The Role of Intercultural Mediation in the Integration of Foreign Students

AbstractThe school represents an area in which it is clearly evident the level of the deep changes that, especially since the last decade of the twentieth century, have characterized the process of migration in Italy. The growth of foreign students leads inevitably the need to start a school policy aimed at fostering dialogue between different cultures and promoting the inclusion of immigrant pupils. In this sense, in order to create an intercultural dialogue is necessary that the interlocutors learn to use their communication skills to interact with each other and to start a balanced relationship based on respect for differences. In this case, intercultural mediation can play a fundamental role, since it appears as one of the primary functions of the educational relationship. Moreover, it can promote intercultural dialogue in schools and be the basis for a positive relationship with teachers and natives classmates. In this regard, moving from the idea that the lacking knowledge of the language and the implicit culture can make the construction of intercultural dialogue more complex, this article will be focused on the role of intercultural mediation for promoting educational and social integration of immigrants, in the wake of national and international literature on this subject