Current Models and Approaches to Social Cohesion in Secondary Schools in Lebanon

Abstract

Designing an educational system that can promote social cohesion is a matter that has preoccupied the minds and agendas of policymakers and educationalists over the past two decades. Strategies that have been proposed for achieving this goal include widening access, equality, citizenship education and community service. Despite vast investments in these strategies, there is a paucity of research on their effect and impact on promoting or hindering social cohesion. This lack of research raises the question whether the entire field of education for social cohesion is based on conventional wisdom rather than evidence. This chapter studies the Lebanese experience in adopting and implementing educational strategies aimed at promoting social cohesion in 24 secondary schools. More specifically, it aims to examine the impact of these strategies on students’ socio-political attitudes in a country plagued by confessionalism.