Centre for Civic Education (CCE) organized today a training for 23 teachers of social science subjects on modern methods of teaching multiculturalism and interculturalism with the aim of empowering teachers in accepting and promoting diversity, human rights and building intercultural competences among students. The training was conducted within the project “Embrace Diversity, Empower Minds”, which CCE is implementing with the financial support of the Embassy of Canada.
“Understanding multiculturalism and interculturalism is the basis for the development of educational policies for social subjects in Montenegro. Without a thorough understanding of social advantages and challenges, as well as the development of a vision of multiculturalism and interculturalism, it is impossible to create far-reaching sustainable educational policies. Today’s training provides an opportunity for teachers to become better acquainted with the theoretical evolution of these two social aspects and raises the question of the obvious need and applicability of certain norms in Montenegro. Additionally, it provides the opportunity to learn a new concept of creating topics and activities for teaching in all areas that can be related to multiculturalism in our country. Based on those conclusions and through the new concept of lesson creation, the training aims to motivate teachers to deal more often with topics from the multicultural past and present of Montenegro,” said Miloš Vukanović, historian and coordinator of EuroClio for Montenegro, who led the training.
Building intercultural competences among young people is of paramount importance for shaping a healthy multicultural society, especially considering the number of foreigners who have recently settled in Montenegro. Also, schools are recognized as institutions where young people encounter different cultures and nations for the first time, and this is especially pronounced for children who come from smaller communities.
“This kind of education is necessary, especially for teachers of social science subjects. Professionally and interestingly presented topic, expertly led seminar with a dynamic approach of the lecturer. Carefully selected facts, an easy and simple programme, comprehensible and applicable,” were impressions of Tamara Damjanović, a teacher of Montenegrin-Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian language and literature at Elementary School “Oktoih” Podgorica.
“We have never talked about tolerance, multiculturalism and interculturality in our society like today, and that horizons are still narrow and insurmountable. Therefore, there should be more such topics and seminars, because this topic must be represented in all phases of social life. The topics are very sensitive, and if they are opened and we get into them a little, we only then become aware of how little and limited we get into their contents. We need to build a society without prejudices and borders, and in order to achieve that we have to work hard on ourselves. Everything starts from there,” stated Jasmina Ličina, a teacher of history and geography at Elementary School “Božidar Vuković Podgoričanin” and at the “Mehmed Fatih” in Medresa.Top of FormBottom of Form
“During the training, we presented ideas, exchanged experiences and created a scenario for the class related to the topic of the same name. Everything we did in the training is applicable in the teaching process, both in elementary and high school”, concluded Amer Murić, a primary school teacher at Elementary School “Mahmut Lekić” in Tuzi.
Maja Marinović, Programme Associate