Other posts on the topic

http://cnme-form12e.blogspot.com

My personal feelings- Karin

“ It’s a free world “ is a very shocking and impressing movie, because of its plot and because of the way life facts are beeing presented.
The film focuses on Angie, a working class woman who, after being fired by the agency that she works for, decides to set up an agency of her own, running it from her kitchen with her friend Rose. Taking advantage of the desperation of recent Polish immigrants, Angie is able to build a successful business extremely quickly.
Despite Rose's misgivings, Angie becomes increasingly eager to build the business, regardless of the potential legal risks of obtaining forged British passports for illegal immigrants, and working without a license for the first few months of the business.
First, I liked this movie very much because of the way it was made. It was very captivating, although the lines were very difficult to follow. The structure of the movie was very well adjusted so that you couldn’t stop watching, in spite the fact that you couldn’t always understand all the conversations.
Secondly, the plot was very realistic which added an extreme flavour to the whole movie. People blinded by money, like Angie, are to be seen every day in every place of the Earth. But, some of the know that there is a limit they mustn’t pass or their life will be a living hell, like Angie’s became after not paying the illegal workers.
Thirdly, I noticed that the movie gave a life lesson to us, the viewers. I interpreted it like this: money isn’t the most important thing in life, you shouldn’t destroy your life with illegal business, in case you already entered that circle you’d better stop, because these business might cause harm to you or your family.
So this movie impressed me, although it was a very sad one, because no one likes to see real dramatic life facts presented in movies, through its plot, presentation and cast. I think it really deserves all the prizes it has got.

It's a Free World

At the begining of the film, Angie, a thirty year old woman, is working for a recruitment agency. She is fired because she refuses her boss’s sexual advances. So, she decides to create her own temporary work agency. However with her friend Rose, she is so desperate to make as much money as possible and to pay back the money she owes, she decides to break the law, not to pay taxes and not to have a licence. She meets professionals who offer casual work to her employees paid on an hourly basis. When her business starts, she refuses to employ workers who don’t have English papers. Later she wants to help an Iranian family who are political refugees in the UK. After a conversation with a business director, she realizes that hiring political refugees who don’t have papers could make her earn a lot of money and very quickly. So she becomes greedier and greedier throughout the film : for example she decides to rent rooms to her workers with the idea of putting as many people as she can in a room ; another example is she calls the immigration authorities to have families thrown off a caravan site so that she can have a place to accommodate her workers. Her greed creates problems for her. One of the professionals for whom she found temporary workers can’t pay her, meaning Angie’s unable to pay her employees. Some of them want to gain revenge hurting her or burgling her flat when she is present. At the end of the film, she has her own office and she goes back to Eastern Europe, this time to The Ukraine, with the aim of recruiting more workers.

After the film, there was a debate with two women who work for the association Amnesty International. This association helps political refugees who arrive in France without papers. The two women explained to us the situation these refugees have to face. For example, they are in a country where they don’t speak the language and they have no right to have papers. They are afraid of being picked up by the police and sent back to their homeland. The two women told us that in many cases, they will be persecuted or killed if they go back there. In African cultures, coming back home is a failure and it means shame. So, many refugees who have a very bad situation in Europe can’t go back to their country. One of the Romanian students wondered why these people continue to come to Europe where they live in misery, can’t find a job and don’t have a life really better than in their countries. The two volontary workers answered that they have the hope to manage to live with dignity in those countries that claim to protect human rights.

I was very surprised by the film because I saw the trailer a few months ago and I minsunderstood it. So, during all the begining of the film, I thougt that Angie wanted to help the refugees giving them a chance to work. But I was disappointed seing that Angie’s character is greedy and ready to do the worst in order to earn money and offer a good life to her son. I wondered what I would do if I was her. And I’m quite sure that I would not have done horrible things like helping people, then denouncing them to the immigration authorities (like she did with Mahmoud’s family). I can’t bear the contempt she has for human values. I think the film denounces the loss of these values and I agree with Ken Loach on this point. However I confess I didn’t like the film beacause I found it very pessimistic for the refugees, like for Angie. She hasn’t any moral values. She’s very determined and makes a lot of effort to earn money, after having been fired many times, but she can’t manage to have what she want. At the end the refugees who were cheated manage to take back all the money she owed them. There is some justice in this but on the other hand this lesson doesn’t teach her anything and she continues to look for workers in Eastern Europe (this time outside the European Union) and to be totally unprincipled.

Dissemination activity

TL+ Baia Mare
December 10th
"Esential educatia"
Moderator:
Camelia Rus
Participants:
Mariana Hudrea
Ioan Tiplea
Adrian Andreica

It's a Free World

The film will pe presented to the first group of students from the 12th A, from Eminescu College , tomorrow morning.
Form teacher: Ana Man

Adrian Andreica , Romania

During a full week spent in France I had a new, interesting, experience that made me remember it for the rest of my life because such wonderful memories and pleasant life experiences guide you through a better understanding of different nations, cultures and communities.
The first thing I noticed while I was hosted by a French family was that the parents have a close relationship with their children and the bond between them is very strong. I integrated very fast in the family and I appreciated the fact that they really liked my presence there and treated me as their own child.
Families form a country and to know its ways and traditions I strongly believe that you have to live the kind of experience that I did. Joy and happiness are only a couple of words which describe the atmosphere at school and in the family. We also worked quite a lot and achieved many objectives. It was a win-win situation between me and the French partner that hosted me because we practiced our English and I also practiced my French.
I also could see the way students spend their week at school, their study schedule and free time which is a bit different from ours.
The project activities were very exciting and brought me tons of information that already proves very useful.
Every day I spent in France was full of excitement and I feel that every day learnt something new about the French people’s behavior and traditions. By visiting the important towns I formed an opinion about French architects and structures.
Another amazing thing was that we participated in a conference with a former illegal immigrant and he shared with us what he had to face to become a French citizen and we discussed what could be done in the matter of immigrants and emigration.
Day after day I began to like it more and more and I really felt like at home. I was enjoying all the activities and the field trips. I met French, German, Polish and Turkish students who became good friends of mine and I hope I’ll meet them again. Travelling conditions were excellent and I enjoyed the flights.
Overall the project trip was a total success in my opinion and I’m looking forward to welcoming the partners into our school in Romania and to have them taste a bit of our traditions and moral fibers.

Adrian Andreica, Baia Mare, RO

Justyna Wątroba, Poland

When I got the chance to take part in Socrates Comenius Project 2008, in France, I did not expect it to be such an amazing, valuable and unforgettable experience!
It was a great opportunity to improve my language skills, learn something about other nations and their cultures and according to main target of the project: to integrate and learn a lot more about emigration.
Organizers have prepared many interesting attractions. Presentations of school, debates and discussions, meeting with refugee from Kongo and Amnesty International's workers, showing the movie about emigrants and their bad situation, working in groups on the questionnaire, and, what is more - a few trips to sightseeing.
The Familly who accomodated me during the project was very kind and caring, all the people whom I met were very friendly and helpfull. I had an amazing time there.
I am so gratefull fot having a chance to participate in such a wonderful experience.

Questionnaire Immigration

QUESTIONNAIRE IMMIGRATION
NOVEMBER 2008

1. Did any members of your family arrive as immigrants in your adopted country?

Yes they did.
No they didn’t
2. If yes, who in your family was born elsewhere and emigrated?

I was born in another country
My parents were
My grandparents were
3. Did they find it difficult to integrate in their adopted country?

Yes, very difficult
Yes, but only at the beginning
No, not all
4. Why did they emigrate in the first place?

For economic reasons
For political reasons

To join other members of their family
To discover a new country
5. Do they intend at some later time to return and spend the rest of their life in their country of birth?

Yes they do
No they don’t
6. Would you envisage emigrating to another country or will you spend the rest of your life in your homeland?

Perhaps emigrate (go straight to question 8)

Stay in my homeland (don’t answer question 8)
7. If you don’t want to emigrate, why not?

I don’t want to change anything.

I don’t want to lose the culture I was born with.

I would miss my family and friends
8. If you envisage one day emigrating, what would your reasons be?

I’d probably find a better job and brighter prospects abroad.

I’d enjoy a more pleasant lifestyle (food, climate, social life etc.)

I’d learn a new language, meet new people, discover another culture etc.
9. Do you believe a multicultural society where immigrants retain their original culture, traditions and
language is desirable?

Yes I do
No I don’t
10. Do you think there are too many foreigners in your country?

Yes I do
No I don’t
11. Generally speaking, has immigration had a harmful or a benefical effect on your country?

a beneficial effect
a harmful effect
no effect
12. Do ethnic minorities suffer from racism or discrimination in your country?

Yes they do.
No they don’t.
13. Are these problems getting worse for immigrants in your country?

Getting worse
Not getting worse
Staying the same
14. If you had the opportunity, would you let more immigrants into your country or would you stop them?

Let them in
Stop them
15. Are there any special programmes in your country to facilitate the integration of immigrants?

Yes there are
No there aren’t
16. Can you give examples of these programmes?

Dissemination activities

Back home all teams started the dissemination activities in their schools and cities.

Yesterday Mr. Ioan Tiplea, from Eminescu College, presented the visit to France in front of over 50 teachers of History and Philosophy from all the lycees from Baia Mare and surroundings, pointing out the way the French students are being educated by their families, the respect and discipline in the school we visited.

Mr. Teodor Marton, Mrs. Mariana Hudrea and the two students Marius Anitas and Andreica Adrian shared their personal exerience with their colleagues, both teachers and students.

The wonderful wxperience was also shared via three e-groups containoing over 6000 members: eomania_eu_list@yahoogroups.com, infoprojectmgh@yahoogroups.com,

mm_english_teachers@yahoogroups.com .

Articles about the project were published in France in "La Dauphine Liberee" and "La Vie nouvelle" no.1329, November 20th. In Romania the articles were published in "Graiul Maramuresului", "Glasul Maramuresului" and "Informatia Zilei" ( 12th, 13th November).

Minutes of the Meeting

The first project meeting took place in France and was hosted by ‘Lycee du Granier’.
The participants were students and teachers from the 6 schools taking part in the project:

1. Lycée du Granier, La Ravoire Cedex, France- Coordinating Institution
2. Georg Büchner-Gymnasium, Seelze, Germany
3. Polo Europeo della Conoscenza – Istituto Comprensivo Fumane “Lorenzi B.''
Fumane(Verona), Italy
4. Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Tarnów, Poland
5. Mihai Eminescu National College, Baia Mare, Romania
6. Bursa Polis Koleji / Bursa Police College, Bursa, Turkey

Staff & Pupils
France: Alasdair Watts, Michel Gougain, Venera Thevenot, Colette Bourgeois
Juliette Gauthier, Julie Bergin, Mathilde Elloé, Oriane Sulpice, Antoine Cistac, Léa Armani
Marie Loschi, Marion Caillet and their classmates.
Germany: Wolfgang Mertens, Till Winkler, Gerold Mueller
Sarina Neumann, Tobias Leidig
Romania: Mariana Gabriela Hudrea, Ioan Tiplea, Teodor Marton
Marius Anitas , Adrian Andreica
Italy: Monica Meneghelli No pupils
Poland: Jola Prodanowska, Dorota Boryczko
Klaudia Tarczori , Justyna Watroba
Turkey: Huseyin Ozturk, Salim Duzgun R.Ertugrul
Eriz Fethullah Akay, Berkay Tutuk

The Romanian team arrived in Chambéry on Monday 10th November and the other teams
from Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey on Tuesday 11th November.
A most positive thing to mention was the fact that all the guest teams were accommodated in
the same hotel offering them the possibility to spend most of the time together.
The foreign students were all accommodated by their French partners.
All the teams managed to arrive in Chambery by Tuesday when they met one another and
also Mr. Alasdair Watts , the international coordinator of the project who, all along the stay of
the partners proved to be a perfect host and organizer, being helped by the school
headmaster and by his school colleagues.

The activities started on November 12th with the presentations of the 6 countries, schools and
the situation concerning immigration in each country. The presentations were made by
students and were much appreciated by all the participants.
The French students prepared extra presentations related to immigration and all those present
also appreciated this contribution.
A visit of the recently built ‘Lycée du Granier’ offered all the guests the opportunity to discover
a place in which both students and teachers enjoy excellent work conditions.
Dinner in the school canteen was another opportunity to discover the excellent school
management.
Chambery, once the capital of the Kingdom of Savoy, is a place where a large number of
immigrants live, some of them the students’ parents or grandparents.
That is why the guided tour of the city offered the participants the opportunity to find out
more about this topic so closely related to our project.

On November 13th the students attended language classes with Mme Bourgeois and Mme
Thevenot. The contact with French teachers and students was also a very rewarding
experience.
During this time the teachers involved in the project evaluated the work so far achieved,
including the previous day’s meeting, and planned the work remaining before the end of the
school year, mostly the work relating to the questionnaires and the preparation for the second
meeting to be held in Romania.
In the meantime the students were organized into 3 groups of 4 and worked on the
questionnaires.
When they finished they presented their work in front of their teachers.
Everybody appreciated the students’ dedication and seriousness in achieving the tasks.
Mr. Alasdair Watts took the three questionnaires with the aim of selecting and putting together
the students’ ideas to form a single common questionnaire which would then be emailed to
the partners to be discussed in their countries, so that comments be made and the final form
negotiated.
In the afternoon the participants watched the film “It’s a Free World”, directed by Ken Loach
and then took part in a debate conducted by two members of Amnesty International.
The film was quite shocking and made a considerable impression on all the participants.
In the evening the participants were invited to a Restaurant where students learn to become
chefs and waiters.
The headmaster of Le Lycée du Granier, Mr Briglia, honoured the guests with his presence.
On Friday 14th November a Round Table discussion was organized in which the two ladies
from Amnesty International came to school accompanied by an immigrant from the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The discussion lasted over three hours as both students and teachers kept asking questions
about the problems immigrants are being faced with and the organizations that are involved
in helping them.
In the afternoon the participants took the train to Annecy , the former capital of the Geneva
Family, that also had a very interesting history related to immigration .

On Saturday the teams from Romania, Germany and Italy left Chambery for their countries,
followed on Sunday by the Polish and Turkish teams.
After returning home the foreign guests sent e-mails of appreciation for the wonderful
organization of the meeting that offered the possibility to meet one another, to achieve all the
tasks and to plan the activities for the future.

Back from Chambery

The reunion was just GREAT!

Preparations for the Project Reunion

There are few days till our reunion.
All teams have almost finished their preparations.
We are all looking forward to meeting one another.
The Romanian team will travel to Chambery via Cluj Napoca, Barcelona, Lyon.
The first flight for some of us. Exciting, isnt't it?

Mariana

Food for Thought

Baia Mare North University, in cooperation with “Petre Dulfu” County Library, organized today the Conference “Emigration without Exile” held by CĂLIN-ANDREI MIHĂILESCU, essayist and university professor at UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO CANADA.
I accepted the invitation sent by the American Corner for three reasons: the topic, the weather and my curiosity.
I must confess that the event surpassed my expectations.
At first sight the lecturer himself, an intelligent and charismatic person , is an immigrant.
He left Romania for Canada. But he is more than that. He traveled all over the world both physically and spiritually, becoming an expert in comparative literature, literature from all continents, a person with an impressive cultural background.
I was surprised by the fact that although he left Romania long ago, he did not seem to have forgotten his native language ( as sometimes happens with some people who want to give the impression they are above all and in only several months begin to utter Romanian words with a foreign accent).

In the first part of his speech he referred to the "exile" concept.

I remember that before and during Communism many intellectuals left Romania because they could not cope with the regime. Some of the most famous were Eugen Ionesco (1), Emil Cioran (2) and Mircea Eliade(3)
They managed to become famous abroad.

While Noica (4) and Nicolae Steinhard (5) were sent to prison and marginalized.
The situation today is different. Most of the people leave Romania mainly for economic reasons.
The most interesting is the situation of the Romanian working in Spain and Italy.
While in Spain they feel at ease and have started to organize themselves in large communities with an Orthodox Church and even classes in Romanian, in Italy they are faced with fascist manifestations reminding us of the 30s. The causes are complex and mostly the people without proper education, without any profession , started to create unpleasant situations that led the natives to exasperation .

The Romanians abroad no longer live in exile.
They can travel from Europe to America in only 10 hours.
Due to the Internet they can communicate with their families and with their friends.
However, because they have to adapt themselves in a new society, possessing sometimes completely different mentalities, it is not easy to integrate rapidly.
Some of the immigrants are not able to do that and in a short time they might experience a nervous breakdown and some of them end tragically.
The discussions with the audience pointed out some interesting issues.
Adults/ old people do no longer look tragically to the families who are abroad. On the contrary, they gather together on holydays and share stories about their children abroad, about their intentions to visit them or about the fact that they keep sending money home to build a new house and set up a business when coming back . Some of them come back. Others don't.
The aspect of the villages in Maramures has changed a lot.
But the dramatic aspect of the present day immigration is that of the young children who miss the affection of their parents.
Their school situation is visibly affected. They sometimes meet together forming communities of adolescents who spend time and money together in pubs and discos. School is no longer that important for them.They have money and the feeling life is easy.
The idea of belonging to a group drives them together.

I think our project, by using the experience of such teenagers, could give us a new perspective upon this phenomenon and we could become more efficient in helping them.
______________________________________

1.Eugène Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu (November 26, 1909 – March 28, 1994), was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
2 Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911 – June 20, 1995) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist. (http://en.wikipedia.org) who, starting with 1937 lived in France and wrote only in French.. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
3. Mircea Eliade (March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proven influential. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
4. Constantin Noica (July 25 [O.S. July 12] 1909, Vităneşti, Teleorman - December 4, 1987, Sibiu) was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to contemporary philosophy, from translating and interpretation to criticism and creation. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
5. Nicolae Steinhardt (born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 12, 1912-March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox hermit and father confessor. (http://en.wikipedia.org)

Dissemination Activity- Flavia Costin

Dear all,

I really have to share with you the wonderful experience I’ve had.
I was in Cluj today (actually I’ve just got home) at a Counseling Reunion for those involved in Comenius Projects. Our school was invited there to present the projects that are being caried out, together with other two high schools (Colegiul Tehnic de Industrie Alimentara Terezianum from Sibiu and Grup Scolar Industrial Emanuil Ungureanu, Timisoara).
I have to admit that I was very nervous in the beginning, but when I got there I became aware that our College is quite famous, due to the success of our projects.
I have to add that the presentation was of a real success, and everybody wanted to have a look at the few exhibits I managed to take with me, not to mention the fact that they were almost fighting to grab a leaflet of the projects (Higher quality in education with family support and Immigrants Past and Present; Towards Greater Integration?) or a copy of Borderline Magazine.
The lady from the “Inspectorat Scolar Cluj” was very enthusiastic and congratulated us, and shared with all the participants her impressions regarding the recent visit she made in our school. She pointed out the posters in the hallway ilustrating the projects, the way our students talked about the projects they were involved in, and the warm welcome they were received with. (She even remembered me, and I didn’t say that much then, you were the ones who were great, and I congratulated you for that )
So I must say that today, again, I felt very proud that I am a teacher in this school!

Well, that’s pretty much it! Thanks and goodnight!

Students' opinions on immigration

Taking Risks
I’m sure you’ll agree that this concept of “emigration” is an issue which involves the entire world. To my opinion, the main reason for emigrating is the rush for money.
One of the advantages about emigrating is that you can build your life easily, working for having money, starting over your life ;a reason could be the human kind always wanting more; another one could be the fact that you learn another language, because you simply have to and this could help you when you come back in your country; You get knowing new mentalities, new ways of living, new opportunities.
Most people who are leaving, never come back, because they found in the country in which they emigrated what they needed in their country before leaving.
Unfortunately, there are disadvantages about emigrating ,because when you leave, you take risks; you can lose your friends and even your family. And it is hard, because it is hard to get acquainted with another country, another culture, another language and with new people. There are families in which the parents emigrate, leaving their kids alone and unprotected and they are the most affected psychically and these kids, in future, will have different problems of behaviour or even worse. And emigration is one of the reasons why the parents are getting divorced and why so many families are ruined. The consequences are enormous upon everyone.
Nowadays, in our country for example, there is a shortage of workers, doctors etc, because they found in other countries what they need for having a good life.
I think that our job is to try to help people who have problems caused by emigration and to increase the level of our country, our way of living in order to diminish the reasons for emigrating.
Lukacsovits Xanta 11th E

Chlidren are in the middle...
Nowadays more and more parents are going to work abroad or they move there , taking the children with them or leaving them home.. Did they ask themselves what the children are feeling in that moment? Honestly, I donʼt think so. Maybe the parents are taking decisions in hard times when they are having problems and they donʼt know what to do, not thinking about the consequences of their actions. The children are caught in the middle, they are the ones that suffer the most, it doesnʼt matter if in the end they get all they want if their parents are away. Fortunately I am not in this kind of situation, but just thinking about what those children are going through, I can imagine itʼs an terrible suffering. My opinion is that we should think tree times before taking any decision, to think about the consequences and the ones around us.

Florina Fanea 11th E

The phenomenon-migration
It is a known fact that nowadays people travel to foreign countries much easier. They spend more often their holidays, or even weekends abroad, looking for better services wherever they go. As long as they can afford it, good for them!
But another fact of easier access abroad is the increasing number of immigrants. There are a lot of reasons why people started to migrate: the search of a better life with better paid jobs, families looking forward to reunite after many years of being separated, young people looking for a fresh new start, eager to discover a whole new world unknown to them, or maybe students ready to experiment other educational systems.
Somehow, it is sad for countries to loose their own people and remarkable citizens in favour of strangers, ready to offer them a better life. But, in the end, it is everyone’s choice what they want to do with their own life.
For many, working abroad may be the only chance of survival, of supporting themselves and their families. For others life is a continuous discovery and migrating is one of the good parts, maybe even a necessity.
We are all free to choose. Life is full of options and taking chances.
People feel differently regarding life in general and the word migration raises different problems and questions in everyone’s mind. We are not in the position to judge.
Timea Horvath 11th E

Project meeting in France - Programme Draft

Hello friends

I had a meeting with my three colleagues (Michel Gougain, Venera Thevenot, Colette Bourgeois) who shall be working on the project.

We talked about our programme for La Ravoire.

We decided to include the following activities:

a) a meeting for all participants (both students and teachers) in which students present themselves, their school, their town and region.

b) the projection of Ken Loach's film 'It's a Free World' at the local cinema followed by a debate.

c) a 'round table' discussion in which two immigrants will be invited to the lycée to talk about their experience of leaving their homeland to settle in another country.

Students will of course be invited to participate.

d) a meeting with students and teachers to design the final version of the questionnaire which aims to find how positively immigrants are perceived in their country.Ideally each team of students will come with a questionnaire prepared beforehand to facilitate the design of the common one.

e) students will have an opportunity to attend two classes either with their exchange partner or another suitable class. During this time teachers from the six schools will meet to draw conclusions concerning progress so far and discuss work to be achieved by the second meeting in Romania.

f) A guided tour of Chambéry will be organised on one afternoon and Annecy on another afternoon.Pupils will spend the Saturday with their host family. Teachers will be entertained by the French team.You will of course receive the official programme for the week as soon as everything has been finalized.I have asked the 34 students in my class working on the project to prepare their profile sheets.These will be sent once they've been corrected.

Please don't hesitate to react, ask questions etc.

Alasdair

On September 24th a group of 40 inspectors from the County School Inspectorates and Mrs. Marinica Stoian,inspector in the Romanian Ministry of Education, Reasearch and Youth , visited our school with the aim to find out about the international projects going on in the school that had been awarded the Certificate" European School" twice so far.
The students Dora Ghita, Cristina Surducan, Vlad Birzanu, Anca Susca and Andreea Bindea presented some of the school projects: the Comenius Projects, the Bilateral Projects and Dramatis Personae Project.
The students from 11th E and 12th C also attended the meeting.
The activity was appreciated as a most beneficial one.
The guests had also nice words related to the dissemination materials exhibited along the school corridors.

Project Presentation in Romania

Today I was offered the opportunity to introduce the content of the project to all the school teachers.
We have also started to create the group for the first meeting, in France.

First Activities

Organization of teams.
The e-group for students will be created ( Romania) (immigrants_project_students@yahoogroups.com)
Students involved in the first mobilities will produce individual profile sheets.
Students will produce leaflets giving information about their schools, regions and countries. Preparations for the first project meeting will be made ( leaflets and PowerPoint presentations about each school, travel and accommodation arrangements).

Project Meeting

France: 11th to 16th November 2008

General Presentation

Our starting point was that all participating countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and Turkey) have experienced immigration. Some countries have witnessed primarily the movement of people away from their country, others towards it. Our aim is to study the phenomenon, and by bringing our students into direct contact with some of the actors, to help them better understand the reality and help decide whether we’re moving towards greater integration.
Initially each school will collate statistics and information concerning their own citizens who have moved abroad as well as those immigrants having settled in our own countries. Graphs will be prepared and texts written to explain the changes. We’ll examine the measures taken by our respective governments to control immigration and to ensure successful integration of those already settled. We’ll design surveys to find how positively immigrants are perceived. Students will use the surveys to interview parents and classmates, conclusions drawn and comparisons made.
Each student will be set the task of finding an immigrant and interviewing him or her. These testimonies will be translated into English and the most interesting included on the common website that we shall create.
During Comenius meetings immigrants will be invited to school and students will dialogue with them.

Partnership

1. Lycée du Granier, La Ravoire Cedex, France- Coordinating Institution
2. Georg Büchner-Gymnasium, Seelze, Germany
3. Polo Europeo della Conoscenza – Istituto Comprensivo Fumane “Lorenzi B.'' Fumane(Verona), Italy
4. Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Tarnów, Poland
5. Mihai Eminescu National College, Baia Mare, Romania
6.. Bursa Polis Koleji / Bursa Police College, Bursa, Turkey