End of Visit Report - Intercultural Integration and the Role of Trainers

Madrid, Spain - June 2008madrid classroom

Course Description: “Countries receiving immigrants have an increased need for including in their education and training systems the materials and pedagogical tools that help to sensitize, especially the young people, to cultural diversity. Education centres and teachers, in cooperation with other sectors, can be very effective in promoting equal opportunities, avoiding discrimination and in creating the foundations for a better integration in the new countries.”

The study visit, organised by the State Pubic Employment Service (SPEE), in Madrid, provided opportunities for participants to discuss the issues surrounding immigration and the integration of immigrants and to share experiences and good practice of the role of education and training in supporting this. Verbal descriptions of the situation in Spain were reinforced by visits to a variety of organisations where first hand experience and examples of how they responded to the issues related to immigration and integration was gained.

madrid groupThe participants, who were representatives of public authorities (national, regional, local), headteachers and teachers from education centres and training institutions from 10 different European countries, gathered in Madrid to discuss and share information about these issues.

Photo participants:
Left to right: Lidia Merlo, Borghild Drejer, Simonetta Leonardi, Kurt-Olov Sjöström, Liz Thomas, Elina Kumpina, Inna Pusikova, Malgorzata Sowicka, (Headteacher) Metka Malčič, Carolina Borrajo Villaverde (SPEE), Katalin Széles, Päivi Mäki, Malgorzata Wrotkowska

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