The “Arta nu uraste – celebrarea valorii”/“Art does not hate – celebrating value” project is an initiative developed by the “Philson Young” Association to contribute to the promotion of and respect for democratic values and human rights by fighting hate-speech against Roma through positive actions that support the right to education of Roma children and youth, the importance of their participation, together with Romanian colleagues, to tolerance-based development and the importance of culture and art in creating inter-cultural bonds.
The project is necessary as, in Romania, the lack of a real tradition in protecting cultural diversity has left wounds that are deeper than the Romanian society is willing to admit. In this respect, one can invoke the serious challenges in finding and promoting a historical model that protects and encourages tolerance and ethnic and cultural diversity.
The current situation in the area of fighting Roma discrimination through multicultural education measures reveals worrying aspects related to the pedagogical practice of intercultural education in schools with an important share of Roma pupils. Most of the time, the optional intercultural education curriculum is not preferred by teachers, pedagogical practice is inconsistent, success models are lacking, teachers are not prepared and motivated to run intercultural education classes, etc. The project will bring this issue in the spot light and will show there are solutions and models we can apply to overcome it.
The solution put forth against the marginalization and discrimination of Roma representatives is stirring public debate on the impact of the learning environment on Roma children and youth education and implementing a model based on intercultural education and on promoting the value and achievements of the pupils through high-quality, high-visibility cultural and artistic events, which will reinforce a positive, acceptance, respect and recognition discourse. Moreover, the project will allow for the identification of new solutions to support and promote the inclusive education of the Roma children.
The project proposes a public awareness campaign and affirmative measures to enhance the capacity of the vulnerable group of Roma children to express their ethnic origin openly and without fear of being labeled or marginalized and to access inclusive education and a dignified life through the recognition of their potential to reach high-performance levels in the educational domains of choice.
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