Formalization of models and strategies for diversity management in a multiethnic and multicultural school

Globalization processes and international migration modifies society and education
from the bottom and sets a number of crucial challenges for the redefinition of
social life in Western contexts (Bauman, 2000; Castles, 2002; Beck, 2003). “New
generations” have grown in Western societies, they are “acculturated” to the
lifestyle of the receiving country and they show increasingly mixed cultural traits
and plural identities (Portes, 2004; Rubén & Rumbaut, 2004). This “new” youth
leads to questions on the equality of treatment and opportunities for social
promotion (Besozzi et al., 2009).
The challenge that a multiethnic society has to face rests in its ability to build
new forms of social bond and “flexible belonging”, and to create new forms of
integration at both a juridical and social-economic level.
School is central to the quality of our lives in a pluralist society, because it has a
strategic role in forming the citizens of tomorrow and it is a key institution for the
acquisition of the necessary competences that help promote the social integration
of new generations.
The study of “new generations” and their scholastic experience becomes an
important area of discussion and includes: the future of contemporary societies; the
possibility of economic and cultural enrichment; new forms of social cohesion; the
formation of mixed cultural identities (Kymlicka, 1995; Ambrosini & Molina,
2004; Sassen, 2007).