Fostering Social Skills in Ethnic Diversity Through Inclusive Classroom Practices
There is ample evidence showing that social cohesion is a crucial factor in achieving sustainable economic development and prosperity. A cohesive society is a society that possesses a good collective character supported by the well-developed social skills of its members. Social skills refer to a wide range of individual characteristics that govern social interactions, including trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. Together, these skills form social capital to communicate effectively with others, engage in ethical economic interactions, and work together for common goals. Achieving social cohesion faces enormous challenges in ethnically diverse communities. Given the recent migratory flows and what is expected in the future due to climate-related events, it is crucial to think carefully about designing and implementing inclusive social policies that will protect and benefit all members of society.
Public education represents an obvious policy route in this regard. The childhood period is critical for the development of cognitive and socio-cognitive skills as it is the period when neuroplasticity of the brain is at its highest. There is now ample evidence suggesting that educational interventions targeting children’s socio-emotional skills may have long-lasting impacts on individual outcomes and collective outcomes related to social cohesion and intergroup relations. Given that the opportunities to develop such skills are limited for children of low-income families, the curricular and pedagogical school inputs are especially valuable for them. For these children, schools represent the only opportunity to develop social and emotional skills and learn how to form healthy social relationships.
This project aims to advance our understanding of how the school environment shapes our collective character as a community, influences the way we interact with out-groups, and develops essential social skills that form our social capital. The focus of the project is on the role of teachers in a context where classroom ethnic diversity is salient. It looks at (i) the role of pedagogy and teaching practices in shaping children’s social skills and peer relationships and in generating/reinforcing the differential developments of these skills across immigrant and native children, and (ii) designing a cost-effective pedagogical intervention that aims for teachers to adopt inclusive classroom practices to foster key social skills to improve peer relationships, with a particular focus on inter-ethnic interactions.
The study shows that the intervention helps reduce social isolation and antisocial behaviour but does not increase prosocial behaviour. By reducing antisocial behaviour, it leads to better economic outcomes in the classrooms where the intervention was applied. These findings underline the personal and community benefits of addressing social exclusion and negative peer relationships in schools.