Self-identification in a multi-ethnic surroundings as a resource of ethnic tolerance Erasmus Project

Project Title

Self-identification in a multi-ethnic surroundings as a resource of ethnic tolerance

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Creativity and culture; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

The project “Self-identification in multi-ethnic surroundings as a source of ethnic tolerance” arose at the request of the future final beneficiary.
Methodological center for Slovaks Living Abroad at Matej Bel University has been working for more than 25 years. During its activities, this center has been educating several generations of teachers and pupils from Slovak minority environments. On the basis of a very active annual cooperation with representatives of Slovak minorities abroad, it was possible to specify the final objectives of the project so that they meet exactly the requirements that have been demanded for many years now and by representatives of Slovak minorities abroad.

The aim of this project is to create a specific and innovative form of didactic material that will meet several goals:
– didactic material will include the possibilities of variable addition of specific examples to be up-to-date in each of the minority surroundings, taking into account its specific conditions and needs. In this way we solve one of the problems of the existing didactic materials, which were created together for all minorities and did not respect the specificity of the conditions and thus the needs of these environments.
– didactic material will be focused on those elements of Slovak culture in a minority surroundings that will contribute to the self-identification of its individual members, with an emphasis on positive perception of otherness, which will result in an increased degree of mutual tolerance in multi-ethnic surroundings. In order to create the final didactic material, a specific technical topic will be identified in each partner country, which will serve to create the ultimate goal. In the surroundings of Slovaks in Romania, this means Slovak folk song, in the surroundings of Slovaks in Serbia it will study the specifics of Slovak dialects, which in individual minority surroundings recorded their own influences and in the surroundings of Slovaks living in Croatia, we prepare scenic forms of presentation of Slovak culture, which serve as significant motivational factor for self-identification in a multi-ethnic surroundings.
– didactic material will be available for use by all the Slovak minorities in Europe and overseas, ie beyond the project partner countries.

The coordinator and guarantor of professional activities in the course of the project is Matej Bel University and its team of experts with extensive experience in research and educational activities for the Slovak minorities abroad. The actual implementation of the project activities will mean mutual enrichment of partners – from Slovakia to the surroundings of minorities, we will pass on a knowledge database, which is also intended for Slovaks living abroad, but to which of minorities abroad do not have access. Experts from partner countries will pass on to Slovakia information about the diversity and specificity of each of the surroundings in which Slovak minorities have lived for more than 300 years – depending on the natural contact with the majority population, but usually also with the multi-ethnic surroundings of their communities, resulting from development in the Balkans.

In the course of the project, we carry out workshops in each of the countries of the project with the aim of getting to know each other and transferring professional information. It is one of the important elements for their better knowledge of the presence of Slovak minorities abroad.
An important part of the project activities will be training and educational events. In the initial phase of the project, they will aim to complement important information and resources for the correct setting of project results. In the final phase of the project, another educational and training event will be implemented, the aim of which will be the verification and testing of the final form of the final didactic material in order to reflect the conditions and needs of all final beneficiaries.
During the implementation of the project, we will also use a questionnaire survey to address a wider group of teachers and educators of Slovak schools and cultural centers in minority surroundings of partner countries. We will use the working contacts of the UMB Methodological Center for Slovaks living abroad, as well as the publication of interim results and questionnaires on the website. At the end of the project, we implement a multiplication conference.

The resulting didactic material will have a direct impact on the quality of education in the Slovak diasporas, across generations. The benefit will be a qualitative shift in the positive understanding of the uniqueness of the differences between the Slovak diasporas. It will be made available on partner organizations’ websites – even after the project has ended. It is this possibility of free access to didactic materials for everybody interested in the Slovak minorities in Europe and overseas was an initial impulse for the project.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 124350 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERZITA MATEJA BELA V BANSKEJ BYSTRICI & Country: SK

Project Partners

• Slovacki centar za kulturu Nasice
• UNIVERZITET U NOVOM SADU
• Liceul Teoretic “Jozef Kozacek”