AFS Czech Republic has decided to broaden its horizons by developing a new ICL project for a special group of young people: students of vocational high schools. The project, called Stereotypes in us – Intercultural and Experiential Learning for Tolerance, was developed by AFS with two other Czech non-governmental organizations: Multicultural Center Prague (- http://www.mkc.cz/en) and INEX – Association for Voluntary Activities (http://inexsda.cz/en).
AFS wanted to engage a different group of young people other than the participants and volunteers than typically attend secondary school. We were aware that Czech vocational high schools do not offer a great deal of ICL and their students tend to develop stereotypes and prejudice around other cultures. The main aim of the project is to prevent xenophobia and racism among students through ICL, using various interactive methods. We offer different activities for students as well as for their teachers.
The main offerings include a 90 minute Intercultural Workshop and three 90 minute Intercultural Workshop Classes where the students talk about differences among cultures, think about their own personal values, or discuss the role of media in our lives. The project also offers out-of-school activities: a 3-day Mini-Workcamp and an Experience Course. The Mini-Workcamp is voluntary work on a local project for 10 hours together with different intercultural activities, whereas the Experience course focuses on teambuilding games to make the participants think about themselves and their role in a multicultural group. All these activities are led by experienced trainers, including AFS volunteers, and accompanied by foreigners living in the Czech Republic, which brings the students face to face with different cultures. We occasionally invite our hosted AFS students too so that they can experience and learn something new as well. Finally, we also offer a Teacher’s Workshop which is a one-day event with time built in for sharing best practices and presenting ICL topics within this project.
The project, begun in June 2010, will continue until May 2013. It is funded through the Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The programme mediates funding from the European Social Fund, one of the structural funds of the European Union, in the programming period 2007-2013. The total funding was over half a million euros, covering all project-related expenses.
Stereotypes in Us looks to the long-term and has multiple connected pieces. We are happy to share the AFS vision in additional places and offer new perspectives to young people. Learn more at: http://stereotypek.mkc.cz/
Karolína Kouslová, Educational Program Coordinator, AFS Czech Republic