An experience that might be of interest to others was the activation of an exchange programme with a school in the place of origin of the migrant families. Our visit to that reality was considered a sign of interest and respect for the linguistic and cultural background of the pupils. A lot has changed in the attitude of the parents. The visit has opened new horizons to us as well. The wall of non-communication has been demolished and it became clear to us that this non-communication is often more caused by a lack of opportunities than by a lack of willingness to dialogue. The keywords seem to be: didactic continuity, also at distance and the development of new materials for intercultural and bilingual teaching.

 In The Netherlands we have a Moroccan community as well. In the big cities in the so called Randstad (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht), There are large communities and schools with almost 100% Moroccan and Turkisch children. In teh past it was a real problem to get the parents involved in the schools. Things have changed in a positive way. All differend kinds of actions have taken place. In 1998 I went to Morocco with a primary school on a studytrip. I was surprised to see that a lot of parents there are deeply involved in the education of their children. Every school we visited had very active parentgroups. I wonder why it is so different in migration situationsin European countries. Or is it different in other European countries?

We are presently working in a school in Anzola, 10 km. West of Bologna. The school has pupils from various ethnic backgrounds. The largest minority group is Maroccan.
Together with the school direction we have succeeded in establishing some sort of contact with Maroccan parents, involving a cultural mediator. Organising a cous cous party seems among the possibilities, but it is clear to everybody that this should only be the beginning of a more fruitful contact. We would like the parents to be more involved in the overall well being of their child, bridging the distance between home culture and school culture. Often the answer is: "The school can do what it thinks best, at home I decide what is best for my child".
Does anyone has any suggestions?