Is it possible to use storytelling as an educational tool to favor migrants’ integration in local communities?
The LISTEN training course was held from January 22nd till 26th at the premises of the Verein Multikulturell in Innsbruck, Austria.
The course involved 20 trainers, counsellors and social workers from UK, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Austria and Germany who work with refugees and other people who were forced to leave their countries and to migrate to Europe, interested in storytelling and broadcasting techniques.
The five-day course covered four topics that make up the LISTEN approach:
- Intercultural, ethical and psycho-social basics for working with refugees: how to deal with language barriers, gender roles, different educational backgrounds and traumatisation, but also how to create preconditions in a group to open up to exchange stories with each other.
- Storytelling methods to empower refugees: after a brief theoretical introduction to the forms and potentials of storytelling, it was tested practical application of various storytelling methods (e.g. biographical, for language learning, stories for reflection), to be used in different social and learning contexts. This also includes finding stories and presenting stories.
- How to make radio: the LISTEN consortium considers radio as an important and fruitful medium to support the integration of refugees by offering a platform to share stories. Trainers learnt how to make use of this medium with their learners, in regard to technical skills but also how to conceptualise such approaches.
- Competence development and learning through storytelling and creating radio programmes. The LEVEL5 approach was introduced in order to supports structured reflection on individual competence developments gained in non-formal and informal learning contexts (like LISTEN) and how to apply this method with refugees to help them become aware of their competences and to evidence this development.
The last day was dedicated to collaboratively develop ideas how to implement the LISTEN approach into the own working environment.
You can listen to the radio show held with LISTEN partners on FREIRAD – Freies Radio Innsbruck: one hour of interviews, stories and music, moderated by Ovagem Agaidyan from Verein Multikulturell – Tyrolean Integration Centre (Austria).
We want to thank Safa Neji for the photos.
About LISTEN
LISTEN – Learning Intercultural Storytelling is a two year project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships in the field of Adult education. The LISTEN project aims at introducing storytelling approaches and techniques to a radio environment as a binding factor which brings social and personal benefits for refugees.
The partnership is made up seven partners out of six European countries:
- BUPNET Bildung und Projekt Netzwek GMBH (Germany),
- Verein Multikulturell – Tyrolean Integration Centre (Austria),
- Active Citizens Partnership (Greece),
- Skelleftea (Sweden),
- Blended learning institutions’ cooperative (Germany),
- Community Action Dacorum (United Kingdom),
- CESIE (Italy).
Read our second LISTEN Newsletter.
For more information about the project visit listen.bupnet.eu or for further information, please contact: migration@cesie.org
