“There is no loneliness like the loneliness of a
stranger in a strange city.” – Helon Habila, Travelers
Migration of people from one country to another
is a phenomenon that has been taking place from the beginning of human kind.
People have migrated from one continent to the other, from
country to country or internally, inside the same country. Currently, the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) states that there are about one
billion migrants around the
world. This number includes 214 million international migrants and 740 million
internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Migration can be defined as “a process of moving,
either across an international border, or within a State. Encompassing any kind
of movement of people, whatever its length, composition and
causes; it includes refugees, displaced persons, uprooted people, and economic
migrants.” (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies,
2016).
The European Union, in particular the European
Commission, has taken actions and addressed priorities with regards to
migration, in order to help with the safety, education and integration of
migrants in the new country that they moved into. “The European Union
needs to increase support for cities and regions and border countries that are
on the front line of managing
migration”, the European Committee of the Regions said on 22 March 2018.
The EU’s assembly for local and regional
politicians expressed particular concern about the challenges faced by islands
and coastal regions in the Mediterranean and called for greater
shared European responsibility and investment.” (The EU’s Assembly of Regional
and Local Representatives, March 2018). In the countries which are part of this
project, migration is a very
pivotal issue. The European Commission through the policy named ‘Migration and
education’ states that “Education plays a crucial role in helping migrants
and refugees settle in new
countries and environments.” This project aims to support and address the
needs in the educational systems in Malta, Greece and Portugal to facilitate
the participation and success of
newly arrived migrant students in their country. It is on this basis that this
strategic partnership was set-up.
Main Objective:
The objective of ‘Mosaic’ is to enhance the
access, participation and integration of newly arrived migrants in school
education in Malta, Greece, and Portugal:
1) By strengthening the competences of teachers
and school staff to promote diversity, empathy and inclusion in schools
2) Through an Educational Platform, this project supported the schools with
regards to facilitation integration and success of migrant students; while
making the communication
process between migrants, parents and school community easier and accessible.
The material that we as a team of partners have
created, can be found in this website and can be easily adapted by other
educators and/or youth workers and make use of it with the young people
and/or migrant students that they work with.
The following is a list of material that we
created and that can be found on this website:
1) Online Training Modules: We have created 4
training modules that tackle different topics. The topics that are tackled are;
Cultural Awareness and Multiculturalism, Sensitivity of the Educator, Conflict
management in the Classroom environment and Interagency Approach
2) Toolbox for educators working in an Intercultural setting: Our partners
together with the educators, have come up with a number of tools that can be
sued in the classroom
setting. These tools are not just for the educators but can be used by anyone
working with children or young people.
We hope that you find the material on this
website useful and you make use of it in your work with the students or youth
that you work with. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to contact us.
Erasmus+
Erasmus+ aims at boosting skills and
employability, and modernizing Education, Training and Youth work.
Education, training and non-formal youth learning
are essential to creating jobs and improving Europe’s competitiveness. Over
last seven years, Erasmus+ provided €14.7 billion to strengthen
education, training, youth and sport in Europe, allowing more than 4 million
young people to gain experience and skills by studying, training or
volunteering abroad. The programme also
supported over 125,000 institutions and organisations to work with peers in
other countries to innovate and modernize teaching practice and youth work.
Together they helped ensure that
young people and adults get the skills they need to succeed in today’s world.
The general objectives of Erasmus+ contribute to
the achievement of:
·
the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy,
including the headline education target;
·
the objectives of the strategic framework
for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020), including the
corresponding benchmarks;
·
the sustainable development of Partner Countries
in the field of higher education;
·
the overall objectives of the renewed framework
for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018);
·
the objective of developing the European
dimension in sport, in particular grassroots sport,
in line with the EU work plan for sport;
·
the promotion of European values in accordance
with Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union.
This project was funded by the Erasmus+ cycle
2014 -2020. Currently, there is the 2021-2027 cycle of Erasmus+