Relating the Curriculum on Tolerance and Ethnocultural Empathy to Theory
摘要
This chapter analyses the findings from the case study research on the use of the TEEMA Resources in schools, framing them within the Conceptual Framework of Tolerance for Community Cohesion (TCC). The framework conceptualises tolerance along a continuum, from thinner forms such as non-interference and passive hostility and indifferent and unthreatened, through to thicker forms including empathy and perspective of the “other” and social benefits and mutuality. Drawing on teacher interviews, pupil focus groups, questionnaires, and comparative school contexts, the research examines how the TEEMA Resources can shift pupil attitudes along this continuum. The findings suggest that while the resources can promote empathy, critical thinking, and awareness of discrimination, thinner conceptions of tolerance remain a pragmatic starting point in monocultural or tense contexts. The chapter also identifies individual and structural factors shaping tolerance, including family socialisation, community demographics, socioeconomic inequalities, media influence, and political/educational policy frameworks. Recommendations underscore the potential of the TEEMA approach for varied educational and youth work settings, the importance of teacher training, and the utility of addressing tolerance as a staged developmental process. Ultimately, the study positions the TEEMA Resources as tools for progressing from minimal peaceful coexistence towards an active celebration of diversity, while acknowledging contextual limitations and the need for adaptability.