In the pre-university education the strategies of internationalization are approached as educational necessities with an impact on the social and labor market integration.

The Law of National Education No. 1/2011, subsequently amended and supplemented, stipulates the principles governing the pre-university and higher education, as well as the lifelong learning in Romania. The children, youth and adults’ education and professional training have as main purpose the training of competencies, understood as a multifunctional and transferable assembly of knowledge, skills/abilities and aptitudes, necessary for:

• personal fulfillment and development, by achieving one’s own life goals, according to everybody’s interests and aspirations and the wish to become lifelong learners

• social integration and active civic participation in the society

• employment and participating at the functioning and development of a sustainable economy

• forming a conception on life, based on the humanitarian and scientific values, on the national and universal culture and on the stimulation of intercultural dialogue

• education in the spirit of dignity, tolerance and respect of the fundamental human rights and liberties

• cultivation of sensitivity towards the human issue, the moral and civic values and of the respect for nature and the natural, social and cultural environment.

As such, in the Romanian pre-university education system, the global dimension and the interculturality are approached from the perspective of equality in diversity. The multi and intercultural education is considered a fundamental resource of development of each personality.

The approach includes educational policies, but also the organization of the educational processes through inter-curricular, extra-curricular, out-of-school activities, as well as the training of the teaching staff, focusing on the transformative and transferability component, in order to ensure the implementation of the interculturality principle.

One of the policies of the Ministry of National Education intended to highlight the talents and capacities of preschoolers and pupils and to stimulate their participation at various actions, in non-formal contexts, but also to contribute to the development of internationalization and interculturality is the introduction of the Programme A Different Kind of School: To know more, to be better!. The programme is implemented for one week, during the school year (period in which there are no classes carried out according to the regular schedule). The programme A Different Kind of School: To know more, to be better! is elaborated and organized by each education unit and involves all preschoolers/pupils and all the teaching staff. The elaboration of the activities programme is performed at the level of each education unit, by consulting the children/pupils, the parents, the representatives of the local public administrative authorities/of the community who are represented in the school’s Executive board. The proposals are discussed in the pupils teams, in the pupils’ council, in the teaching council and in the parents’ representative committee, in view of adopting the programme agreed by the majority of pupils and teachers. The selected projects and activities must correspond to the educational objectives specific to the school community, being a result of its options. The participation of children/pupils at various actions, in non-formal contexts, is thus stimulated.

European, global and intercultural dimensions in curriculum development

The curriculum and the school syllabi are centered on the development of competencies, including social and civic competencies which refer to personal, interpersonal and intercultural competencies.

In Romania, the curricular approach is an integrated one, taking into account the psychological considerations of the children/pupils and the pedagogical ones. The fundamental category of the National Curriculum is represented by the curricular area (grouping the subjects that have common training objectives). There is a dynamic balance between the curricular areas. The curricular area offers a multi or/and interdisciplinary vision on the subjects. The curricular areas, established based on principles and criteria of epistemological and psycho-pedagogical type, selected according to the education’s goals, are related to the importance of the cultural domains and to the connections between them which structure the human personality.

The curricular cycles (periodizations of the school years which have specific objectives in common and provide a coherent set of learning objectives) are:

• the curricular cycle of the fundamental acquisitions

• the curricular cycle of development

• the curricular cycle of observation and orientation

• the curricular cycle of specialization.

For the grades of the fundamental acquisitions cycle, starting with the 2012-2013 school year, the curriculum is made on the basis of the desiderata of the training profile of the child who completes the IInd grade, structured in seven competence areas which are equivalent to the eight competences in the European space: communication competencies, basic competencies specific to mathematics, sciences and technologies, competencies of using the information technology as a learning and knowledge tool, social and civic competencies, entrepreneurial competencies, relational and cultural expression competencies, metacognitive competencies.

The thematic structures of several subjects are planned so as to facilitate/generate the learning of other themes at other subjects.

Thereby, the global and intercultural dimension transcends the subjects, also existing subjects directly dedicated to the theme or with a greater charge from the perspective of the internationalization dimension, like Modern Languages, History, Geography, Social Sciences, Civic Culture, etc., being approached intra-, inter- and cross-curricularly, as well as extracurricularly and out-of-school.

• The curriculum for the preschool education presents a systemic approach. The experiential domains with which one operates within the curriculum for preschool education are: The aesthetic and creative domain, The human being and society domain, The language and communication domain, The sciences domain, The psychomotor domain. The European dimension through curriculum at the preschool education level is achieved by means of the activities organized for this purpose and that may be included in the study of foreign languages through intercultural approaches, in the chosen activities focusing on simple historical and geographical aspects regarding Romania’s place and role in the European Community, etc. In recent years, the initiatives of the teachers in this field were facilitated and supported by means of the training programmes.

• The European dimension through curriculum at the primary education level is ensured by means of modern languages study and the initiatives of the education unit and of the teachers. The activities organized for this purpose may be included in the foreign languages study by intercultural approaches, in the study of the history and geography of Romania through basic aspects regarding the place and the role of the country in the European space, in the civic education by basic information regarding citizenship in multicultural environments etc. In recent years, the initiatives of the teachers in this field were facilitated and supported by training programmes.

• The European dimension through curriculum at the secondary education level (the Vth-XIIth/XIIIth grades) is based on the following: the study of foreign languages; general and specific themes integrated in the curriculum for certain subjects in the common core; specific themes integrated in the optional subjects or even dedicated optional subjects, being part of the curriculum at the school’s decision; extracurricular and out-of-school activities. The study of foreign languages includes relevant aspects concerning the culture and history of the countries of origin. At the same time, the communication competencies acquired through the study of foreign languages represent a primary acquisition in setting up various types of relations with schools from abroad within different European and international cooperation programmes. At the high school education level, the curriculum of the bilingual grades includes the study of Geography (the IXth grade), History (the Xth grade) and of some Elements of Culture and Civilization (the XIth-XIIth grades) specific to the respective linguistic area. The European dimension is included in the syllabi of the following subjects – part of the common core: History, Geography, Civic Culture (secondary level) and Social and Human Sciences (high school level). The hours dedicated to Counselling and Orientation (present in the common core from the Vth grade to the XIIth grade) are organized on themes established by the class teacher and frequently include information and activities related to European and international issues.

Partnerships and networks

• Erasmus+ partnerships

• the eTwinning projects

• online networks.