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Social integration in Latvia . Educational aspect. Liga Engele Liepaja University. Education system in the context of social integration. The ethnic history of Latvia. Unified education system. Inclusive strategies in schools. .
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SocialintegrationinLatvia. Educationalaspect Liga Engele Liepaja University
Education system in the context of social integration. The ethnic history of Latvia. Unified education system. Inclusive strategies in schools.
Educationsysteminthecontextofsocialintegration process Two perspectives: • to what extent does the education system include or exclude individuals acquiring education; • how sucessfull is the education system in inculcating in people the knowledge and skills they need for professional and social life.
Twobroadissues: • strategies within the education system for promoting the development among young people of the knowledge and skills necessary in a democratic society; • how the education system ensures the inclusive function.
Integratingthrougheducation • Ensuring equal rights to education, promoting inclusive education, reducing the risk of social exclusion; • Promoting skills for active democratic participation and social responsibility, furthering recognition of diversity among the younger generation; • Creating competence for intercultural contact and cooperation.
TheethnichistoryofLatvia 150 different ethnic groups. (according to the 2009 data of the Central Statistical Bureau). Vast majority of inhabitants - 93,2%, (4 largest groups): • Latvians – 59%, • Russians – 28,3% • Belarusians – 3,7%, • Ukrainians – 2,5% Russian is native language for 37,5% of the population.
The Citizenship Law adopted in 1994 and amended in 1995, 1997, 1998. • Latvia was accepted into the Council of Europe in 1995. • Latvia joined NATO and European Union in 2004.
ThetasksofEducationalsystem • In the early 1970s – focus on academic results; • In contemporary European policy- reducing social inequality and promoting in the inclusion and integration into society of various social groups.
Creating a UnifiedEducationSystem • Introductionofbilingualeducationinminorityschools; • Dualstreamschools.
MinorityChildreninLatvianLanguageSchools • Ina Druviete, Marija Gavrilina “WhathinderstheintegrationofLatvianandRussianschools?” • Misunderstandingbasedondifferentmentalities; • Thelackofmethodologicaltraining; • Thelackofspecialtextbooksandotherteachingmaterials; • Difficultiesincommunicatingwith parents.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools: ExamplesofbestPractice The goal: • To help schoolchildren better resolve conflict situations; • To promote skills of expressing, discussing and harmonizing their interests These strategies could be used very succesfully for students and teachers in Latvian schools with a number of Russian students.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 1. Mediator training - discussions between students or between students and teachers, • learning about conflict resolutions methods, • learning about issues of cultural diference.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 2. Class contracts • Students talk about exclusion, racism and conflicts due the cultural differences. 3. Clear, known and participatory regulations - What is and is not acceptable in the school.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 4. A capability raising strategy - Strategy is based on the creation of an individual learning plan in accordance with the child`s language knowledge, as well as socialization activities with the goal of strengthening the child`s self-confidence.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 5. Strategies for fostering a sense of belonging • Promoting the students sense of belonging at two different levels: * individual level, * social level. The goal: to raise awareness that a person`s life is very diverse and that a person`s identity creates belonging to very diverse groups.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 6. Seperate training for girls and boys groups The goal: to ponder and evaluate conceptions linked with certain roles and expectations, as issues about gender and cultural differnece are closely related.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 7. Multicultural education 8. Abstract training about cultural diversity - all students are spoken in a similar way, the children evaluate a problem from the same position – as observers.
InclusiveStrategiesinSchools 9. School cooperation in teaching cultural diversity - Exchanging methodological materials and practical experience.
Conclusions • 1. The implementation of bilingual education has promoted the improvement of Latvian language skills among minority youth, which promotes their integration into unified society. • 2. Russian parents increasingly send their children to Latvian kindergartens and schools.
Conclusions • 3. The level of understanding and the behavioral patterns tought in schools are not suitable to the rapid changes taking place in society and for life in multicultural society. • 4. New approaches to teaching open big opportunities for strengthening the learning motivation of schoolchildren.
Conclusions • 5. The greatest achievement in the context of the education reform lies in the fact that the results of centralized examinations in the sciences do not differ in schools and classes where instruction is in Latvian or bilingually. • 6. The most important task in the field of education in the context of social integration is the creation of unified system of education through a concrete strategy and step to implement this goal.
