1. Utilizing folk tales to promote intercultural education Panayiotis Angelides & Petros Panaou University of Nicosia ECER, Berlin 2011

2. Background Research is part of a two year Comenius project (EUMOF). Here we report results from the first year of the project Five countries are involved (Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Portugal).

3. Background EUMOF will compile versions of folktales that pertain to travelling to “foreign” lands and encountering “different” peoples and cultures. Travelling is a fundamental human activity that has been taking place for thousands of years and for a multitude of reasons. It has always inevitably led to encounters with “other” people and cultures. Folk stories about different aspects of travelling will be grouped together, placed in different categories, and brought into dialogue with each other.

4. Rationale Multicultural societies Schools struggle to respond Marginalization of immigrant students Immigrant students are differentiated from their local peers on the basis of their experiences of formal and informal restrictions, marginalisation, and discrimination.

5. Rationale Questions about the ways in which schools may develop and implement inclusive practices, aiming at the reduction of prejudice and marginalisation. The literature provides a wealth of opportunities to analyze and explore issues of difference, culture, identity, ideology, exclusion and inclusion.

6. Purpose The purpose of this project is to address the challenge of interculturalism through the use of European mobility folktales. The project's central activity is the adaptation, development, testing, implementation and dissemination of new teaching methodologies and pedagogical strategies for use in the classroom and the development of materials for use by pupils.

7. Research Questions How could traditional folktales contribute to the promotion of intercultural education? What are the educational policies, needs, and practices regarding intercultural education? What are the best traditional folktales from four EU countries for promoting intercultural education? What are the most effective approaches for utilizing traditional folktales in intercultural education?

8. Methodology Each partner will collect three folktales from their country, secure copyright permissions for publication, have them translated in English and develop related educational material. Partners will also have the rest of the stories translated into their own language. This material will be published on-line, while some of it will be published in print form as well. An audio-CD with narrations of the stories will also be produced.

9. Methodology Based on the analysis of the folktales, certain educational activities were designed. The developed educational material will then be implemented in primary schools. The implementation will be evaluated following qualitative research methods.

10. Examples Educational Objectives Culture Form communities within which they interact freely, sharing their cultures and their knowledge of other cultures with each other. Encounter with difference (mobility-diversity) Identify and critique attitudes towards “difference” within a story and within real-life contexts. Languages (languages within cultures-language and literacy) Demonstrate positive stances towards listening, reading and narrating folktales and other narrative texts, viewing the act of storytelling as an imaginative journey, but also as a way of interpreting real life.

11. Activities Put these characters on the map! Inviting Strangers to Your Home How would you solve the problem?

12. Second year Piloting and implementation Teachers’ guide Booklet with all stories Website-audiovisual material

13. Expected outcomes in the second year Teachers and students can approach folktales in order to analyze and discuss their stances towards “difference,” establishing connections between the stories and contemporary experiences in multicultural societies. This research aspires to combat xenophobia and racism through stories. The interesting plots of the stories, combined with playful and creative educational activities, reinforce children’s motivation to read folktales, discuss and learn through them. Reading skills, critical thinking, and positive stances towards difference and pluralism can be enhanced.

14. Thank you! Angelides.p@unic.ac.cy Panaou.p@unic.ac.cy