Newsletter 3

newsletternewsletterN°3 – JUNE 2010P.IN.O.K.I.O.Pupils for INnOvation as a Key to Intercultural and social inclusiOn

Foreword byPier Francesco Bernacchi,

Fondazione NazionaleCarlo Collodi

Focus on Learning and Training in Madeira

towards the Development of Intercultural Skills

The Mosaic Art And Sound, a committed and dynamic

education provider

Newsletter Pinokio 3 relift.indd 1 08/06/10 15:07

FOREWORD “Pier Francesco Bernacchi co-ordinator of P.IN.O.K.I.O. project”

Dear P.IN.O.K.I.O. partners and friends,

With some pride, I would like to present the third edition of our P.IN.O.K.I.O. newsletter and announce that

our project has a new partner - The Mosaic Art And Sound from UK. After the decision of the Brothers Grimm

Association to withdraw from the project, followed by some discussion among the partners and the fi rst face to

face meeting of the Scientifi c Committee Members in Collodi last April, the Scientifi c Committee has unanimously

agreed to accept Mosaic Art and Sound as the new project partner.

P.IN.O.K.I.O. project is also pleased to announce a new associate partner from Palermo, Italy: Offi cina Creativa

Interculturale.

The P.IN.O.K.I.O. project has been displayed during the Anna Lindh Foundation Forum 2010 in Barcelona at the

Intercultural Fair organized at the Forum and the project has been presented at the dedicated session “Children

Literature as an Intercultural Tools’ organised by: Children’s Literature Programme. More than 1500 organisa-

tions from 43 countries were present at the Forum.

The next appointment for displaying the P.IN.O.K.I.O. project is May 20-23 at the European Economic and Social

Committee Biennial Conference in Florence Italy where the National Carlo Collodi Foundation has been offered a

stand to present its activities. This three-day conference addresses the issue of education as a fundamental tool in

combating social exclusion of all kinds. The conference and the debates in Firenze will bring together Italian and

European personalities and the President of the European Commission, Josè Manuel Barroso will participate in

the closing ceremony. The conference addresses the issue of education as a fundamental tool in combating social

exclusion and the results of the debates will be used concretely to feed the EUs institutions’ work in responding to

the European citizens’ expectations in this domain.

Despite some delays in planned activities, all the project partners are totally commited. The implementation of the

project shows that they have all worked extremely well together and the team has been very effective.

The Scientifi c Committee has decided to create a specifi c ‘Glossary’ to identify and use a common language concerning the

project topics and children’s literature terms: the Glossary will be an added tool to support teachers’ training.

A special thanks goes to the team of UMa University who has taken part in the training session in Venice despite

the severe problems caused by fl ooding in their country.

More information about the P.IN.O.K.I.O. project can be found at:

http://www.pinokioproject.eu/

I wish you pleasant reading

newsletterN°1 – FEBRUARY 2010P.IN.O.K.I.O.Pupils for INnOvation as a Key to Intercultural and social inclusiOn

Pier Francesco Bernacchi Co-ordinator of P.IN.O.K.I.O. project

Secretary Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodiwww.pinocchio.it


FOCUS ON LEARNING AND TRAINING IN MADEIRA TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCULTURAL SKILLS* UNIVERSITY OF MADEIRA (PARTNER 2 - P.IN.O.K.I.O.)

The agenda of the multidisciplinary project, PINOKIO, ad-dresses current concerns with intercultural education and social inclusion in multicultural settings. Actually, mobility has changed patterns of interaction among people, not only in the European context but also on a global level, necessar-ily refl ected in the pedagogic context. Several studies have analysed this complex issue with a focus on cross-cultural differences, perceived in a multidisciplinary approach across periods. These aims have also guided the action research un-derway, run by a set of researchers at the University of Ma-deira (Portugal), who have also invited educationalists and teachers, to ground their approach, under the guidance of the Secretary of Education in Madeira.

The joint venture fosters the ideal forum to present inno-vative undertakings having Education (Pedagogy, Language Policy and Curriculum), Linguistics (Applied Linguistics) and Literature (Children’s Literature) at the core, along with Visual Arts and Psychology, towards intercultural and social inclusion (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Action Research Focus – University of Madeira, Psychology

In this sense, it is essential to develop intercultural skills and strategies in teacher training programmes. These aim at promoting an intercultural dialogue against social exclu-sion, in the pedagogic context, by involving pre-school and school children and their parents (stemming from diverse contexts) with fi ctional characters from children’s books, as a ‘way’ of communication besides bridging the gap between cultural stereotypes. Classrooms are perceived as privileged sites in subjects’ identity construction in the line of Gee’s secondary discourses fostered in formal settings.

A literature-based project is meant to develop teachers’/edu-cators’, children’s and parents’ intercultural skills and make them aware of various patterns of behaviour, thereby help-ing them to understand situations and different backgrounds towards tolerance, solidarity and mutual cultural respect.

Project

The contact with literature is essential in children’s upbring-ing, development and education, since it is fundamental in the development of their personality, affective, emotional and in-tellectual growth as well as their understanding of society and citizenship. Literature allows children to identify themselves with the world and provides them with tools to cope with their own feelings and also with the world around them (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Promoting an Intercultural Dialogue through Characters’ Interaction


Multidiscinary ApproachPromoting An Intercultural Dialogue

Designing training/learning multimodal and interactive packs to promote intercultural communication skills.

Psychology

Children’sLiterature

Visual Arts

Language Policy and Curriculum

AppliedLinguistics

Alcina Sousa, Aline Bazenga, Luísa Paolinelli, Paulo Brazão.

Pinocchio

Pippi

Sinbad

Emilia

Alice

Children’sLiterature


Because of its capacity to communicate and “speak” to chil-dren at a period of their lives when their values are being constructed, literature can be seen as a valuable tool to pro-pose different ways of approaching the ever-changing world and facilitates children’s contact with people from differ-ent cultures in the same context: from the school setting to their close community, or their own neighbourhood.

Furthermore, “because learning occurs in a social con-text”, to borrow from McCarthey (2001: 126), reiterating Vygotsky’s claims ([1938] 1978), “classrooms are cultures that are continually being constructed and reconstructed through day-to-day interactions of the teachers and [learn-ers]”, learners are likely to strengthen their identity and heritage. In the process of providing opportunities for iden-tity construction, “issues of social justice and… stereotypes” come across, concludes McCarthey drawing on a wide range of research undertaken within identity construction and the role of classroom culture (Harris 1992, Au 1993, Atha-neses 1998, Young 1998, among other)1. Main focus:

• Promoting pupils’ multilingual and multicultural com-petence by interacting with literary texts.

• Promoting children’s literature as an instrument of multicultural dialogue.

• Thinking, creating, editing and disseminating didactic materials bearing in mind the promotion of multicul-tural and multilingual skills.

• Promoting literature as potentially therapeutic - for national and international children with integration problems (bibliotherapy).

• Fostering school-family interaction via shared narratives.

Context (1) BACKGROUNDSetting up the criteria for the selection of children’s stories has come in the line of the specifi cities of the context of the project implementation, i.e. Madeira Island. With a long historical connection with the English-speaking world, Madeira Island has also evidenced the presence of other lan-guages, having played a role in Madeiran Portuguese.

(2) UNIVERSITY OF MADEIRA The University of Madeira (UMa) is the youngest of the Portuguese State Universities, affording both university and polytechnic education. UMa is a small teaching/research university, with approximately 3.500 students. Located in

Madeira island, UMa has to be a comprehensive university which offers degrees in major areas: Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; Earth and Life Sciences; Physical and Engi-neering Sciences.

The University of Madeira is situated in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which is an archipelago of two inhabited islands on the North Atlantic Ocean, Madeira and Porto Santo, and the desert archipelagos of Desertas and Selvagens. Madeira island is 660 Km away from the African coast and 980 Km from the Portuguese mainland. There are daily fl ight connec-tions with the mainland. Madeira island has about 250,000 inhabitants, half of which living in the capital, Funchal. The island has one of the highest population densities (300 inhab-itants/Km2) in the country. In recent years, a growing number of foreigners (in 2006, 7404 foreigners from 91 countries) has set residence in the region. These are mainly immigrants from Eastern European countries and Brazil along with a large number of families returning from Venezuela (not considered as foreigners since most of them have Portuguese nationality).

The University of Madeira is located in the city of Funchal. The rectory is situated at the historical College of the Jesu-its. The Campus of Penteada is located 2 Km away from the centre of Funchal and it is part of a complex named Tech-nological Complex of Penteada, which includes the Madeira Technological Centre.

(3) WHAT DO INCREASINGLY MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOMS LOOK LIKE? Following Miller et al. (2009: 3) “one of the most critical realities of contemporary education in a globalised world is the growing cultural, racial and linguistic diversity in schools and the problems involved in educating large numbers of stu-dents who do not speak the dominant language as their home or heritage language.”2 As such, the design of activities and approaches to stories in the pedagogic context, particularly in the pilot project involving six schools in Madeira, the follow-ing issues/variables should be taken into account:


1 Sousa, A., 2005, Developing Reading Strategies Based on Literary Texts. Madeira: University of Madeira [Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation].

2 Miller, J., Kostogriz, A. and M. Gearon (Eds), 2009, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms: New Dilemmas for Teachers. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, p. 3.


(I) Nationality According to data issued by the Secretary of Education of Madeira there are more than 50 nationalities in the school setting. A great majority of the students come from Venezue-la (former destiny of emigration), European countries (UK, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, etc.), the United States of America and South Africa.

(II) Languages spokenPeople speak other languages rather than Portuguese, the native language, for instance: English, German, French, Italian, Croatian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Polish, Chinese, Russian, among other.

(III) Major foreign communities: the Brazilian community; people from former Portuguese colonies, such as Cape Verde, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe (PALOPS); and people from Eastern Countries (i.e., Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Roma-nia). Minorities, such as the gipsy one, are hardly evidenced in Madeira and there are but a few Islamic immigrants.

Relevance of the Approach

In teacher training sessions, academics /researchers intend to work collaboratively by resorting to stories from differ-ent authors and nationalities which represent quite differ-ent worlds/world views from the ones children are used to interact with. Differing stories allow children to express their own feelings and anxieties towards a world displaying diverse aspects and situations as well as easily identifi able characters who allow children to use their imagination and develop both a sense of safety and self assurance (Figure 3). Hence, it is of utmost importance to involve parents who share their narratives from their home countries, to be col-lected by children in their home environment and shared with their schoolmates, thus fostering the dialogic process.

Figure 3: Ideational Texts and Human Values

All in all, the project is intended to trigger children’s emo-tional development, their creativity and imagination, their adaptation to a world made up of contrasts and different values. In so doing, story telling / sharing is meant to im-prove participants’ knowledge and respect for other peoples’ cultures / languages as well as interaction in/between cul-tures and linguistic codes. Along these lines, literature is also meant to enhance the ludic dimension (enjoyment) as an artistic object (aesthetic value).


Cultural Awareness

Personal / Ethic Growth

LiteraryAwareness

Speaking / Listening / Reading / Rewriting and Language Development

Motivation

Interactingwith

IDEATIONALAesthetic

Involvement


A COMMITTED AND DYNAMIC EDUCATION PROVIDERThe Mosaic Art And Sound is a private adult education provider based in London, UK that shares with many other contemporary institutions the drive to reach new targets in education and new horizons in the development of social and personal skills.

The Mosaic organizes seminars, conferences, in-service teacher training courses, performing arts events and special projects on socio-cultural subjects.

Since its foundation in 2003, The Mosaic has built a col-laborative network in different geographic contexts and a variety of activities, undertaking projects with various Euro-pean universities and research centres. Contacts and cultur-al/operative exchanges have naturally evolved that provide sources of growth and transformation and facilitate the development of shared applications.

The Mosaic’s research and educational projects are continu-ously evolving in both content and delivery, yet it continues to keep in mind the aspiration it has always held of nurtur-ing a society that puts human values fi rst: a society in which individuals, from childhood, are helped and stimulated to thoroughly fulfi l their potential and creativity, are happy to serve their community, and are able to think in terms of the whole and not only of their own personal interest.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ACHIEVEMENTS In 2005, The Mosaic coordinated a Grundtvig project look-ing at the effects of sound and music on human beings and the environment. This experimental research included ele-ments from a wide range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, music, mathematics, physics, cymatics, biology and neurosciences. The project, which was carried out in collaboration with several univer-sities, produced a 19-session training module for teachers of any subject to enhance listening skills and intuitive ability. This module is included in the European Union Comenius-Grundtvig Catalogue and is in demand across Europe. Another example of a multi-disciplinary project initiated by The Mosaic is a study on ecovillages in Europe. Ecovillages are perhaps the most comprehensive antidote to depend-ence on the global economy. People are building communi-ties that offer alternatives to the waste, pollution, competi-tion and violence of contemporary life. There are now many examples of ecovillages in Europe, and these are a tangible demonstration of the links between the social, ecological and economic aspects of life and a synthesis of the most innovative current thinking on human habitats.

Over the last few years, The Mosaic has focused much of its attention on children’s education and is currently coordi-nating a Comenius project to promote children’s literature and love of books while enhancing their appreciation of various cultures and languages. The Mosaic works in liaison with councils and primary schools in the UK and is devel-oping courses for children that will enhance their listening skills and empathy.



P.IN.O.K.I.O. ANDSOCIAL INCLUSION IN THE UK

A society that is able to guarantee for its children harmonious and happy development, and in which both respect for diver-sity and the value of the contribution that each child can give the group are cultivated, is certainly an ideal society to aspire to. The reality is that in Europe, even though young people may be in privileged positions compared with their contem-poraries on other continents in respect of their societies’ com-mitment to democratic development and policies, this does not refl ect the ideal society, but is only a process of growth.

Education is the means to change societies.

Promoting educational initiatives connected and identifi -able with the concepts expressed in the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) sections on education, or with the bold vision of the European Union concerning multicultural issues, is not only desired by many, but is urgently needed.

In Article 29 of the UNCRC3, States Parties agree, among other points, that the education of the child shall be directed to:

(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own

and(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equal-ity of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.P.IN.O.K.I.O. is addressing these educational needs and does so in a way that expands creativity, imagination and the love of lit-erature. It is promoting contemporary methods, on the cutting edge of socio-cultural transformation of our European societies.

In the UK, groups of immigrants from all over the world are continuously being added to the existing society.

In a 2007 report4 the London School of Economics and Po-litical Sciences noted that London has certainly fi gured promi-nently in the upsurge of immigration to the UK over the past 20 years, typically receiving about 40% of the gross infl ows (three times its population share). In net terms the concen-tration has been even more striking – indeed until the late 1990s London effectively accounted for 85-90% of additions to the UK’s migrant stock, coming down to 55-60% in the last 5 years, as migration has started to take off in other regions. The impact on London’s own population over the last 20 years has been dramatic, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The chronic population decline of the previous quarter century has been replaced by net growth (of around 50 thousand p.a.); the share of foreign born in the population has almost doubled over 20 years, reaching about one-third of the total, and the number of nationalities heavily represented among its resi-dents has grown enormously, with a much larger proportion now coming from non-English speaking countries.

Overall, immigration is expected to play an important role in the UK’s future population growth. It is recognised that as well as bringing diversity, entrepreneurs, labour and other resources to local areas, immigrant concentration also plac-es additional demands on local services and education. It is a challenge to ensure immigrants’ sustainable growth and social inclusion. Exploration of the cultural background of the new immigrant child and provision of an area to foster intercultural dialogue amongst all children are urgent tasks.

Serious consideration also needs to be given to children’s psychological and psychosocial well-being, bearing in mind that the UK ranks very low in all six dimensions reported in the UNICEF Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries5.


3 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm

4 The Impact of Recent Immigration on the London Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science, July 2007http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSELondon/pdf/theImpactofRecentImmigrationOnTheLondonEconomy.pdf5 Report Card 7, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries, The United Nations Children’s Fund, 2007 http://www.unicef.org/media/fi les/ChildPovertyReport.pdf


This comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and young people in 21 nations of the industri-alized world includes the dimension of ‘Educational Well-being’. Its purpose is to encourage monitoring, permit com-parison, and stimulate the discussion and development of policies to improve children’s lives.

In 2007, the BBC held an opinion poll, ‘Is the UK failing its children?’ The ‘Yes’ response was 79.47%. Although steps have been taken to address the issue at local, regional and national level, there is still a long way to go.

The Mosaic has just been approaching various pre- and pri-mary schools in the UK and there is a remarkable interest in piloting the new training proposed by P.IN.O.K.I.O.

The Mosaic is very pleased to be involved in the P.IN.O.K.I.O. project and believes that its creative and innovative aspects are essential elements: we need to turn to the past, so that we do not repeat our mistakes but are given wings to enable us to explore new horizons.

Dr Teresa Dello Monaco, Music Consultant/EU Projects Manager, The Mosaic Art And Sound.


Is the UK failing its children?


www.pinokioproject.eu

Lifelong Learning Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication refl ects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.


Newsletter 3

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