Introduction
The EU deal with a high level of migration flows in its territory. “The EU is home to 21.6 million third-country nationals, accounting for 4,2% of the total EU population” based on the statistics of the European Commission. The EU is not a temporary accommodation for them, and for this reason finding a job and being included in society are two of the most important elements for their successful integration into society. However, there are many challenges that migrants are facing, especially regarding language, education, access to employment etc. Even though migration policies are a national competence, EU institutions help and support the integration of migrants into European labour markets and societies (talking about legal migration).
The main aim of this module is to examine the situation and the current status of immigration in Europe. Furthermore, this module is specifically addressed to adult educators who want to improve and enhance their knowledge and competencies about immigration, the educational environment for immigrants and the importance of intercultural dialogue.
Learning Outcomes
Expected learning outcomes – after completing the module:
- Increase knowledge and understanding of discrimination and cultural differences
- Improve teaching skills towards creating an inclusive educational environment for migrants/ immigrants
- Understand the social needs of immigrants (including immigrants with disabilities) and of their families
Requirements
There is no need for the participants to have previous knowledge of the subject. However, the course is addressed to educators and as a result, it is important to have some previous experience with education and with vulnerable groups in order to be prepared to deliver learning activities and sessions to this target group.
Furthermore, a good knowledge of English is necessary.
Content
Food for thought
- You are working with adults with disabilities and from migration backgrounds. Is your behaviour different between a student with a migration background and locals? Before you answer, think about the actions you took regarding the smooth integration of people with a migration background and with disabilities.
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Are you as an educator ready to tackle cultural differences among their students coming from a multicultural background (address possible discrimination)?
Experiences
NGOs and organisations working on the inclusion of the immigrants into the society
- In order to fight discrimination and racism it is important to raise awareness in the society. One very good example is in Sweden, and more specifically the National Association of City Missions in Sweden (Gothenburg City Mission). This is a good practice example supporting mobile EU citizens. Their missions are to sit together with immigrants and people that are socially excluded, and provide them with support and advice about their rights and how to successfully integrate into the Swedish society. The volunteers of this centre act as mediators, helping the people in need with legal and administrative obstacles by communicating effectively with government authorities in Sweden. One of the aims of this centre is to raise awareness both of local Swedish people but also of EU mobile citizens and the freedom of movement. (https://gothenburgcitymisson.weebly.com/objectives.html)
- Diacona Valdese, Italy: It is a non-profit body operating projects to support asylum seekers in both northern and southern Italy. It addresses everyone without discrimination of gender, belonging, culture or religious belief and manages its services inspired by the principles of transparency, quality and effectiveness of interventions. In northern Italy, Diaconia operates different centres for asylum seekers that provide food, accommodation, and other social services. Asylum seekers who are part of this program, are in a section of a local elderly care facility and also have the opportunity of legal assistance, courses in reading and/or writing, vocational training, language courses and other social services. (https://www.diaconiavaldese.org/csd/pagine/migranti.php)
Retrieved from: https://eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/final-migration-report-for-web-301014.pdf
IOM- International Organisation for Migration- in Cyprus & Internationally: In this link you can find different stories from migrants, and how the IOM helped these people to integrate into the society of Cyprus or helped them by providing them security: https://cyprus.iom.int/migrant-stories
Interviews & stories from migrants - challenges and problems they face:
Migrants with disabilities in EU:
- OIM - Organizzazione Internazionale per le Migrazioni - a Cipro e a livello internazionale: In questo link potete trovare diverse storie di migranti, e come l'OIM ha aiutato queste persone ad integrarsi nella società di Cipro o le ha aiutate fornendo loro sicurezza: https://cyprus.iom.int/migrant-stories
Interviste e storie dei migranti – le sfide e i problemi che affrontano:
Migranti con disabilità nell’UE:
Suggested reading and resources
- A manual retrieved by the Council of Europe portal, talking about human rights education with young people. This specific link deals with migration issues and policies: https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/migration_
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The official website of the Migration Department in Cyprus giving the essential information about the legislation, civil registry procedures and announcements regarding migration in Cyprus: http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/crmd/crmd.nsf/page07_en/page07_en?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=1#_Section1
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This is an information center for migrants, which has developed services based on different values concerning the support of individual vulnerable migrants (asylum seekers, refugees, third country nationals, etc.). They can offer services for social support, psychological support or job search assistance: https://mihub.eu/en/
- AMiD is a European project, which developed a Needs Assessment Tool and aims to support the efficient management of the reception and integration of asylum seekers with disabilities in the EU by providing information about the most important organisations. https://amidproject.eu/en/organisations
- EU Skills profile tool for third country nationals supports early profiling of the skills of refugees, migrants and citizens of non-EU countries who are staying in the EU. It assists those citizens to produce a profile of their skills through an interview to support further assessment, job-searching and job-matching and identify up-skilling needs: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1412&langId=en
- European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe/ Migration and language education. Through this website, immigrants can find a number of publications and projects related to migration and language education that can be useful for their future education: https://www.ecml.at/Thematicareas/Migrantlanguageeducation/tabid/1624/language/en-GB/Default.aspx
- Council of Europe Language Policy Portal: the objective of this program is to foster the rights of individuals, social inclusion, intercultural understanding and equal access to quality education: https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-policy/home
Module in a nutshell
- What is immigration?
- How to improve teaching skills and create an inclusive educational environment for immigrants
- Social needs of immigrants
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Understand the importance of intercultural dialogue
Assessment activity
- Logbook/ Personal calendar is a good example for the learners in order to record their reflections and their daily experiences in the course. In this way, at the end of the course, they will have the most important information and lessons learned.
✏️ click link to go to exercices
References