Context

"ARMONINO " (Children Circle the World) is a project aiming at coordinating a motivation by young people living in the neighborhoods of cities of Europe to positively reforming children's behavior towards their culturally different peers, classmates and of neighbors.

The idea got triggered by a real racism incident among children that took place in a dance school for children in the heart of Athens, when a 5year old girl refused to hold the hand of another 5year old girl, both immigrants, because of her origins...

Concept - Project's Theory

Children in primary schools in several countries are taught traditional stories from neighbour cultures, without knowing where each story comes from. They study them; they play with them and get inspired by them to create their own cultural products in any practically feasible art. Their masterpieces are to be presented on a certain date to an online meeting where they celebrate their European origins. In the end of this e-festival they all together sing digitally-live, a song that they have learnt with lyrics in all languages spoken among them, held virtually hand in hand.

Practice - Theory in Praxis

Children in primary schools of several countries are assigned by their teachers to ask their parents to shortly write in one-page of a traditional story - myth - fairytale. Teachers exchange the stories gathered with other teachers from primary schools participating in the programme. 

The children listen the narrations of the traditional stories, mythology, costumes about other cultures, without knowing where they refer to, and create their own cultural products based on a theme relative to what they have just heard, vertically in all arts. By the end of each cultural session, all children sing in circle a children's song that have learnt during their cultural course and says the same lyrics in all languages.

To go in detail, each school chooses to perform an art (Music, Dance, Acting, Painting, Sculpturing, Handicrafting Writing), for example painting; The bell rings. The teacher gets in along with an instructor (trained from us volunteer in the programme – student in the local Painting School). Children hear in audio, the narration of one story (per lesson hour), lasting no more than 10 minutes. Then, the children have the chance to make comments, ask questions, discuss about it and then create their own paintings (or they take it home, to complete the masterpiece). A few minutes before the end of the lesson hour, children get taught 1 more line of the big-hug-song and sing it all together, held hand in hand.

The cultural products that will be produced will be presented in a virtual meeting that will take place on a certain date, where all little artists will get together via technology to unfold a hand of friendship towards each other and sing together their song.