Development education and intercultural education are both based on respect and value for one's own culture, and promotes respect for and interaction with other cultures, both locally and globally. Both are concerned with the building of knowledge and understanding, skills and capacities, and attitudes and values necessary to enable individuals to critically examine the world, its development and its interdependencies and to act, both locally and globally, to make it a more just and equitable place
DICE therefore promotes an understanding of development education and intercultural education as one which:
The most widely accepted definition of development education in Ireland today is that used by Irish Aid which states that development education is: ‘An educational process aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the rapidly changing, interdependent and unequal world in which we live. It seeks to engage people in analysis, reflection and action for local and global citizenship and participation.
It is about supporting people in understanding, and in acting to transform the social, cultural, political and economic structures which affect their lives and others at personal, community, national and international levels'.

Intercultural Education is defined by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) as an,
“…education which respects, celebrates and recognises the normality of diversity in all areas of human life. It sensitises the learner to the idea that humans have naturally developed a range of different ways of life, customs and worldviews, and that this breadth of human life enriches us all. It is education, which promotes equality and human rights, challenges unfair discrimination, and promotes the values upon which equality is built” (NCCA, 2005: 3).
According to the INTO, intercultural education is also about,
“…respecting cultural difference and promoting anti-racism, it is not simply the knowledge of a variety of cultures. It aims to counter misconceptions and negative stereotyping of different cultures, religions and nationalities and seeks to develop an appreciation of other cultures in the context of a critical appreciation of local/Irish cultures. Intercultural education celebrates the positive aspects to cultural diversity as well as drawing attention to the power differences between groups and societies”. (INTO, 2002).

IA new research report, commissioned by the DICE projects has provided the following tables to illustrate these definitions (For more information on the research report, click here:)