Intercultural Learning

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING – 

Teacher Training in Cultural Diversity and Democratic Citizenship

Countries: Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean

Project initiated in: 2006

Presented by: Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation 

Partners: Council of Europe and ALECSO

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//Context

The Anna Lindh Foundation, which is a Mediterranean institution for intercultural dialogue, has developed and launched a teacher training programme on cultural and religious diversity, involving educators from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The programme, which is supported in partnership with ALECSO and the Council of Europe, aims to equip the region’s teachers with skills and educational tools in the areas of cultural and religious diversity, sustainable development, culture of peace, human rights education and democratic citizenship.

// Project Objectives

The programme’s specific objectives include:

• Improving trans-Mediterranean cooperation by equipping multicultural communities with intercultural skills and assessing cultural diversity;
• Promoting the eradication of racism, extremism, stereotyping, hatred and intolerance;
• Awareness-raising training for teachers and students on their role as agents of change;
• Improving the capacity of teachers to convey the added value of international exchanges and assisting with training and the development of training materials;
• Developing innovative regional educational programmes based on existing tools and best practices.

//Action and Impact

The programme has led to 15 regional training courses being set up, involving over 500 teachers who have received training. For example, a teacher training workshop on “School diversity challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Region” was organised in Beirut, in cooperation with the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO. This workshop was aimed at teachers and teacher-trainers in 10 Euro-Mediterranean countries: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. In addition, teacher training on understanding religious diversity and pluralism took place in Alexandria (Egypt), and on educational tests and materials developed by a group of experts in Amman (Jordan).

An important tool was developed through the resource: “How to tackle diversity in school: Teaching and learning about religious diversity”. Introduced through training workshops for use in schools and youth organisations, this resource helps students to discover different cultures and be convinced that this knowledge will help to reduce ignorance, mistrust or fear of others. This training consists of 12 units to be used during lessons, such as education in citizenship or religious lessons, and focuses on inter-religious aspects with specific regard to the main religious and spiritual movements in the Mediterranean region. The units are on subjects such as art, media, dress/symbols/appearance, family, war/peace, environment and development.

In terms of the future development of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Teacher Training Programme, the “Arab Spring” and historic events that have occurred since December 2010 in the Mediterranean region are posing new challenges and opportunities for intercultural dialogue and the management of cultural diversity. In this context, the Foundation plans to bring together partners from the whole region to assess the possibilities for this programme, with emphasis on the potential to “Learn about intercultural citizenship” in the Mediterranean.

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