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INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN ITALY. CULTURAL IDENTITY, EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY AND TEACHING STRATEGIES
1 University of Salerno (ITALY)
2 University of Palermo (ITALY)
About this paper:
Appears in: INTED2014 Proceedings
Publication year: 2014
Pages: 4922-4927
ISBN: 978-84-616-8412-0
ISSN: 2340-1079
Conference name: 8th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Dates: 10-12 March, 2014
Location: Valencia, Spain
Abstract:
Introduction:
The research around the intercultural phenomenon in Italy increased with the growing phenomenon of migration, highlighting the problem of cultural diversity and social policies. "The meeting with the diversity should not be suffered, or tolerated, or rejected: it must be accepted as a means of survival" (Callari Galli 2000). This should go beyond the logic of the social emergency and the perception that the public has of the problem. The school has, in this process, a key role.

Objective:
The goal of a good educational project is to understand that the intercultural requires continual reference to the concrete experiences of the people. Starting from some data reported in recent reports by the Italian Ministry of Education on the presence of foreign students in the country, the educational project mentioned here entitled "Life and Culture" addresses the social analysis of the various forms of identity that the individual takes in touch with the other culture: “cultural resistance”, “assimilation”, “marginalization” and “dual ethnicity”.

Method:
The project involves the construction of several experimental workshops with the participation of experienced teachers, with the use of classical tools of teaching, research tools and techniques of social community animation. Theoretical assumptions of the project are the concepts of “interaction”, “empathy”, “decentralization” and “cognitive transitivity" (Nanni 1998). The acquisition of cognitive transitivity is for Demetrio&Favaro (2000) an opportunity to expand their cognitive potential through the refinement of "thought in motion."

Results:
The various activities carried out have revealed an active participatory and the establishment of a genuine relationship between interlocutors. The students have put into practice a behavior that is not stereotyped, more reflective and less ethnocentric about the society and about the values. They finally listened to the voice of the protagonists of immigration and developed the authentic reflections.

Conclusions:
A key point of interculturalism is the specificity of the human being, the global and integrated vision of the immigrant as a person.
Keywords:
Intercultural education, Cultural Identity, Educational Emergency, Teaching Strategies.