‘Ionel Teodoreanu” School, located in Iasi, Eastern Romania, was founded on the 1st of September 1965. At first, it was named School no. 4, but in 1993 it was renamed after the famous Romanian writer. Since 2005, our school has been renovated due to a programme financed by The World Bank and our City Hall.
In what the social context concerns, in our school, there are pupils coming from disorganized families, without income or with very low incomes, or from families with parents gone abroad for work. The lack of affection and supervision from the parents` part leads to inefficiency of schoolwork and difficulties in communicating with teachers and colleagues, carelessness in doing one’s duty, passivity, shyness, violent acts, aggressive language, and anxiety. Moreover, we work with pupils from families without education, or even living in special protection institutionalized centers.
Taking into account the title of the project, it should be mentioned that our school functions according to the slogan “A school for change and adaptation”. Moreover, being an inclusive educational institution (open to learners with special needs), we accept all the pupils, offering them the opportunity to learn and express themselves according to their needs, interests, capacities, and aptitudes. In this respect, our goal is not only to provide knowledge, but also to shape tolerant personalities, capable of adapting to changes and of respecting the values of a democratic society
To sum up, what we insist on is the idea of tolerance, mutual respect and equality in diversity, that is a sense of oneness in a multicultural society. Our duty is to guide our learners in their journey towards maturity, with the ultimate goal of being a citizen in a culturally diverse society. Taking into account all the facts mentioned above, we consider that, through our involvement in the Project, we will have the opportunity to put into practice our beliefs regarding “behaviour and intercultural respect”.
Presentation about Iasi and the School "Ionel Teodoreanu"
“Gheorghe I. Bratianu” School is a Primary and Generaly Secondary School located in Iasi, Moldavia County. Iasi is a city of 348.500 inhabitants (2002), the second largest city in Romania and the most important political, economical and cultural center of Moldavia, situated in the North-Eastern part of the country, near to the Moldavian border. This is another remoted area at the eastern border of the EU. At the level of Iasi County (816.910 inhabitants), 16338 persons represent the other ethnics according to the census of population and residences in 2002. From the other ethnics, the Roma people have a larger percent (50 %), the rest of the ethnics being remarked the Russian- Lipoveans, the Hungarians, the Germans, the Greek, the Jewish. The Roma people, the Greek, the Germans, the Hungarians and the Jewish are almost in a majority in Iasi city. “Gheorghe I. Bratianu” School is also located in an area dominated by the Roma people. In ”Gheorghe I. Bratianu” school the total amount of students is 521 (from 6 to 15 years old). Among these about 130 pupils are coming from families with parents gone abroad for work (in Italy, Spain, Germany). In this school there are also Roma pupils who refuse to declare their ethnicity (2 %). The teachers from “Gheorghe I. Bratianu” School have to work with pupils from families without education, pupils from poor families, pupils from The Special School. Teachers and especially the principal of school have to solve the problems concerning integration of pupils from different ethnicity, problems related to those pupils whose parents migrate for working abroad. During the years our school has developed partnerships with The Special School, with “Solidarity and Hope” Foundation but it was never involved in a Comenius project
The necessity of the intercultural dimension of education is imposed in our school by: the presence of students of different ethnicity, the avoidance of interethnic conflicts and tensions, the elimination of prejudices and stereotypes, migration of parents, the presence of diversified ethnics in our city or in the surroundings. That's why it is very necessary for the school in Iasi to work together in Comenius projects. The role of the school is defined by the teacher Gabriela Iancu, who already has worked in a Comenius Project about intercultural competence. The school will be responsible for observation of intercultural competence during the process of the Project.
Presentation about Iasi and the School "Gheorghe I. Brătianu "
