The integration of migrants and their children in their arrival’s community is a crucial element for the social cohesion and the economic growth of European countries.
Children with migrant background, particularly, have to face complex and multidimensional barriers including socio-economic disadvantage, language, native culture bias and attainment.
How to promote the reciprocal respect at school and, at the same time, improve the educational performance of children with migrant background?
Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci is committed for years on the topic of education to diversity and integration of different cultures, with a specific focus on most vulnerable target groups such as children – examples of it are the projects OTHERNESS and ROBIN.
In the wake of this commitment, we are participating in the project ArtsTogether – Integrating migrant children at schools through artistic expression.
The ArtsTogether project aims at developing and testing a curriculum based on artistic activities and collaborative approaches that will be used in order to equip teachers for dealing with diversity, fostering mutual understanding and respect among their students and improve the educational performance of migrant students.
The project had its official start on January 10-11 in Athens, where project’s partners met to plan the work to be done in the next two years.
The project foresees the following activities:
- Research and need analysis of educational needs of teachers working in multicultural contexts;
- Development of a curriculum addressed to teachers and including artistic activities to children between 1 and 12 years old;
- Training for teachers and implementation of these activities in schools;
- Grass-roots events with the involvement of parents and round tables with public authorities.
Moreover, the partnership will develop guidelines and recommendations for policy orientation in the field of education at European level for the valorisation of the art for the inclusion of minorities and its inclusion in the schools’ programmes.
ArtsTogether – Integrating migrant children at schools through artistic expression is funded by the European Commision’s programme AMIF (Asilum, Migration and Integration Fund).
The project consortium is composed by 10 organisations:
- Coordinator: University of Peloponnese (Greece);
- Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (Italy);
- Bath Spa University (United Kingdom);
- Four Elements (Greece);
- HIGGS – Higher Incubator Giving Growth & Sustainability (Greece);
- ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth (Greece);
- Fondazione Hallgarten-Franchetti Centro Studi Villa Montesca (Italy);
- Kindervilla (Austria);
- Mediter – Reseau Euro-Mediterraneen Pour La Cooperation A.I.S.B.I. (Belgium);
- CSC – Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci (Italy).
For further information about the project, contact: antonella.alessi@danilodolci.org.