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The course will help the participants to:

Identify students’ different learning approaches to be able to choose the correct teaching strategies;

Choose suitable methods for different classes, contexts and moments during the lesson;

Select teaching strategies with concrete, across-the-board objectives: role-playing, cooperative learning;

Acquire expertise related to intercultural communication;

Convert diversity from burden to opportunity.

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ERASMUS+ PROJECT NUMBER: 2024-1-ES01-KA121-SCH-000205938

MOBILITY ID: 05938-MOB-0004

PARTICIPANTS: Gisela Arimany

SENDING ORGANIZATION: IE GREDA

RECIEVING ORGANIZATION: Europass Teacher Academy

LOCATION: Dublin (Ireland)

DATES: 23-06-2025 to 27-06-2025

NAME OF THE COURSE: Facing Diversity: Intercultural Classroom Management

ORGANIZATION: Europass Teacher Academy

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Identify students’ different learning approaches to be able to choose the correct teaching strategies;

Choose suitable methods for different classes, contexts and moments during the lesson;

Select teaching strategies with concrete, across-the-board objectives: role-playing, cooperative learning;

Acquire expertise related to intercultural communication;

Convert diversity from burden to opportunity.

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"My name is Gisela Arimany. From Catalonia (Spain) I work as both a teacher and a artist. 42 years old.
I like poetic languages and interdisciplinary translations, which I explore both in education and artistic practice. I currently teach at a secondary school with maximum complexity, where students speak 19 different mother tongues. This multicultural environment deeply influences my interest in intercultural dynamics and creative communication. I look forward to learning and sharing experiences during this course in Dublin."

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"I hope to get more ideas and strategies to see diversity as a richness. I would like to learn practical ways to work with different cultures in the classroom, so that all students feel welcome and can learn from each other."

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"In my secondary school class (ages 12 to 16), there is a lot of cultural, social, and economic diversity. Students speak 19 different mother tongues, and many come from African, Panjabi, Moroccan, and South American backgrounds. Some live in low-income neighborhoods or rural villages, while others come from well-off or families who choose our school because we use project-based learning and offer strong emotional support. This mix makes the classroom very rich and dynamic."

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1. We began the session with a dynamic warm-up activity called "Cut the Tree", a movement-based game designed to foster group interaction and energy.

2. Michael introduced us to key aspects of Irish culture, including typical foods, customs, and relevant cultural practices, providing valuable context for our stay and learning experience.

3. In the activity "7 Words", we reflected individually and selected seven meaningful words that best represent who we are. This served as an identity-building exercise and opened up space for self-awareness and intercultural dialogue.

4. The "Wonderwall" exercise invited us to write down our personal and professional goals for the course, as well as any questions or reflections that arise throughout the learning process.

5. Lastly, we engaged in a visual thinking exercise where, after observing several images, we were asked to articulate what we see, what we understand, and what questions the images provoke. This activity helped us explore multiple perspectives and interpret cultural symbols through a critical and reflective lens.

6. We shared traditional food from different cultures, to get to know people from our own group and from other groups.

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Day 2 – Course Activities Summary

Warm-up: "Numbers 1 to 6" – Each number was associated with a specific movement. Participants called out numbers in random order and performed the corresponding actions, promoting energy and group engagement.

Visual thinking with photographs – In pairs, we analysed four images, discussed what we observed, and formulated one reflective question per photo. This encouraged observation, interpretation, and inquiry.

Irish song activity – We received the lyrics of a traditional Irish song and completed the missing words, combining cultural learning with language practice.

Cultural trauma and epigenetics – We explored how cultural traumas affect communities over time, even at the genetic level. Participants shared photos or key events that shaped their own cultures, leading to a collective reflection on cultural memory and identity.

Developing empathy through cultural narratives – We discussed how mythology, legends, and historical events can deepen our understanding of other cultures and foster empathy.

Sharing intercultural strategies – We exchanged practical approaches for recognising and celebrating cultural diversity, such as building inclusive spaces (e.g., temples) or inviting multilingual parents to share stories in the classroom.

The cultural iceberg – We worked with the iceberg metaphor to explore the visible and invisible aspects of culture. Each participant shared their own cultural iceberg, highlighting core values, beliefs, and hidden layers of their identity.

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Day 3: Understanding Diversity and Providing Tools

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Day 3: Understanding Diversity and Providing Tools

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Day 3: Understanding Diversity and Providing Tools

1. Physical trust-building exercises – designed to foster trust among participants.

2. Reflecting on cultural aspects of our own "iceberg" – identifying how these hidden cultural elements influence the classroom.

3. Exploring the types of diversity present in the classroom – including religious, dietary, socio-economic, and cultural differences.

4. A proposed definition of diversity: “Diversity can be defined as the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different.”

We are invited to watch the TED Talk by Jonathan Haidt, "The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives", which discusses how genetics may influence our perspectives.

We examine the differences between exclusion, inclusion, segregation, and integration.

5. Principles of multicultural classrooms – referring to a visual resource provided in the session.

6. Designing an activity based on these principles.

7. Sharing experiences with another group.

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DAY 4. NATIONAL GALLERY DUBLIN

1. Dia duit, Conas atá tú, Tá mé go maith (Hello, how are you, I’m good – in Irish), with body movement games.

2. Draw a word you’ve been given – for example, “balance” – on a post-it note. Then, in groups, guess which word it was.

3. Find a famous Irish painting and, in a small group, discuss: What could the story be? What is it telling us? How does it make us feel? Understand that culture is expressed through art. Download an app and make the famous Irish painting “talk” to us.

4. Reflect on the visible and invisible aspects of culture. Look for a portrait painting you like and that tells something about yourself. Download an app and place your face in the painting.

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Day 5. Last day.

1. We learn some Irish words and have to describe them without saying the word itself. The other people in the group have to guess the word.

2. Historic. Michel’s grandfather: we think of someone with emotional intelligence and, in pairs, we describe to the other person what this emotionally intelligent person is like.

3. SEL – Social and Emotional Learning:

a) Self-awareness: "identify"

b) Self-management: "control"

c) Social awareness: "equal opportunities, peace"

d) Relationships: "communicate and collaborate"

e) Responsible decision-making

We do an activity to understand what self-awareness is: the facilitator says two words and we have to position ourselves to the right or left depending on which one we identify more with. Example: freedom/security, dance/music, recognition/money, technology/tradition.

4. Activities for emotional intelligence:

"Remember Me": we say something we’re good at, e.g., “I’m very creative,” and in the future I’d like to… e.g., “help students develop their creativity.”

"Telephone Charades": everyone stands in a line, the person at the back turns the one in front of them and shows them a movement. Like the telephone game, the movement is passed along the line to see if the first person ends up doing the same movement.

"Snowball": each person writes down their dreams or aspirations on a piece of paper, then throws the paper into the middle of the classroom. A student picks up another ball and reads someone else’s dreams and aspirations.

5. We are given an example of a math class that includes SEL, created with ChatGPT. Then we are asked to create a lesson in our own subject using SEL, also with ChatGPT.

6. We close the course by sharing our experiences from the week: “best moment, most challenging moment, what I liked most about visiting…”