Good practices in intercultural education

1. GOOD PRACTICES IN
INTERCULTURAL
EDUCATION
TRAINING OF TEACHERS, GREEK-ALBANIAN SCHOOL “OMIROS”
16 DECEMBER 2016, KORCA, ALBANIA

2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE VISIT
• Education is always an answer in times of crisis and sociopolitical turbulence.
Intercultural learning is a suitable tool for fostering peace, tolerance and cultural
awareness, especially in multicultural communities. In an attempt to build
bridges of friendship and set the ground for future shared projects in the field of
youth, human rights and research, a team of Greek and Albanian educational
practitioners & youth workers visited the bilingual school “Omiros” in Korca and
shared with their colleague practitioners learning and mobility resources,
educational methods and success stories in multicultural and multilingual
environments.

3. AIM OF THE VISIT
• To share good practices in the field of intercultural and human rights education
that can be employed by teachers working with children from bilingual and
bicultural environments and set the ground for future shared projects in the field
of education, research, youth and culture.

4. OBJECTIVES
• To explore new tools and techniques in the field of HRE and intercultural education for children, by
sharing educational resources, links and methods.
• To facilitate teachers’ access to education tools and training opportunities.
• To present training and development opportunities offered within the Erasmus Plus Program and
the Council of Europe Directorate of Youth and Democratic Participation.
• To create partnerships and bonds of friendship between practitioners living and working in Greece
and Albania, respectively.
• To contribute to the eradication of stereotypes and prejudice which have led to the creation of
reciprocal mistrust between Albanian and Greek youth.
• To explore the role that educational practitioners can play in the promotion of youth, education and
culture in a geographical area suffering from unemployment, poverty and lack of opportunities for
young people.

5. TRAINERS
• Mary Drosopulos, PhD (c ), trainer/consultant in the field of youth and
education.
• Aurela Konduri, Albanian language tutor in Greece and researcher.
• Saimira Gjapi, PhD (c ), Greek language tutor in Albania and researcher.
• Marianna Dourtme, MA, educational practitioner and youth worker.

6. PROGRAMME
FIRST PART: WORKSHOPS WITH CHILDREN OF THE “OMIROS” SCHOOL
“Building the ideal school” . Interactive workshop with children, based on an activity adopted by the
Compass manual for Human Rights Education of the Council of Europe.
SECOND PART: SEMINAR FOR TEACHERS WORKING AT THE “OMIROS” SCHOOL
“Intercultural and human rights education for children: tools and techniques”.
“Good education practices in multicultural and multilingual environments”.
“Employing differentiated learning strategies in a bilingual classroom” .
“Teachers’ mobility and self-development opportunities within the Erasmus Plus Program and the
Council of Europe projects”.
*All activities were conducted in the Greek and Albanian language with simultaneous interpreting by
Saimira Gjapi.

7. REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES
• “Building the ideal school” . Interactive workshop with children, based on an activity
adopted by the Compass manual for Human Rights Education of the Council of
Europe.
• Trainer: Mary Drosopulos. Facilitators: Saimira Gjapi, Marianna Dourtme, Aurela
Konduri.
• Aim: To explore the role of school and education in developing active citizenship,
democracy, critical thinking and solidarity. To promote communication, listening and
public speaking skills.
• The activity involved 55 students of the Omiros School, of the 5th and the 6th grade.
• Outcomes: the students worked in groups, where they exhibited spirit of
collaboration, critical thinking and imagination in building their ideal school with
recyclable materials.

8. TRAINING OF TEACHERS
• “Intercultural and human rights education for children: tools and
techniques”
• Mary Drosopulos.
• Aim: To debrief the activity that was conducted with children, to present the
methodology used and the rationale conducted and to share relevant tools and
educational resources.

9. • “Good educational practices in multicultural and multilingual environments”
• Aurela Konduri.
• Aim: To present successful projects that
have taken place in Greece in bilingual and
bicultural settings, using the project method, HRE
and creative writing.

10. • “Employing differentiated learning strategies in a multilingual and/or
multicultural classroom”
• Marianna Dourtme
• Aim: To present differentiating learning strategies
• and tools as a method to work with children
• from different ethnic of linguistic backgrounds,
• by making good use of their cultural uniqueness.

11. • “Teachers’ mobility and self-development opportunities within the Erasmus Plus
Program and the Council of Europe projects”
• Mary Drosopulos
• Aim: To introduce non formal learning techniques
as an educational tool combined with formal
• education and to share resources, and links for
• mobility and training opportunities.

13. USEFUL LINKS
• Youth Social Rights Network: http://ysrnetwork.weebly.com/
• United Societies of Balkans: www.usbngo.gr
• Polydromo Group for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism: www.polydromo.gr