“Teaching Tolerance through English” at Camp for Slovaks, Kosovars, Montenegrans and Serbs

August 22, 2008

The third “Teaching Tolerance through English” summer camp for English teachers and primary school students from Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovakia was organized by the US Embassy in Budapest. The camp was held in Balatonlelle, Hungary, with 36 students and 6 teachers participating in August. Its aim: to focus on mutual understanding, tolerance and respect despite national, cultural and other differences. Slovakia was represented by 11 students and 2 English teachers from primary schools in Michalovce and Cejkov. The daily program for the teachers started with two English language experts, Mary Lou McCloskey, PhD  (Atlanta, Georgia), and  Dr. Lydia Stack (San Francisco), who demonstated many strategies to foster tolerance while providing quality English teaching.  In the afternoon, the teachers, paired with someone from a different country, had opportunities to apply these approaches with a multi-ethnic group of students. Children learned about human rights, resolving conflicts, responding to bullying and bigotry. Children participated in drama (Reader’s Theatre) and presented their own plays. The Slovak group presented traditional folk songs and dances suring a Culture Sharing Evening.