Cultural+diversity

**This page may consist some interesting best practices. However, this page is still under construction**
The Syrian crisis is now in its fifth year and the violence that has forced so many to leave their homes shows no sign of abating. Erasmus+ introduced a new priority for 2016 around inclusion, particularly addressing disadvantaged groups such as refugees and migrants, in response to the Paris Declaration.


 * Best practices and projects from the British Council: **

__The British Council __ In Lebanon the British Council has run various projects to support Syrians to enter the state education system in Lebanon; non-formal education projects that support people to stay in or re-enter formal schooling have also been run. In Turkey, English teachers there have recently run a small pilot programme with 10 teachers from an organisation called ASAM which supports migrant and refugee communities in Turkey.

__The LASER project. __ The overall aim of the project is to support access to higher education for Syrian students and to help them to reintegrate into the education system by providing them with language training, academic readiness skills, coaching and distance education programmes. Further information about the project is published at [|Https://syria.britishcouncil.org/en/laser/about-programme]

__Surge for Growth - Jordan __ Working in cooperation with UNICEF, the objective of this British Council teacher training project was to improve the standard of English language education received by over 50,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, as well as vulnerable Jordanians. By the end of the project in March 2016, 340 English Language teachers from non- formal schools serving high numbers of Syrians were trained to improve the quality of their teaching and create more inclusive learning environments. The project culminated in the first ELT professional development conference, ‘Conference in a Camp’, which was held in Zaatari refugee camp in March 2016.

__Connecting Classrooms __
Connecting Classrooms aims to establish partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in Jordan and Lebanon. 30 School partnerships have been created hosting large numbers of refugees, supported through Connecting Classrooms grants to deliver collaborative projects for pupils. The project also offers regular training and support opportunities for all partnerships from British Council School Ambassadors

__eTwinnig project focussed on refugee __
In May and June, the UK eTwinning and Erasmus+ teams in the UK participated in a number of related events, with a focus on the role of schools in managing newly arrived refugees and migrants.

**Beste practices from The Netherlands **
Educating refugee children in The Netherlands

Spiral offers primary school teachers’ training on Intercultural Learning and languages. (needs to be looked into)
 * SPIRAL**

[|IEREST] and CONNECT 2.0 on the development of ICL of Erasmus students (needs to be looked into)


 * Active research organisations**:

__OFAJ__ promotes Intercultural Learning through various activities – including pupil exchange and teachers training -,though with methods and perspectives different from and complementary to those of AFS deriving from a close cooperation with institutions such as municipalities,and with sociologists,psychologists and educationists. __AFS Belgium and AFS France__ run secondary school exchanges and offering workshops to teachers and pupils on Intercultural Learning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__InterCultur__ being a 100%-subsidiary of AFS Germany,builds on its experience and offers trainings for educational institutions in need of improving their approach to cultural differences. __AJA__ ,the national umbrella of pupil exchange organisations, developed materials to provide schools and pupils with the information regarding recognition,yet it is an individual case by case decision as many factors are taken into account. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Fondazione__ was created by AFS Italy to conduct research on the internationalisation of schools through pupil exchanges and runs teachers training on ICL.It cooperates closely with the Ministry of Education which recognises it as a training institution and ensures through a law the validation of the period spent abroad within a pupil exchange programme. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lycée in France have expertise on how schools deal with diversity in the classroom and with secondary school mobility. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ecole internationale in Belgium have expertise on how schools deal with diversity in the classroom and with secondary school mobility.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The reality of cultural diversity.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interesting articles **

** Other resources **
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here are some British Council teaching resources that focus on refugees that may be of interest:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Syria: Third Space looks closely at exhibits from Syria that can help children gain a greater understanding of the lives and experiences of their Syrian peers, and the effect the war has had on their lives.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No place like home is a starter activity for younger students to consider the situation of refugees.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Living together is an education pack that encourages discussion of conflict and peace, as well as thinking through what you would take with you if you had to leave your home.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching Divided Histories – International Conflict is a teaching resource that looks at conflicts across the world