Address: Poti, # 3 Zambakhidze street

Country: Georgia

 School website

Project: I, YOU, HE, SHE-WE

Working language during the project:

• Georgian
• English
   

Themes of the Council of Europe project “Free to Speak, Safe to Learn - Democratic Schools for All” covered:

• Making children’s and students’ voices heard
• Preventing violence and bullying
• Tackling discrimination
• Improving well-being at school
   

Competences from the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) addressed and where / how they were integrated:

• Valuing cultural diversity
  Students developed literature independently; Multi-ethnic Georgia. They became acquainted with the traditions and culture of ethnic groups and studied their participation in the general culture of the state.
• Civic-mindedness
  The students involved in the project made comics, the main message of which was that ethnic diversity is one of the strong features of the state. In this context, they raised civic-mindedness.
• Analytical and critical thinking skills
  While working on the multi-ethnic cultural environment preparing the presentation materials, the students analysed the presented information about different ethnocultures, processed the retrieved information and drew their own conclusions.
   

Target group age range:

• 11 - 15 
• 15 - 19

Level of education:

• Lower secondary education
• Upper secondary education
   

Short description of the project:

Georgia is a multi-ethnic state that has coexisted between different cultures for centuries. Our country has always been distinguished by cultural tolerance. In this direction, a short-term educational project called “I,YOU,HE,SHE-WE” was planned and implemented by Ivane Javakhishvili Poti Public School N 3.

Basic and intermediate level students were involved in the project. The theme was developed within the project; Cultural diversity and human rights. The departments of Georgian language and literature, social sciences and aesthetic education actively participated in the school project. The students involved in the project processed the reading material. Within the framework of the project "Multi-ethnic and Multicultural Georgia", the 7th grade students of the basic level were divided into the following groups: Abkhazians and Georgia, Ossetians and Georgia, Armenians and Georgia, Azerbaijanis and Georgia, Jews and Georgia, Greeks and Georgia, Avars and Georgia, Vainakhs and Georgia, Kurds and Georgia. In parallel, the students prepared presentation material on the term and definition of ethnic minorities. The aim of the focus groups was to study the participation of ethnic groups in Georgian culture, literature and history. The following disciplines were integrated in the project: Georgian, art, music, citizenship. Students developed thematic material. The cultural characteristics and traditions of each ethnic group were studied. They expressed their complicity before the Georgian state and prepared various presentations.

Each group studied and identified the dialectal forms, songs, or traditions characteristic of the cultural group and discussed the cultural achievements of each group before the state. Special tradition, folklore - dance - song, writers, public figures. At the next stage, the students involved in the project created comics with the participation of characters (costumes, names) characteristic of ethnic groups and outlined the participation of their ethnic group in the comics from the general culture. Electronic versions of comics were also created at the same time.

In the final stage, the students involved in the project organized an online conference, invited representatives of the youth council of the local self-government council, representatives of the school self-government and heads of departments. At the online meeting, the students presented the created comics. With the involvement of the school self-government and members of the local municipality youth organisation, it was planned to find stories about the existence of different ethnic groups in the city of Poti; Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies. The students involved in the project, with the help of members of the local municipality youth organisation, planned a joint concert / poetry evening where schoolchildren would present works of art from different ethnic groups; Songs, dances, poems.

Products created within the project; Comics, presentations, video addresses - posted on the school social network.
 

Aims/objectives

• Establish a positive attitude and tolerance towards cultural diversity in school culture.
• Recognition of the cultural characteristics of different ethnic groups
• Raising civic self-awareness
   

Expected results/outcomes

Through collaboration, students explored the cultural characteristics of different ethnic groups, valued and recognized the historical contribution to the common culture.
 

Changes

• Identify and recognize common characteristics of multi-ethnic culture by school students at the level of democratic characteristics of the state.
• Elements of non-formal education have been established in the school culture
   

Challenges you faced

• Low technological skills
• Fostering motivation and strong involvement of students, due to the pandemic
• Collaboration between lower secondary education and upper secondary education
   

Time-frame of the project:

The project was completed in two months.
 

Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:

• Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
• Living Democracy - manuals for teachers
• Democratic governance of schools
• Other:  "Multiethnic and Multicultural Georgia"