WELCOMM: COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR INTEGRATION OF MIGRANTS

SUMMARY

“WelComm: Communication Skills for Integration of Migrants” aims at raising awareness of the importance of education for social inclusion of migrants from early age and promoting opportunities for equal start in education.

Migration and intra EU mobility remains a key topic in public and political debates across Europe focusing on economic immigration, irregular migrants and the integration of newcomers. Many migrants are not fully integrated, some not at all, and they often face poverty, socio-cultural exclusion and various forms of discrimination. Moreover, the existing language and cultural barriers prevent migrants from receiving the necessary quality of services and equal opportunities in comparison to the receiving communities and they tend to become more and more capsulated within their local communities. One of the most vulnerable groups are migrant children who don’t speak the host language. Early childhood education can help facilitate the integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream schools and ensure greater access for children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Objectives:

– Providing opportunities for equal start in education for migrant children in pre-primary and primary school age.

– Raising awareness of the importance of education for social inclusion from early age among migrant parents.

– Developing innovative tools for non-formal language learning and thus improving the capacities of migrant organisations and language educators working with migrants.

– Developing basic communication skills in host country language.

WelComm addresses at the same time migrant families (parents, children), migrant organisations, language educators and volunteers working with migrants. The project partners will set up focus groups with such associated partners from all partner countries and use them throughout the project for needs analysis, development of the main products, feedback, dissemination and impact opportunities. The identified stakeholders will be also involved in training workshops demonstrating the created methods and products and their applicability with the end-users. Events for exploitation of the project outcomes will also serve as a forum for discussion and feedback from the focus groups and use the project outcomes to kick-start a discussion among stakeholders and policy makers on current issues regarding the integration of migrants.

Outcomes:

The development of a Multimedia Learning Kit for Migrant Children which includes fully animated films, language games and comic books creating basic communication skills in the host country language. The partners will elaborate a creative methodology transferable in different contexts and presented as learning activities with personal involvement of learners on the principles of “learning-by-doing”, “knowing-by-playing”. The product will promote inclusive education and basic communication skills in the host country language by targeted innovative and creative language teaching/ learning modules. They will aim at attracting and motivating migrant children to participate in school education, to understand the benefits of learning, and to be actively involved in learning activities.

Demonstrational Training Workshops / Exploitation Seminars / Final Conference.

The main project results include:

– improved quality, attractiveness and accessibility of language learning and education for migrant children.

– improved capacities of migrant organisations with new approaches and motivational boosters for engaging migrants in a process of integration in society.

– created basic knowledge of the language and culture of the host country through effective language tools improving migrants’ communication skills and competences.

– effective methodologies and good practices for integration of migrants collected from 6 European countries and beyond.

– information about the benefits and opportunities offered by language learning and education for better integration in society.

– continuous intercultural dialogue not only providing migrants with information on the cultural specifics of the receiving country but also giving them the opportunity to promote their own culture.

Website of the projecthttp://www.welcomm-project.com/

PARTNERSHIP

Pressure Line (The Netherlands)–coordinator

Ku Tu Ltd. (Bulgaria)

IFES (Spain)

FLEP – Formação, Língua e Estudos Portugueses Lda (Portugal)

SYNTHESIS (Cyprus)

Università per Stranieri di Siena (Italy)

Inthecity Project Development (The Netherlands)

EURORESO (Italy)

Project lifetime: September 2014 – August 2016

The project is co-funded by the European Commission within the frames of the Erasmus+
Program – Strategic Partnerships