https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5 Developing intercultural understanding en-us 2017-03-01 22:04:11 UTC 2025-09-24 08:08:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Babyhead.png victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157192240 INTRODUCTIONS

Hello! I am a teacher of English in State Primary schools in Piraeus, near the capital. I am also interested in Human Resources Development, which has been the field of my post-graduate studies. As immigrant children wiil gradually have to enter the greek educational system, I think it is important to understand the specifics of this new reality and find ways to confront it efficiently.]]> 2017-03-01 22:09:06 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157192240 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157851427 MODULE 1.1

 I am taking this course in order to become acquainted with techniques / strategies to deal with the possibility of teaching young immigrants. I feel it is extremely important to learn about cultural diversity in my classrooms, as tolerance and solidarity will be the top values of any future classroom!]]> 2017-03-05 15:50:27 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157851427 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157851950 Module 1.2

It is necessary that our students recognise their position in the cultural chart of their country, eventually in the world. First, as the video demonstrates, students need to realize who they are in order to appreciate different cultural values and foster difference as something positive! Of course, the teacher leads the way to such a mentality, in order to bring his/her class to the highest levels of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.]]> 2017-03-05 15:57:20 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157851950 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157854534 MODULE 2-STARTER ACTIVITY

The age range of my students is 6-12. Most of them are of Greek nationality, but one-third of them speak another mother tongue at home, namely Albanian, Russian and (more rarely) Arabic. Although I am thought to witness a number of different habits, my students seem to be very well integrated in the school system. However, when the lesson allows it, students bravely put forward different customs, especially when talking about holidays and social events. They all use Greek when interacting with each other. I have a positive relationship with them and I feel lucky that I teach English to them, as it is common ground and a way to overcome any prejudice they might have for one another.
Almost in every Greek school there is a percentage of Albanians and Russians (1st and 2nd generations) , while Egyptians represent a lower ratio. With the recent sociopolitical developments in Syria, it is espected that a percsentage of young Syrians will appear in Greek schools. Children interact successfully and are quite tolerant at that age with one another. There is no language problem hindering peer interaction - second generation pupils are less exposed to such challenges. However when language slips occur on the part of some first generation students, it is silently noticed by the rest of the class. It is mostly games that bring children together , as well as my effort to promote equality and justice among them while I teach.]]> 2017-03-05 16:23:49 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157854534 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157854848 MODULE 2.1

Well, both Alicia and Erika presented us with super useful ideas of intercultural competence development activities! I assume that the thematic option is of great help to this end and it is an activity which has also been well accepted by my students: we have done a project about traditional food and a project about 'national' celebrations/holidays in the form of posters, which went really well.]]> 2017-03-05 16:27:17 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157854848 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157855535 MODULE 1.4
I totally agree with both Erika and Alicia. They have touched upon empathy, acceptance of other people's ideas, the critical four 'C's, the use of technology in order to extend the classroom, the encouragement of dialogue among students and between T and Ss. All these elements are important towards the common goal of inter-understanding!
Though diversity is useful, it is ofen challenging to cope with it as a teacher whose experience in such matters is minimum. However, it is usually the students themselves who show us the way to act proactively. Through their willingness to adjust to their brand-new reality, they make an effort to communicate - a first step toward 'interculturality'. Different mother tongues are hard to go by in the first semester and patience on the part of the teacher is essential to prevent the feeling of getting lost into translation on the part of the students! Getting to know them on a first name basis is essential and verbal encouragement when misunderstanding occurs  is also needed.]]> 2017-03-05 16:35:57 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157855535 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856095 MODULE 2.2

As a teacher of English in mixed ability and different first language classrooms, I have observed that all pupils become one, forgetting about their individual differences: origin, language, customs play more of an enriching role rather than a hindering one in getting pupils together. Students feel safe when they are embraced by the same 'duty' of having to learn a foreign language, English, which is common for all of them. I have not yet tried any of these ideas, however. I think that allocating entire teaching hours on particular cultures or languages in different ways (collages, posters, reading short child poems, bringing special photos of cultural interst) can be quite useful.]]> 2017-03-05 16:42:19 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856095 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856350
Actually, I do not have the sense that my classes have a special cultural identity. Perhaps it is due to the fact that until now, pupils from different cultures are still a minority in my classrooms, so they have integrated themselves in the 'largest' culture as a result of influence. However, it remains to see how the dynamics of the same classrooms are about to change with the possible insertion of young immigrants from Syria.]]> 2017-03-05 16:45:30 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856350 victvoud https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856509 Two years ago I had the opportunity to assist in a primary school event about empathy, where the students of a class had to understand each other's feelings and create solidarity ties through body movement and music. I have to admit that they were not at all co-operative and there was even hostility among a couple of them, who were of the same nationality. This shows how underlying emotions can be masked throughout an English class but are revealed in kinaesthetic situations. I am going to make sufficient changes to the above mentioned project before I apply it to my own classes. I thank you in advance.]]> 2017-03-05 16:47:24 UTC https://padlet.com/victvoud/3w3msytybrc5/wish/157856509