DIVERSITY IN AN EDUCATIONAL SETTING

First day. 12/11/2017

The first day, the teacher, Judie Ibbotson, introduced herself and the course students did it too. My classmates were from Greece, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.

After having done that, the teacher presented the content of the course:

We started asking ourselves which competences we are thinking about when we talk about a model competence in diversity (intercultural knowledge, intercultural skills, mindset/attitudes and communication skills). We defined those terms and identified the target groups for that intercultural competence.

After that, we framed the issues in an education picture: cultural differences, language and communication challenges, learning and teaching styles, lack of and inaccessibility of information, psychological difficulties, residential dislocation and living conditions.

So, we established our objectives in the course:

To develop:

1. an awareness of culture and its impact on behaviour.

2. an understanding of the challenges of diversity in education.

3. intercultural skills for working with culturally diverse groups.

4. language/communication skills for educationalists working with diverse groups.

5. skills for working on international projects.

6. a plan for integrating intercultural and language/communication training into your classroom.

Later, we kept on asking us what a culture is and where we can find it. We worked in groups in order to clarify which aspects we consider as a culture: behaviours, rituals, artifacts, attitudes, values, beliefs…

We worked on the same way to delimit what an intercultural competence is and the intercultural factors (intercultural awareness) that we have to deal with:

a) Intercultural knowledge: time, communication, hierarchy, planning, working style, status and territory.

b) Intercultural skills for both, students (refugees and migrants) and teachers.

We also studied differences between what we define as migrants and refugees and the law situation of them in the European Union and other parts of the world.

All of us informed about the law situation of migrants and refugees in our country and how we recieve them in our institution. So, I introduced our school and the diversity of our students that became one of the most interesting situation of the lesson. I also explained the big amount of Roman students that we have) in our classroom and the challenges that this situation involve.

We saw a very clarifying video in order to diferenciate the terms of integration, assimilation and inclusion.

Second day

We started knowing what the Refugees Council is: one of the leading charities in the UK working directly with refugees and supporting them to rebuild their lives. We watched a video than explained how they receive, integrate and assimilate them in society.

After that, the teacher introduced a real situation in Primary School: Burnt Ash Primary School. We watched a video that explained how they manage those challenges in their school. We could appreciate what the protocol they follow is:

- creating a safe and suppotive emotional programme.

- providing bilingual support upon enrolment to asses needs and placing refugees in the appopiate class.

- setting up intensive language teaching programme.

- setting up mentoring / peer support system.

- providing information to staff and students about the cultures and experiences of refugees (religious contexts, social structures, pattern of interactions)

- involving family in learning programme.

We continued exploring another main point in the program: effective communication skills. We studied the dimensions of linguistic competence (accuracy, fluency and effectiveness). We also studied who needs them (target groups) and the issues that each group needs to develop.

We pointed out which aspects imply an effective communication in teachers (clarity in communication, checking for understanding, attuned, reflected awareness, rapport and discussion).

Finally, we developed effective presentation skills in order to make one that compiles our acquirement in the course.

We studied it following these four main issues:

a) suitability of content: accuracy of information, quantity in detail, technical level of information.

b) transparency of structure: clear objective, clear introduction, transparent agenda, transparent linking of information in the main part, powerful ending, question handling, timing.

c) accuracy in language: stress/intonation/articulation.

d) impact of delivery: audience interaction, physical appearance of the presenter, design of the slides, eye contact, volume of voice, question handling.In the afternoon we visited the city of La Valeta in a cultural tour.

Third day

The third day we reviewed the dimensions of Linguistic Competence and the framework for an Effective Presentation.

After having done that, we were introduced to the Communication and Soft skills. We defined them as a group of personality features and interpersonal skills that make someone a good employee and compatible to work with. We also studied a list of interpersonal skills that includes: verbal and non-verbal communication, listening skills, teamworking, problem solving, decision making, influencing and conflict resolution. We studied them particularly and in detail.

Finally, we started integrating intercultural and language/communication training at our institution.

First of all, we defined a plan to introduce training for refugees/migrants in one or more of the following areas in our institution: language, communication, social, learning, IT, work, dealing with officialdom or dealing with services.

Secondly, we defined a plan to train teachers in one or more of the following areas in our institution: clarity of communication, checking for understanding, attuned, reflected awareness and rapport.

So, we discussed the priorities for refugees in our school into two groups We discussed long and hard about that and in the end, we tried to arrange a consensus.

We made a consensus as you can see on the picture.

Finally, I decided to do my presentation about a project to protocol of welcoming refugees and migrants at my institution.

In the afternoon we visited the cities of Rabat, Mdina and Mtarfa. Those cities are well-known for their arquitecture and essential part of the history of the island.

Fourth day

We started the class reviewing what we had done the day before.

After that, we analised what project management skills are: skills for working on international projects. So, we set up identifying the target groups for intercultural competence. Therefore, we defined what project management is: planning, organising, motivating and controlling both tasks and people in order to achieve specific goals. It requires knowledge, skills, tools and techniques. Having in mind that communication is one of the main tools.

So project management skills involve those three issues: tasks skills, people skills and communication skills. Therefore, we analyse one to one:

· Task skills: setting objectives,allocating roles and responsabilities, getting information to complete tasks, delegating tasks, managing time to complete tasks, upholding quality standards and developing team members.

- People skills: influencing, problem solving and counselling, dealing with conflict, decision making, managing people and relationships: teamworking (soft skills), networking and building trust.

- Communication skills: presenting, meeting, negotiating, coaching and socialising.

Later, we discussed in groups which ones would be our priorities in each on these areas.

And finally, we also watched two real situations about how to manage diversity in our classroom: one in Germany and another in France.

In the afternoon we visited Hagar Qim temple, ancient Neolitic ruins from 3000 B.C.

Fiftth day

The last day was the presentation day for us. We had to make a presentation about our school and what we had learnt at the course during the week in order to be able to apply it in our institution.

As I have said before, I decided to make my presentation about a protocol to welcome migrants and refugees at our school.

We had to take into account these issues:

- Content: quantity, quality and timing

- Structure: phases, transparency of structure and balance between parts

- Delivery: voice (volume, speed, intonation, articulation...), body language (appearance, posture, eye contact, hands and gestures, bodymovement...), visuals (number, design, use), audience orientation (interaction)

- Question handling: content, structure, delivery.

- Language: vocabulary (range, accuracy, appropiacy), grammar (range of sentences types, range of structures, accuracy), pronuncation (word level).

We had to make a feedback about our classmates presentation too. We made it in the different aspects that I have described before.