ABSTRACT
Interculturalism can be characterised as the interaction between different cultures and as the various processes underlying such interaction (e.g. educational initiatives, ecumenical work, cultural encounters). Through this interaction the members of different cultures are conscious that the Other is truly different and both mutually recognise and respect each other in their alterity (cf. Lüserbrink, 1998, p. 14; Maletzke, 1996). Education plays an important, if not pivotal, role in intercultural dialogue. Gundara (2000: viii) notes that,
education can help in the task of developing cohesive civil societies by turning notions of singular identities into those of multiple ones, and by developing a shared and common value subsystem and public culture . . . Schools and educational systems have an important role to play in helping to create peaceableness and stability in socially diverse, but unequal and divided communities. The failure of local institutions to develop inclusiveness has the potential of exacerbating local confl ict as well as violence.
