“If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation”

African proverb

What could be more motivational than this invitation! A school invitation in the context of EU funded projects that fostered sustainable actions towards migration integration, bridging school and family literacy.

It didn’t take long for this ground-breaking invitation to turn from an e-invitation into an innovative reality. Migrant mothers would bring their kids to the primary school and would step by next door, in another classroom, for breakfast and classes. The topics varied from language classes to empowering sessions, ICT workshops, networking seminars, etc. – all needs-based topics that emerged from needs analysis attempts involving policies reviews, interviews, questionnaires, FGs, etc., that took place prior the classes.

And suddenly, the mornings became different, the moods changed into better ones, energy scored higher levels and there was happiness in the air!

Needs-based learning did not only take place in the school, but on various occasions, out-of-the school, with migrant mothers joining study-visits, touring in special areas of the host-country; practicing language and communication in a cafeteria, in a shop, in a street; experiencing mindfulness in a park; organising get-together hours for chatting and discussions, etc.

Days seemed different, moods were changing, concepts were transforming, reality was altering…

Captivatingly, teaching and learning did not happen merely in school and in class, i.e. traditional environments, but it happened in out-of-school/ class environments, at home, in the city, while enjoying a cap of coffee, shopping, visiting places, etc. Similarly, language learning and practicing happened in various contexts, traditional (e.g. school and classroom) and non-traditional ones (during a study-visit, while having breakfast, when reflecting on a walk, etc.). As for tools supporting language learning, these were traditional (e.g. books, written and spoken exercises in class or at home, discussions, etc.) and non-traditional (e.g. mobile phones, games, Internet, etc.).

It was not until the last days of the classes that migrant mothers decided to share some of their success stories regarding this novel experience with their children and their teachers during break time, on a sunny day. What a great moment that was! You could tell that children were proud of their mothers and you could see the mothers’ excitement on their face while displaying some of the in-class and out-of-class practices with everybody. “My mother did this mind-map”, said a second-grade-girl to one of her classmates, with much pride.

The mothers kept on sharing their experience with family members, friends and neighbours, and carried on repeating their success stories. Those stories were reported orally and in written, in day events; fares and campaigns; academic classes; conferences and publications; and so on. The success stories and achievements became good practices that are being shared, by invitation, in school- and community-based events, to inspire, motivate and act, in the framework of innovative and sustainable migration integration and school- and community-based initiatives.

These women, who took the courage to invest in some of their valuable morning time to bring their kids to school and then step by next classroom for breakfast and classes, made a life-time investment in themselves, in school and family literacy, in the host society and in successful migration integration attempts.

A big thank you to each one of these mothers and to all of them together, for trusting us, joining in, being highly engaged, and spreading the word. Because in the beginning was the word…

Authors:

Elena Xeni

CARDET – Center for the Advancement of Research & Development of Educational Technology

Yiannakis Vasiliades

Headschool Teacher of Apostolos Varnavas Primary School, Nicosia, Cyprus

Projects websites:

• INTEGR8 – Harnessing the potential of migrant women as integration experts – http://integrateproject.eu/en/
• Urbagri4women – Empowering migrant and refugee women to develop innovative agricultural initiatives – https://www.urbagri4women.com/
• BLEND IN – Language, Cultural and Social Orientation for Young Refugees – http://blend-in.eu/en/
• ENGAGE – Supporting migrant women as integration and community leaders – http://www.engageproject.eu/en/
• SOFIE – Support for empowerment and integration of refugee families – https://support-refugees.eu/