3/18/2005 - Roberto Ruffino Addresses Comenius Agency Meeting
Roberto Ruffino, the Secretary General of Intercultura in Italy, concluded a successful presentation to more than 35 EU nationally based agencies that are responsible for implementing an important new €13.6 billion program. He addressed the audience gathered for a one-day meeting of the Comenius Agencies on February 22, 2005.
Comenius, an agency of the European Union, is charged with enhancing the quality and reinforcing the European dimension of school education, in particular by encouraging transnational cooperation between schools, contributing to the improved professional development of staff directly involved in the education sector, and promoting the learning of languages and intercultural awareness.
The one-day meeting focused primarily on Comenius’ plans to address the needs of primary and secondary schools and to fund the mobility of school pupils within Europe. It was within this context that Mr. Ruffino represented the European Federation for Intercultural Learning (EFIL) as an expert in the field of intercultural school exchanges for European youth. In a brilliantly executed speech Mr. Ruffino firmly positioned EFIL as a contributor of long-standing and an active agent in the field of educational organization concerned with the pedagogy and outcome of intercultural youth exchanges. His speech clearly outlined EFIL’s and AFS’s worldwide network involvement in pupil mobility and in areas of convergence with the EU agencies such as:
•EFIL’s historical cooperation with the European Union’s educational projects since 1974.
•AFS/EFIL expertise in developing and deploying evaluations systems and compiling empirical research designed to assess specific learning that occurs while on an exchange program in areas such as: foreign language acquisition; communications skills; social skills; increased ability for independent study, public speaking; human development, intercultural sensitivity; world affairs interest and citizenship.
•EFIL’s 1975 initiative conducting the “first exchange of young workers” that later led to the establishment of PETRA and LEONARDO.
•EFIL’s 1980-81 extensive study on different types of educational exchanges in Europe (Fifteen Studies on Youth Mobility in Europe).
•A recent survey on “Mobility of Secondary School Pupils and Recognition of Study Period Spent Abroad” (2003).
Mr. Ruffino presented AFS/ EFIL’s recommendations regarding upper secondary student mobility and he submitted his recommendations based on AFS/EFIL experiences which are summarized below:
•Host families and out of school counselors have been the keys to a successful integration of a foreign pupil in the community.
•Upholding the AFS/EFIL host family tradition in which the hosts are found by volunteers who interview potential host families and prepare information designed to enable national staff to do successful matching of student and hosts. AFS/EFIL supports current thinking of not paying hosts as pupils should expect to become members of the family – not guests or economic agents.
•Support structures designed around Counselors, tutors and mentors. AFS/EFIL policy is to have a tutor at school for academic issues and a counselor outside of the school for all other needs.
•Pre-departure training and orientation: Pupils receive an intercultural orientation in their hometown by trained local volunteers and they receive last minute orientation at the time of departure
•Issues remaining to be worked out with the recognition of study abroad by secondary schools and the need for the EU Commission to provide funding in those cases in which schools validate the exchange experience.
•Funding the most relevant costs connected with mobility programs which are those associated with the well-being of the pupils abroad: preparation and orientation before departure, post-arrival orientation, language training, counseling, school books and equipment, local transportation to and from school, school meals, evaluation sessions during the year, end of year assessment and preparation for returning home.
•Clear understanding of the legal aspects associated with mobility programs.
•The need for more widely disseminated and understood information regarding individual student mobility.
Alan Smith, the acting head of Comenius, warmly and appreciatively welcomed Mr. Ruffino’s remarks and offered him the opportunity to answer any and all of the agencies misgivings about the implementation of the new initiative. Additionally, Alan Smith was very vocal in his wish to have AFS/EFIL be included in the implementation of the EU’s agency program and expressed eagerness in becoming more involved in EFIL activities in Europe. The presentation resulted in a new understanding of the value of AFS/EFIL experience and in its integration with the larger concerns of the European Union.
For an outline of the presentation given by Roberto Ruffino to the National Agencies please link to the document titled:
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