CAREM - "COLLABORATIVE ART-MAKING FOR REDUCING MARGINALIZATION” PROJECT - REDUCING MARGINALIZATION THROUGH COLLABORATIVE ART

This paper presents the rationale and results of the project financed by the European Commission within the Lifelong Learning Programme framework, Comenius Multilateral Project - “CAREM - Collaborative Art-Making for Reducing Marginalization”.

CAREM is an international project which involves/has involved five partners: University of Nicosia (Cyprus), Universal Learning System (Ireland), ESTA Bildungswerk (Germany), Centre for Creative Development “Danilo Dolci” (Italy) and Platon Schools (Greece). It focuses on the development of educational activities, material and related pedagogical strategies of collaborative art-making that strengthen intercultural education and inclusion practices, reduce social and academic marginalisation, and increase the participation of marginalised children in the curricula, cultures and societies of schools.

The project rationale is that children’s engagement in collaborative art-making activities may bring children’s voices to the surface regarding marginalisation and diversity. Children who have a common goal to achieve with their art group learn to share thoughts and emotions and use critical thinking skills to understand eachother’s emotions regarding marginalisation and diversity. Children who face learning or language difficulties are also able to participate, while marginalised children have the chance to develop friendships with their art group.

CAREM also compiled activities of collaborative art-making that allows the voices of culturally diverse students to be heard, promoting the exchange of ideas and stories regarding diversity.

CAREM compiled and tested a set of activities of collaborative art-making in order to promote the exchange of ideas and stories by and to students/children regarding diversity. Forty-five activities (nine per partner country) were developed by the consortium. This paper aims to present the results and outcomes of the pilot implementations of collaborative art activities in schools throughout Europe.

This paper offers a reflection on the potential benefits of using collaborative-art-making-based educational strategies and material with children aged 9-12 The advantage of the CAREM approach lies in the opportunity for teachers to promote amongst their students a greater awareness of cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe and of the need to combat racism, prejudice and xenophobia. Through CAREM, stories of diversity and marginalisation are heard; thus encouraging tolerance and respect for European peoples, languages and cultures.

In other words, this paper aims to analyse the contributions that CAREM has brought about in the search for effective actions that can be undertaken by teachers to reduce marginalisation in schools through the use of collaborative art tools, also with a glance on how to adapt art activities to different cultural contexts in five European countries.