In a situation where the number of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors increases substantially every year in Europe, educational institutions are faced with the problem of meeting new education and training needs, especially regarding the development and improvement of language skills.
The IRIS project, centered on teacher training, proposes building tools useful to improve the skills of teachers and educators working in multicultural contexts characterized by the presence of multilingual individuals. The goal is to enable the teachers to enhance the multilingualism of their learners and make the relationship with the host environment more positive and inclusive. The skills that need to be improved or acquired regard L1 and L2 use, storytelling, self-reflection skills and digital competence, developed thanks to communication within the network of partners and through blended training (alternating in-person and distance). In addition, teachers will acquire intercultural skills based on comparison of curricula from the various countries involved and the co-construction of a network of educational materials with the teachers involved in the training experiences in the different contexts. The skills acquired will enable teachers to take on a leading role, in the institution (public or private, formal or informal) where they operate, in all actions that facilitate the inclusion of newcomers and they will become promoters of intercultural practices and the development of multilingualism for all learners, whatever their origin.
