In my presentation I will point out the respected tradition of group work in Italian educational thought and practice that has long envisaged learning in groups as a way to learn and practice the valued concepts of solidarity and democratic participation in decision making processes. I will also focus on the need to complement existing interests and investments with didactic innovation and a reflective state of mind. Such an approach is sensitive to the demands placed upon educators when ideas and strategies are taken from one social, cultural and political context and inserted in a new setting. My presentation will look carefully at the (cultural) obstacles educators encounter when they assume they can decontextualize educational approaches such as cooperative learning.

A critical appraisal of the linkages between Cooperative Learning and Intercultural Education

This contribution will start by outlining the contributions and the role of the IAIE in the field of intercultural education over the last 25 years. In 2008 the organisation will celebrate its 25th anniversary since it was established at the Institute of Education University of London.
This appraisal will include the cooperation between the IAIE and IASCE, especially under
the leadership of the past President Pieter Batelaan.

The paper will explore the nature of multiculturality of the classroom, school, community and society and the taxonomic features of these diversities which are relevant for education. The ways in which these features are relevant for the development of an intercultural education also include issues of discrimination and also inequality in educational outcomes.

Cooperative learning strategies are one obvious and now widely recognized modalities of working within complex modern classrooms and schools. The paper will examine the various practical measures teachers and schools have adopted. These initiatives have also been criticized in some quarters and the paper will address some of these issues, especially as they impact on the work of teachers and students.

Finally, the paper will examine the ways in which cooperative learning has possibilities of strengthening social connections between different types of students. It can also enhance
collaborative work and the development of constructive ethos of learning in contemporary schools. Then paper will refer to the ways in which multiple intelligences and diverse sources
of knowledge which students bring to the school can be used by teachers to develop inclusive classrooms.