The role of the Italian school in the light of new social and multicultural context (Intercultural relations are relations between different cultures: it is necessary that these cultures recognise each other as well as being recognised individually for their differences)

School is a societal institution which imposes the task of developing knowledge and to aid social and critical integration in the intelligence based culture of today's society People discuss about the extent to which the school system can contribute to the education of society, considering the sense and relevance of this education in a period of uncertainty, characterised by profound cultural mutations due to globalisation and multicultural society. The school system has assumed a large and central role within society, a society in continual and rapid evolution. Under the influence of globalisation and in an increasingly multicultural society, this system has been forced to critically reassess its role in order to be ready to deal with the transformations of society and to be able to change its principal roles of protection and the diffusion of values and knowledge about different cultures. Everyone has their own specific culture which, through/thanks to the phenomenon of globalisation and the increasingly multicultural society , are likely to facilitate social relations between humans on this planet. With respect to these different cultural identities, people are thrown into coexistence with other cultures and are forced to appreciate the differences and interact with one another. It is necessary therefore, that the school system develops the capacity to reorganise and re-establish itself as an educational agency, open to intercultural relations and knowing how to deal with globalisation and to live peacefully in a society characterised principally by uncontrollable knowledge and an overall uncertainty and excessive simplicity.