On the 8^th of August, a group of 25 teachers met at the “Ion Creangă” Theoretical Lyceum from Coșnița, Dubăsari to participate in the seminar “Education for peace by cultivating a culture of good neighborhood”, within an international project supported by the International Network for the prevention of armed conflicts – GPPAC (www.gppac.net)  and the Nonviolence International organization (https://nonviolenceinternational.net). The project coordinator, Viorica Goraș-Postică and the trainer Daniela State have maintained a consistent professional dialogue with the practitioners, who are interested, starting with this year, to teach the optional intercultural education discipline “Culture of Good Neighborhood”. The project aims to expand the number of teachers who will be enabled for the teaching-learning of a unique subject, this time, based on a specific collaboration agreement with the Dubasari General Education Directorate.

The presentation of the Curriculum and the Student Book, the interactive-analytical approach to the curricular contents of the first grade and the contextualized rigor, of the recommendations for using the proposed teaching support were the key aspects on the agenda of the seminar with training elements. The teachers attended for the first time at such a training program and appreciated its importance for the multicultural context of the schools and communities in which it operates.

The values promoted within the given discipline are: the culture of peace, tolerance (interethnic, linguistic, inter-denominational, cultural, social, etc.); multilingualism (positive reaction and openness to react and learn the neighbor language at the most elementary level); peaceful and constructive resolution of any conflict; community and social responsibility; patriotism, democracy, etc. Practitioners have recognized the actuality and necessity of these demands of the contemporary world for the students and parents they work with, especially in the areas, with potential for conflict, such as the Dniester localities.

The curricular modules, organized in the form of trips, that the children go through, guided by the bee-mascot Melisa, comprise a wide thematic area, such as: Me and my neighbors; Mother tongue, state language and neighbor language; Let’s communicate in different languages! Republic of Moldova on the map of Europe; Where do our names and surnames come from; Games of our ancestors; Our traditional holidays; National dishes, etc. The intercultural competence that we develop in children will be supported by other social and communication competences, inherent to the active citizen, concerned with his personal well-being, but also to the community of which he is part and to the life of which he is challenged to get involved and contribute, of course.

Finally, we encourage all primary school teachers in the country to opt for the discipline “Culture of Good Neighborhood”, benefiting from the complete didactic support from the addresses: Link_1, Link_2, Link_3. Also, those who, for various reasons, cannot teach a separate discipline, can use the materials given to other subjects of study, such as Romanian Language, Science, History, Education for society, Personal development, Transdisciplinary activities in the primary school classes, but the contents which are   very diversified can also be adapted to high school classes.

Viorica Goraș-Postică, project coordinator