To what extent are we a democratic and inclusive school community?

The school community (teachers, administration, students, parents) assess to what extent they are ready to welcome
and include refugee students.

The activity is based on the exploration through a questionnaire of the school’s culture and the actions it has taken so far in relation to inclusion. The questionnaire is based on the theory of the Whole School Approach and the Council of Europe’s Framework for Reference on Competences for Democratic Culture (2018). The indicators and their reference to specific issues and ideas are very helpful in planning activities for an inclusive school community.

Steps

  1. Set up a coordination group of 5-7 people, including the administration (1), teachers (2), students (1-2) and parents (1-2). The representative of the administration will be the coordinator. It is advisable to start with an open invitation stating the purpose of the group: to assess to what extent our community works democratically and inclusively to welcome refugee children. It is important to include representatives of all groups in the school community.
  2. The group is formed and sets a day to meet to work together. It is made clear to everyone that the administration has a coordinating role, while the others are equal participants.
  3. A group workshop is organized. It is suggested to give a short introduction to the questionnaire and the theories on which it is based: the Whole School Approach and the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (2018). When the participants have completed the questionnaire, they discuss it together and proceed to agree on the indicators one by one. It is important that everyone’s answers are heard first, in order to share different perspectives and exchange information in a climate of respect and cooperation.
  4. After this, the participants decide what actions and activities they need to undertake as a school community for a democratic and inclusive school, taking into account the indicators they need to improve. In which of the three areas/pillars do they need to act, and to what extent, in order to achieve the inclusion of refugee children? It is useful to choose the desired degree of activation (moderate, high-priority, etc.) in each.

Evaluation

Reflective circle at the end of the workshop, with responses from all group members about: How did we feel as a group working together for the common purpose of welcoming and including refugee children? Did we feel safe to express our opinion and evaluate our actions and activities? Now that we know what we need to improve, can we together organize joint actions to upgrade the school in relation to inclusion and democratic culture? (A suggestion is to proceed with Activity: Creation of an Action Plan). The trainer creates a short questionnaire to evaluate the activity based on the expected learning outcomes, to be given to all at the end of the workshop.

TO-WHAT-EXTENT-ARE-WE-A-DEMOCRATIC-SCHOOLDownload
QUESTIONNAIRE_TO-WHAT-EXTEND-ARE-WE-A-DEMOCRATICDownload

Duration: 2 weeks

Materials:

  1. PowerPoint presentation of the questionnaire theory.
  2. computer
  3. projector
  4. questionnaire: copies for all team members and an additional one to be completed by the team (attached below).

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More activities of the “Before” category

Exploring students’ perceptions of the school atmosphere in relation to inclusion

At the initiative of a group of teachers, the perceptions of the school’s students about the climate of their school in
relation to inclusion are investigated. The aim is to identify the students’ experience when the school will receive
refugee students.

The butterfly of inclusion

School administration and teachers, after familiarizing themselves with the content of the Competences for
Democratic Culture model, and having tested it on issues of concern to their school, use it with parents and
refugee students.

The butterfly

School administration and teachers are getting acquainted with the content of the ‘‘Competences for Democratic Culture’’ model (Council of Europe, 2018) and are testing it on issues that concern their school.

Creating the right atmosphere

Preparation, awareness-raising, and information activities for the reception of refugees. The activities are organized
by the school and aimed at teachers, parents (local and refugee) and relevant stakeholders and members of the local
community.

The democratic school

Members of the school community (administration, teachers, parents) connect personal school experiences with democratic values and build a model of a democratic school based on their suggestions.

I participate-Do you?

The teachers identify the different levels of their own and their students’ participation based on the UNICEF scale “Children’s participation, from tokenism to citizenship” linking them experientially to the educational practice in order to reflect on their personal participation in the inclusion of refugee children in their school.