Over the last few weeks Association IKS has been running workshops with young people from around Petrinja and Sisak on the topic of migration and intercultural learning. We were welcomed by both the Technical High School, Sisak and Dragutina Tadijanovića Elementary School, Petrinja, where we brought a fun and interactive session full of activities and discussions outside of the formal education curriculum.
The participants had the opportunity to learn about different cultures and how our cultural values influence our behaviours and perceptions. We delved into the topic of migration where participants reflected on why people migrate, their integration process, common misconceptions and stereotypes. In addition to these topics, the young participants also had time to reflect on their own cultural experiences and understandings, they acknowledged skills they have gained both through school and life experiences.
One intercultural learning activity that brought lots of energy to the room and sparked a lot of debate was when we challenged the participants in pairs to stand face-to-face and get their partner to move their feet within 30 seconds. There was a lot of pushing and determination, while some few tried to persuade or bribe their partner. But why didn’t they just move their feet together? They had assumed there would be a winner. In the context of different cultures, we explored the ideas of misunderstanding or misinterpretation, different approaches to different situations and different people, working together and individually.
The participants had the opportunity to tell their own stories and share their own cultural experiences. Some people had travelled abroad, others had been to other parts of Croatia, while others had not been further than the local region. Despite this, everyone had their own story to tell and some cultural anecdotes that surprised and intrigued the others. For this activity we used the technique “storymapping” which allows the user to use maps to follow their life journey and associated memories/emotions. This is a great tool to use with migrants to better understand them and their experiences in visual and less daunting means. As for the participants, they mapped their memories on paper maps, while others used the online tool COV-ON.
These were just two of the many exercises and discussions we enjoyed. Thank you to the workshop facilitators Nadja Matešić and Emily Squire, and an extra big thank you to our young participants for your enthusiasm, focus and motivation.
These workshops were part of a bigger project called Age of Migration, which is an international collaboration with partners from across the world: Croatia, Spain, France, Uganda, Colombia and Uruguay. This project started in 2019 with the aim to improve intercultural learning, tackle the subject of migration in youth work, and improve solidarity and inclusion. Besides these workshops, together with our partners we have coordinated mobilities for individuals to volunteer abroad in the partner countries, we have run educational seminars for youth workers and hosted meetings with experts in the field.
This project “Age of Migration” has been funded by Erasmus+ under KA2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices – Capacity Building in the field of Youth.
_____________________________________________________
Posljednjih tjedana Udruga IKS održava radionice s mladima iz okolice Petrinje i Siska na temu migracija i interkulturalnog učenja. Dočekali su nas i Srednja tehnička škola, Sisak i Osnovna škola Dragutina Tadijanovića, Petrinja, gdje smo donijeli zabavnu i interaktivnu sesiju punu aktivnosti i rasprava izvan formalnog obrazovnog kurikuluma.
Sudionici su imali priliku učiti o različitim kulturama i kako naše kulturne vrijednosti utječu na naše ponašanje i percepciju. Udubili smo se u temu migracije gdje su sudionici razmišljali o tome zašto ljudi migriraju, njihovom procesu integracije, uobičajenim zabludama i stereotipima. Osim ovih tema, mladi sudionici imali su vremena i za razmišljanje o vlastitim kulturološkim iskustvima i shvaćanjima, prepoznali su vještine koje su stekli kroz školu i životna iskustva.
Jedna aktivnost interkulturalnog učenja koja je unijela mnogo energije u prostoriju i potaknula mnogo rasprave bila je kada smo izazvali sudionike u parovima da stanu licem u lice i natjeraju svog partnera da pomakne noge u roku od 30 sekundi. Bilo je dosta naguravanja i odlučnosti, dok su neki pokušavali nagovoriti ili podmititi partnera. Ali zašto jednostavno nisu pomaknuli noge zajedno? Pretpostavljali su da će biti pobjednik. U kontekstu različitih kultura istraživali smo ideje nesporazuma ili pogrešnog tumačenja, različite pristupe različitim situacijama i različitim ljudima, radeći zajedno i pojedinačno.
Sudionici su imali priliku ispričati vlastite priče i podijeliti vlastita kulturološka iskustva. Neki ljudi su putovali u inozemstvo, drugi su bili u drugim dijelovima Hrvatske, dok treći nisu bili dalje od lokalne regije. Unatoč tome, svatko je imao svoju priču za ispričati i neke kulturološke anegdote koje su iznenadile i zaintrigirale ostale. Za ovu smo aktivnost koristili tehniku “storymapping” koja korisniku omogućuje korištenje karti za praćenje svog životnog puta i povezanih sjećanja/emocija. Ovo je izvrstan alat za korištenje s migrantima kako biste bolje razumjeli njih i njihova iskustva na vizualni i manje zastrašujući način. Što se tiče sudionika, oni su svoja sjećanja mapirali na papirnatim kartama, dok su ostali koristili online alat COV-ON.
Ovo su bile samo dvije od mnogih vježbi i rasprava u kojima smo uživali. Hvala voditeljicama radionice Nadji Matešić i Emily Squire, a posebno veliko hvala našim mladim polaznicima na entuzijazmu, fokusu i motivaciji.
Ove radionice bile su dio većeg projekta pod nazivom Age of Migration, koji je međunarodna suradnja s partnerima iz cijelog svijeta: Hrvatske, Španjolske, Francuske, Ugande, Kolumbije i Urugvaja. Ovaj projekt započeo je 2019. s ciljem poboljšanja interkulturalnog učenja, obrade teme migracija u radu s mladima te poboljšanja solidarnosti i inkluzije. Osim ovih radionica, zajedno s našim partnerima koordinirali smo mobilnosti pojedinaca za volontiranje u inozemstvu u partnerskim zemljama, vodili smo edukativne seminare za radnike s mladima i bili domaćini sastancima sa stručnjacima iz tog područja.
Ovaj projekt “Doba migracija” financira Erasmus+ u okviru KA2 – Suradnja za inovacije i razmjenu dobrih praksi – Izgradnja kapaciteta u području mladih.
Projekt Age of migration sufinanciran je sredstvima Europske Unije.
The project Age of migration is co-funded by the European Union.
Sadržaj članka isključiva je odgovornost Udruge IKS.
The content of the article is the sole responsibility of Association IKS.
