During the past years, the constant influx of immigrants has been the cause of dramatic and fundamental changes in the socio-cultural, political, economic and educational landscape of the European Union. With the rise of racial and xenophobic attitudes towards refugees accross the continent, European values such as tolerance and solidarity came under huge pressure. Aware of the complexity of the issue, we formed a team for an Erasmus+ project entitled DOOR (Discovering our origins and roots) TO EUROPE. The project brings together six schools from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Greece, France being the coordinator. Altogether, we have the following objectives: - form an open and balanced perception of immigrants and their cultures through research, analysis, counter narratives, intellectual dialogue, and direct encounters; - gain insight from and share good and easy-to-implement practices for the social inclusion of immigrants and the way host countries receive and treat them; - focus on social and civic responsibilities by encouraging cultural awareness through creativity and the acquisition of English language and digital skills, and fostering a sense of initiative and leadership. - raise awareness of European Culture Heritage. DOOR TO EUROPE will involved students aged 14- 18 as well as staff and teachers from different department (sciences , history and geography, languages, art, ICT...) participating in meetings and organizing various learning/teaching/training activities, but also participants (family members, local authorities, immigrants, associations, politicians, etc.) who will be involved in the implementation of the project on the one hand and dissemination of the project on hthe other hand. All the activities are interrelated, insofar as they analyze the issue of immigration ( treatment from different perspectives, students backgrounds and roots, laws…) Opting for a holistic approach, the team will start off by gaining insight into its own history then national histories related to migration and go on to analyze the root causes of the current migration phenomenon. It will also take a look at measures being taken to tackle the issue and finally, consider possible, future actions. Hopefully, this approach will help students form a balanced, overall opinion on the present immigration crisis. Among the activities foreseen, there will be Activity 1: Surveys and A European Immigration Map: Each partner will make a survey about the origins of its students/families and teachers (where they come from, why they are here…?) and make researches about migration flows. This will enable the students to create a map with all the students’ countries of origins, the location of the partners countries the migration flows. Activity 2: Family trees Activity 3: the creation of a logo . Activity 4: An Immigrant Experience (Interviews and testimonies) Activity 5: Presentation of a survey: How multi-cultural are we? Activity 6: Organization of a Tolerance Day Activity 7: The survival kit activity focuses on the creation and realisation of the implementation of a “welcoming concept” at each of the participating schools. The students will develop a “survival kit” which includes the most basic information on their school and cultural and linguistic support. Activity 8: Survey about the laws and regulations at the national and European levels about immigration: What do the European countries do to support positive immigration? What organizations help migrants and what is their role? What school/students do to help immigrant people? Activity 9: Creation of a freedom school calendar Activity 10: Silent short film contest: Students from all participating countries will have the chance to take part in this silent short film competition that will shed light on the plight of immigrants in foreign lands. Activity 11: A cultural week to familiarize people with the customs, folklore, handicrafts and food of the immigrants’ country of origin. Activity 12: The poster contest and exhibition will promote tolerance and acceptance. This creative workshop will help pupils to become aware of their belonging to a united Europe, and to make them aware of migration, help them understand why they should support and assist people who are migrating, probably suffering, trying to reach their destinations and setting up a new home. These materials will be used as a mean of dissemination. Students will have made previous researches in their own country. Activity 13: Welcoming immigrant people Charter Activity 14: The final Exhibition: all the materials, products and outcomes (logo, charter surveys, calendar, family trees, interviews, maps, survival kit, silent short films… ) will be displayed as tools of dissemination. All Partners have Erasums+ experiences and so as to succeed the implementation and the dissemination of the project, we'll use the E-twinning plateform (twinspace) and a website will be createi
It is undeniable that immigration has been a real issue for European countries for many years now. And it has been even more obvious since the beinning of the war between Russian and Ukraine. Furthermore it has created a massive flux and displacement of migrants in most of the partner countries or regions, espacially in Poland, Germany and France where many refugees have been welcome in emergency. As a result, our students have been directly and quickly confronted with the topic of immigration. Thanks to this project, we brought the reality of migration closer to students, improved their attitude towards it, helped them understand its causes and difficulties and further tolreance. They acquired a better understanding of the values of Europe and developed an actice social commitment. Our project allowed the pupils of each partner country to exchange and share ideas and practical experience through exchanges, it also permitted to increase students’ knowledge about immigration ( laws and regulations), to discover the different origins of citizens and develop the acceptance of the difference by sharing ideas, making surveys and comparing the results in each European country. It made foreign languages more attractive to participants, invited them to work in mixed groups and improve their entrepreneurial skills thanks to innovative means of communication. Furthermore, this project enabled to present and future European generations to become more aware of what immigration is so as to better understand and build their future together. Thanks to this project we achieved the following goals : - To gain experience in coordinating transnational projects - To develop and stimulate creativity and innovation - To enhance cross-cultural education - To motivate students to get higher results by applying innovative approaches - To engage low-motivated and disabled pupils in extra-curricular activities (photo, movie, survey) - To develop special knowledge on serious subjects such as racism, brotherhood, prejudice, nationalism - To promote tolerance, solidarity, peace and social responsibility - To experience new challenging trainings and collaborative efforts aiming at improving current education - To develop abilities and skills in communicating in English - To build a bridge between different cultures by exchanging their experiences and observing each other’s life styles. Being introduced to different cultures helped them develop their own identity as well as make them more tolerant towards other cultures and people. All this resulted in the learners developing a sense of belonging to the local, national and European community. The partnership also promoted positive relationships, friendships and a spirit of hospitality and respect among students while broadening students’ cultural horizons and helping them understand that every society has its complexities and diversities. We improved our students'skills and motivation by giving them the chance to be integrated into an international partnership. Here are the results of our activities Knowing me, Knowing you : - Surveys about the origins of students/families and teachers (where they come from, why they are here…?) - Presentation of the partner schools and regions - Family trees - the creation of a logo . Let’s meet immigrant people - An Immigrant Experience (Interviews and testimonies) - Organization of a Tolerance Day How multicultural are we ? - a comparative study about culture and traditions (do we celebrate the same festivals or different ones, how do we greet people in our countries, which are typical traditions in our countries, are there stereotypes about the other project countries ...?) - Cultural events to familiarize people with the customs, folklore, handicrafts and food of the immigrants’ country of origin. What can we do for immigrants ? - The survival kit which includes the most basic information on their school and cultural and linguistic support. - Investigation about immigration laws and regulations at the national and European levels about immigration: What do the European countries do to support positive immigration? - Presentation of some active organizations helping migrants - Welcoming immigrant people Charter Immigrants hard life - Visits of NGO associations helping refugees - Testimonies of migrants Tolerance and acceptance - Silent short film contest focusing on the plight of immigrants in foreign lands. - The poster contest and exhibition promoting tolerance and acceptance.