WE and 'the others'

Cooperation between high school students and teachers from multiethnic communities in Serbia

The goal of the project was to raise the level of knowledge and develop capacities of high schools in multiethnic communities in Serbia in multicultural education and interethnic cooperation (through work with teachers and students).

Towns where the research was carried out were: Kovačica, Preševo, Novi Pazar, Bački Petrovac, Bosilegrad. The education camp was held in Kanjiža Spa. As a direct target group the project involved 10 teachers (2 from each 5 towns) and 50 students (10 from each 5 towns). As associates in preparations during researching local history (in the first phase of the project) and during preparations for final presentation (the final phase of the project), the students were supported by professionals from local cultural institutions, teachers, students, parents (at least 100 persons).

At least 1,000 persons in total were present at the presentations. All the presentations were covered by the media (local TV and radio stations and local newspapers), and thus the information on the project reached considerably more people.

The following steps of the project were established:

- In the first step, teachers received education on researching local history using the methodology of everyday life history, and how to present the results of the research to the local community;

- Upon returning to their towns and schools, the teachers gathered groups of interested students (at least 10 students in each school) and coordinated research of everyday life in the local community;

- At the summer five-day camp, Kanjiža Spa, June 24-29, participants presented the results of their research and jointly created a plan to promote the project results and values – in their schools and towns. At the camp, participants were also trained to create future presentations from a specific and interesting perspective;

- Upon returning to their towns, the students prepared and realised promotions of the project results and messages. Two promotions had to be held after the formal end of the project (October 15, 2007): in Preševo – due to the Muslim holiday Bajram the promotion was postponed for October 18 and in Novi Pazar – students excursion postponed the promotion for October 23.

This project was supported by the OSCE Mission in Belgrade.

Education of teachers

The seminar within the project We and the Others, as the first activity, was held in Belgrade, the Kasina Hotel, April 20-22. Participants were 10 high school teachers, 2 from each multiethnic community: Bosilegrad, Novi Pazar, Bački Petrovac, Preševo, Kovačica. The seminar was opened by Miodrag Shrestha, Group 484 Executive Director and Marija Rudić from OSCE.

With this seminar, we started the realisation of the project We and the Others, its main elements being: education of teachers (seminar) for the role of mentors in small research actions in multiethnic communities, training of high school students in presenting research results in the local community (summer camp) and presentation of research results of local religious and other customs in Bosilegrad, Preševo, Novi Pazar, Bački Petrovac and Kovačica.

The seminar for teachers was realised according to the planned agenda with the engagement of four facilitators: with the facilitators, the participants went through all stages of the future work in the project: how to form research groups, how to monitor and stimulate the work of students related to researching local history, how to organise promotion of research results through exhibitions, public events and in electronic form as well.

As accompanying contents of the regular seminar activities, we organised a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Arts.

The teachers accepted the task of forming groups that would be researching local history from the perspective of multiculturalism. The groups comprised of high school students who had already participated in previous phases of the OSCE project Study tour to Belgrade for students and teachers from multiethnic communities in Serbia, as well as of other interested students.

The evaluation was carried out with the questionnaires provided by the Ministry of Education – considering that the project had been submitted to the Commission for Accreditation of Programmes for Professional Training of Teachers of the Institute for Promotion of Education and if the project was accredited for the year 2007-2008, the teachers who participated in the work of this seminar would gain number of points necessary for the so-called teacher's licence.

Researching local history from the perspective of interethnic connection

Upon returning to their schools and towns, teachers formed research groups of youth (some of them had attended interethnic meetings in Belgrade during the project realisation: Educational Visits to Belgrade..., Fund for Political Excellency and OSCE, 2006). Groups selected research topics, general framework having multiethnic context of five towns and this project. The groups worked during May and June.

Although it was the end of school year when students generally have less time for demanding extracurricular activities, they worked very hard, (results were visible at the Camp), which was an indicator of high motivation for participation in activiites of this type. Particularly important is the fact that during their research work, they cooperated with cultural institutions and interesting individuals in their communities, realising mutually good quality contacts in that communication.

Each interview with elderly persons, focused on their competences (social engagement, local history, local theatre, local customs and ordinary life in the past) was recognised as attention and care of a new generation for them and the topic they were dealing with. On the other hand, it was an interesting experience for the youth in the project: they heard and learnt (and most importantly, they were stimulated to think) about the life of their town from a another perspective.

Education of students

On June 24-29, we realised the camp in Kanjiža Spa, the Aquapanon Hotel, where the youth from all five towns participated.

- learn more about the camp in Kanjiža -

Presentations

The presentations confirmed the impression we had during the entire project: that the participants cared very much for the project, that it was very important for them and that they accepted their obligations very seriously. We believe we have succeeded, wherever the presentations were a mixture of old and new, research and artistic (performance) moments. They all adopted the main multiethnic component and thus the success of the project was never questioned, on the contrary.

Regarding the programme at the presentations, all the elements that remained purely ethnographic and folklore – were the illustration of local understanding of the ethnic and interethnic issue. As a team realising the project, we tried to incorporate the spirit of the present and sensibility of new generations into the local forms and contents, making them unusual in respect to local habits, humorous, provocative, generating attention of both participants and audience in a specific way. In our opinion, we have more or less succeeded in that.

All the presentations were exceptionally meticulously and well prepared. They were all very important events for the school (attended by Principal, teachers, students), and people in the local community.

- for more information on each presentation, just click on the name of town on the left -