Intercultural mediator at school

How does an intercultural mediator create a dialogue between Roma and non-Roma parents and teachers in the school?

Find out from Hajnalka Kókai, an intercultural mediator from Nyírbátor.

In Nyírbátor, I have a difficult task as a mediator, because there is a huge community and a huge number of school administrators to work with.

But ever since the school The Community programme matters since then my work has become easier and smoother. This programme was brought to our school by the Partners Hungary Foundation.

The aim of the programme is to improve the relationship between parents, teachers and school leaders, so that they can work together despite cultural differences.

In recent times, we have been working to give parents the opportunity to show themselves in their children's classroom, to try out what it is like to be a teacher. These sessions were also very much enjoyed by the children, as it was a new experience for them too.

The brainstorming sessions with the teachers were also very good, because something started here, a joint discussion and joint work. We made carnival masks, painted eggs, baked gingerbread. I had one of these sessions in my son's class, I really enjoyed it, the children were open, they worked with me, I never felt uncomfortable or embarrassed for a minute. It was like I was born for this! It all went like a well-oiled machine. But it needed the openness and work of the children, as well as the effective organisation and support of our teachers.

The Foundation has brought several programmes to the school to promote dialogue.

• During family visits, parents invite the teacher to visit them, so the teacher can get to know the child's environment and spend informal, non-school time with the parents. I personally liked this very much, because it gave me a new perspective on the teacher that I had never experienced before. Our relationship has also improved a lot since then.
• There was also a parents' group meeting at the school, which is about parents daring to talk about their positive and negative experiences of school matters in front of each other, because sharing experiences is always very important, and this can be used to build a better, more livable school parent community later on, by working together. It is very important that they are able to say what bothers them or what is better for them.
• It's important to say not only the negative things but also the good things, because it can shed a different light on things, give you new perspectives and bring you closer together. Over the years, we have seen that thoughts that are left unsaid can only lead to anger and bad relationships. But if we manage to open up to each other, we can start a common path that will be a path that will be shared in the institution, both for parents and for the management.

These programmes are, I think, very useful for our institution, for the staff, for the students and for the parents. By working together, we can achieve significant results, which will take a lot of time, but it will be worth every minute."