Research study
In Bulgaria, other informal educational support is frequently provided. This takes shape through out of school lessons to assist children on the move. This practice is mostly run by volunteers from different NGOs. In one of these projects, 70 volunteers provided after school lessons (from 14:00pm to 16:00pm) to students. The project was implemented with the support of Caritas, CVS Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Refugees Agency. The project targeted children on the move from 5 to 17 years (especially children with migrant backgrounds). Effective integration of children into educational systems requires not only the efforts of teachers, trainers and the children themselves, but also from other regular students. Peers of children on the move can have a very positive effect on their adaptation to new environments. This approach is evident in Spain, in the project ‘Our book of emotions’ (Nuestro libro de emociones). The Secondary School “IES Antonio Machado”, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid developed an activity to promote interaction between students with very different personal situations and social backgrounds. Students were included from different educational programmes, mainstream secondary schools who had repeated the course at least two times (the majority of whom are immigrants) and students from Initial Professional Qualification Program in leatherwork (a specific programme for students with mental and/or physical disabilities). This activity aims to create a harmonious climate of coexistence and to build mutual respect between students from different programmes, illuminating their potential for, and improving their capacity to, work together on a joint project. The activity consists of 3 phases. During the first phase, each group attends a workshop organized and run by a tutor. The workshops focus on the recognition and expression of emotions. Students select a series of emotions and define their meaning. In the next session different groups of the students join together. Each group presents the emotions selected in the previous session and explain why they chose these emotions. Foreign students present the emotions in their native languages. The final session takes place in the shop where the Professional Qualification Program students learn to work with leather. All students work together, to make leather covers for dairies, to be filled with the emotions most relevant to themselves. The educational staff in charge of the activity claim that it has enhanced the
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