Swiss education and international policies and social justice

Abstract

In considering the interconnections among social justice, international policy, and Swiss education, a global policyscape of social justice can be examined through the proxy of cultural diversity. A political landscape composed of public policies at international, regional, and national levels can help us understand to what extent cultural diversity is enshrined as a value in education. Against a backdrop of increasing attention to cultural diversity through social movements and critical theory, Switzerland is positioned as a country context that is experiencing demographic diversification and evolving education policy. Social justice, as a theoretical construct and practical ideal, results from policy designed to eliminate discrimination and inequity—policy that ultimately guides the activities of ordinary citizens, including actors in the education sphere. Education systems can play an important role in addressing social injustice, especially in view of historical colonialist structures that call for liberatory, decolonial, pluriversal pedagogy to combat the persistent policies and practices that systematically oppress those who are culturally disadvantaged in Northern, Western, high-income country contexts. Educators at all levels hold implicit beliefs, values, and ideologies that guide them toward or away from social change. Schools can be sites of resistance, possibility, and advocacy for recognizing students from diverse backgrounds who have differential access to power and opportunity. Placing cultural diversity as an object of debate and concern in policy documents at the international, regional, and local levels reveals the myriad of ways the term is understood and utilized in the realm of education, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, reports by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Commission, and the Swiss Lehrplan 21. An exploratory review of these documents reveals similarities among them, such as rhetorical mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion to greater or lesser extents in each document, as well as differences, such as how precise the policy guidance is regarding action that can be taken in pursuit of increased social justice. While the social justice policyscape is visible across all three levels, there is much work to do to move from policy rhetoric and discourse of tolerance to practical action and an approach of engagement with cultural diversity in the education sector internationally, regionally, and in Switzerland.