Description
The project addresses the need to fight hate speech by raising the awareness of schoolchildren. The project aims at developing, testing and implementing a new methodology to build the social and civil skills of 1st-to-4th-grade schoolchildren, involving both teachers and parents in the process. First, good practices promoting intercultural tolerance will be analyzed, the terms of reference prepared and the expert team selected. Second, the expert team will develop the methodology (10-module teacher’s guide, student’s workbook, curricula, an assessment tool). Next, 20 teachers volunteers will be trained and the methodology will be tested in schools with homogeneous and mixed ethnic origin. Third, the methodology will be implemented in 20 classes in Bulgaria. Finally, the results will be presented at 2 national conferences on education. The project will benefit the target group of schoolchildren, their parents, teachers, the education system and the community in general.
Summary of project results
As a result of the ever earlier access to the Internet and mobile technologies, children nowadays enter an environment teeming with aggressive and discriminatory behavioral models. The project aimed at reducing racism, xenophobia, hate speech and intolerance in the public. The project was targeted at raising the awareness of children from primary school classes about how unacceptable aggressive and discriminatory behaviour is both in real life and in the internet where they might be subject to extreme manifestations of hate speech, xenophobia, homophobia, hatred based on ethnic origin, race, religion and gender. Unfortunately schools lack prepared teachers and resources to build such skills in children. That is why a teaching methodology was developed and carefully tested under the project which has been evaluated by the project participants as successfully curbing racism, intolerance and hate speech in primary school classrooms. 22 teachers applied the methodology developed under the project to build social and civil skills and 644 students and 536 parents were trained. The fact that requests were received for the application of the methodology at school testifies to its attractiveness. 150 sets of training materials were published and disseminated and the methodology is expected to be applied in the school year 2016/2017 in more than 50 schools in Bulgaria. Two more materials were published under the project: a Manual Children, Parents and Teachers Fighting Hate Speech with 10 model topics that can be used in the classes of children from 1st-4th grades and Workbook Children, Parents and Teachers Fighting Hate Speech with funny activities for children aiming to enhance their understanding of differences and tolerance. All products are available at
http://www.arcfund.net/index.php?id=2210
Summary of bilateral results