Abstract

In the context of Cyprus’ accession to the European Union and a huge wave of immigration towards the country, Cypriot teachers are called upon to teach within constantly more diverse educational settings. In consideration of the increased attention paid to intercultural education within the Cypriot socio-political environment, teachers are called upon to teach in more intercultural ways. However, they are very often criticised for their inability to manage cultural diversity in their classrooms, which would result in the provision of equal learning opportunities for all students despite their origin. This paper reports on the implementation of a research programme of collaborative inquiry, which aims to examine the ways in which collaborative inquiry research could help the development of intercultural classroom practices. The research project was implemented in a primary school in Cyprus. The findings that emerged from the data analysis relate to three aspects of promoting greater inclusion of immigrant, namely: (a) the differentiation of planning; (b) the differentiation of teaching methodologies and practices; and (c) the tripartite collaboration among school, families and the community. Findings imply that collaborative inquiry is efficient in terms of having a positive impact on intercultural practices and in terms of preparing the ground for the success of new innovations in intercultural education.