Migratory Musics Erasmus Project

Project Title

Migratory Musics

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Integration of refugees; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Communication in the mother tongue” is one of the European Union’s key competences for lifelong learning. The migration crisis in Europe is bringing new students to schools, especially allophone children, who do not speak the language of their teachers. They are helpless in this situation due to a lack of training, translation and knowledge of migratory movements. This problem is of concern to municipalities that wish to develop reception policies adapted to these forms of migration, which are not comparable to previous ones (number of migrants, countries concerned, length of journeys, repeated tragedies, legislative and political tightening…).

In this context, the link between mothers and their children in these migratory routes is an essential element in strengthening the chances of successful reception. The Migratory Musics project builds on this link, which is expressed notably through song, to innovate in the local reception policies implemented in Europe, in schools and in the city.

This project was initiated by the Rocher de Palmer, a cultural establishment located in the priority districts of the City of Cenon and the Municipality of Bègles. In these two municipalities (among others), an action has been taken to promote the mother tongue of primary school pupils (6-10 years old) using songs, nursery rhymes and lullabies from their countries of origin. Teachers and artists have developed an educational programme involving children, their mothers, authors and musicians in order to rediscover childhood songs, an element of everyone’s cultural heritage. This program is currently being implemented in about ten schools in the Bordeaux metropolitan area. Beyond the fundamental role played by Mothers in their children’s learning processes, this experience reveals a set of skills developed by Mothers themselves, to be validated and valued in terms of social and professional integration.

The Migratory Musics project was initiated to formalize this process, to develop it on a European scale by confronting it with different contexts. As the migration crisis is a European issue, the responses to be provided in terms of reception must necessarily be on this scale. The Migratory Musics project brings together partners from Brussels (BE), Bègles (FR) and Thessaloniki (GR): local authorities, schools, social integration professionals and cultural operators. In the 3 territories concerned, this project has a strong cross-sectoral dimension because the audiences impacted are migrant children and women (86 children – 24 migrant families) and teachers.

Over a period of two years, the Migratory Musics project has enabled the experimentation of an educational system, designed with the pedagogical teams, based on “know-how exchange” workshops between mothers, children and professionals (from the education, cultural and social sectors). Innovative pedagogical tools have been developed (in 3 languages, English, French and Greek) to be distributed to teachers in Europe. They take the form of a disc book, podcasts and documentaries, a communication guide and a MOOC developed “in vivo” and presented in the form of educational and sound creations (broadcast by platforms, radios and web radios associated with the project). At the end of the project, teachers had methodologies and tools to better communicate and cooperate with allophone migrant mothers and children. These intellectual productions have been disseminated in 4 types of networks:
– European education networks, proposed in particular by the EU and the Erasmus + programme
– European cultural networks: LIKE, IETM, ENCC, ENCACT, Culture Action Europe, On The Move
– networks of local authorities
– European networks for active social inclusion on the integration of migrants in Europe

4 dissemination events were organized, in the 3 countries and one on radio waves, in order to strengthen the ownership of the project. 3 training sessions for the teachers involved have also been set up on the following themes: valuing the mother tongues of migrant children in socio-educational projects, cooperating with migrant mothers on the integration of their child and carrying out projects highlighting migrant children and their families. Evaluated by specialists in education (ESPE, teacher training) and transcultural mediation (MANA clinic, with Ecole des Femmes), the tools developed concerned more than 6,000 education professionals in the second year of the project and thus fostered the integration of families.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 250675 Eur

Project Coordinator

MUSIQUES DE NUIT DIFFUSION ASSOCIATION & Country: FR

Project Partners

• INSUP FORMATION
• le LABA
• Centre Culturel Bruxelles Nord – Maison de la création
• COMMUNE DE BEGLES
• Ecole Fondamentale de l’Athénée Royal Bruxelles 2
• Synkoino Coop
• KINONIKES SINETERISTIKES DRASTIRIOTITES EFPATHON OMADON