School for Everyone

Concept

A concept of School for Everyone recognises that each person is an individual with a unique
combination of interests, needs, abilities, temperament and experience. That is the reason why all of
us want to (and need to) learn something different through different ways and means of learning.
We have different incentives for learning, we learn for different purposes.

We understand school as a unique institution where all children (who will lead an independent life in
their adulthood) live together and learn from each other. That kind of school can teach tolerance,
mutual understanding and use diversity in the class for enriching learning. We are convinced that
only in “School for Everyone” can others be deeply understood and mutual respect and tolerance of
differences be built. And that is what we consider as one of the most important tasks of school.

Aims of the project:

The prime aim of the project is to reduce manifestations of intolerance, aggression, bullying, xenophobia, and radicalism in at least 20 upper secondary schools. The project aims to cause deep changes at a whole school level. It works with the needs of specific upper secondary schools (schools with students´ age of 15-18).

The second aim is to equip at least 400 teachers with effective methods of working with heterogeneous groups with emphasis on mutual tolerance in those groups.

Project starts: October 1st 2017
Project ends:   July 31st 2019

Project activities:

1. Minimisation of bullying

This activity consists of 54 hours of educational workshop for teachers and support for implementing system changes to schools´ everyday practice. The program sets up a school system of prevention of every single manifestation of intolerance and aggression.

2. Conflict mediation

Mediation is an effective method of solving conflicts with a help of an intermediary. The use of this method in education is a complete innovation. For this activity we draw experience from the project “Mediation into Schools” which we carry out for the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic.

3. “Facing History” workshop

This workshop offers an original method of education enabling an understanding of historical events in the present context. It supports discussion about the value of human life, dignity of the individual, and about the natural rights of such individuals. Most of the topics are connected with the history of coexistence of Czechs, Jews and Romas in Czech territory in the 20th century.

4. Diversity as an advantage

The aim of this activity is to change teachers´ conviction that diverse groups in the class are a major barrier for effective teaching and learning. The activity is based on a global trend and EU policy. Schools have to react to the increasing diversification of society. We understand diversity as an important, natural and healthy feature of communities (schools, classes). It is a key factor for the development of tolerance, respect and self-knowledge. The 20 training hours for teachers offer constructivist approaches and methods in which the key source for learning is diversity. Part of this activity will be sharing the experiences of participants and individual use of these techniques in practice followed by reflection.

5. Study visits followed by presentations and discussions in schools

Study visits are a perfect form of education - to see and experience is often more effective than to hear thousands of words. Schools abroad are inspirational for Czech teachers because of the school staff´s enthusiasm and belief in school mission, because of the ability to reach concrete educational results and to build democratic, tolerant, multicultural environments, often in a situation where the majority of students are of different cultural backgrounds etc.
After the study visit, each participant will present his/her experience to colleagues in the school and a group reflection will follow. School leadership, senior staff, and methodology specialists are particularly expected to be participants in study visits, as they can more effectively change practice in their schools.

Project Leadership:

AISIS, non profit organization
city:          Kladno
post code: 272 01
street:        Floriánské nam. 103
Czech Republic
VAT no.: CZ67798853

Project target group:

Teachers from secondary, upper-secondary and primary schools and experts from school-support-organisations based in the district of Prague, CZ.

Contacts:

Aisis,  Floriánské nám. 103, Kladno;      aisis@aisis.cz; ✆: +420 312 245 818

Mr. Milan Kotík - project leader;      milan.kotik@aisis.cz; ✆: +420 731 191 977