The project is titled ‘No worries - integration package for students of different nationalities in Ciro' and Zamość.’ It will be implemented in the period of 09.01.2016 - 08.31.2018 r. by two partnering high schools - III Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Zamość, Poland and Liceo Scientifico Istituto Omnicomprensivo ‘L. Lilio’ in Ciro', Italy. Both our cities are multicultural - Ciro' was founded by the Greeks at the tip of the Italian ‘boot’, nowadays and in the past visited by all Mediterranean nations, Zamość was founded on the merchant route from the Black Sea, and from the beginning it hosted Armenians, Russians, Jews, and today it experiences border traffic with Ukraine. Both schools got to know each other through the parents of III L.O. students moving from Ciro' to Zamość. The problem of integration of immigrants is important for both schools.The main objective of the project is to develop methodology of different forms of work with a multinational group in the context of school education and transfer this knowledge to others. Both schools have experienced the phenomenon of the influx of students migrating from outside of the European Union (from Ukraine, Arab and Asian countries), who engage in learning in classes according to their age, but not always in line with the school curriculum. This phenomenon will surely increase, as it is apparent from official data and observation in schools. Project participants are students of different nationalities - 52 students in total, including 13 immigrant students- and various language specialists, IT teachers, philosopher, culture studies teacher, the school counsellor and psychologist. They will carry out integration workshops tailored for our group, language courses and cultural classes. The results of their work will be made available after the completion of the project to our colleagues in Poland and Italy. Assisting this cadre are supporters of the project: translators from Translators Association in Lublin, volunteers from the organization Proloco in Ciro', and parents of our students. The project provides for different working methods and activities, from which the direct contacts during a short student mobility are paramount. The pretext to this collaboration is the work to develop glossaries in the native languages of students selected by the expressions found in the school. This is the kind of start-up phase when it comes to social interaction: through the entries on the eTwinning, Moodle, instant messaging, Skype and Facebook, students will be introduced to each other. During the visits to Zamość and Ciro', in groups that are dynamically changing, they will participate in workshops, after which the student will carry out observations of life in schools. Based on those observations and their notes, in the third phase of the project, after returning to their schools, students will prepare short films. Those films, starring volunteer students, will show what they appreciate and what hinders them from adjusting to the new situation and culture. In these activities, students will have to demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach to the issues, knowledge of video creation tools and ability to participate in a divergent social group, to function as leaders of task groups, actors, directors, writers and specialists in languages. The work of students will be awarded with Europass certificates of foreign language and communication skills, as well as with entry to their school certificate.The teachers involved in the project will be making a synthesis of their observation and care measures. They will hold meetings in their communities, sharing their experiences and showing their ways and tools that may help others working with immigrant pupils, discussing ’comfortable’" and ’uncomfortable’ situations, encouraging changes in the teaching programs.The project will try to develop in students and teachers the assertive and creative approach to new challenges of an increasingly mobile world. Knowledge of foreign languages is a sine qua non requirement of the contemporary young man, but non-verbal skills are also important as well as the art of positive observations, which does not offend by its insistence, but instead helps understand another human being. For this we will try to encourage others with our good example. It should be emphasized that the actions and the content of the program is an important extension of existing educational plans realized in schools. An added value of the programme, that could not have existed without Erasmus+ founding, is the opportunity for teachers and educators to experience the multicultural interactions and synergies first-hand, and for students it is a rare possibility to gather in a truly truly multicultural environment in a group of peers. We are confident that the participants of our program will relate to the new phenomena of cultural and linguistic ‘without fear’ and with deepened understanding.
The "No worries - integration package for students of different nationalities in Ciro 'and Zamość" project was implemented in the period 01/09/2016 - 31/08/2018 by III High School in Zamość (coordinating school) and Liceo Scientifico at Istituto Omnicomprensivo "L.Lilio "in Ciro" in Italy (partner school). The project participants were teachers and students of both schools, coming from Italian, Polish and migrant families: 87 students (including 12 students from migrant and mixed families in both schools), parents, city authorities of both partners and cultural institutions joined in the activities. The main goal was to draw attention to the need for inclusive education related to the stay of a foreign student at school and to propose forms of work with such a student based on the experience and programs developed in Italy and the current experiences of cooperation. The result of our project "Integration Package .." is to facilitate their acclimatization in the first period of learning mainly in Poland, but also in later stages in Italy, and to show teachers how to reduce communication barriers and how to encourage second-generation migrant students to study the culture of the target country. It presents our schools in a student-friendly way, encouraging foreigners to communicate, indicating the role of good gestures in the first days in a foreign school, showing our system of values . For the Italian partner on the Moodle platform there are handouts for teachers of the Italian language and biology( difficult to teach) and lesson scenarios about culture and literature. The materials were developed by pupils (multilingual flashcards, thematic glossaries, welcome films at school, behavior rules at school), guidelines for teachers were developed by students and teachers involved in the project (lesson plans, opinions, hints). Joint work of the whole group during mobility served to increase mutual openness to others and to develop communication skills needed especially in the initial phase of school stay. The second goal was to develop students' socio-linguistic skills and motivation to learn foreign languages and the culture of their country of residence. The students learned to "speak with the body" in order to establish first friendly contacts. During mobility in mixed groups, workshops and language courses they also learned phrases in Polish, Italian and Ukrainian. They learned acceptance of otherness within the limits adopted in the receiving environment by the local "savoir-vivre". They were motivated to learn languages by systematic work on the Moodle platform developing dictionaries and language cards in Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and English and attending classes the "Erasmus Thursdays" at the Polish school, devoted to didactic issues, integration and the development of "hard" project results. Using the Moodle platform and e-twinning to document work, to contact students in both schools, to develop a flashcard glossary, to process a film and materials for the "Package" and taking part in a working campus organized by the coordinating school showed how to use IT programs to develop texts (Publisher) , to prepare the presentation of results (PREZI), to do film processing, which increased the ability to use ICT tools among students and teachers. The above activities and the organization of two conferences going beyond the communities of both schools, integrated the participants and showed that everyone is needed: Ukrainian friends in Poland were translators and mediators during the lecture, and students from Romania, Poland and Africa learning in Italy were living proof that persevering work on oneself ensures school success. In addition, they have increased the prestige of both schools as institutions open to inclusive education and forming a community of culture. The teachers involved in the project tried to work out methods of pedagogical work in multinational groups, published their experiences in the book No worries! and in the Teacher's Package, including comments on student migration, interviews with people with experience in cross-border cooperation, information about Ukrainian culture and work with a student from Ukraine, documents developed in Italy, proposals for Italian lesson scenarios for second generation migrants (a new phenomenon observed at Italian schools) a sample from the catalog of good gestures. We are trying to disseminate the results of our work among teachers of Zamość schools, in the Department of Education, among translators, in the municipality of Ciro ', in PRO LOCO in Ciro', in other schools of the province of Crotone. Thanks to signing a letter about further cooperation between schools and a letter of intent on partnership between the municipalities by the Vice-Mayor of Zamość and the Mayor of Ciro' at the final SME we hope that the ideas of the project will continue to develop.