Welcoming migrants to the School Museum

With this pilot project, named Winsome, we wanted to involve migrants more actively in the society where they ended up. We did this by offering an educational program in school museums for non-for...

With this pilot project, named Winsome, we wanted to involve migrants more actively in the society where they ended up. We did this by offering an educational program in school museums for non-formal groups of migrants. The idea behind this is that school museums are easily accessible because of their familiarity and contact can be made in a playful manner with the target group. The goal was to promote the integration and welfare of migrants who because of displacement, often have fewer opportunities. An important objective was to investigate what specific qualities adult educators in these museums needed to have to receive these groups, given the challenges that the participants often faced.

The Winsome project had a step-by-step implementation in which the results of one activity provided input for the next. Initially, an inventory was made of comparable projects that had already been carried out in museums. In the same phase, exploratory discussions took place with representatives of migrant organizations and newcomers themselves. Both results ultimately resulted in a general educational program that was implemented in both museums, some with a certain focus. In the meantime, materials were also made and educators were taught how to be well-prepared. The implementation of the educational activities took place in both museums and the results were monitored and evaluated. In dissemination activities, the results were shared with large groups of interested parties. During the project, a digital platform was also built up in which the project and all outcomes could be followed accurately and completely. This will remain available in the coming years for anyone who wants to do something with the subject.

The digital platform (https://winsome-project.eu/) contains all results, ready to use for others. This concerns in particular: - a structural inventory of comparable projects (cases) - reports of conversations with migrants (groups) - the outline of the educational program - materials to be used for your implementation (and tips) - the extensive evaluation In addition, an important result is that we have been able to offer a special experience to a large number of newcomers and that we and our employees have learned more about the approach to a specific educational target group.