One of the main features of European culture is pluralism, which otherwise might be called - the multiplicity in unity. In order for all the valuable European traditions grow, we need a common concern for the opposition to the problem of intolerance and social exclusion. Our goal is to develop activities, working methods that will build the attitude of openness and tolerance to wide-range differences (resulting from culture, religion, financial status, disability, gender, older age), to counteract prejudices, xenophobia. We want to build social dialogue between different groups and prevent early school leaving. The result of our work will be to develop intercultural competence, increasing motivation to learn, especially foreign languages, an incentive for self-improvement, improvement of ICT skills while creating products of our project. The project is addressed to the community of students of partner schools, both those who for various reasons (racial, religious, physical, cultural, disability) are at risk of social exclusion, as well as others whose attitude may lead to their exclusion. Participation in the project is also important for teachers to acquire new skills and develop working methods to prevent social exclusion in the school environment. The project activities will be attended by 140 students and 30 teachers. From the benefits of the project and its results will derive also the representatives of the organizations that we cooperate in various activities: immigrants from Africa, that we will meet in Italy, older people who take part in music and vocal workshops in Poland, students from Africa, with which we will speak in Portugal, representatives of the Roma minority, with whom we will meet in Slovakia, people with disabilities from Down Cafe in Turkey. The project includes two types of training/learning activities: 1) activities showing the sources and consequences of intolerance, prejudice and lack of understanding; 2) activities, which are intended to prevent intolerance, social exclusion and build an attitude of cooperation. Participants of the project will create a sense of community across barriers - the attitude of tolerance, respect for diversity of all kinds, raise awareness of the diversity of European culture, develop the ability to discuss, exchange views with people of a different worldview. They will expand their communicative skills in English, which will be useful for their presence on the work market and their future careers as well as everyday communication with foreigners and develop ICT skills (by creating presentations, a website, Skype video conferences, preparation a film / video). They also will learn to cooperate in a multicultural, multilingual environment (preparing for the future work in such an environment) and be able to work with people from different backgrounds, the elderly, people with disabilities. In the implementation of activities we will use various methods: brainstorming, metaplan, lecture, problem method in the search for solutions to the problems addressed by the project; exposing method (film, exposition, demonstration combined with experience); debate (the aim will be to encourage children to a deeper knowledge of problems, learning communication skills and decision-making); educational games: simulation, decision making, psychological; practical classes, sporting activities. Materials developed in the project will be made available to teachers of partner schools and put to use in these schools. Our products will also be made available to other local and regional schools and community organizations that may be interested in the project's theme. Teachers, students and representatives of civil society organizations will be invited to participate in workshops where they learn how to use the materials prepared during the project. To the calendar of each school will be permanently inscribed Friendship Day - the feast of tolerance, the opportunity to learn about other cultures. The activities initiated during the international cooperation will be continued during the implementation of projects on similar subjects at the local level. Our schools regularly carry out various projects. Materials - results of the project will be used in these activities. We will continue the cooperation with social organizations, which have included some of our activities on projects at the local level. We will also try to establish contact and cooperation with other organizations that are interested in the subject of the project and turn them into action in local and international projects for the future. We will cooperate with the representatives of local, regional and educational institutions, providing them with information about the project, its objectives and deliverables. During the meetings we will convince them to promote the idea of our project, pay attention to the need for involving the government in promoting attitude of tolerance and preventing social exclusion.
The European Union has more than 70 years of peace guarantee. Peaceful coexistence of European nations is the result of mutual dialogue and cooperation. One of the main features of European culture is pluralism, which otherwise might be called - the multiplicity in unity. With the aim of keeping all the valuable traditions, we need a common concern for the opposition to the problem of intolerance and social exclusion. Our goal was to develop activities, working methods that have built in young people the attitude of openness and tolerance to wide-range differences resulting from culture, religion, financial status, disability and older age to counteract prejudices, xenophobia. We have built a social dialogue between different groups to prevent early school leaving, we have developed intercultural competences, we have increased motivation to learn, especially foreign languages, motivation to self-realization, improvement of ICT skills in creating the products of our project. The project was aimed at a community of partner school students who were threatened by social exclusion for various reasons (racial, religious, physical, cultural, health disability) as well as the others whose attitude could lead to their exclusion. Participation in the project was also important for teachers to acquire new skills, develop working methods that would prevent social exclusion in the school environment. The project activities have been attended by 1000 students and 70 teachers. We have also involved representatives of organizations in the project that have cooperated in various activities: immigrants from Africa with whom we met with Italy, elderly people who participated in Polish music and vocal workshops, students from Africa, with whom we discussed in Portugal, representatives of the Roma minority with whom we met in Slovakia, people with disabilities. The project included two types of educational activities: 1) activities pointing to the sources and consequences of intolerance, prejudice and lack of understanding; 2) activities aimed at preventing intolerance, social exclusion and building a cooperative attitude. The participants of the project have co-developed within the community the position of tolerance, respect for all cultures, have increased awareness of the diversity of European culture, have discussed and exchanged views with people of other worldview. They have improved their communication skills in English, which will be useful for their application on the labour market and in lifelong learning, as well as everyday communication with foreigners and ICT skills (by creating presentations, websites, Skype conferencing, eTwinning, film / video production). They have learned to cooperate in a multicultural, multilingual environment ( being prepared for future work in such an environment) and will be able to work in the future with people from different backgrounds, the elderly, people with disabilities. We have used various methods to implement activities: brainstorming, metaplan, lectures, problem-solving methods in finding solutions to project tasks; methods of exposure (film, exposure, demonstration in combination with experience); discussion (the aim was to encourage children to have a deeper understanding of the problems, to teach them communication skills and decision-making); educational games: simulation, decision making, psychological; practical courses and sports activities. The materials developed within the project have been provided to teachers of partner schools and used in these schools. The project outputs have been made available to local and regional community organizations and schools that have worked with us or have been interested in the issue of our project. Teachers, students and representatives of civil society organizations were invited to take part in workshops where they learned how to use the materials prepared during the project. At our schools we have created a tradition of Friendship Days - a feast of tolerance and the opportunity to learn about other cultures. Activities initiated during international cooperation continued during the implementation of projects on similar topics at the local level. Our schools regularly conducted various activities where we used materials that were NEVER project outputs. Throughout the project, we have cooperated with social organizations that have participated in project activities at the local level. We have established contact and cooperation with other organizations interested in the project and we have also prepared common participation in local and international projects for the future. We have worked with representatives of local, regional and educational institutions and provided them with information on the project, its objectives and results. During the meetings, these institutions supported the idea of our project, paying attention to the need to involve governmental organizations in promoting tolerance and preventing social exclusion.