Superdiversity and Conflict Dichotomies in a Greek Cypriot Literacy Classroom

• In Event: 14.044 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.044-27 - Educating for Peace

Abstract

This paper explores the relation between the discourses on diversity – and recently on ‘superdiversity’- and the reality of interethnic conflict which reproduces hegemonic dichotomies of ‘us’ and ‘others’. More specifically, the paper examines the ways in which children from diverse backgrounds experience the interethnic conflict in the Cypriot context, how they are socialized into the conflict narrative, and with what implications. The paper draws on ethnographic data from Greek-Cypriot classrooms, focusing in particular on lessons where ‘conflict’ was explicitly taught. It argues that although superdiversity was mostly unproblematically acknowledged in ‘ordinary’ lessons, when conflict figured as a topic, teachers tended to resort in stereotypical representations of ‘us’ and ‘others’ which were problematic for the children in the classroom.

Authors

• Constadina Charalambous, European University Cyprus

• Panayiota Charalambous

• Michalinos Zembylas, The Open University of Cyprus