Projekt "Passengers on the Same Bus! No Place for Discrimination, Segregation and Inequality!" je u konce. Během tohoto projektu jsme s partnery z Kypru, Itálie a Finska  na výjezdech na Kypru, v Čechách a v Itálii řešili otázky diskriminace, segregace, nerovných příležitostí a migrace. Poslední téma "šikana", které mělo proběhnout ve Finsku, bylo kvůli epidemii COVID-19 bohužel zrušeno. I tak nám ale projekt dal velmi mnoho zkušeností a zajímavých zážitků. Pokud si o nich chcete přečíst, využijte knihu, kterou sepsal koordinátor projektu Petros Tekkelas.

“Diversity Unites Us! It Does not Separate Us!” - mobility in Czech republic

A Short Description of the Activity One C2

The Activity Two C’2 took place in the Jirovcova Gymnasium in the Czech Republic from the 1st of April 2019 to the 5th of April 2019.  There were five students-participants and two teachers-participants from each of the sending schools – the Xylofagou Gymnasium in Cyprus, the Tommaso Fiore Gymnasium in Bari-Italy and the Kainuu Ammattiopisto in Kajaani-Finland. All students were hosted by the students of the Czech school whereas all the teachers-participants stayed in hotels and apartments. 

Objectives of the Activity Two C2

The activity C’2 was under the title “Diversity Unites us! It Does not Separate Us!” and it focused on diversity, discriminatory and segregation issues.  The aim of this activity was to promote tolerance and combat discrimination and segregation in the school environment. 

Description of the content:
This activity took place in the Czech Republic on 1st of April 2019 until 5 April 2019..
It lasts 5 days, plus two days for travelling. The activity is under the title: "Diversity Unites us. It does not separate us!" The activity is focused on diversity issues, discriminatory and segregation issues and aims to promote tolerance and combat discrimination and segregation in the school environment. The participants are: Two teachers and five students from Cyprus. Two teachers and five students from Italy. Two teachers and five students from Finland and a group of teachers and students from the Czech Republic. All the students are divided into two groups. The one group consists of two students and one teacher from each country and twenty students and five teachers from the host country. The second group consists of three students and one teacher from each country and twenty students and five teachers from the host country. It is important for us to have two or three students from all the four country-partners since by this way we can achieve a sharing.

Fist Day: Opening session. Students are welcomed by the Erasmus Team of Czech Republic and by the school staff. They are toured and informed about the host school. In the afternoon there was a game with QR codes andbowling with Parents, Teachers and Students.

Second Day: Participants take part in an experiential workshop under the title "The potential of Diversity". A sociologist will take part in this workshop.

Third Day: Participants take part in an experiential workshop under the title "Combating Discrimination and segregation". We made a  Campaign Against Diversity and Discrimination Issues. Participants work on the handbook.

Fourth Day: Visiting "Studio Oaza". It is a Cultural Centre for People with Intellectual disabilities in Prague. 

Fifth Day: Visiting a Community Centre in České Budějovice and Goodbye Event
All the participants are given a questionnaire and are asked to complete it. The questionnaires aim to gather qualitative and quantitive data as far as the outcomes of the activity and the insights of the participants from the activity are concerned. The results and their analysis will be discussed in an event that will take place in each country and throughout the videoconferences among all partners.

Methodology

After the implementation of the Activity C1 in Cyprus, we had gained much experience and knowledge of the possible difficulties the participants could have encountered.  We mainly focused on tasks and activities which could enable students to acquire experience rather than knowledge.  Students were involved in experiential workshops, games related to our topic and visits to reception centres.  They were also asked to express themselves and rather depict their thoughts and opinions using art.  Additionally, our pursuit of the emotional involvement of our participant was reinforced, since we had previously observed that this approach could bring loads of positive results to our objectives. 

Passengers on the Same Bus! No place for Discrimination, Segregation and Inequality!

reg.number: 2018-1-CY01-KA229-046925_4

“Passengers on the Same Bus! No Place for Discrimination, Segregation and Inequality” is an Erasmus+ KA229 (School Exchange Partnerships) project, which started on the 1st of September 2018 and ended on the 31st of August 2020.   Xylofagou Gymnasium in Cyprus-a regional Public school located in a rural area of Larnaca’s district-is the coordinating school-partner.  The project consists of four school-partners: Xylofagou Gymnasium in Cyprus, Jirovcova Gymnasium in the Czech Republic, Tommaso Fiore Gymnasium in Bari-Italy and Kainuun Ammattiopisto in Kajaani-Finland.

The motivation for our project.

     It is beyond question that social inclusion has proved to be a dynamic process of valuing all individuals and recognizing their diverse contribution to communities.  All children should have the right and entitlement to be socially included in their school.  We have chosen the priority of social inclusion and mainly discrimination, diversity and refugees’ issues in order to fulfill our aim to secure for all students the feeling of being valued and fight discriminatory attitudes. Promoting social inclusion will certainly provide our students the opportunity to fulfill their potential, take part in educational opportunities with their peers and grow respect and understanding of diversity.

Since school provides the context of a child’s first relationship with the world outside, aiming towards social inclusion will certainly enable the development of social relationships and interactions of our students in the world outside the school setting.