Tolerance Toward Immigrants: Why We Should Care

• In Event: Democratic Citizenship in Education Paper Session 2

Abstract

In many countries, the rise of populist parties and right-wing vote has fueled anti-immigrant sentiment. The Flemish Community in Belgium is no exception in its struggle to tackle the integration of students of immigrant background within its stratified education system. Through the lens of Noddings’ (1984) caring theory and based on a secondary data analysis of the 2009 International Civic and Citizen Education Study, this paper explores the relationship between tolerance and school climate. Hierarchical Linear Model regression analyses of a sample of 2,968 students in 151 schools in the Flemish Community reveal that in schools where students perceive the relationship between students and teachers to be positive and caring, students are more likely to be tolerant.

Author

• Carine Verschueren, Columbia University Teachers college