trait d'union

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The international multimedia school newspaper trait d'union (French; "hyphen") is a platform for intercultural communication and cooperation from and for schoolchildren and their teachers all over the world.

Basic information

International project meeting of Italian, Polish, French and German trait d'union employees in November 2001 in Rome. The host was the Liceo "Bertrand Russell".

The origins of trait d'union are in 1999, when the project of the German School Toulouse was first created primarily as a platform of educational cooperation with the neighboring Lycée International Victor Hugo de Colomiers (France) to life. The direct impetus for initiating trait d'union was the Goethe-Rallye , a trilingual, intercultural learning game that was held in Rome in 1999 as part of a student exchange between the German School Toulouse, the Liceo "Bertrand Russell" di Roma and the Lycée International Victor Hugo de Colomiers was carried out.

The newspaper is usually published once a year in print, online and (irregularly) as a video , with a specific focus topic , e.g. B. "We are all strangers" (1/2001) or "Dreams and Developments" (5/2005), is in the foreground.

The online presence of trait d'union was hosted from the beginning by the DASAN server (German foreign school work on the network) of the Central Office for Schools Abroad (ZfA) at the Federal Administration Office . In the years from 2000 to 2003, trait d'union received financial support as an international school project from funds from the Comenius program of the European Union.

Between 2000 and 2017, a total of 27 schools, mainly from Europe, but also from Africa and Asia as well as North and South America, participated in the design of the multilingual newspaper, including five German schools abroad and three German schools in Germany. In 2005, the ZfA saw trait d'union “on the way to becoming one of the largest intercultural school newspapers in the world” (ZfA-Info 1/2005). The texts of the previous editions of trait d'union (up to 2005) are in 15 languages, including those from Africa and Asia.

The project is accessible to all types of schools: most of the participating schools are grammar schools or their equivalent; but also primary schools belong to the group of participants who are permanently ready to accept.

The coordination school from September 1999 to July 2007 was the German School Toulouse , since September 2004 together with the Michaeli-Gymnasium Munich . Between 2007 and 2015, the project was managed by the German School Bilbao . The project manager is Lothar Thiel. He teaches at the Gisela-Gymnasium Munich (Germany), which has been the coordinating school since the 2015/16 school year.

The name of the newspaper as a symbol of its structure

The connection plays such an essential role for the international multimedia school newspaper trait d'union that the symbol of the hyphen was chosen as the name.

Video: "Faust in the 21st Century", episode "Faust at the Psychologist". Cooperation project between the German School Toulouse and the Lycée International Victor Hugo de Colomiers (2003)

Interculturality

As an intercultural project, the newspaper trait d'union not only claims to document multiculturalism in the sense of cultural and linguistic diversity (be it within a society or on an international level). It is also about addressing the relationship between different cultures - differences and opposites, but also similarities - which includes reflecting on the issues that are so important in the era of globalization , how to defuse conflict-prone interactions between different cultures and promote mutual learning can be. Accordingly, their publications are dominated by cultural and intercultural contributions made by the students of their member schools all over the world.

By inviting her employees from different countries to put their work on the trait d'union IntraNet virtual editorial desk during the creation process , she tries, at least in the context of her project, to establish a dialogue, if not between cultures, then between young people to stimulate from different cultures and to enable cooperation between them aimed at a common product. This complex process , which is dependent on a variety of conditions, reflects structurally what increasingly characterizes professional cooperation in international economic, social and political contexts. Intercultural skills are therefore one of the key qualifications in the 21st century and trait d'union wants to make a contribution to processing and imparting them in school pedagogy.

Video "The Sugarman ... and the Kinder-Riegel", created in the English lesson of class 8d at the Halepaghen School in Buxtehude (2005)

Multimedia

The multimediality of trait d'union enables employees to choose between the following media and formats according to their respective intentions and technical possibilities: print, online presentation, audio, video and PowerPoint. Since all media have specific advantages and limitations, the goal-oriented handling of them promotes the media competence of the participants, which also includes the connection of different media.

This diverse media structure of trait d'union is, in line with technical progress, in constant development. It addresses the students with different talents and interests (e.g. computer specialists and those who are more artistically ambitious) and can thus introduce the individual to areas of activity that he has not previously considered due to the project cooperation.

Another effect of multimedia is the almost unlimited freedom in the choice of genres - e.g. B. between texts, photos, drawings, songs, films - and their combination. This aspect supports interdisciplinary project approaches and the compatibility of the project with different conditions at the participating schools in the different countries.

Combination of different social and teaching forms

Different social forms constitute the pillars on which the project work of trait d'union is based: These range from the individual work of freelance workers to teaching-based project contributions led by interested specialist teachers to permanent editorial teams that are run at the individual schools as work groups or elective courses can be. Each member school freely decides, according to its respective conditions, which form (s) of cooperation it chooses for itself. The social forms also have specific advantages and limits with regard to the material and pedagogical project goals, so that they can be linked - even across schools or countries.

As far as the project contributions come from the classroom, they can be created more traditionally ( frontal teaching ) or using action-oriented teaching methods, which trait d'union offers a rich field of activity, depending on the respective school culture . Interdisciplinary and cross-year approaches are also supported by the project structure. Participating educators are completely autonomous both in the choice of the form of teaching and in terms of the scope of the contribution.

Multilingualism

For their texts , the students sometimes use their first language , which does not have to be identical with their mother tongue , and sometimes a second or foreign language . In this way, articles in fifteen languages ​​were produced by 2006. These are: Arabic (اللغة العربية, al-luġatu ʾl-ʿarabīya), German , English (English), French (Français), standard Chinese (普通话 or 普通話 / Putonghua / Mandarin), Italian (Italiano), Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba ), Dutch (Nederlandse taal), Polish (język polski), Portuguese (Português), Romanian (limba româna), Russian (русский язык), Spanish (Español, Castellano), Urdu (اردو) and Wolof . If one also takes into account shorter trait-d'union videos (see: Weblinks / trait d'union Web TV!), The following sixteen project languages ​​were added by 2007: Albanian (Shqip), Armenian (Հայերեն լեզու / Hajeren lesu), Bulgarian ( Български език / Bălgarski esik), Fārsī (فارسی), Fon , Japanese (日本語 / nihongo), Kurdish (Kurdish: Zimanê Kurdî, Turkish: Kürt dilli, Arabic: الéαλλάη, Arabic: ال éαλλάη, Croatian : الéαλλάη (ινλλάη) ( ν), Serbian ( ), Modern Greek () Srpskohrvatski or cрпскохрватски or hrvatskosrpski or hrvatski ili srpski or srpski ili hrvatski), Slovak (Slovenčina), Tigrinya (Tigray Tigrinja, Tigrigna), Czech (Čeština), Turkish (Türk dili, Türkçe), Ukrainian (українська {мова} / Ukrajinska {mowa}), Hungarian (magyar nyelv) and Vietnamese (tiếng Việt, tiếng Việt Nam or Việt ngữ).

In the conflict between the goal of maximizing the communicative reach of the newspaper (which would speak for writing only in English) and the need to express cultural diversity in language (this would contradict any linguistic selection) trait d'union steers a negotiable compromise course, which is the corresponds to the factual hierarchy of languages ​​in terms of their distribution: English is recognized as the number one world language . It is followed by the languages taught as a foreign language in most European countries (where the majority of member schools are located) . The third group are the languages ​​to which this does not apply. Texts written in these languages ​​are accompanied by translations into languages ​​of group one or two in both the print and online versions.

In addition, all articles in trait d'union online are presented together with an interactive button "Translate this text", which invites users to translate texts of interest to them. These versions are linked to the original text. The effort to provide different language versions of the navigation pages has not yet progressed very far.

The multilingualism is intended to stimulate the students' desire for foreign languages. Through them, trait d'union also supports foreign language teaching by offering authentic texts on conditions and viewpoints from other countries, which were written by peers of the learners. For this purpose, the students can communicate with the author of a text in his / her first language or in the foreign language he / she uses. This is made possible by a further interactive function, "Write us!", Although the longer it is since the creation of the text, the less likely it is that a dialogue with the author will occur.

Subject

Although trait d'union as a project of intercultural pedagogy is not a classic school newspaper in the sense that only students were involved in it, the principle of the "youth perspective" applies to the topic of the contributions: They must have a clear reference to the life practice of young people and to show their awareness or interests . At the same time, the topics should also be relevant to education and thus teaching , be it in terms of content and work technology or in the linguistic and social-communicative - especially intercultural - area.

The intersection of topics resulting from the criteria of the youth perspective and the educational relevance is intended on the one hand to promote the learning and project motivation of the students - "Non scholae, sed vitae discimus" - and on the other hand to increase the chances of developing a smaller or larger project contribution compatible in the lessons of various To integrate countries.

This is reinforced by the general breadth of the respective focus topic. The following topics have been dealt with or are in progress:

  • No. 01/2001: "We are all strangers"
  • No. 02/2002: "Our future"
  • No. 03/2003: "Our identity. Being young at the beginning of the 21st century"
  • No. 04/2004: "Boys & Girls"
  • No. 05/2005: "Dreams and Developments"
  • No. 06/2006: "Courage"
  • No. 07-08 / 2007-08: "Black & White"

The "general humanity" of the respective framework topic appeals to young people of all cultures and enables a large variety of treatable aspects, which accommodates the freedom of the individual employee in determining his special topic, encourages thinking in contexts and above all intercultural comparisons and Encourages discussions as well as interdisciplinary, gender-related and cross-age approaches.

As an intercultural newspaper, trait d'union attaches great importance to ideological neutrality , whereby this should not be achieved by the commitment of its authors to an unreal "politically correct" middle course, but rather by the fact that ideally all points of view on the respective topics are expressed , so no belief should be excluded from the outset . For example, enthusiastic advocates of intercultural dialogue and mutual integration can present their arguments as well as their skeptics. Only all supporters of discriminatory attitudes, namely chauvinism and racism , are excluded from expressing themselves in trait d'union .

trait d'union IntraNet: project communication and cooperation as an engine of intercultural learning

Since the end of 2004, the project has provided an IntraNet as a virtual editorial desk for employees all over the world - schoolchildren and teachers. It is accessible to everyone (to a certain extent); only those who want to write in it or also receive statistical information about the project participants have to register and activate beforehand. This means that outsiders can also follow the "work on progress".

Each participating school receives a "staff room", which is usually divided into two parts: "Communication" is primarily used for internal communication between the staff at a particular school and as a mailbox for messages sent to this school from external colleagues. In the "Production" area, finished, but also not yet completed project contributions should be made ("posted"). Each project member, whether pupil or teacher, whether from their own or one of the partner schools, can in principle react to a colleague's post in two ways - firstly by commenting on the colleague's contribution and / or secondly by expanding it: This can be in very different ways Forms happen: an opinion on a controversial topic can be accompanied by an opposing position, a narrative can be enriched with illustrations or converted into a dialogue to be set to music, etc.

Project ideas that seem suitable from the outset for transnational processing are presented in the "International Staff Room" , which is structured in a similar way to the "School Staff Rooms" and also contains a few additional areas, including an "International Teachers' Room" where theories and concepts of intercultural learning can be exchanged. This forum contains contributions on trait d'union itself, but also on topics of intercultural school pedagogy that go beyond the scope of the project, such as

  • Student exchange
  • Study trips abroad
  • Special features of intercultural learning at schools abroad
  • special teaching models such as B. intercultural reading projects and intercultural rallies.

The technicians of the project also meet in the International Staff Room: They can store materials on their "International Technicians' Workbench" so that they can organize their further processing across borders . This begins with the HTML conversion of print texts and can extend to questions about the further development of the project website (s).

On the way to an (elective) subject intercultural competence

Example: the rhythm of communication

The appearance that the processes of communication and cooperation within the framework of an international school project are simply structured is deceptive. This is borne out by the example of the rhythm of communication . In fact, a number of factors determine the communication and cooperation behavior of the participants, which are often difficult or (initially) impossible to recognize by the partners. In the case of a smooth process or even positive surprises by the partner or partners, this circumstance seems (wrongly!) Negligible, but if frictions or blockages increase, the progress of the whole project can be in danger.

The difficulties in understanding the motives of the project partner behavior in order to be able to react appropriately to this seem to be based on at least two basic conditions:

  1. Restriction of communication through spatial distance : This exists in the absence of certain types of feedback that are available for close-range communication and through which behavior deviating from any agreements made can be communicated at short notice and discussed together with the aim of solving the problem.
  2. Affiliation of the project partners to different cultures : People usually regard culture-specific patterns of orientation for their own actions and the perception of "foreign cultural" behavior they have shaped as "normal" for pragmatic reasons , but often without being accountable for the fact that the range of the individual norms does not extend "naturally" extends to the life of the project partners. That is why the causes of many deviations from the agreed project action are often not communicated to the partner to the necessary extent and are in turn misinterpreted by the partner in accordance with his different perception paradigms and behavioral expectations. Factors about which no or only insufficient communication takes place can consist of different moral or religious values; They can range from the specific status of an international project in the respective school profile to questions about the technical equipment of a school.

The negative or - ideally - positive effects of cultural differences are not only noticeable in the type of project communication, but are in turn determined by the structure of the project communication: the polarity (e.g. e-mails or - more openly - IntraNet), the frequency (Communication files per unit of time) and the percentage of nominal project members who participate in the communication have a lasting effect on the transparency within the project and thus on its success.

One of the minimum requirements that should be placed on the rhythm of communication in intercultural projects is therefore

  • not to make one's own model of action absolute
  • not reacting negatively emotionally
  • to remind the partner if there is no communication, to ask questions
  • Expect unknown circumstances and technical or organizational communication obstacles
  • To anticipate the needs of the partner, in particular his communication needs due to his function in the project, and to meet them as far as possible
  • In the event of problems, to give at least a short feedback to the inquiring partner, in which the type of obstacle and the expected latest date for the answer or the delivery of the agreed project contribution are specified (possibly using a uniform form for all)
  • in the case of insufficient knowledge of the circumstances, to assume that the partner has more advantageous motives for action
  • to conduct a friendly and clear dialogue with him about problems and possible solutions.

Since many communication problems are based on the workload of the participants, the routine parts of project communication should be formalized as much as possible in order to minimize the time required for their implementation.

Even this one - formal - component of the project work turns out to be influenced to a considerable extent by cultural differences. How much more is this true for content-related factors such as programmatic decision-making processes or controversial discussions on 'sensitive' topics! They can influence the form and the content, the material and educational output of the intercultural project quite considerably.

Elements of an elective Intercultural Competence

Against this background, the necessity and, in outline, the structure of (elective) teaching intercultural competencies emerge:

  • The students produce their project contribution, put it up for discussion on the IntraNet and offer it for creative processing.
  • They determine whether or not feedback has been received within an appropriate period for the specific case. You evaluate the added value of the feedback received for the original intention of your own project contribution, but this also includes the possibility of modifying this intention, stimulated by the feedback.
  • If necessary, they try to find out the reasons for the lack of feedback. They analyze - if possible in communication with the partners - the causes for the occurrence of feedback that are significantly below or exceed the level to be expected in the respective context.
  • They develop proposals for procedures which should help avoid the problems that have arisen in the future or which can be obtained as a model from exemplary processes. This, too, ideally takes place in consensus with the partners in order to ensure that the newly developed procedures can also be used by as many partners as possible.
  • In this way, an increasingly differentiated system of intercultural project conventions emerges , which is not only developed by the students on the basis of their project experience , but - regardless of its ability to adapt to changing framework conditions - is conveyed to new students and, above all, is also applied in project practice . It ranges from simple technical advice to organizational processes and rules of project ethics. Formally , these project conventions must be designed in such a way that their technical or administrative implementation is acceptable and feasible for as many participants as possible. The teacher who leads such a lesson will be able to largely limit himself to moderating the action-oriented development and learning process and to deepen the reflection at the appropriate points using approaches from anthropology and intercultural communication, for example .
Of trait d'union (in this case students of the German School in Toulouse and the Lycée International Victor Hugo de Colomiers) organized panel discussion at the Goethe-Institut Toulouse (2003) on the future of Franco-German relations on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty with Alban Azaïs and Herbert Hartmann.

Perspective: the "intercultural driving license"

Ideally, this subject should be taught interactively at all participating schools, but this can only be realized if it is recognized that the teaching of competencies in intercultural communication and cooperation in schools satisfies a social need whose importance is increasing in intra-social processes with multicultural or multiethnic ones The background is just as clear as in the working conditions of international teams of globally operating companies or of employees who work in companies in which international cooperation plays an important role. Only when such companies and other international institutions open up to the approach described above by

  • enable concrete needs analyzes of the intercultural competencies specifically required in their areas, which then only need to be translated into the context of the school project (see also section 7!)
  • materially support the project approaches concerned

the concept described above can be put into practice. Following the example of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) , an "Intercultural Driving License" could be awarded in the medium term as a certificate for successful participation in this elective. More than the development of an optional subject at the international level is also not aimed at, in order not to come into conflict with the educational sovereignty of states or regions.

The goal of the Comenius project Intercultural Driving License (2009–2011) is formulated even more modestly. Eight schools (seven 'domestic schools' and one German school abroad) based in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain and Turkey take part and which is coordinated by the German School Bilbao : "The main objective is to create a catalog of 'Intercultural Competences' and promote its establishment in school programs." This means that every school is free to decide how it will implement this catalog of intercultural competencies in accordance with its respective priorities and possibilities , whether as an inclination group / working group, elective lessons or integrated into one or more subjects. However, it must be ensured that different implementations do not impair the compatibility required for interactive implementation at the various participating schools and that the requirements for obtaining the "Intercultural Driving License" certificate are the same everywhere. Trait d'union acts as the platform for the Comenius project ; the subject of issue no. 8 (2010) corresponds to that of the Comenius project: "Do you understand me?". Although the number of countries participating in the Comenius project schools (v. A. From the same country) is limited, any interested school, even outside Europe, (though without Comenius funding) invited to participate in the editorial work of trait d'union to participate .

Learning for life, lifelong learning

The interface between school, education and professional life can be paraphrased with the catchphrase "learning for life, lifelong learning ". A forum on this topic has been set up for the project participants on the trait d'union IntraNet . The exchange of experience, knowledge and opinions appears to be particularly interesting for the following communication partners (within one country or between different countries):

  • Students among themselves
  • pupils and students
  • Schoolchildren and young professionals
  • Schoolchildren and company representatives
  • Schoolchildren and representatives of international and intercultural institutions
  • Students and teachers

Intercultural skills not only consist of ethical and formally describable behavior as well as communication skills in international projects. The quality of the content also depends on the constantly changing qualification requirements of internationally operating companies and institutions for their employees, which is why trait d'union wants them to participate or partner in a project. Today's pupils should be able to adjust as early as possible to what is expected of them as tomorrow's employees (possibly also in a country other than the one where one goes to school). The following topics are available, among others:

  • My later job: ideas and wishes
  • How does school prepare us for working life?
  • School is over - what now?
  • (Same) professions in different countries
  • Study experience - worldwide
  • Working together in a globalized world
  • Changes in working life: What companies offer their future employees and what they expect from them

The knowledge gained here is incorporated into the - never finalized - learning objective formulation for the optional subject Intercultural Competences .

Public campaign of the students of the Lycée "El Hadji Malick Sy" de Thiès (Senegal) against the spread of AIDS (2003)

Educational institutions that contributed to trait d'union between 2000 and 2019 or that joined the trait d'union

  • BORG , Krems (Austria)
  • Çankırı Süleyman Demirel Fen Lisesi (Turkey)
  • Christelijk Lyceum Apeldoorn (Netherlands)
  • German Humboldt School Guayaquil / Colegio Alemán Humboldt Guayaquil (Ecuador)
  • German International School in The Hague (Netherlands)
  • German School Bilbao / Colegio Alemán (Spain)
  • German School Moscow (Russia)
  • German School Toulouse (France)
  • École Borde d'Olivier de L'Union (France)
  • École Collège Lycée Massillon, Clermont-Ferrand (France)
  • Gisela-Gymnasium Munich (Germany)
  • Gurugram Public School, Gurgaon (India)
  • Halepaghen School, Buxtehude (Germany)
  • Instituto (IES) "Profesor Hernández Pacheco", Cáceres (Spain)
  • Liceo Classico "Sesto Properzio", Assisi (Italy)
  • Liceo Classico Statale Sperimentale “Bertrand Russell”, Roma (Italy)
  • Liceo Scientifico Statale "Leonardo da Vinci", Genova (Italy)
  • VIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stanisława Wyspiańskiego, Kraków (Poland)
  • Lycée "El Hadji Malick Sy", Thiès (Senegal)
  • Lycée International Victor Hugo, Colomiers (France)
  • Michaeli-Gymnasium Munich (Germany)
  • Mikalojaus Dauksos vidurine mokykla, Vilnius (Lithuania)
  • Prytanée Militaire Charles Tchioréré de Saint Louis (Senegal)
  • Šilutės pirmosios gimnazija (Lithuania)
  • Tarsus Anadolu Öğretmen Lisesi, Tarsus (Turkey)
  • The Graham School, Columbus / Ohio (United States of America)
  • Theater Lab (Youth), Bangalore (theater school in India)
  • ವಿಸ್ತಾರ್ ರಂಗ ಶಾಲೆ Visthar Ranga Shaale, Koppal (theater school in India)
  • Zespół Szkół Hotelarsko Turystycznych, Zakopane (Poland)
  • In cooperation with trait d'union : DOMINO, Interkulturelle Jugendzeitung, Berlin (Germany)

Support and honorary memberships

trait d'union was or is financially supported by the European Commission as part of the Comenius program (2000–2003), by the German School Association Toulouse (since 2003), the Foyer Socio-Educatif des Lycée International Victor Hugo de Colomiers (2003–2005 ) and the Friends of the Michaeli-Gymnasium Munich (since 2004).

The DASAN server (Deutsche Auslandsschularbeit am Netz) of the Central Office for Schools Abroad (ZfA) at the Federal Office of Administration hosted trait d'union Online and the trait d'union IntraNet from the beginning of their respective existence (2000 and 2004) until 2009.

The Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich sponsored the project in 2005 by providing an intern as a project assistant.

The company Océ participated in 2007 on pressure.

For another Comenius project, "Intercultural Driving License" (2009-2011), again financially supported by the European Commission and coordinated by the German School Bilbao , at which eight schools from seven host countries (Turkey, Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania , Italy, Germany), trait d'union serves as a working platform.

In 2011 the Comenius project "The world is changing" (2011-2013) started, again financially supported by the European Commission , in which seven schools from seven host countries (Turkey, Spain, Poland, Austria, Lithuania, Italy, Germany) take part. The in the VIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stanisława Wyspiańskiego, Kraków (Poland) coordinated project will be published in 2013 in trait d'union .

The authors Gudrun Pausewang and Matthias Politycki are honorary members of the project .

See also

Web links

The remaining links will be updated in the near future.