From the 18th to the 20th of October within the Erasmus Inclusion Vocabulary Project, Agrupamento de escolas do Cerco do Porto welcomed a group of teachers and students from: Escuela 2 Cooperativa Valenciana (Spain); Liceo Scientifico Statale S. Cannizzaro (Italy); Professional School of Ecology and Biotechnology Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov (Bulgaria) and Tehnicka Skola “Drvo art” (Serbia).
These were days of sharing, learning, creating bonds and exchanging of affections. Together, teachers and students participated in artistic activities (inclusive art, inclusive music, inclusive videos, inclusive dancing) that were intended to fight against the discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, promoting the inclusion of all people in the school community.
The project’s main objective is to promote the inclusion of LGBTQI+ people and therefore fight against discrimination, inequalities, hate speeches and bullying that arise from sexual orientation and gender identity.
The videos, previously produced by students from each of the countries involved, were analysed and discussed in small groups. Subsequently a board was created with information about each one. The commitment of all participating teams was crucial for the decision taken by the project Consortium: they were all winners!
In this LTTA, the Inclusive Vocabulary Handbook addressed to teachers, students, and families was also presented to the school community.
Worth mentioning is the speech made by the Headmaster, Manuel António Oliveira, as the rainbow flag was raised, symbolizing a school that belongs to everyone and is opened to all. “Projects like this one help build and reinforce the European identity, particularly when we talk about the Cluster of Cerco which brought together eight entities from six European countries: five schools – Agrupamento de Escolas do Cerco do Porto (AECP) (the Portuguese coordinator); Escuela 2 Cooperativa Valenciana (Spain); Liceo Scientifico Statale S. Cannizzaro (Italy); Professional School of Ecology and Biotechnology Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov (Bulgaria); Tehnicka Skola “Drvo art” (Serbia) and three organizations – CEIPES (Italy), IDEC (Greece), FAMYLIAS Recursos para la Diversidad (Spain).
This October 18th is no ordinary day… it is a day full of symbolism for the whole community and for this Consortium. Raising the rainbow flag is an action closely linked to the LGBTQI+ community, which means that we deal well with issues concerning tolerance, freedom, and human rights. In other words, we are a Cluster from everyone to everyone. Thus, this Cluster contributes to increase the dialogue among everyone, hand in hand with the LGBTQI+ community, helping to raise awareness of the necessity to fight against the existing violence and discrimination LGBTQI+ people.
The Consortium is promoting and will continue to promote a culture of inclusion.
