On November 6th 2009 a round table discussion was organised at our school. Its title was All different, all equal – Round table about tolerance and intolerance. Representatives of classes 4 to 9 joined in the discussion about tolerance. Pupils thought about the reasons for intolerance and in what ways it appears in our school hallways and classrooms. Pupils and people in general are different but we have to respect that and not give way to bullying, isolation and insults, which are all part of intolerant behaviour. So, what can we do to prevent such negative behaviour? Pupils suggested and agreed that at any sign of intolerance one must try to imagine how it would feel to stand in the oppressed one’s shoes.
On this occasion pupils were also creative. The DREVO za kulturo strpnosti society (TREE for the culture of tolerance) invited us to help build their tree of tolerance. Everyone has contributed to the creation of a single leaf, which is symbolic of tolerance. Each pupil is different and has coloured a small piece of what in the end has become one single leaf consisting of many tiny colourful pieces. Although all different, we can coexist but we must be tolerant to each other.
Today we had a videoconference with the Sicilian students. When we finnaly established the connection we were most curious to see who are the students on the other side of the videocamera. In the first part of the videoconference we introduced each other and then we started to talk about tolerance. This is a difficult topic in one's mother tongue and even more so in a foreign language! Well, they say that practice makes perfect, so we are already looking forward to our next videoconference.
