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Who is an Intercultural Assistant?
Intercultural Assistants are people whose task is to support foreign children attending schools in Poland and school communities (including teaching staff and parents and legal guardians of children). A person performing such a function may be employed as a teacher's assistant from the funds provided by the authority running the school (pursuant to Article 94a, section 4a of the Act of September 7, 1991 on the education system - Journal of Laws 2004 No. 256, item 2572, as amended as amended) or by a non-governmental organization.
The course is aimed at people:-
who want to work as intercultural assistants and teacher's assistants,
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people in the positions described above who want to undergo comprehensive training,
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interested in the well-being of children in schools, as well as integration processes,
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parents of foreign children studying in Polish schools.
How to sign up for the course?In order to use the course, it is necessary to create an account (Create an account) by filling out the necessary information and accepting the regulations. Using the course is free!
Addidional module
"Raising self-esteem and intellectual stimulation of children and adolescents" is an additional module dedicated to all people working with youngsters. It was created in cooperation with the project partner - International Rescue Committee. This module focuses on creating situations in which children feel safe at school and feel that they are developing. For this to happen, they need to receive helpful feedback. That is, information that both recognizes effort and progress and helps to understand what students still do not know and how to learn it. By increasing students' self-esteem, we make it easier for them to take on new challenges. The module presents tools that can be used to stimulate students intellectually, encouraging them to reflect on their progress and teaching them to plan their own learning process.
Project partner
The School of Diversity platform was created by the Polish Migration Forum Foundation in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - an international, independent non-governmental organization established to help people who suffer from humanitarian crises.
Course patronage
The coalition strives to ensure that there are more intercultural and Roma assistants in schools, that the work of assistants is appreciated and carried out in good conditions, and that schools fully use the potential of cooperation with assistants.
The Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization of the University of Warsaw IPSiR at the University of Warsaw conducts the first in Poland one-year postgraduate studies "Intercultural assistantship at school". Our course can be a great introduction to the study of intercultural assistantship.
Współpraca
The Migration Academy is a hybrid tool for acquiring knowledge and competences in the field of migration management. The project's recipients are primarily local governments, activists working for refugees and migrants, and non-governmental organizations at the local level. The platform includes educational and expert materials on the integration of people with migration and refugee experience in Poland.
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Online course
with migration experience
Videos
In the course you will find recordings
(with subtitles in Polish, English, Ukrainian, Russian) with exercises and quizzes
Additional materials
The course includes many useful links
and publications
Certificate
Free course ending with a certificate
Course topics
1. Good practices in the work of assistants and in cooperation with schools
The module provides an overview of the past experience of intercultural assistants in the Polish Migration Forum, what the work of intercultural assistants in the PFM looks like now and what competencies they have. It also touches on what the boundary conditions are for SWF's cooperation with schools in locating assistants at a given institution, and the good practices we use in the work of intercultural assistants.
2. The education system in Poland from the perspective of intercultural assistants
This part of the course is devoted to learning about the structure of the educational system in Poland, the legal provisions that regulate it and the facilitations that a foreign student can enjoy in a Polish school. Additional materials include publications by the Coalition for Strengthening the Role of Intercultural and Roma Assistants, among others.
Course topics
3. Diverse roles of intercultural assistants in school
The module answers the question of who an assistant is from the perspective of the school, students, teaching staff, parents. We also lean into the topic of how different roles a person in this position enters, what competencies he/she needs and what is not part of the tasks of such a person. The topic is discussed by a supervisor of assistants at the Polish Migration Forum and our intercultural assistant.
4. Support system for children with special needs
Every child in Poland has the right to education, regardless of legal status, also different educational needs, so in this segment we will address how support for children with such needs looks like in practice and how the inclusion of children in the Polish educational system is effectively pursued, as well as what types of social and local government support are available.
Course topics
5. Supporting the education of foreign language students
The aim of the module is to prepare intercultural assistants to support the education of foreign-language students at school. To be able to do this efficiently, we present information about what areas of adjustment exist for the foreign-language student. The idea of the materials is to explain how the individualization of the teaching process makes it possible to achieve educational goals.
6. Integration of students with migration experience in school
The module is devoted to activities aimed at providing the best possible conditions for children and adolescents to integrate in a Polish school, thereby helping them reach the point where it is possible for them to learn and receive knowledge in another country.
Course topics
7. Participation of assistants in the organization of psychological and pedagogical assistance
The module deals with the cooperation between intercultural assistants/tutors and educators and psychologists in schools. The purpose of this cooperation is to support parents, students and teachers in solving educational and teaching problems and developing their educational skills in order to increase the effectiveness of the assistance provided to the student.
8. Hate speech in the school environment
Although many people are already aware that hate speech is a form of violence that affects many groups of people and can cause, among other things, sadness, fear, feelings of exclusion, as well as more serious consequences, we do not always know how to deal with it. In this module we lean into this problem.
Course topics
9. Counteracting violence against children and the Blue Card procedure
Violence is an intentional act or omission of one person against another, which, using the advantage of power, violates the rights, personal property of an individual, causing suffering and damage. A module on the Polish system of protection of children from abuse is devoted to this issue.
10. Psychology of functioning of a child with experience of migration and exile
The following module is devoted to the psychology of child functioning with a special focus on the experience of migration and exile at a young age. Through the materials presented here, we will learn how acculturative stress works, what Post-Traumatic Developmental Disorder is, and how we can help strengthen a child's internal stability.
Course topics
11. Psychological First Aid in people with migration experience
Psychological First Aid is a tool that allows people in crisis to be supported by non-professionals, non-psychologists, and non-therapists. Each of us is capable of providing such first aid, and it is often crucial if we deliver it correctly.
12. Supervision and well-being in the work of assistants
In this module, we are introduced to the topic of supervision by a supervisor of assistants at the Polish Migration Forum together with one of our assistants. The PFM duo talks about what supervision is and why it's worth having it when working as an assistant, as well as how to recognize and counteract professional burnout.
Opinie absolwentek/tów
Bardzo dziękuje każdemu i wszystkim za wysoki poziom profesyjny tego kursu i aktualność. Wszystko było ciekawe - od tematów do czasu trwania filmików. Niestety, nie wszystkie materiały dodatkowe przeczytałam i bardzo bych chciała wrócić do nich. Niektórych lektorów juz widzialam na spotkaniach offline, i mam powiedzieć, że podczas tego kursu online i podczas komunikacji offline - to prawdziwi i ciekawi ludzie, z bogatą wiedzą. Osobno dziękuję Paniom z Ukrainy, dają mi poczucie - że nie jestem sama z swoimi pytaniami, i mogę je rozwiązać i rozwinąć się.
Wsparcie PFM bardzo pomaga w integracji ukraińskich uczniów i uczennic z polskim systemem edukacji. Jestem bardzo wdzięczna za ten kurs!!!
Bardzo dziękuję za kurs! To było bardzo interesujące usłyszeć o lokalnej specyfice szkolnictwa, posłuchać rad i doświadczenia asystentów nauczycieli.
Dziękuję bardzo za zwięzłą informację o pracy asystentki międzykulturowej. Ten kurs zapewnia gotowe rozwiązania różnych problemów w pracy. Polecam wszystkim kto planuje pracować jako asystentka międzykulturowa.
Dziękuję za możliwość realizacji szkolenia. Uważam, że w kursie zamieszczona bardzo przydatna informacja i każdy asystent powinien z tym się zapoznać.
Дякую за можливість навчатись і збільшувати свою кваліфікацію у роботі! )) Бажаю Вам надхнення у вашій роботі і нових проектів! Дякую!
Szkoła Różnorodności
Do you have a question?
The course and the issuance of the certificate is free of charge. However, in order to take the course, it is necessary to create an account (the Login button is located in the upper right corner of the website) by filling in the necessary information and accepting the terms and conditions. When creating an account, please remember to provide a valid email address and to fill in the information correctly, as it goes on the certificate.
In order to receive the certificate, you need to correctly fill in your information (name, surname, email address) when creating an account, complete all modules and pass all tests including the final exam, and fill out the questionnaire after the course. The final score achieved by you (from the exercises during the recordings, quizzes and final exam) will appear on your certificate automatically sent by email
We estimate that the online course for intercultural assistants takes about 15- 20 hours. The course can be spread over a convenient number of days. Each of the 12 thematic modules includes a recording lasting between 30 and 55 minutes, a set of exercises, optional supplementary materials and a quiz. It is not necessary to study the entire module at once and you can always go back to the ones you have already passed.
Although the course is created in Polish the very platform we use is also available in English, Ukrainian and Russian, and the materials recorded by our experts have been provided with Polish transcription and subtitles in English, Ukrainian and Russian.