculturality in Education on Both Sides of the Strait of Gibraltar

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the discourses of educational agents on cultural diversity in primary school on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar (Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, southern Spain), as well as the opportunity identified in these discourses for the promotion of interculturality in this Spanish area, from a rights-based approach (RBA). To this end, the article analyses the discourses of the technical and political staff of educational administrations on cultural diversity in primary schools, through in-depth personal interviews, together with the discourses of teachers, representatives of family associations and educational unions through focus groups. On the basis of the data, the article analyses the two models of cultural diversity, endogenous and exogenous, identified in the three regions studied. Within the national scope of this research, this phenomenon has been found in southern Spain on both sides of the Strait only, due to its geopolitical and historical characteristics. The way in which these two models contribute to promoting interculturality in primary schools depends on the recognition of human and citizenship rights. The discourses identified in these two models of cultural diversity, as well as the opportunity they set to address interculturality from an RBA, are discussed in detail in the article.