A conference organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences analyzed interculturality and coexistence
A conference organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences analyzed interculturality and coexistence
A conference organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences analyzed interculturality and coexistence
The conference, which was held on Mondragon University’s Eskoriatza campus, brought together 80 participants from different fields of education. The attendees reflected on coexistence, interculturality and equity in education.
The intercultural conference, now in its fifth year, was held on the Eskoriatza campus of the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon University. The conference, entitled ‘Interculturality and coexistence. What have we learned and what do we still have to learn?’, focused on interculturality, equity and coexistence. Nagore Ipiña, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon University, opened the conference by explaining that “the mission” of the faculty and “its values” involve working fully on the issue: “We have learned many things, we have made progress in some areas (in participation tools, in ways of understanding interculturality and cultural diversity...), but we have a lot yet to address. We still have to take steps to combat inequality and discrimination, and in that effort, we must be active agents.”
Next, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researchers Ane Urizar, Marta Quintas-Quintas and Amelia Barquín gave the opening lecture. In previous years, language was the focus of this intercultural conference; in this fifth year, the focus was on different challenges that exist in schools related to coexistence and equity. Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researcher Ane Urizar opened the conference by providing data on interculturality in the Basque Country. Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researcher Amelia Barquín stressed that it is increasingly clear that there are issues in schools that need to be brought to dialogue: “It is important to have conversations, and to make sure that we are understanding each other, giving importance to the process. Assuming that the issues are conflictive, it is essential to recognize the other and maintain an attitude of empathy and courtesy, to deal with situations individually (and not all conflicts at the same time), taking time to listen and keeping in mind that the objective is the student. To define the problem or request, we must start from the shared concerns of the students.” Barquín stressed the importance of understanding that conflict is part of life and therefore, of school: “Conflicts lead us to rethink things. Since the same conflicts that exist in society also occur at school, we must understand that this space of coexistence is a privileged space for learning.” For her part, researcher Marta Quintas-Quintas has analyzed strategies to promote the relationship between families and teachers: “Moments of welcome are key in these situations. It is important to bring the teacher closer to the parents and create a habit of communication. On a day-to-day basis, it may be appropriate to systematize meetings between teachers and parents so that immigrant families are aware of the teachers’ commitment to the well-being of their children. It is necessary for all parties, not only instructors but also management teams, to act with empathy, courtesy and responsibility.”
Participation of teachers, experts, families and students
Next, the voices of teaching staff were heard in the first round table of the conference. Instructors Eli Domínguez, Amaia Jackson and Saioa Gómez Tejeria spoke, led by Faculty researcher and professor Marta Quintas-Quintas. The three professionals agreed that the systematic racism that exists in society is replicated in schools. Amaia Jackson emphasized that it is “hard” for many people to say that we live in a racist society because most of us do not want to be racist, but added that accepting this is the first step toward a solution: “I’m a teacher in Early Childhood Education, and in the 4- and 5-year-old classrooms, you can already see racist behavior. As teachers, we try to shut that down, but since we have no specific training, each of us has their own strategies. There is also racist behavior among the staff and, as a racialized person, I recognize this, but we lack a general strategy.” Saioa Gómez, who works in the EUSLE program, also stressed the importance of making school resources available to families from the outset: “If communication and relationships are worked on well, both students and families develop more positive attitudes toward the Basque language.”
Eli Domínguez explained that relationships with families are often based on prejudices, and spoke about the importance of orientation materials: “Immigrant families often do not receive information about the linguistic situation in the Basque Country before their first contact with the school because no work is done on this, and I’ve found that these families feel discriminated against in meetings because they don’t understand why the meeting isn’t held in Spanish if everyone understands Spanish. It’s important to work on reception plans.” For Domínguez, it is also essential to look at the socio-economic situation: “If the actions that we organize are so important, we have to make them available to everyone.” To conclude theround table, the teachers insisted on the need for continuous training.
Next, Biltzen representative Moufdi Kamel gave a talk entitled “Intercultural coexistence in schools. Some reflections.” Kamel underlined the need to go beyond the creation of protocols: “The creation of protocols for racist and xenophobic incidents is important and there are more and more institutions that have such action guidelines, but there is an urgent need to carry out specific actions in each area of action: discussions in youth centers for young people, plans against bullying in sports, promoting participation in Berbalagun or Euskaraldia groups... Institutionally, we have to stop designing these actions as specific actions by departments, they must be cross-curricular plans, not isolated actions by departments.” Kamel reflected on the theme of the day: “This work involves all of us: institutions, social agents, citizens...”
Finally, a second round table was held to collect the voices of families and students. Hajar Samadi, Ruba Hassan, Yuan Alexandra Martínez Pareja and Safuan Tahiri answered questions from Faculty professor and researcher Sara Jimenez de Aberasturi.
