The project will ensure that teachers are trained as intercultural mediators, to better understand the cultural issues that foreigners bring with them and become able to effectively transmit the elements of the host culture, a fundamental step to ensure the effectiveness of intercultural communication, knowledge and skill. Intercultural learning is of great importance, due to the movement of migrants to Europe and extremely important for teachers of migrants. Increased number of migrants is entering several countries in Europe where there is little or no experience in receiving them and how to solve problems in the classrooms attended by students from different cultures. It is urgent to support teachers and students by helping them understand cultural differences. Intercultural understanding will support teachers offering high quality teaching, deal with complex classroom realities and adopt new methods and tools. Special attention has to be paid to the integration of refugees and recently arrived migrants. Therefore the role of the teacher and volunteers, connecting people of many cultures, is vital. Objectives are to:- support educators towards a better understanding of interculturalism, share best practices and methods in teaching adult migrants and refugees between different European countries and help with changing problems due to migration into opportunities. - reinforce network between our institutions with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience and increase our capacity to operate at transnational level. 98 persons will participate in the activities. Invitees included, 50 persons will participate in each event, or 350 persons, and spread the knowledge.All the coordinators and teachers are experienced in the field of adult education but with different experience of teaching migrants and refugees. Most of the partners have previously taken part in EU projects. Some have experience of cooperation with volunteers.The main activities will be in the form of research and sharing of best practices in the field of interculturalism. Each partner is responsible for a research of the quality of its activities in order to define which practice it wants to share with the others. Also, in each partner organization a research will be made on the week points that should be discussed and lessons learned from other partner organizations. Each partner is also responsible for the preparation of a conference/seminar/workshop which will focus on certain predefined topics within the field (see: Cpt.G).A mixed-method approach will be used, sequently applying a combination of research methods and workshop activities. It is designed around a series of interrelated activities among the partners leading to a common goal: increased quality and intercultural awareness of teachers and volunteers in the field of adult education with the purpose of becoming a good and active cultural mediator between migrants and the local society. Results will be discussed during activities and amendments made if needed. The expected results are:An interactive project website which with the opportunity for teachers, volunteers and learners to upload materials, find information and tips about: - new knowledge of interculturalism, andragogy, new teaching methods, f. ex. story line and story-telling,- how to use digital devices in adult education, - the European Framework Certification and CIS Certification for migrants and refugees - how to use work practice as a means of teaching - assessment as a tool for introducing the local school system to migrants How to become familiar with methods of using volunteers in non-formal language teachingBetter communication skills in a foreign language for the participantsExpected general impact:- Increased quality of education and training- Increased knowledge of transversal skills, social-, intercultural- and language competences- Increased critical thinking among teachers and volunteers- Use of learning outcomes when describing and defining qualifications - Strategic and integrated use of ICT and educational resources in education - Increased motivation for English language learning and development of communication skills among participants- Intercultural communication skills and intercultural understanding- Reinforced interaction between different practicesBudget control is the responsibility of the project leader. It will be monitored closely that the funding is spent according to plan. Monthly there will be a check on the budgets actual status. During activities the status of the budget will be on the agenda.Dissemination is a key factor in the longer term benefits of the project. Besides introductions within the partner institutions and relevant organizations it will be done through the partners´ websites and/or other social media available to the partners.
The project ensured that teachers were trained as intercultural mediators, to better understand the cultural issues that foreigners bring with them and become able to effectively transmit the elements of the host culture. This is a fundamental step to ensure the effectiveness of intercultural communication, knowledge and skills. Intercultural learning is of great importance, due to the movement of migrants to Europe and extremely important for teachers of migrants. Increased number of migrants is entering several countries in Europe where there is little or no experience in receiving them and how to solve problems in the classrooms attended by students from different cultures. It was urgent to support teachers and students by helping them understand cultural differences. Intercultural understanding supported teachers offering high quality teaching, deal with complex classroom realities and adopt new methods and tools. Special attention was paid to the integration of refugees and recently arrived migrants. Therefore the role of the teacher and volunteers, connecting people of many cultures, is vital. The objectives were to: - support educators towards a better understanding of interculturalism, share best practices and methods in teaching adult migrants and refugees between different European countries and help with changing problems due to migration into opportunities. - reinforce network between our institutions with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience and increase our capacity to operate at a transnational level. 97 individuals from seven countries participated in the activities. Invitees included, about 50 people participated in each event, or around 350 people who spread the knowledge. All the coordinators, teachers and volunteers were experienced in the field of adult education but with different experience of teaching migrants and refugees. Most of the partners had previously taken part in EU projects. Some have experience of cooperation with volunteers.The main activities were in the form of research and sharing of best practices in the field of interculturalism. Each partner was responsible for finding quality material / topics in order to share their best practices with the others. Also, each partner organization discussed what could be improved and which lessons could be learned from other partner organizations. Each partner was also responsible for the preparation of a conference/seminar/workshop which was focused on certain predefined topics within the field of Adult Education. A mixed-method approach was used, sequently applying a combination of research methods and workshop activities. It was designed around a series of interrelated activities among the partners leading to a common goal: increased quality and intercultural awareness of teachers and volunteers in the field of adult education with the purpose of becoming a good and active cultural mediator between migrants and the local society. Results were discussed during activities and amendments made. The results of the project are: An interactive project website with the opportunity for teachers, volunteers and learners to upload materials, find information and tips about new knowledge of interculturalism, andragogy, and new teaching methods, such as the story line and story-telling. Also, how to use digital devices in adult education, the European Framework Certification and CIS Certification for migrants and refugees. In addition to that, how to use work practice as a means of teaching and assessment as a tool for introducing the local school system to migrants. Another factor is how to become familiar with methods of using volunteers in non-formal language teaching and better communication skills in a foreign language for the participants. The general impact is: Increased quality of education and training - Increased knowledge of transversal skills, social-, intercultural- and language competences - Increased critical thinking among teachers and volunteers - Use of learning outcomes when describing and defining qualifications - Strategic and integrated use of ICT and educational resources in education - Increased motivation for English language learning and development of communication skills among participants - Intercultural communication skills and intercultural understanding - Reinforced interaction between different practices. Budget control was the responsibility of the project leader. It was monitored closely that the funding was spent according to plan. Monthly there was a check on the actual status of the budget. During activities its status was on the agenda. Dissemination is a key factor in the longer term benefits of the project. Besides introductions within the partner institutions and relevant organizations it was done through the partners´ websites and/or other social media available to the partners.