Migration Policies and Education Responses to Migration in Cyprus: From Intercultural Policy Discourses to ‘Trivialised’ Multicultural Practices

Abstract

Traditionally, Cypriot education has been inextricably linked to the nation-building project, mainly because of the still unresolved political problem. However, as Cyprus has over the last three decades gradually transformed from a net source of emigration to a recipient of immigration, the need to develop educational policies responding to migration became imperative. In this context, this article analyses the socio-political environment within which the Cypriot education policy, in response to migration, has emerged by examining the flow of policies from the macro-level of the State to the meso-level of the school and the micro-level of the classroom. The aim of this article is to contribute to the debate regarding the improvement of pertinent policies in the
field by pointing to suggestions for all the levels of the policy cycle including policy development, adoption and implementation.