The Project
The current context of rapid migration into Europe associated with the international tensions, have revealed growing distances between different cultures and communities, including in educational setting, and involving intolerant attitudes and behaviours. In order to help children and young people become responsible, open-minded members of our diverse society the MYSTY Project provides a means for teachers to share and embed innovative teaching practice to enhance awareness of cultural diversity. The Paris Declaration 2015, acknowledges the major role of education in promoting inclusion and ownership of Europe’s fundamental values and digital storytelling is a simple yet very effective means of fostering diversity awareness and intercultural competencies in both pupils and teachers. Using digital storytelling in peer to peer learning scenarios in the classroom enables students and teachers to engage with politically current and pressing issues in ways that are engaging and inclusive, whilst also dynamic and instructional.
MYSTY is focused on three key impacts:
Participants (pupils and teachers) are encouraged to reappraise their attitude towards minority groups within their peer group. It enables them to reassess prejudice, re-calibrate their views and attitudes towards minority groups and re-educate them in diversity matters.
Teachers embrace new/digital media technologies and pupils realize the educational potential for technologies associated primarily for leisure, so affording a connection for effective and fun learning.
MYSTY enables minority groups to share and spread their migration experience to other communities, groups, schools and civic organizations.
Objectives
The MYSTY project – MyStory: Digital Storytelling Toolbox for Diversity Training in Schools aims to create innovative tools for pupils and teachers – specifically, digital storytelling – to share and introduce such teaching practice to enhance awareness on diversity within the school environment.
There are three sub-objectives:
- Obj1: Develop Curriculum Integration Methodologies to support school use of the Toolbox
- Obj2: Create a Pupil Guide for Digital Storytelling to facilitate the creation of digital stories
- Obj3: Produce a Collection of Themed Digital Stories for use in school and community settings
Outputs