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MEDIS

MEDIS – Mediterranean Inclusive Schools                                                     

Promoting intercultural education as a key for social inclusion. 

Grant Agreement Number: 2017-3615/001-001

Funded by: Erasmus+        Duration: 01/2018 – 01/2021


Challenge

The EU education systems are facing a serious challenge nowadays; a challenge that while not new, has intensified the last years due to the sharply increased migrant flows. EU countries – in particular the Mediterranean ones – have to deal with the presence in schools of large numbers of children with a migrant background, who are in a weak socio-economic position. Actually, 10% of the EU population were born in a different country from the one in which they reside (Eurostat 2015a; Eurostat 2015b).

In this framework, the combination of linguistic and cultural differences, low levels of academic achievement and weak socio-economic position are a substantial educational challenge that needs to be successfully addressed.

Thus, within classes and schools, it is necessary to accommodate the increased diversity of mother tongues and cultural perspectives. New, adapted teaching skills and inclusive methodologies are needed and new ways of building bridges with migrant families and communities must be developed.

Innovation

MEDIS aims at facilitating the integration of children coming from different cultural and language backgrounds by strengthening and consolidating social cohesion, intercultural education and local language in a multilingual framework of newly arrived migrants at primary and secondary schools.

Action

Each school within the MEDIS network worked a plan of reception and integration, which includes a set of actions aiming to facilitate the incorporation of newly arrived migrant students and make them feel welcome and perceive respect for their language, culture and beliefs. Within this context, the reception classrooms give tailored attention to the primary needs of newcomers.

A Good Practices report and a handbook of the Mediterranean Inclusive Schools Programme was developed, based on the assessment of the needs of school educators and the collection and analysis of good practices in the field of social inclusion of newly arrived migrant children in the Mediterranean schools.

The project develops a specific training program – online courses combined with local workshops – to capacitate professionals who work with students in the reception classrooms, and equip them with specific methodologies and approaches to deal with diversity. After the trainings, the educators will provide their feedback on the training actions.

The first round of the pilot actions is aimed at validating the MEDIS Programme at primary and secondary schools to assess its effectiveness in the countries that it is implemented. This will serve as a basis for improvement in the adaptation of the Programme to the particular needs of each country.

Corrective actions will be taken, based on the evaluation of the first round of the pilot actions, while the Programme will be implemented in new schools. A report on the final reports of this second round, in the form of policy recommendations, will be developed and delivered to public authorities in the field of education.

Informative Day
Informative Day
European Commission’s support for the production of this content does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project Partners

KMOP – Social Action and Innovation Centre
CARDET (Cyprus)
World University Service of the Mediterranean (Spain-Project Coordinator)
Ajuntament de Maçanet de la Selva (Spain)
Seccio d’ Institut de Maçanet de la Selva (Spain)
Hope For Children”– CRC Policy Center  (Cyprus)
Know and Can Association (Bulgaria)
CESIE (Italy)

Sociedade Promotora de Estabelecimentos de Ensino lda  (Portugal)

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