The Collision of Worlds: Exploring the Complexities and Tradeoffs of Integration in Education

From the introduction: 'The social integration of schools serves as one of the key components of improvement in educational landscapes worldwide. The social stratification that has defined many educational landscapes has resulted in the marginalization of students from lower socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and/or who belong to minority groups. Social integration has been recognized as an equalizer of sorts simply because it places these students in the same building. As the following studies have shown, this is only the first step to the attainment of social integration, and the various complexities and tradeoffs of integration must be recognized and addressed in order to ensure that all students benefit from it and that no harm is caused. With the consideration of the Machuca program in the Chilean context, P.L. Carter’s studies on integration in South Africa and the United States, and references from several other researchers whose texts provide a deeper understanding of the complexities and tradeoffs of integration and ways for its promotion, this paper argues that when the complexities and tradeoffs of integration are thoroughly considered, integration will look less like conformity and more like unity in diversity.'