INTERETHNIC SCHOOL: FAMILY ROLE

The pedagogical problem of intercultural education is found, above all, in the necessity to avoid the simple assimilation behaviour. On the contrary, intercultural behaviour tries to promote interaction and pluralism, developing bilingualism, biculturalism and facilitating the development of all the children belonging to a certain culture, regarding differences based on exchange, dialogue, knowing and understanding the various cultures in order to reach mutual benefit.
It is important that there are put into practice the activities of acceptance with respect to immigrant families, in order to make them feel at ease and to allow the establishment of a confidence relation regarding the schooling institution.
There are at least two valid reasons for which family should not be taken to a back seat. First of all, it should be taken into account the fact that both school and family share the same goal which is the child’s/ person’s welfare. In this sense, there is no way for the two no to get involved into an activity of collaboration and confrontation.
Schools are required to organize activities in order to involve the students’ parents, who in turn have to take part in the school life of their children, inquiring about their education, showing interest and willingness to participate.
In the case of some foreign families, it is recommended that learning the Italian language should continue at home as well, by means of conversation, a thing that may be enjoyable, among others, even for the parents and relatives.
In the second place, apart from being a place for learning, school can also be a powerful means of developing communication and meetings free of the daily school timetable. By organizing initiatives such as “evenings in the kitchen” or birthday parties it will actually encourage intercultural exchange for entertainment and cohabitation.
...AND THE METHOD ISSUE – Activities for children have to be carried out with the help of games, music, colours, theatre, etc.; this will lead to reaching these goals and having fun at the same time.
An example of putting into practice this method could be the following game:
“If I opened the door today and I were in...”
The game consists of children imagining they are in another part of the world and have to recount the daily program of a contemporary living in that far away country, starting from his getting up in the morning, going to school, eating, playing etc.
This game accentuates the aspects of everyday life and develops its characteristics. It is a good method, because the emphasis falls not only on the place of origin, but especially on the habits and daily behaviour. Thus it is highlighted the fact that although they belong to different cultures, daily customs are often more similar than we could imagine, emphasizing not only the differences but also the analogies.
It would be catchy to intermingle imagination and oral presentation with practical activities such as applying the stories and cooking specific foods.
(di Barbara Angelucci - Traduzione di Dinca Ionela Adriana - del 2010-03-27) articolo visto 1582 volte