Intercultural learning
Bridge the gap: That is the mission entrusted to the FGYO when it was founded by the Élysée Treaty. Its purpose is to promote mutual understanding among young people from Germany and France.
Intercultural learning is an important prerequisite for this. If people can manage to understand one another in spite of their cultural differences, it creates the possibility for a friendly and respectful relationship. But as experience shows: A simple, unsupervised exchange often does not produce this result.
Reflection through the educational methodology of the encounter
Intercultural learning calls for moments of reflection: What challenges arose during the encounter with other people, and what were the reasons for this? What can participants learn from this? The insights gained through this reflection make understanding possible. This reflection is often particularly successful when initiated by third parties.
That is why the FGYO promotes intercultural learning, not only through exchange programmes but also through the educational training of the contributors. When given appropriate guidance, young people can reflect and learn much more effectively: about others, but about themselves as well.
How intercultural learning works even better
As part of its effort to promote intercultural learning through every encounter, the FGYO seeks to find out how these reflections come about – and how they can have lasting effects. To achieve this, the FGYO evaluates exchange projects and identifies methods that are particularly helpful in promoting participants’ understanding of one another. The FGYO draws on these observations to improve existing tools and exchange formats.
The FGYO is also mindful of evolving societies, which today are much more heterogeneous than when the FGYO was founded. That is why our programmes include a strong focus on learning in an intercultural society and promote the cultural diversity of today’s young people.
