There are many good reasons for launching a Friendship School Initiative. Our main focus is on how a Friendship School Initative can give our children a broad and rich pedagogical experience.
We grow as human beings through the cultivation of friendships. It is an important lesson to learn that a child is a child, not so different from yourself. Even though they come from a different country and speak a different language, it is possible to play together and understand one another.
Through the FSI a bridge can be built between different cultures, and a true interest in and appreciation of our human differences can be cultivated. This type of knowledge and insight can have a huge, positive impact on the child's maturing process and understanding of what it means to being willing for his/her fellow mankind.
The interest and motivation to learn a language that is achieved by speaking and writing to a friend living in a foreign country makes it possible for the children to achieve better results in both spoken and written languages than by ordinary lessons.
Imagine getting a letter from a friend living in a different corner of the globe! Where the children have a different, maybe very different, school day. A different lifestyle! Think about being able to write something interesting about your daily life, your school, family, etc. How our culture and language helps us to create the ideas we have about ourselves, our identity and self- esteem.
There are few things more exciting for a school class than to travel to another country, or receive a visit from a class from another country. This kind of a class trip can, of course, be expensive, but can be an experience carried with you for the rest of your life!
Teachers from different countries have different experiences and knowledge, that might contribute to new insight and knowledge, that the childen might benefit from.