The Teenager Clubs of Tolerance is the pilot project for informal intercultural education amongst young representatives of the national communities of Ukraine : Jews, Poles, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Moldovans, Volga Tatars, Armenians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Russians, Greeks, Byelorussians, Bulgarians. The club's program aims to promote the values of tolerance, positive attitude to the differences, equality, dignity, to provide informal intercultural education for teenagers, to create a peer-leaders' network.

The club will unite the efforts of national minorities of Ukraine to combat xenophobia and anti-Semitism and to provide tolerance education for youngsters. It is planned to organize the network of clubs in 3 cities of Ukraine : (Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv).

 

Aims of the project: - to provide informal intercultural education for teenagers - to create a peer-leaders' network that promotes the idea of tolerance; - to make teenagers familiar with the basic human rights as written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations after World War II; - to promote the values of tolerance, positive attitude to the differences, equality, dignity, among teenagers. This project for informal intercultural education for teenagers is unique for Ukraine . The educational programme of secondary schools does not provide any subjects that help a teenager to form the understanding of tolerance. The manifestations of aloofness and estrangement are intensifying especially in teenagers' social circles. There are frequent demonstrations of the hatred against national minorities' representatives, migrants at the Ukrainian schools. The programme of the club will provide special methods to work with tolerance issues. Professional psychologists and historians will work in the club. It is supposed to engage teenagers not only with cognitive methods, but with visual and creative ones as well.

 

Target group : teenagers, young adults - representatives of the national communities of Ukraine . Our second target are secondary school teachers for whom we will develop the educational manual.

A network of regional clubs will be run from the Kyiv office. It is planned to organize the network of clubs in Kyiv, Odessa and Lviv. Each city will have its local coordinator. For the training of regional club teams, an explanatory seminar will be organized.

The estimated number of participants will be 50 for each city (e.g. 150 participants of the programme).

The educational manual developed on the base of the club's experience will be distributed among history and civic studies teachers in Ukrainian schools. It is planned to publish 1000 copies of the educational manual.

The acceptance of tolerance and social trust create the basis for the future generations, decisions in the favor of peace, not war, for the benefit of peaceful co-existence, not conflicts. The development of the spirit of tolerance among teenagers, understanding of tolerance as society's primary value will be a significant contribution to the development of democracy in Ukraine .

Young people cannot develop their own attitude and receive knowledge without an understanding of both the intercultural and ethnic areas that form their identity. Intercultural education can facilitate this process.

In the Club of Tolerance, teenagers of national minorities will learn:

to develop self-respect and the ability to respect other persons' dignity;

to understand and to accept the difference of each participant's manifestation within the group interaction;

to develop self –awareness, self-cognition, skills of positive inner dialogue;

to form the positive attitude toward his/her cultural group;

to assert his/her self through the positive feedback from the group;

to use constructive methods of conflict solution,

to develop social imagination, the ability to listen to another person, empathic skills.

to provide intercultural understanding and tolerant behavior in the interethnic relations.

 

Teenagers from different national minorities will meet once a week and will take part in the following activities:

Section “Psychology of tolerance and ethno-psychology”;

Section “Country studies, history of people, religions, personality in history”;

•  Section “Ethno-culture and art crafts”;

•  School for young tutors for the ‘Sources of Tolerance' Camp;

•  Debates – discussion and rhetoric training. It is supposed to engage teenagers not only with cognitive methods, but with visual and creative ones as well. Art sections will deal with the culture of different nations, studying and comparing the national folk elements and symbols:

•  Theater;

•  Singing;

•  Choreography.

The schedule of work: Weekly meetings at the weekend club in different sections (see above); Monthly meeting with interesting people; Monthly walking-tour on the cultural memorials of the nations living in the native city.

The methods of work:

•  Interactive form of teaching;

•  Mini-group work;

•  Case-study;

• Lecture blocks.

Special attention will be given to solving problems in a tolerant way. The club programme will provide also the work with secondary school teachers, who will take part in lessons, meetings and “cultural walking tours” and use the knowledge they received in their teaching.

The project team involves: Professional psychologists; Tutors of the inter-ethnic “Sources of Tolerance” camp; Historians, inter-ethnic relations specialists; Culture studies specialists, teachers of the folk songs, dances, theater. Specialists for sections work will be hired on a short-time basis. The club team will develop an educational manual for teachers on how to deal with minorities and tolerance issues at school. An educational manual will consist of three parts:

1) inter-active lessons of tolerance;

2) historical and cultural information about the national minorities of Ukraine;

3) general documents on human rights.

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