PROJECT LEARNING AT THE GATES OF DIVERSITY

Welcome on the website of the project called Learning at the Gates of Diversity, which was supported by European Lifelong Learning Program - Grundtvig. This website is the result of two years cooperation of four european organizations. Organizations were cooperating in the filed of education of adult learners using techniques of process oriented psychology.

This website brings a basic overview of activities organized by four partner organizations -

Process Oriented Psychology Ireland from Ireland,

Instytut Psychologii Procesu from Poland,

Research Society for Process Oriented Psychology from in the Unighted Kingdom and

Inštitút proces orientovanej psychológie Slovensko from Slovakia, which was coordinating the project.

All four organizations are very active in raising level of skills and metaskills among professionals using methods of process oriented psychology. All partner organizations are active in the field of education of adults who work with marginalised groups or/and in disadvantaged areas (they do projects and activities mitigating the tensions between different groups of society – open forums, group processes, individual and group work with people from minorities, group work on prejudice with majority groups. They also focus on education and applying of new trends in carrier navigation and employment support etc.)

Process work is one of few psychological systems that explicitly supports the active relationship of individual to society (active citizenship) and teaches facilitation of relationship between mainstream and marginalised groups.

PW develops innovative tools which increase awareness of diversity, rank and privilege and apply the principle of “deep democracy” to respect all forms of identity. By increasing of individual responsibility decreases discrimination.

Our partnership was focused mainly on:

(1) Mutual training of adult learners (including learners from minority groups) who work in the area of social work, psychology and education.

(2) Approximation of educational standards, exchanging good practice and experience in the area of adult education with attention to skills and metaskills for work with social topics and discrimination.

Main goals of the project were:

- Support ongoing education of adult learners (also disadvantaged ones – by age, gender, economic status and ability) by their active participation in seminars and intensive course providing by partners organisations – it is also an opportunity for adult learners to study with teachers from different schools, variations of teaching practices and styles; also variations of cultural specifics
- Include adult learners in active participating and leading of local activities: A) Open Forums (on topics of age, man-woman, psychiatry..) B) Seminars for adults focused on specifics of work with disadvantaged groups (discrimination of older people, disabled, women..)

- aligning the standards of education in the process work at the European level

- building process work community on European level - sharing projects, experiences, examples of good practice in education system and work with adults active in facilitation and social work with marginalised groups.

What we gained from the project?

- Partnership activities supported mutual learning of adult learners from marginalised groups and mainstream group to learn, share and cooperate together to build common feeling of community on national and international level.

- Local activities in each country provided space for wider national community of experts and adult learners working in social field. It gave them opportunity to attend seminars which focus on issues of discrimination, hot social topic and on learning effective skills and good practice in working with different groups.

- Project supported mutual creating of European standards of educating adults working with adults, sharing experiences, projects, good practice examples to enrich work on local, national and international level. So, project supported intercultural cooperation with focus on specific needs and possibilities of different partners by application of principle of deep democracy.

- Project supported building of community of adult learners and teachers of process work on European level which supports ongoing close cooperation of all organizations after finishing formal project.

- Project supported adult learners to became a PW facilitators and work directly with different groups of people as well as train other adults active in social work, facilitation education and psychology.