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1. The practice
2. Hints for an evaluation
2.1 Strenghts
2.1.1 The organisation’s perspective
The Seminars were successfully attended by teachers, who received information on the Project. They have been trained on the main issues (European citizenship and Intercultural Communication). They contributed to established an enthusiastic climate. In many occasion they showed interest and satisfaction to the Greek staff and to other partners.
The Second day of the first seminar, many teachers came without invitation. They appreciated logs they received, and they stated that logs helped them to reflect on the issues of the seminar. They could express their opinion and evaluate the initiative through the logs. Also teachers’ trainers, advisers and head Teachers asked to continue the cooperation of the Project. The project get grade A from European Commission assessment.
2.1.2 Interculture map perspective
The innovative and constructive element of this project is related to the dense philosophical and methodological approach, that is a distinctive characteristic if compared to other Project where the implementation and operational aspect is dominant in respect of theoretical assumptions. This allow to practice to experiment what is not yet proved both at legislative both at academicals level. Thanks to these important contents, the practice can be adopted as a workshop, a laboratory to be assumed and taken as an example from policy makers and researchers.
2.2 Critical Points
2.2.1 The organisation’s perspective
The documents written on the Project by the coordinator or by the scientific referee are definitively enthusiastic about this Project. No strong critics come out from the reflections draft after the end of the Project. Maybe this is due to the awareness of a high level of complexity the Project had to cope with since the starting, as if the complexity was part of the Project itself and not as an external disturbing variable.
2.2.2 Interculture map perspective
The project presents a relevant effort in understanding the process in teaching, both from communication and relationship with the self and with the society. Nevertheless, even if intercultural communication is stated as one of the pillar or the Project, no effect on students is investigated from the intercultural point of view. It seems as if the Project starts and ends in the field of teacher, without a direct impact on students. Certainly the influence on the learners is a result that can be measured later on, being the construction of an heuristic teacher a long term process.
2.3 Lessons Learnt
2.3.1 The organisation’s perspective
For the Project Coordinator, Chrysoula Kosmidou-Hardy, the exportation of main contents of Synthesi has been a topical issue since the start up of the Project. During the first year, in particular during the meeting held in Venice in February 2000, the Partners developed a draft proposal that has been submitted in the context of COMENIUS 1 (as it was scheduled in the Application form submitted for the first year of SYNTHESI) so that the work developed in the context of SYNTHESI can be piloted and disseminated at school level through appropriate strategies and methodology. Four schools - one from each country participating in SYNTHESI – have been involved with Spain - (Melilla) as the coordinating country. The title of this Comenius 1 project is: European citizenship through the perspective of arts.
2.3.2 Interculture map perspective
Themes
This Project has a complex theoretical base that must been previously understood and shared, in order to afford an successful exportation of the main themes, that are listed below:
- Reflection on the role of teacher in multicultural societies;
- developing and writing of educational material in order to enrich the debate on the role of teaching, by promoting and stimulating the contributions of every teacher attending, throughout experiential training (i.e.: using of drama);
- empowerment of the teachers
Methodology
The project has showed a good level of consciousness on the process of awareness building that is at the basis of a real intercultural society that cannot be built if no individual awareness is built as a preliminary and important step. Actually, there isn’t a direct link to the impact in terms of intercultural education. In the coordinator’s view this project is meant at putting the bricks that are necessary to the construction of an intercultural society, because the change of our society must pass from the individual self consciousness. In this process the teachers is the facilitator, because he/she can help the students to raise awareness on themselves, and on power relations in societies. The Project is characterised by a certain level of complexity, because it is meant at producing virtuous effects both on teachers and on students, which are expected to understand and to observe how their identity is shaped by the external context in order to raise skills and opportunities for the society change. In multicultural societies this work can be consider very important because it does not intervene on (multi)cultural phenomena but, preliminarily, on the process of identity construction.
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