Diversity in the classroom
Marija Radman
Dates: November 27, 2022 - December 3, 2022.
Location: ELA – Erasmus Learning Academy,Bologna, Italy
Day 1
27.11.2022.
Arrival in the city and accommodation in the hotel in whose seminar rooms the course was held throughout the week. On that day, all course participants could get to know each other better during a joint lunch, a sightseeing tour of the city, and a joint dinner in the center of the city.
Day 2
28.11.2022.
The first work meeting where we met our manager Isabel Martinez, and the schedule of our workshops and work activities for the whole week. Workshops and activities were mostly in pairs or in smaller groups. Our team had a total of 13 participants: 3 colleagues from Portugal, 3 colleagues from Serbia, 3 colleagues from Romania, 1 colleague from the Netherlands, 1 colleague from Switzerland, 1 colleague from Spain and me from Croatia. The theme of our course is "Diversity in the classroom" - "Diversity in the classroom" so the very beginning of all our activities was at the individual level, and then in groups we defined the term "diversity" which as a guiding thread stretched throughout our entire week. In order to better and more successfully master certain topics and concepts, but also to better understand certain situations in which we, as teachers, encounter differences in our work and educational environment, we tried to describe and get to know the other participants in groups, their working methods, student profile and social communities in which they live and work. This day ended with a walk through the city and seeing 7 special sights of the city.
Day 3
29.11.2022.
The theme of the day and our workshops was "Identity" - "Promoting students' identity and self-awareness". Therefore, the beginning of our workshops was to position each participant using the digital tool "Padlet" on the world map and present their cultural identity. During the short lecture, we learned about the dimensions of identity, cultural aspects of identity, and three concepts of identity. Then we participated in the "Identity portrait" workshop. We were supposed to draw our portrait on a sheet of paper, and draw one half of the portrait how we look on the outside (external factors), and the other half express the internal factors that are not visible and that distinguish us as an individual. After this workshop, we learned about 3 rules (rituals, relationships and restrictions) to better position ourselves in society and develop self-confidence. As with every workshop, at the end of the day there was an evaluation of the topic and joint work, as well as ideas on how to implement new skills and knowledge in your work in class. We came to the following conclusions: • the student's self-awareness should be encouraged • should support the student's abilities to create or reconstruct personal meaning within the cultural context • help develop their beliefs according to the group they belong to (ethnic, gender or national, ...) • help develop their self-awareness within the individual or group level to which they belong • as a teacher, understand the values represented within the group to which the student belongs in order to better understand the connection between the student's behavior and difficulties
Day 4
30.11.2022.
The middle of the week started with a "wrap up", a short summary of the topics and situations from the previous day, and an introduction to the topic "Dealing with diversity: stereotypes and discrimination". The short workshop "Back to back" showed how to influence successful and productive cooperation through better communication and finding problem-solving strategies. In order to avoid discrimination and stereotyping, the way reality is perceived or interpreted is important. Through a short presentation, we briefly learned about certain types of stereotypes and prejudices. This was helped by certain workshops in which we analyzed and described certain culturally determined images, interpreted them and then evaluated them, without falling into the trap of creating prejudices (unintentionally or intentionally). The main task of all the mentioned activities was to direct us and help all participants to implement their own examples, and through them to show how we as teachers and educators daily encounter stereotypes, prejudices or discrimination. Finally, we learned about and became aware of the existence of various types of privileges that individuals in our society, community or class have, that is, they do not have rights, such as physical fitness, socio-economic conditions, skin color privilege, thinness privilege, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion. We spent the afternoon on a joint excursion and tour of the city of Firenze.
Day 5
1.12.2022.
The topic of the fifth day was "Creating a supportive classroom: belonging and inclusion". In order to create the desired and safer working environment within the classroom, it is important to develop four outcomes: 1. Consciousness 2. Empathy 3. Affiliation 4. Interconnections During the participation in several workshops, we learned several strategies to include each individual student in the best and most successful cohabitation within the group. There is an example of the application of the method of learning from wild geese, how to reach the desired goal through joint cooperation and the distribution of certain tasks. Geese-jigsaw method
Day 6
2.12.2022.
The last topic of our joint workshops was "Creating a supportive classroom: empathy and connection". Through several short workshops, we gained insight into how to develop and encourage student empathy. We also learned about several tools to avoid or handle conflicts in school and everyday life. We spent the penultimate day in Bologna visiting the city museum in Bologna and having dinner together.
Day 7
3.12.2022.
The last day of our education was followed by an evaluation of the entire week through the creation of a collage as a way of expressing all accumulated ideas, concepts and new knowledge that will enable us to work better in our environment with our students and new common challenges. After the graduation ceremony, we as a group that managed to get to know each other better during the week had to unfortunately say goodbye in the hope that we will meet again in some future education.
