Educating citizens in diverse societies

Abstract

Immigration is increasing racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistics, and religious diversity in nations around the world, which is challenging existing concepts of citizenship and citizenship education. In this article, I challenge assimilationist conceptions of citizenship education and argue that citizenship education should be transformed so that it will enable students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and commitments needed to become effective civic participants in their communities, nation-state, and the world.

Keywords:

• immigration
• diversity
• citizenship
• citizenship education
• multicultural citizenship
• multicultural education
• citizen action