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Description
Within the project, we want to provide multifaceted, comprehensive support for people who are dealing with anti-discrimination education or would like to start conducting it. Research carried out by non-governmental organisations and university centres shows that prejudices are becoming more visible in Polish society and hate speech is becoming more and more common. In the public debate, dehumanising statements about refugees, women, LGBT+ people or people belonging to religious, national or ethnic minorities appear regularly. Many local governments have adopted ‘anti-LGBT’ resolutions and discriminatory Municipal Family Rights Charters. We observe increased political activity of fundamentalist organisations, which want to influence the formal education system in Poland and threaten̨ social organisations. In response to these phenomena it is necessary to intensify anti-discrimination activities. As part of the project, we will publish (in partnership with the Villa Decius Association) the second edition of a manual for trainers of anti-discrimination education. We will develop a training methodology, scenarios and other methodological resources for conducting anti-discrimination education online. We will make available a library of podcasts and video materials. We will provide substantive support and supervision for trainers. We will conduct communication and promotional activities. The project is addressed to teachers, educators, activists from NGOs and informal groups and other people working with groups that are particularly vulnerable to inequality and human rights violations. The project is also aimed at youth workers such as pedagogues and psychologists.
Summary of project results
Publications by non-governmental organizations and university centers clearly indicate the constantly growing level of prejudice and hate speech in society. Hate speech regularly appears in the public debate, including: refugees, LGBT+ people, women, people belonging to religious, national and ethnic minorities. Social minorities in public discourse are described in a dehumanizing and objectifying way, using the words "plague", "feminazis", "ideology". This narrative is supported by some politicians and hierarchy of the Catholic Church, thus legitimizing hate speech and violence motivated by prejudice. There is also visible increased political activity of fundamentalist organizations that want to influence the formal education system in Poland and threaten social equality organizations (blacklists of such organizations or letters slandering specific people and organizations, sent to all schools in Poland). These actions were supported by the actions of the central authorities: provisions on anti-discrimination activities were withdrawn from the Regulation on the Education Evaluation System (2018, cf. TEA 2014), Przemysław Czarnek was the Minister of National Education in the Law and Justice government, known for banning Equality Marches and homophobic and sexist statements, President Duda submitted to the Sejm a draft law regulating cooperation between schools and NGOs, the aim of which was to limit equality activities in schools. Intensified inspections by school boards were carried out in facilities managing EA, creating an atmosphere of intimidation and creating a chilling effect. The topic of EA is presented as the opposite of patriotic, family or Catholic values We also saw the need to disseminate and update knowledge and materials in this area thanks to the results of the research on the needs of people running EA, carried out as part of the project "Lighthouse of Equality - Positively about Anti-Discrimination Education" (Active Citizens - National Fund).
In the "Equality Kaleidoscope" project, we wanted to support the educational and training community conducting anti-discrimination education in Poland. We feel that we have achieved this goal by producing various educational materials of high substantive quality. We have prepared the 2nd edition of the publication "Anti-discrimination education - trainer''s manual" edited by Maja Branka and Dominika Cieślikowska. Our partner organization in this activity was the Villa Decius Association. The manual is an extremely important resource for people conducting anti-discrimination education, containing both content related to the methodology of conducting anti-discrimination workshops and current knowledge on various grounds for discrimination. The manual is available at the link: https://tea.org.pl/publikacje/podrecznik2023/. We have developed 17 lesson plans and materials for conducting anti-discrimination education online, which were prepared by experts who have been conducting anti-discrimination education for years, and which we have placed in a new module on our website, making it easier to navigate TEA materials in the form of lesson plans; Scenarios are available at: https://tea.org.pl/scenariusze/. We have produced 12 podcasts and videos on anti-discrimination education, each of which is focused on a selected thematic area. We invited experts to participate in the podcasts, thus ensuring their high substantive value. Taking care of accessibility, we placed the podcasts on the TEA YouTube channel - with transcription and translation into Polish Sign Language. Audio recordings are available on streaming services - Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Google Podcass, Overcast, RadioPublic under the Kalejdoskop Equality brand. Video recordings: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjz0kPoxGIxhKr9-zBkAvmXDxsekK_tl-; audio recordings: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vAjsW787poP0tFCgU2b8c.
We are convinced that in the project we have achieved a significant increase in knowledge, skills and awareness in the field of anti-discrimination education among people using podcasts and video materials - these were substantively strong materials, with experts specializing in specific topics. We see how many people listened to our podcasts and downloaded the scripts. The second edition of the textbook also met with an extraordinary response - the entire paper version sold out within a dozen or so hours. We have successfully managed to interest new people in the topic of anti-discrimination education who want to gain knowledge in this field and start their adventure with equality, as evidenced by the increase in the number of people following TEA on Facebook and Instagram, as well as subsequent inquiries regarding trainer courses, training in the field of activities paid or publication. Our activities resulted in a growing number of people who perceive TEA as a valued expert organization in the field of anti-discrimination education. This confirms our ability to transfer important knowledge and build trust among communities that appreciate our competences in this field. We receive numerous inquiries about cooperation, also as part of paid activities.