This article presents the results of a sample survey on the training of intercultural mediators working in rescue, primary, and second phases of migrant reception in the Sicilian province of Ragusa. Adopting ethnomethodological and phenomenological approaches (Moustakas 1994 Creswell 2013: 81), the survey focuses on the intercultural mediators’ (henceforth ICMs) perception of the qualifications, experience, and skills they believe are necessary to carry out their work efficiently. A sample of 10 ICMs with different experiential and educational backgrounds responded to open ended questionnaires shedding light on the ways in which they experienced the shared phenomenon of mediating in contexts of emergency arrivals in Italy and their preparedness for such work. Informants included graduates in “Scienze per la mediazione interculturale” from the University of Catania’s School of Modern Languages in Ragusa and ICMs who had attended a vocational course at the Il Centro Mediterraneo di Studi e Formazione Giorgio La Pira in Pozzallo. To gain further insights, in-depth semi-structured interviews were then carried out with six of the ICMs who had responded to the questionnaires, and with the course directors at the above-mentioned institutions. The study aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the status of the intercultural mediator in Italy, both legally and ontologically. Most crucially, however, the research attempts to understand what intercultural mediators feel they need in terms of training and education, particularly for those who work in the field of the reception and integration of migrants coming from the African continent.
What Mediators Want: a qualitative needs analysis on the training and formation of future intercultural mediators
Denise Filmer
Primo
2019-01-01
Abstract
This article presents the results of a sample survey on the training of intercultural mediators working in rescue, primary, and second phases of migrant reception in the Sicilian province of Ragusa. Adopting ethnomethodological and phenomenological approaches (Moustakas 1994 Creswell 2013: 81), the survey focuses on the intercultural mediators’ (henceforth ICMs) perception of the qualifications, experience, and skills they believe are necessary to carry out their work efficiently. A sample of 10 ICMs with different experiential and educational backgrounds responded to open ended questionnaires shedding light on the ways in which they experienced the shared phenomenon of mediating in contexts of emergency arrivals in Italy and their preparedness for such work. Informants included graduates in “Scienze per la mediazione interculturale” from the University of Catania’s School of Modern Languages in Ragusa and ICMs who had attended a vocational course at the Il Centro Mediterraneo di Studi e Formazione Giorgio La Pira in Pozzallo. To gain further insights, in-depth semi-structured interviews were then carried out with six of the ICMs who had responded to the questionnaires, and with the course directors at the above-mentioned institutions. The study aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the status of the intercultural mediator in Italy, both legally and ontologically. Most crucially, however, the research attempts to understand what intercultural mediators feel they need in terms of training and education, particularly for those who work in the field of the reception and integration of migrants coming from the African continent.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
