MOST ‘Bridges Between Openness, Respect and Identity'

Topic(s) addressed

• Identity crisis in EU societies 
• inclusion and exclusion mechanisms 
• European values and their role in identity building 
• Identity boundaries and transgressions
• Intercultural communication 
• Hate speech 
• Stereotypes and prejudices 

Target groups

• over 75 secondary school students aged 16-19 
• over 20 teachers 
• different cultural backgrounds

Methodologies

• The project combined multiple disciplines (psychology, sociology, history, foreign language, globalisation, IT) going beyond the formal education curriculum. 

It used:

• Experiential learning method 
• Activating learning and teaching methods: group work, simulation, role play, discussion, brainstorming, material analysis, case study, games 
• Coaching elements: gaining knowledge through experience, referring to realities, open problems, reflecting, analysing 
• Presentation methods: film, demonstration combined with experience.

Environments

• Comprehensive development of students with respect for their dignity, outlook and individuality as the project’s and the school’s objectives.
• Good organisation made it possible to involve the community in project activities. 
• An innovative (content, form) and holistic nature of the project: workshops, excursions, lectures, extracurricular activities and their inclusion in the educational programme 
• The project results were recommended as didactic materials to be used in classes shaping soft skills and social sensitivity in the area of cultural identity borders.

Teachers

• Teachers and pupils swapped roles (mutual learning). 
• Teachers designed educational space for pupils, triggered their creativity and encouraged them to search for the answers to their own questions boosting motivation. 
• They strengthened cooperation, including that between pupils and teachers. 
• Strove for continuous development and showed an attitude of critical thinking. 
• They developed pedagogical competencies in the implementation and dissemination of intercultural education and ICT skills.

Impact

All participants learnt: 

• about how cultural differences determine behaviour and how to work in a multicultural environment
• how to cope with ambiguous and problematic situations
• how to react to "hate speech" cases, 
• to respect the values of other people and cultures while caring for their own identity established positive intercultural relations 
• Institutions acquired methods to promote the idea of intercultural education adding it to their curricula, 
• They built a network of contacts and international cooperation. 
• The local community became involved in the school’s life promoting multiculturalism, which now translates into attitudes towards war refugees.