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Description
The project responds to the need for anti-discrimination training in Poland and the support and networking of people involved in anti-discrimination education. Since 2009, we have been promoting anti-discrimination education both within and outside the educational system. Our experience shows that in Poland - due to the ubiquitous prejudices in the society - there is a huge demand for anti-discrimination training. The socio-political situation in Poland is very challenging. In the mainstream media various statements dehumanising minority groups and containing hate speech are published. Research conducted by NGOs confirms that the problem of prejudice and hate speech in Polish society is serious. We are also particularly concerned about the actions of the Polish government, which presents anti-discrimination education as demoralising and threatening to so-called traditional values. In this project, we support anti-discrimination education practitioners, helping them to expand their knowledge and develop their skills. We promote anti-discrimination education as an important part of modern education. We develop training programmes on anti-discrimination education for beginners and intermediates, as well as a course dedicated to school teachers. We conduct open specialised webinars and online workshops. We disseminate educational content on social media and build a community of anti-discrimination education practitioners through the Facebook group "Equality Society". We organise a series of events under the banner "A Week for Anti-discrimination Education".
Summary of project results
Our experience shows that in Poland there is a huge demand for anti-discrimination workshops and training, with limited financing possibilities. At the same time, the area of education, which we have seen for years as a lever of change, was subject to constant destructive actions of the PiS government during the duration of our projects, among others. Czarnek or curators (the Lex Czarnek project, the threat of sanctions and penalties for schools dealing with anti-discrimination issues, "black" lists of NGOs allegedly demoralizing children). In such a political context, advocacy for EA at the central level was difficult, there was an atmosphere of intimidation, and the subject of EA was presented as the opposite of patriotic, family or Catholic values. Additionally, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the refugee phenomenon, there was a need to expand the qualifications of many people due to multiculturalism and the increased presence of minorities in many schools in Poland. At the same time, this situation highlighted racism and unequal treatment - comparing the situation of people with Ukrainian passports and people facing push-backs on the Polish-Belarusian border. Therefore, in each of our activities we will strengthen the migration theme, at the same time pointing out that EA is a broad activity, and the knowledge and skills shared are intended to help accommodate long-term changes in Polish society. At the same time, NGO publications and research clearly indicate the constantly growing level of prejudice and hate speech in Polish society and the need to include EA in educational activities in schools. Hate speech regularly appears in the public debate, including: refugees, LGBT+ people, women, people belonging to religious, national and ethnic minorities. We are also observing increased political activity of fundamentalist organizations that want to influence the formal education system in Poland and threaten social equality organizations.
Thanks to the implementation of the project, it was possible to significantly strengthen the group of people involved in anti-discrimination education. A rich catalog of various educational forms in the field of anti-discrimination education gave various groups the opportunity to participate, offering both longer series of meetings and short thematic events. These were: - course for intermediate people (continuation) - course for beginners (2nd edition) - course for teachers - open specialized webinars and online workshops - development of the Facebook group "Equality Society" - building a community around TEA - publication of educational content on TEA social media, - organizing the celebration of the "Week for Anti-Discrimination Education" in spring 2023 and spring 2024. A total of 260 beneficiaries benefited from individual project activities. Product summary 1 EA course program for intermediate people has been developed 1 revised curriculum of the basic EA course was developed One EA course program for teachers was developed 40 new entries with educational content were created in social media There were 40 posts promoting events in the field of equality education in the Equality Society group; 2 "EA Weeks" organized A subpage of the "Anti-Discrimination Education Week 2023" was developed, including 3 "starter pack" modules for schools, parents and business; 5 webinar recordings available on YouTube or on TEA''s Facebook page (on the organization''s fanpage and/or in the "Equality Society" group). 4 recordings of educational meetings available on YouTube or on TEA''s Facebook (on the organization''s fanpage and/or in the "Equality Society" group) 1 text on "How to respond to discrimination - practical tips", accompanying the webinar of the same title.
The following results were achieved throughout the project: 18 people who took part in the continuation of the basic course - EA course for intermediate people (Action 2) 17 people who took part in the basic course 13 people who took part in the course for teachers 73 people who took part in specialized webinars and online workshops 60 people who took part in specialist workshops 73 people who took part in meetings within the "Equality Society" group (4 short meetings) 30 people who took part in dissemination events The project allowed us to expand and strengthen the group of people dealing with anti-discrimination education, disseminate the idea of conducting EA as an important element of modern education, and develop the network of people dealing with EA. Each person who took part in our activities has the opportunity to further disseminate the acquired knowledge or use the proposed methods. Some of these people work in schools as teachers or pedagogues, some people work in other public institutions and NGOs. The materials created as part of the project (recordings, educational posts, visual materials, workshop and online course programs) are part of TEA''s knowledge resources and will be used to plan and conduct subsequent educational activities, and have also been made available to OC TEA and people who participated in project activities - they will be able to use them on their own. Most of them are available on TEA online channels. Each person can access the resources on the TEA website or YouTube channel and refresh/gain knowledge that will help them better include people from specific minorities or communicate more effectively about various grounds for discrimination and methods of counteracting it in their activities.