WHO WE ARE
Our institute, the LICEO STATALE MARIE CURIE from Giulianova, TE, lacks a strong tradition of inclusive teaching, but with the arrival of BES students (mainly of foreign origin and / or coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds) the teaching team has felt the need for an education based on tolerance, respect for diversity and active citizenship. During the first year 10 teachers have been selected to follow a course on inclusion at NEW HORIZONS in Malta.
PRO.D.I.T. represents an answer to the need of the teaching staff for a deeper dialogue with any type of BES students and aims to strengthen the following areas:
1) STAFF SKILLS
The personal commitment and training of school managers and teachers to an ETHOS OF DIVERSITY is fundamental to develop such ethos across all school operators, so as to move from a traditional monocultural education to new attitudes that better connect our young students to the society that changes around them (in our city, although only 25,000 inhabitants, social, cultural, ethnic, religious and gender differences are increasingly evident). Elements of intercultural education and second language acquisition should be integrated into all stages of teacher development and the present project may be the first step for our institute towards "Continuous Professional Development" (CPD) required by the Union.
2) INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGIES
School policies that encourage dialogue and ethnic mixing create the conditions for intercultural cooperation; however, simply bringing together physically students from different socio-cultural backgrounds is not enough to reduce prejudice and develop positive intercultural relationships. This is why we need our staff to be trained "in the field" on the most effective ways to create an inclusive school environment that promotes pro-social behaviour (based on cooperative and project-based learning, service learning and peer education, BYOM other more motivating and engaging methodologies).
3) LANGUAGE SKILLS
More and more foreign students are arriving in our institute without knowing the Italian language, but they speak English as a second language (although the level can vary from very low to very good). We therefore need competent teachers in the use of English as a vehicular language: not only the general preparatory course and the specific language course that will be followed abroad (mostly based on a communicative approach) but mobility itself can be seen as a means to improve teachers' skills in L2.