Starting in September 2002 RCEDC is taking an active part in the
realization of the "Agreement" project with support of
the Open Society
Institute.
The "Agreement" project is a complex program directed towards reducing the
inter-ethnical stress in the schools of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region.
The main goal of our project is to create a supporting infrastructure which
would help to develop mutual understanding between the children of immigrants
(and therefore their parents) and the local communities forming around the
schools (children, teachers, parents, non-government organizations) in
Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad region, and also integration into the school
curriculum of a training program that encourages a favourable psychological
climate and open discussion of problems.
Russia is inhabited by the representatives of different nationalities and
religions who enjoy the same civil rights and freedoms including the right to
maintain and develop their own cultures and to profess different religious
beliefs.
During the last decade (after breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991) a
considerable migration has resulted in an increase of representatives of the
different nations of former USSR in Russian cities, especially in Moscow and
Saint Petersburg. To some extent this migration is a good influence for the
social, economic and political situation, moderating the consequences of the
demographic crisis of the European part of Russia, but also to some extent it
is the source of tension, particularly in the majority of Saint-Petersburg
high schools.
On the one hand, it changes the habitual surroundings for the local children
and sometimes they are aggressive towards this. On the other hand the
newcomers often require support in order to overcome the challenges caused by
changing their place of residence and also of the cultural and language
barriers. (The language barrier is sometimes very serious, it is known, for
example, that among the Armenians, recently arrived in Moscow, only 1/3 speak
Russian fluently).
According to the experience of our work in the schools of Saint Petersburg and
Leningrad region new ethnic situation provokes some students, their parents
and even teachers to manifest intolerance towards the newcomers. There are
even some cases of racists slogans on the school walls.
The "Agreement" project is a participatory action research directed towards
creation of new methods and means for training tolerance and multiculturalism.
In the course of the project we will form a research group of teachers
directed by the American psychologist Charles Heberle III. The aim of this
group is to modify his methodology in order to adapt it for solution of
problems of inter-ethnical interaction, really existing in Saint Petersburg
schools, and also for formation of a favourable psychological climate.
This adaptation is possible only through active interaction with the students
and with their perceptions. The project also provide for national handicraft
circles, where the "locals" and "newcomers" will participate together, and the
organization of school festivals devoted to different national cultures.
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