The IME project stems from the current historical context, which is forcing Europe to question its integration model. The current migration crisis raises questions among our students about the European integration model. The EU must make young people aware of the challenges of integration policy because it is undoubtedly at European level that future citizens will be able to find solutions to this challenge.The IME project brings together a French and a Swedish school which are familiar with the issue of the integration of migrant pupils, a problem that is exacerbated by the integration of refugees. Indeed, each year, the French high school ALAIN welcomes migrant students who do not speak French. The Swedish high school, Rudbecksgymnasiet is an upper secondary school with nearly 1300 students (9% of which have another mother tongue than Swedish) and around 120 teachers. Our common goals are therefore to make pupils aware of the difficulties of a migrant's journey, of the difficulties of integration, and to share examples of successful practices that facilitate this integration, both at European and local levels. Sixty French and Swedish high school students will take part in this project. They will be coming from different backgrounds, and half of them will be chosen because they are experiencing academic or cultural difficulties. The latter will therefore be more specifically tutored so that they can overcome any form of self-censorship. The practical aim of the students will be to produce a Franco-Swedish blog on the theme of the integration of migrant students. This project will enable them to develop their linguistic and journalistic skills (collecting and exploiting documentary sources), as well as their digital skills in the creation of blogs. Based on a partnership between French and Swedish students, this study on integration will also provide an opportunity to learn how to live together. Our students will meet social partners who work alongside migrants (social workers, elected officials, etc.) and interview them in English. They will collaborate together in English by practicing videoconferencing, using the eTwinning platform. This IME project will not be limited to actions with our students alone. It will allow the implementation, in both our schools, of new integration protocols to support young migrants. These new protocols will be modelled on Swedish or French practices. The entire educational community (pupils, families, teachers, schools in the city, local elected officials) will benefit from this reflection on the integration of migrant pupils. In fact, at least four times during the project, this extended educational community will receive a communication on the progress of our students' work and reflections. These communication campaigns will be covered by the local and regional press. The results of our research will be distributed to everyone, on the websites of both schools, and via their Digital Work Environment or their webradios. Finally, our project will foster a sustainable international policy in both our schools, because the IME project is embedded both in the immediate timeframe of the students' experience and in the longer timeframe of collective thinking and practices related to the global migration crisis.
The IME project stemmed from the current context, which is forcing Europe to question its integration model. The current migration crisis raises questions among our students about the European integration model. The EU must make young people aware of the challenges of the integration policy because it is undoubtedly at the European level that future citizens will be able to find solutions to this challenge. The IME project has brought together a French and a Swedish school which are familiar with the issue of migrant pupils’ integration, a problem that is exacerbated by the integration of refugees. Indeed, each year, the French Alain high school welcomes migrant students who do not speak French. The Swedish high school, Rudbecksgymnasiet also welcomes students from various geographical and cultural backgrounds (Iran, Irak, Afghanistan, Pakistan…). Therefore, our common goals have been to make pupils aware of the difficulties of a migrant’s journey, of the difficulties of integration, and to share examples of successful practices that facilitate this integration, especially within our schools. Our schools host teenagers aged 15 to 18 years old. Both are situated in the downtown areas of their respective towns with the French Alain high school being situated in an area that is particularly rural (Orne). Both schools have target-driven policies regarding international exchanges and have been working together since 1999. Sixty-two French and Swedish high school students have participated in this project. They represent the social, cultural and academic diversity of the pupils in both our schools. They were 15 to 16 years old at the beginning of the project. Because the project was extended until January 2022, some of those students had graduated before they could see the end of the project. The less privileged students have been specifically tutored in order to avoid any kind of self-censorship. The practical aim of the students was be to produce a Franco-Swedish blog on the theme of the Integration of migrant students which can now be visited at the following address: https://blog.ac-normandie.fr/erasmusime . This project has enabled them to develop their linguistic and journalistic skills (collecting and exploiting documentary sources, carrying out interviews...), as well as their digital skills in creating blogs. Our students have met grass-roots associations and local politicians who were all involved in the process of young migrants’ integration. Based on a partnership between French and Swedish students, this study on integration has also provided an opportunity to learn how to live together. Our students have collaborated together in English, both with real-life meetings and video-conferences. This IME project was not limited to actions with our students alone. It also led to the implementation of new integration protocols at lycée Alain to support young migrants. These new protocols have been inspired by the successful practices that have been witnessed in both France and Sweden: the creation of a leaflet for newly-arrived migrants, the organization of tutoring involving students, and the creation of a specific room in the school where all useful resources can be found and tutoring sessions can take place. The entire educational community (pupils, families, teachers, schools in the city, local elected officials) has benefited from this reflection on the integration of migrant pupils. Indeed, this extended educational community has received updates on the progress of our students’ work and reflections via several means: Erasmus Days, school board meetings, and the participation of lycée Alain in the challenge organized by the HIPPOCRENE foundation (for which the school was a finalist). These communication campaigns have been covered by the local and regional press. Finally, our project will foster a sustainable international policy in both our schools, because the IME project is embedded both in the immediate time frame of the students’ experience and in the longer time frame of collective thinking and practices related to global migration. It thus appears that, despite the pandemic of the last three years and the necessary cancellation of the Swedish students’ trip to France, the project has still led to the creation of some concrete resources which have had, and will have, a positive impact on migrants’ integration and our ability to live together within our schools.