She won't understand Antigone
Even in primary school, I met similar statements, not by the general public – but by educators. "Don’t bother applying to high school because you're not going to finish it anyway," is a statement to my former classmates by my eighth-grade class teacher. Although it's been quite some time since I finished my elementary education, this statement has remained deeply anchored in my memory. Unfortunately, shortly after finishing primary school, one of them died in a car accident, and the other is still only primary school educated. Both were poor students from rural backgrounds, but intelligent and, in my opinion, "able" to understand more complex issues.
And although such educators are, in principle, no longer, there remains a preconception about the understanding and abilities of perception of complex ideas, especially in classical works. The assumption that someone who is not formally educated, has bad grades, comes from an agricultural background or a minority population, will not understand the message of Shakespeare, Cervantes or Bach is downright offensive. Each of us, no matter how much we are (un)educated and from what environment we come from, have life experiences, desires, and goals that coincide with world classics – migrants identify with Odysseus’ journey, young women identify with Juliet and forbidden love, adolescents with Carmina Burana.
At RIC Novo mesto we already started breaking down these stereotypes, of the (un)ability to understand the world's classical works, with the Science Literacy for all! project, which was intended for adults and was based on the use of the methodology of Dialogic Literary Gatherings in the field of science. Dialogical gatherings are one of the six Successful Educational Actions (SEA) identified by the INCLUD-ED survey (R. Flecha, 2015), and are among the best measures to ensure educational success and social inclusion in Europe.
Our consortium strives not only to expand the methodology of Literary Dialogical Gatherings to new areas but to introduce it into the school system of all countries involved in the project as well. The consortium partners come from five countries: Slovenia, the Netherlands, Spain, North Macedonia, and Greece, however the elementary and secondary school educators, and therefore implementers of the methodology come from Serbia and Hungary in addition to partner countries.
The methodology of dialogical gatherings will thus be used in five fields – science, mathematics, literature, music, and art. Participants of the gatherings will discuss the chosen classical works from these fields under the 7 principles of dialogic learning: Egalitarian dialogue, Cultural Intelligence, Transformation, Instrumental Dimension, Creation of Meaning, Solidarity and Equality of Differences (dr. R. Flecha, 2000), and with the guidance of a mentor (teacher). So they will not only build their vocabulary, but learn to listen actively, socialize, and above all, we will try to dissipate the unfounded fear of the greatest works humanity produced so far.
As a result, mentors or teachers will also see that their students can and do understand classical works, including those whom they assumed have no capacity of understanding the underlying messages these works carry. In the consortium, we hope that the results of the application of the methodology, which will of course be measured by sociological methods, will be sufficient evidence to introduce this approach into mainstream education. To facilitate implementation, we will develop video guides and there will also be an electronic library of the largest works of humanity in all five areas made available to the public. Follow us on the project's website for news, progress and developments in the project Dive In Dialogue – Diversity and Inclusion through Dialogic Gatherings.
Project partners:
- Universitat de Barcelona, Spain - lead partner
- RIC Novo mesto, Slovenia
- KMOP - Kentro Merimnas Oikogeneias kai Paidiou, Greece
- ESHA - European School Heads Association, Netherlands
- NRC - National Roma Centrum Kumanovo, North Macedonia
Resources used:
ADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Flecha, dr. R. (2000). Sharing Words: Theory and Practice of Dialogic Learning. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Flecha, R. (2015). Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe. In SPRINGER BRIEFS IN EDUCATION. http://www.springer.com/series/8914
Belinda Lovrenčič (belinda.lovrencic@ric-nm.si) is an Adult Education Assistant at Education and Development Centre Novo mesto (RIC Novo mesto) with experience in adult education, management, and cooperation in Erasmus+ international projects.
