Today’s increasing cultural and linguistic diversity can be used by teachers as a resource to benefit the school community. Intercultural and multilingual approaches are important tools in the development of a positive attitude towards diversity, to stimulate multiperspectivity and better interpretation and comprehension skills. This resource aims to raise teachers’ awareness of the educational process as inner development, based on personal and emotional experiences that are enhanced by social dimensions. The path to achieve this goal is collaborative work which requires skills of self-expression and interaction in diverse contexts. Active listening and observation during the activities is the starting point for teachers to develop sensitivity to their peers’ competences, abilities and knowledge. Discussing and sharing different points of view in a cooperative way leads to critical perspectives and the promotion of broader insights. As a result, teachers should be able to help their students to make better choices and find creative responses to the challenges of living together and constructing democratic multicultural communities.

The training unit, conducted through individual work, collaborative group work, projects using pictures, literature and the internet to compare perspectives, provides teachers with ample opportunities to revisit their attitudes towards language and cultural diversity. Simultaneously, it offers a platform for exploring pedagogical methods to encourage both autonomous learning and collaborative work; and consequently, make learners more open towards themselves and others.

The training unit has been developed within the Pestalozzi Programme.

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To cite this resource:  Ferreira, O. & Freire, A. (2012). Your choice matters!.  In Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme Training Units.