Curriculum

Curriculum for human rights trainings to challenge racism and xenophobia

The learning partnership “Roma Youth Empowerment for Active Citizenship” developed internal training curricula for various target groups of young adult Roma and non-Roma with the aim to strengthen their social and civic skills to combat stereotypes, antigypsyism, racism and xenophobia. The seminars and trainings generally target a mixed group of young Roma and non-Roma youth leaders, youth workers and activists in the age between 18 and 30 years, and they are realized as weekend seminars (2 days), or intensive training-courses (4-6 working days). The training-curricula and methods are divided into the following elements which can be addressed separately or together depending on the training setting and aims:

1. Stereotypes: Identifying stereotypes and analyzing the social construction process of prejudices and stereotypes, and its impact for discrimination and racism.

2. Antigypsyism and racism: Introduction to the wider concept of antigypsyism, its historic roots in Europe, as well as its various forms of manifestation and impact through hate speech, hate crime, dehumanization, stigmatization and structural discrimination.

3. Roma (youth) identity: Reflection of the impact of stereotypes and antigypsyism on the identity of Roma youth, including processes of stigmatization and self-stigmatization; understanding how this affects empowerment strategies and approaches to strengthen the identity, self-awareness and self-esteem of young Roma.

4. Challenging stereotypes and racism: Exploring creative tools and methods how to address stereotypes and racism in youth work, how to make the mechanisms and images visible, to challenge them, and to engage young people in creative public actions.

5. Human rights education: Understanding stereotypes and racism in the context and frame of human rights, as well as the opportunities and tools of human rights education to empower young people.

6. Remembrance and holocaust education: Education on the remembrance of the Roma genocide, the underlying causes, human rights dimensions and the relevancy and connections to antigypsyism and racism nowadays.

7. Empowerment and active citizenship: Embedding the reflection on stereotypes, exclusion and racism, in a wider perspective of existing initiatives and strategies to empower Roma communities and to strengthen active citizenship, which allow to build alliances and new learning opportunities. 

With the financial support of the Grundtvig Learning Partnership programme in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Program of the European Commission.