Conclusions
The acquisition of intercultural competences cannot start early enough, as it is very important that our children condemn all forms of discrimination, and the only way to do this is through education. That is why I am particularly pleased that the new curriculum allows pupils to start learning this competence at primary school age. A quality education that promotes tolerance, acceptance and respect enables everyone to participate actively, to be civically engaged and to prevent discrimination in education. The authorities, NGOs and public institutions must make intercultural dialogue and inclusive education an important factor. It is important to encourage students to value social and cultural diversity and to treat it as a positive and not as a negative. Enhancing intercultural understanding and better access to cultural heritage should also be a priority. In this respect, the emphasis will be on learning about and respecting the cultural heritage of others.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this paper, I also teach the subject of intercultural education at the Petőfi Sándor Liceum in Székelyhíd. I have had the privilege to teach the above-mentioned subject since its introduction. The new subjects have been introduced from 2017 onwards, Critical Thinking and Children’s Rights for Vth graders, Intercultural Education for VIth graders, Democratic Citizenship Education for VIIth graders and finally Economic-Financial Education for VIIIth graders.
In fact, these subjects were challenging for both teacher and student, but I can say with conviction that they are interesting and useful.
I would like to share here some of my experiences with the intercultural education introduced in class VI. At first sight, this seemed to me perhaps the most difficult, as I thought that it dealt with topics that were difficult for children to understand. But in fact, I found that children were eager to engage in discussions about difference, cultural diversity and heritage. They prepared with great enthusiasm to present the specificities of a particular ethnic group.
At the end of the school year, I prepared a questionnaire in which they had to answer the following questions:
- How did you feel during the intercultural education lessons?
- What did you learn about yourselves?
- What did you learn about the topics covered during the activities?
- What was the most interesting thing you learned?
- How can you use what you have learned in the future?
Without exception, everyone gave a positive answer to the first question, saying that they enjoyed the lessons and found them interesting.
The second question, about what they had learned about themselves, was answered in an interesting and varied way. Some said that they learned about their rights and wrongs, learned not to be hostile to others, learned to respect themselves, learned how to adapt to others. Many, for example, said that they had realised that they should not be judged by appearances.
In the third question, most of them mentioned respect, acceptance and appreciation.
In the fourth question, they listed the topics they had learned in class: cultural identity, cultural diversity and perhaps the topic that received the most votes was intercultural communication.
In the last question, I wanted to know what they thought about where they would be able to use the knowledge they had acquired, and in what area of life. I was pleased to see that, in addition to the answer “in all areas of life”, concrete examples were given, “I can use it in my everyday life in my interactions and communications with people, whether at school, on the street, shopping, travelling, etc.”.
I think that this subject is a good start to teach our students how to become responsible, autonomous, decisive citizens, how to develop their social and moral awareness. Acquiring all these competences will help them to develop as individuals.