Publisher:
Beyond Barriers Association
Rruga Don Bosko, Pallati Gener 2, Hyrja 1, Kati 6, Apartamenti 47, Post Code 1026 – PO Box 87 Tirana- Albania
Web: www.beyondbarriers.org – Email: office@beyondbarriers.org
Authors: Mirela Rajkovic; Ana Mullanji; Irena Topalli
Translation in (add language): ….. (ad name/surname)
Design:
This document is a product of the Erasmus+ funded project “Walking the path of reconciliation- empowering communities for a peaceful society”, implemented by BBA and partners during 2019-2021. The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Partners of the project:
Contents
1. What is this toolkit about?. 3
2. The importance of intercultural education. 4
4. The role of teachers and youth workers in intercultural learning. 8
5. The educational approaches. 9
1. What is this toolkit about?
This Training Toolkit serves as a tool for teachers and youth workers, to support them in working with pupils and youngsters on how to be resilient to reconciliation, no hate speech and promote peacebuilding with their young people in community level.
The document is developed in the frame of Walk ON- “Walking the path of reconciliation – empowering communities for a peaceful society” project and it will contribute to the overall intervention that project partners planed in order to support development and increasing the competences of youth workers, teachers, young people and community youth leaders in the Western Balkans, to address and work with reconciliation, countering hate speech and promoting peace building.
Walk ON -is a capacity building project financed by European Union under the Erasmus + Program. The lead organization is Beyond Barriers Albania in cooperation with five other partners from: Bosnia & Herzegovina-Mladi Volonteri, Croatia- LDA Sisak, Kosovo*[1]-Lens, North Macedonia-Youth Cultural Center, Serbia-Educational Center Krusevac.
The toolkit could be used for following purposes:
- As a support document for the teachers and youth workers while preparing the activities in the field of intercultural dialogue, peace building education and reconciliation;
- As a document that provides teachers and youth workers with a short overview of important concepts related to peace building and reconciliation;
- As a tool that support participation of youth in the field of peace building, intercultural dialogue and reconciliation;
- As inspiration for the design of the quality and engaging activities, through use of the various tools which are part of the toolkit,
- As a support document to design activities in which youth are at the centre of the learning process;
It is important to mention that this toolkit is giving a baseline for work in the field of peace building, reconciliation and intercultural dialogue through explaining the basic concepts, educational approaches and methods, and offering links to a selected range of tools connected to the topics of interest.
Teachers and youth workers are encouraged to build on existing knowledge with additional methods and tools developed by relevant actors in the field. The material should be also adapted based in the type of audience.
To help you with more selected information specifically on peacebuilding, reconciliation and no hate speech in the WB region, we invite you to consult these documents produced by WalkON project:
- STATE OF PLAY – RECONCILIATION AND NO HATE SPEECH IN WB REGION – This report is developed based on findings from 6 desk research reports that mapped good practices and analysed the state of play in reconciliation, education for peace building, as well as hate speech policies in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, North Macedonia and Serbia.
- NEW AGE OF RECONCILIATION GENERATION Z AS THE ENGINE – A Regional Policy Brief that serves as a tool for advocacy, a solution based roadmap for the youth sector in the reconciliation and hate speech program and policy development and an educational/capacity building resource for the regional community of practitioners.
2. The importance of intercultural education
Today's young people are more exposed to violence than ever before, making them easy targets of violent and radical movements. Intercultural learning is an essential education stream in a divided world. The development of intercultural competence in young people is one of the solutions to get out of this crisis of humanity. Through participation in intercultural learning programs, young people are enabled to engage in dialogue with others who are “different” from them and start to value diversity.
In the region where WalkOn project is being implemented, which is partly a post-conflict region with fragile peace, there is an additional urgency to promote and open programs that encourage the building of intercultural competence among young people. Such programs also contribute to the reduction of discrimination, xenophobia, ethno-nationalism, prejudice, but also to creating a different image of their neighbours where the foundations for dialogue and cooperation are created.
We believe that the importance of intercultural education should be mainstreamed in every educational domain, be it formal, non-formal or informal setting. As such intercultural education should be promoted as a social education process that helps individuals to build awareness of their own culture, to understand the links and cohabitation with other cultures, and most importantly teach them on how to build respect for diversity in a wide spectrum.
It is our role as youth workers but also teachers to provide youngster with a safe educational environment where they can learn to appreciate and respect diversity, no matter what the difference is, be it due to culture, religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation, nationality, social status, ability or disability. In order for us to accomplish this mission we must not forget that intercultural education entails working with all aspects of human nature, where attitudes, knowledge, values, feelings and past experiences play a key role and should be carefully tackled from an educational approach.
3. Deconstructing concepts
The following concepts and definitions are included in the Training Toolkit in order to facilitate the process of creating a common understanding of the terms that we use in intercultural education and youth work. They are commonly used concepts associated with a simple explanation which seek to build the foundation of understanding and processing of information so teachers and youth workers or anyone from the community of practitioners can use to refresh the common knowledge. As these are some selected terms and may not offer a full descriptive panorama, anyone using this toolkit can also research more on each term if/when needed, and make use of it to the benefit of designing learning activities. These concepts are adopted from open source existing materials and some have been simplified in order to make it easier to understand, for those that will use them but especially for the end beneficiaries target group that are young people. Since at times our youth work field encompass use of specific terminology, we encourage teachers and youth workers to deconstruct and simplify these terms so young people of any target group can better understand them. As a suggestion, while working with age groups of 4-18 years old, we would also encourage you to use examples in explaining the terms when needed.
Glossary of terms
CULTURE AND IDENTITY – this is a concept that represents “social behaviours and norms found in human society as well as the knowledge, beliefs, art, laws, customs, capabilities and habits of the individuals.”[2] The culture could be individual or group one. The identity is the relation that one has with the culture and it is a life-long process of transformation which influence behaviour and beliefs. In simple words we may say that identity is what makes us unique and culture is what connects us.
MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES: Different cultures, national, ethnic, religious groups all living within the same territory BUT not necessarily coming into contact with each other. A society where difference is often viewed negatively and forms major justification for discrimination. Minorities may be tolerated passively, but not accepted or valued. Even in cases where there are legal rights designed to stop discrimination, the law may not be enforced uniformly[3]
INTERCULTURAL SOCIETIES: Different cultures, national groups, etc. living together within a territory, maintain open relations of interaction, exchange and mutual recognition of their own and respective values and ways of life. We are talking then about a process of active tolerance and the maintenance of equitable relations where everyone has the same importance, where there are no superiors or inferiors, better or worse people…[4]
RECONCILIATION – There is no consensus about the term reconciliation but in general it is seen as an extensive transformative process of dealing with the past in order to break down barriers for peacebuilding[5]. The involved sides may have developed certain beliefs, emotions and attitudes toward “others” during a conflict and it should be transformed in order to create new relationships and trust to have substantial and effective peace building process towards sustainable peace.
PEACEBUILDING – it is already mentioned that reconciliation is about dealing with the past, intercultural dialogue is about presence, but peacebuilding is the concept that start when violent event stops and it is directed towards future in order to achieve sustainable peace. The concept itself includes various measures that should lower the risk or prevent the new violent conflict among involved sides (demilitarization, development of the policies that guarantee peace, transformation of the relationships in societies, intercultural dialog etc.).
INTERCULTURAL LEARNING AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE – while reconciliation is dealing with the past, intercultural learning and intercultural dialogue are about building relationships in the present moment. In intercultural learning concept, there is no hierarchy of the cultures. The educational concept is about multi-perspectives, respect of each other and about building a competence (knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour) that allow learners to engage with diverse identities and culture and have constructive dialogue regarding the conflict or any dispute that arise. Intercultural dialogue as a consequence of the intercultural learning has high transformative potential since focus of those two concepts is on interaction and solution.
DIVERSITY IN SOCIETY – It is seen as variety in various fields and contexts. Learning about diversity is crucial for understanding that we are all unique and that diversity brings value while we are cooperating. It can refer to existence of various identities, cultures, political views etc. A diverse society can be understood as a society that accepts people from all social, political, religious, ethnic and territorial environments.
HUMAN RIGHTS – a group of universal rights that promote decent life with dignity for all people regardless their background. Human Rights are defined by Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by UN General Assembly in 1948, which is the central part of the international politics and one of the most important policy document nowadays. In these regards human rights belong to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status and everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.
CONFLICT – “disagreement between two or more parties through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns.”[6] Conflict, if left unresolved, can escalate into violence. On the other hand, conflicts in which both parties strive to find a solution can ultimately lead to the improvement of their relationship, which in this case does not describe the conflict as a necessarily bad thing.
Nationalism – It is a complex ambiguous expression that depend mostly on the context in which it is discussed. Wider definition of nationalism sees it as a devotion to one's own people and state[7]. The interest of one’s nation is always in front of the interest of other nations and groups. Negative manifestation of the nationalism are: ethno nationalism (mostly used like exclusive political ideology), culture nationalism, chauvinism etc. while the extreme types are fascism and Nazism.
ETHNOCENTRISM– Our judgements, evaluations and justifications are influenced strongly by our ethnocentrism. This means that we believe our response to the world – our culture – is the right one, others are somehow not normal. We feel that our values and ways of living are universal, the correct ones for all people, the “others” are just too stupid to understand this obvious fact.[8]
STEREOTYPE – Stereotypes consist in shared beliefs or thoughts about a particular human group. A stereotype is an ensemble of characteristics that sums up a human group usually in terms of behaviour, habits, etc. Stereotypes are usually based on some kind of contact or images that we have acquired in school, through mass media or at home, which then become generalised to take in all the people who could possibly be linked. [9]
PREJUDICE – A prejudice is a judgement we make about another person or other people without really knowing them. Prejudices can be negative or positive in character. Prejudices are learned as part of our socialisation process and they are very difficult to modify or eradicate.[10]
DISCRIMINATION – compared to stereotypes and prejudice, discrimination is a real action we are taking against person based on prejudice we have about the group he/she is belonging to.
SEGREGATION: Exclusion concept that could be forced of unforced which purpose is to isolate certain group from majority in certain society-community.
XENOPHOBIA – This is a concept of fear of someone who is different than you mostly coming from law level of intercultural competence. The extreme manifestation of xenophobia could be expressed as a hatred of difference.
RACISM – it could be understood as a prejudice and discrimination of person based on race, but on the other side some authors define it as a belief in superiority of one race. In any case problem with the term is because in both definition there is a presupposed of existence of the “other” race.
SOCIAL INCLUSION – the concept in which we strive to improve living condition of the minorities or isolated groups. It is an act of achieving the equality and equity in society through ensuring the respect of the universal human rights for all society members.
MINORITY GROUP – the group of people with similar or shared identity which is not prevalent or which defer from the majority in the particular society. If not taken into consideration minority group could be marginalized and isolated (immigrants, Roma, LGBT etc.) in particular society what is against Universal declaration on Human Rights.
CIVIL SOCIETY – formal and non-formal structures and groups outside the state and institutions that represent the interest of citizens. It is also one of the instruments of the participatory democracy that should give the higher legitimacy to represented democracy. The main structure/groups recognized as a part of civil society are: civil society organizations, trade unions, Medias, non-formal groups of citizens etc.
YOUNG PEOPLE OR YOUTH – According to UN definition, youth are from 15 to 24 years old. While in Council of Europe the age range of youth is from 13 – 35 years old. It could differ from country to country, but in the countries that implement the Walk On project mostly, youth are defined as a part of population from 15 – 30 years old.
PEER GROUPS – individuals who are at similar level according to some specific determination element (age, social status, interest etc.) and who can learn from or support each other’s in specific field or topic.
4. The role of teachers and youth workers in intercultural learning
Mankind has never lived in a greater paradox than it does today. It could be said that we have never been more connected, and on the other hand, no longer divided and alone in a world that follows the trends of globalization. In addition to the traditionally existing violent conflicts in the world, in recent years we have witnessed huge humanitarian crises and natural disasters affecting the world. The polarization in society is enormous, which makes it difficult to solve ongoing existential problems. In the light of such events, it can be said that role of education is crucial and intercultural learning have never been more necessary than they are today. In order to solve burning world problems that are common to the type of climate changes, it is necessary to listen and meet each other, to trust each other, to show solidarity and willingness to cooperate. The world is full of differences, but that does not mean that different people cannot cooperate and have a dialogue on crucial topics that affect the quality of life and survival.
Looking at the world through this prism and bearing in mind that most countries in which the WalkOn project is implemented do not have civic education, the question that arises is about who is taking responsibility for intercultural learning in our societies. In this domain, international youth programs based on the methodology of non-formal education are oases in which topics such as intercultural dialogue, xenophobia, racism, discrimination etc., are addressed. In that line, youth work trainers and teachers in schools are the ones who took this important task and responsibility to prepare new generations for more human and respectful interactions of diverse cultures and identities. Empowering young people to act in the society with strong intercultural competences, will influence cohesion in society and mutual respect of diverse groups, which will be capable to cooperate despite their differences.
A very significant and important task is therefore put on the teachers who have a more difficult role in addressing the intercultural learning and dialogue, and respect for diversity through the school curricula and in formalized educational platforms which at most of times are rigid and do not provide the necessary space for exploration, experimentation and learning by doing. Hence this toolkit seeks to empower teachers, specifically those working in secondary education, on how to work with their pupils in addressing these topics and opening up discussions that lead to learning. For that purpose our educational experts has developed 6 different exercises that you will find in Chapter 7, and can be used in the classroom.
While youth workers and youth work trainers have access to more tools that they can use, this toolkit seeks to provide them with a selected set of materials in Chapter 6 that can complement their work and still bring about positive change in the learning environments among young people. The exercises of Chapter 7 are also useful for youth workers upon adaptation in time limits and settings needed, though we have focused them in the classroom setting usability.
5. The educational approaches
In theory, there are three educational approaches that are complementary to each other and by combining them during the time, learners will accept and follow the concept of life-long learning which is essential for them, as well as the progress of any society. That’s why all three concepts are equally important in life of any individual.
Formal educational approach
It happens in institutions (school, university etc.) and it is hierarchically structured with grading systems. In this approach there is a fixed curriculum organized into various subjects. The learning process is planned and intentional with defined learning objectives. Teachers have to attend and get certified by formal education in order to teach.
Non-formal educational approach
Happening outside institution and it is lead mostly by civil society organizations. The flat hierarchy and high participation of students/participants is the main feature of this approach. It also supports peer-learning through facilitation of the existing knowledge in the particular group. It means that teacher could be anyone from the group, but trainers/facilitators are responsible for program development and achievement of the learning objectives. This mean that non-formal education is also planned and intentional as the formal one but curricula could be flexible based on the particular group need. It is open-ended process with many discussions, reflections, exercises and in general application of the highly engaging methods for learners. This type of education is crucial for post-schooling period.
Informal educational approach
This type of education can happen anywhere (in the bus, during the coffee break at conference, while walking, while having a drink with friends etc.). Main features are that learning is not planned and intentional, there are no any curricula or session outlines. It is spontaneous but learners are very motivated to engage in the learning process and teaching role is taken by anyone who wants to share his/her competences in an informal learning setting. This type of education is crucial in early childhood development.
6. Methods and tools
The approach of non-formal education includes combination of various educational methods in order to meet diverse learning styles and types of learners. The mix of the methods within the agenda of educational activity dictate group dynamic and level of the energy and motivation for learning among participants.
In the table below we have listed some of the methods that could be used by especially youth workers but teachers as well, in the design of their non-formal education activity/es in the field of peace building and intercultural dialog. This list is non extensive, as more available similar tools can be easily found online, but we have selected a few of them that specifically target the main topics of this toolkit and are applicable in intercultural environments.
| METHODS | PURPOSE/USE | EXAMPLES OF ASSOCIATED TOOLS[11] |
| ICEBREAKERS | The method is mainly use at the beginning of the educational activity and it contribute to getting to know each other as well as for the creation of the safe space for participants to express their opinion later on. It also serves to establish group dynamic. | LEMONS MAP OF NAMES NEVER FORGET ME ME IN EUROPE ISS IDENTITY – ME AND MINE |
| GROUND RULES ESTABLISHMENT | Non-formal education is not hierarchical structure with grading system and that’s why is important to make a group contract on how we want to work and make all members of the group aware of the rules. | LEARNING CONTRACT |
| SETTING UP EXPECTIATIONS AND TEAMBUILDING | Each non-formal education activity has its own learning objectives and outcomes. Participants are setting their expectation based on the agenda and their own experience with trainings and that’s why is of big importance to check if those expectations are in line with the planned learning objectives. | EXPECTATION I EXPECTATION II EXPECTATION III |
| SMALL GROUP WORK | This method supports and stimulates cooperative learning among participants. It also influences group dynamic during educational activity. | THEATRE OF SUBCULTURES |
| ENERGIZERS | It is used when the energy in the group drop and trainer need quick method to refresh and activate group. It also influences group dynamic towards achieving learning outcomes. | TUK-TAK NAME-ADJECTIVE EYE SCREAM WOLFY |
| DISCUSSIONS | This method support exchange of ideas and opinions among participants by stimulating reflection, critical thinking, solution finding etc. It can be organized in different forms. In plenary, or in small groups. | POLITICALLY CORRECT WHOM WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE WITH FISHBOWL OF CONFLICT |
| ROLE PLAYS | The method that put participant in “someone else shoes”. The purpose of this method is to understand the relationships among involved sides and to develop competences to act in certain environment through simulation of the real-life situations. | MEDIA MANIPULATION ROLE PLAY GUIDE |
| SIMULATION EXERCIZE | This is a method that provides immersive experience of mirrored human and environmental conditions. It is a simulation of the problem at meta level, with possibility to apply learning outcomes to real life situations. It defers from role play because it is longer and simulated object could be presented on meta level. | WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES INTERCULTURAL FIESTA RAFA RAFA MYNOSIA LABIRINTH HR ESCAPE ROOM ZIKA’S STORY |
| LIVING LIBRARY | Living or Human library is a method that include storytelling of the person that have certain experience from which participants can learn. | LIVING LIBRARY GUIDE |
| FORUM THEATRE | It is a method that use theatre to teach participants about or to achieve some social objectives. This method is mostly combined with discussion method that could happened after the forum theatre performance. | MANUAL FOR FORUM THEATRE |
| CITY GAMES | It is collaborative and outdoor method that could be used for team building or for orientation in community as well as for intercultural learning. | ACTIONBOUND |
| EDUCATIONAL BOARD GAME | This method uses basic concepts of board game design in order to tackle important social issues and topics. | WORD4WORD |
| INTERCULTURAL PARTY | Party could be used as youth friendly method to learn about the basic concept of the culture and support part of the cultural iceberg. | ARTICLE ON INTERCULTURAL PARTY/EVENING |
| DEBRIFING AND REFLECTION and FEEDBACK | Debriefing is method that could be used after the methods that include conceptual thinking. It helps trainer to transfer conceptual story to real life situation where we will be able to reflect on our action competences and make lessons learned. Debriefing steps are: 1) identify what’s happened during exercise, 2) what we did well and what we could do differently, 3) what are the lessons learned. Reflection is the method mostly used to analyse participant’s actions and/or track their learning achievements by giving them feedback and advice for improvement. It can be also applied in the team as problem solving tool and influence group dynamic. | DEBRIFING MANUAL MANUAL FOR FACILITATORS AND TRAINERS CoE |
| EVALUATION | This method is used to measure success of our intervention or educational activity. It can be creative one which is mostly transparent or regular one in the form of survey which is mostly anonymous one. | ONION WATER GROUP EVALUATION FILM GESTURMETER |
7. Workshops for pupils
The following workshops/exercises have been created and adapted to be used in the classroom with pupils aged 14-18 years old. These 6 exercises aim to provide teachers with a few simple workshops that they could use in the classroom to address the topics of intercultural dialogue, peace, reconciliation and respect for diversity.
Exercise 1
| Peace: me and my family | ||
| Aim: | Allow pupils to learn more about peace through the perceptions of their own family and friend circle. | |
| Group size: 10+ | Age group: 14+ | Time: 45 minutes x 2 |
| Materials needed: | A4 papers, pens, blackboard for the questions, chairs and tables. | |
| Instructions for teachers: | This workshop is prepared to be implemented in two parts: in the classroom and as a homework. Both parts are connected but it can also be used separately. Here is how to do it: In the classroom: Divide the classroom in small teams (5 persons per team), ask them to group together and in their small group they should interview each other on the question: What is peace for you? Tell them that everyone in the group must speak, and after they all share their opinion, the group needs to come up with a small creative presentation (drawing, sketch, theatre, song etc.) of 2-3 minutes where they explain to the rest of the class how they understand peace. After they all present their work, conclude with a small open discussion and give some more insight if you realise that their concepts need more elaboration. Refer to the terms explained in Chapter 3 of this document. Homework: At the end of the class, tell to pupils that for the next class they have to complete a homework. Their task now is to interview their family members (mother, father, grandparents, and siblings) of what they think about peace, how they understand it and why it is important for them. Inform them that it is important they ask different generations and write down of record their answers. When they come back to class next day, give them 15 minutes to prepare small presentations in A4 papers where they write key words of the responses they have received. Once they are all ready, allow them to start exchanging the papers with each other and reading what others have written. After sharing, ask the class if they noticed any differences in the perceptions of peace from their family members. Allow them to discuss and provide input on the different perceptions that different generations can have on a same topic. |
Exercise 2
| Match the concepts | ||
| Aim: | Improving the understanding of various concepts which associate to intercultural dialogue. | |
| Group size: 12+ | Age group: 14+ | Time: 50 minutes |
| Materials needed: | Print outs of Annex 1 below for each pupil, pens, chairs and tables for all pupils. | |
| Instructions for teachers: | Explain to participants that they are going to work in small groups (4-5 pupils per group) for 25 minutes, and they have to match the concepts with the respective definition (as presented in the table below). Participants in each group must match the key word with its explanation and while they do they have to discuss with each other how they understand these concepts and bring examples for each definition. After group work is finished, bring the group back together and make a check up on how they matched the concepts. While checking ask them to share examples. Finish the class with a summary of the activity and ask participants the following: How do you feel about this exercise?Was it an easy or difficult task?Did you know the concepts before? How did you come up with the examples? Finish the class with thanking them for the participation in the exercise/workshop. |
Annex 1
Print this out for each pupil.
| Match the concepts on the left with the respective explanation on the right | |||
| Prejudice | 1 | A. Understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing their individual differences. These differences can be along the dimensions of race, gender, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, political views etc. | |
| Intercultural Dialogue | 2 | B. Is an action we are taking against person based on prejudice we have about the group he/she is belonging to. | |
| Discrimination | 3 | C. An open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups belonging to different cultures that leads to a deeper understanding of the other’s world perception. | |
| Social Inclusion | 4 | D. A judgement we make about another person or other people without really knowing them. | |
| Stereotype | 5 | E. Learning about it is crucial for understanding that we are all unique and that bring value while we are cooperating. It can refer to existence of various identities, cultures, religious, political views etc. | |
| Hate speech | 6 | F. the concept in which we strive to improve living condition of the minorities or isolated groups. It is a act of achieving the equality and equity in society through ensuring the respect of the universal human rights for all society members. | |
| Intercultural learning | 7 | G. Consist basically in shared beliefs or thoughts about a particular human group. | |
| Diversity | 8 | I. Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, and nationality. |
FOR THE TEACHERS ONLY:
These are the correct answer for the hand-out: 1-D; 2-C; 3-B; 4-F; 5-G; 6-I; 7-E; 8-A. DO NOT print it for the pupils.
Exercise 3
| Where do you stand? | ||
| AIM: | To develop participants’ understanding of the complexity of concepts connected with intercultural dialogue and raise awareness for the role they play in the society. | |
| Group size: 12+ | Age group: 14+ | Time: 50 minutes |
| Materials needed: | 2 A4 papers marked with agree/disagree; tape for the floor; pint out of the sentences below in Annex 2. | |
| Instructions for teachers: | Prepare the classroom with dividing it in two halves using tape, or putting an imaginary border just to show the middle of the room. Stick two A4 papers marked “I agree” in one side and “I disagree” on the other side Explain to the class that you are now going to read out a series of statements with which they may agree to a greater or lesser extent. Once they hear the statement they must take a stand in one side of the classroom, depending on whether they agree or disagree. Read out the statements one by one and allow time for comments and discussion for each question. Stimulate reflection and discussion. Ask pupils why they stand in those positions. After you read all the statements, bring the group back together for the debriefing. Conclude with a summary of the activity and ask participants how they felt about the activity. Make a link about the reality were we all live and the discussions held. Often, we tend to know only one part of the story (ours) but is important to understand and think deeply about an issue. Pupils/participants have to reflect how often we listen to other arguments, perspectives? How consistent are we in our opinions and ideas? How open we are to different cultures, people from different background than us? How this influence our life and other people in the community life. |
Annex 2
Print the statements below for the exercise. Feel free to add your own statements as well.
Examples of statements.
- Nationalism means war.
- Some people don’t want to integrate.
- Young people are at the forefront of racist attacks.
- Some religions are against human rights.
- In a society, minorities must adapt to the majority.
- Muslims cannot really integrate into European societies.
- Resources are limited, so a society cannot welcome too many people, even if they flee a war in their own country.
- Some minorities decide to be apart themselves from society.
- Intercultural dialogue is a dream that can never be realized.
Exercise 4
| Collage of Intercultural Dialogue | ||
| AIM | To explore the essential elements of intercultural dialogue and understand its value for our society. | |
| Group size: 12+ | Age group: 14+ | Time: 50 minutes |
| Materials needed: | Flip chart paper or cardboard; old magazines; scissors; glue; tables and chairs. | |
| Instructions for teachers: | Explain to pupils that they are going to work in teams of 4-5 people and they have to make a collage with the main elements of the intercultural dialogue. Give each group a set of old magazines with photos, scissors, glue and a cardboard or big flipchart paper. Allow pupils to discuss and work for 20 minutes in making their group collage.After that ask them to present their collage and put a special focus on the main important elements that intercultural dialogue is composed of.Conclude with a summary of the activity and ask participants how they felt about the activity, what did they discuss, what is the most important value of intercultural dialogue, do you think we have a good intercultural dialogue in our country and why? What can we do as young people to improve the intercultural dialogue in our local community? |
Exercise 5
| Outside the box | ||
| AIM | Raising awareness about prejudices in our communities, promote social inclusion and multiculturalism through developing empathy. | |
| Group size: 12+ | Age group: 14+ | Time: 50 minutes |
| Materials needed: | Papers; pen; box; tables and chairs. | |
| Instructions for teachers:’ | Give to pupils a pen and paper and ask them to write down anonymously one example of a discriminatory sentence in regard to ethnicity or race that was said to them directly by one of the peers from school/group of friends/family members/community members. Ask them to fold the paper they wrote and collect them in a box. Explain to the pupils that now you are going to ask one of them to pick up randomly one paper from the box, read it out loud and reply to the following questions (you can write these questions in the black board): How would I solve this if it was something I've experienced? Have I ever experienced something similar? How would I help if I witness this happening to someone I care about?Encourage pupils of the class to discuss or ask questions after each one of them reads the testimonial and answers the questions. Be careful to keep the pace and ask for respect and empathy while pupils read out the sentences or reply to them. Conclude the exercise with a little summary and motivate pupils to be empathic, to not discriminate and to support each other. |
Exercise 6
8. Useful resources
The following is a list of other open source tools, manuals, reports and training manuals that can help you with more background information on the topics addressed in this toolkit. Feel free to explore them and use them upon your needs.
- New age of reconciliation- generation Z as the engine
- Country Reports: State of Play-reconciliation and hate speech in WB
- Process of reconciliation in Western Balkan and Turkey
- Developing intercultural competence through education
- T-Kit 4 – Intercultural Learning – The training kits series
- T-Kit No. 11 – Mosaic: The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work (coe.int)
- T-Kit 12: Youth transforming conflict (coe.int)
- Bookmarks/ Connexions (coe.int)
- Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People (coe.int)
- Education Pack – All Different All Equal
- DOmino (coe.int)
[1] *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
[2] Tylor, Edward. (1871). Primitive Culture. Vol 1. New York: J.P. Putnam's Son
[3] Education Pack All different-All Equal, accessible on 1680700aac (coe.int), Page 27
[4] ibid
[5] Bal-Tal & Bennink,2004
[6] Conflict Resolution Highlighted Resource (University of Wisconsin, HR Development). Available for download at: www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/aboutwhatisit.htm
[7] Gellner 1983
[8] Education Pack All different-All Equal, accessible on 1680700aac (coe.int), page 33
[9] ibid, page 32
[10] Ibid, page 32
[11] All linked methods are open source