The second project meeting took place in Romania and was hosted by Mihai Eminescu National College, Baia Mare, Romania.
The participants at this meeting were 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
The main subject on the agenda was our third mobility programmed in Seelze.
Dates and Accommodation
We started by agreeing on the dates of the next mobility to be held in Seelze. We decided that teams would travel to Germany on Tuesday 1st December. The official programme will begin the following day (2nd December) and continue through until 4th December. Teams will return home on Saturday 5th or Sunday 6th December. As with the two mobilities held this school year, teachers will be accommodated in a hotel and pupils in host families. The German team suggested a hotel in the neighbouring city of Hannover offering easy access by public transport to the Gymnasium in Seelze.
Work to be prepared before the Seelze Mobility
It was agreed that, in accordance with our Comenius application, activities in the second year would focus on interviews between pupils in each country and immigrants. We discussed the form these interviews would take. The following were suggested; short films with English subtitles similar to the one presented by the French team during the Baia Mare conference, recorded interviews, written scripts presented in direct speech, reports using indirect speech, newspaper-style articles etc. All documents will obviously need to be translated into English so as to be understood by all. Teams from each country will arrive in Germany with these ‘products’ which will be presented to the other groups during one of our meetings.
Website, Blog and Communication
The Romanian team explained that, as stipulated in our Comenius application, they would produce a website so that these interviews could be posted and consulted, whatever the form (video, script, digital recording, newspaper-style article etc.)
All present expressed satisfaction with the existing blog;
http://immigrants-past-and-present.blogspot.com
We also concluded that the initial e-group immigrants_CMP@yahoogroups.com had functioned successfully, enabling all teams to communicate with each other and be informed concerning developments. It will therefore continue to be used next year.
Activities while in Seelze
We then moved on to discuss suitable activities while in Seelze. Time will obviously be set aside for pupil presentations. The German team also agreed that, as initially planned, a round table discussion with immigrants would be organized, possibly with several immigrants addressing the assembled teams one after the other and/or addressing groups of pupils and teachers, thereby offering more opportunity for interaction.
Another proposal was to invite an ‘expert’ on immigration to explain the German context. Other ideas included screening a film such as ‘Auf der Anderen Seite’ on German-Turkish relations to be followed by a debate similar to that organized at the cinema in Challes-les-Eaux. Some teachers expressed the desire to observe at least one class at the Gymnasium.
The German team offered a range of possible excursions (Hannover, the Christmas market in a nearby medieval town, the Museum of Emigration in Hamburg or Bremerhaven etc.)
The German team will build their programme around these activities but in the meantime welcome suggestions from all teams.
Conclusion
All present thought that the first year had been a resounding success.
Activities had been stimulating and corresponded to expectations. Both mobilities had offered pupils and teachers the opportunity to work on a common theme, meet people from other countries, share experiences and learn about other European cultures. On this basis, all expressed pleasure at the prospect of continuing our work next year.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Questionnaire Results Immigration May 2009
Before coming to France, pupils from each country were asked to prepare in class the draft of a questionnaire on immigration. During our first meeting in La Ravoire four mixed-nationality groups were formed and asked to take the most interesting questions to create a common questionnaire. The final questionnaire was a synthesis of these four questionnaires. In each of our countries, a hundred of these final questionnaires were printed, people were questioned and the results collected. Graphs were produced and conclusions drawn. During the second meeting in Baia Mare, pupils from each country came forward to present their findings to the assembled pupils and teachers. A table with six columns was prepared to illustrate the results for each question and each country. Finally, using this table, pupils from the six countries present in Baia Mare worked in groups to make comparisons and draw conclusions. The comments below outline these findings.
Students found some answers were predictable while others were more surprising. Unsurprisingly the two countries having the largest number of immigrants or people with immigrant backgrounds among respondents are France and Germany. Fewer than one in six Italian, Polish, Turkish or Romanian respondents come themselves or have parents or grandparents coming from another country. There would seem to be hardly any immigrants (first or second generation) living in Baia Mare.
The ones arriving in France and Turkey found it easier to integrate than those settling in Italy and Germany. The desire to earn more money and improve living standards appears in all countries to be the strongest motivating factor for immigrants leaving their homeland. The second most popular reason was joining a family member.
When it comes to deciding if they intend to return to their homeland, the vast majority in all countries say no. This suggests that most immigrants in all six countries have succeeded in making a fresh start and putting down roots.
An amazing 72% of Romanian respondents say that they would envisage emigrating. Over 50% of French, German and Polish respondents also replied positively to this question. On the other hand only one in four Italians think this likely. The fear of missing friends and family is stated as being the main reason for not moving.
A majority of all those interviewed in each country think a multicultural society desirable. However nearly half the respondents in Germany and Italy would like immigrants in their countries to make a greater effort to become better integrated.
A clear majority of Germans and Italians suggest there are too many foreigners, while respondents in other countries do not. Paradoxically two thirds of Germans are in favour of letting in more immigrants which clearly contradicts the previous finding. Turks, Romanians and Poles are not hostile to allowing more immigrants into their countries.
Racism and discrimination are perceived as major problems in France, Italy and Germany but much less so in Poland, Romania and Turkey. Two thirds of Italians say these problems are getting worse. In the three countries where immigrants face the worst problems of racism and discrimination, few people are aware of the programmes which exist to facilitate integration. This suggests that people are badly informed or that governments in these countries are not doing enough to combat racism and promote integration.
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