We live in a time when different cultures are intertwined and coexist, and although prejudice and racism seem to be disappearing, they are alive and shaping the social reality of both individuals and minority groups. Based on our own experience of dealing with prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, we were interested in a broader view of the challenges faced by foreigners and Muslims in Slovenia, and if or how we can resolve the interpersonal relations in which we have found ourselves. We used the autoethnographic method, through reflection on personal experiences and through blog writing, to overcome prejudices and stereotypes. We analysed unstructured interviews conducted with foreign and Muslim women in Slovenia and with classroom teachers. The semi-structured interview with the President of the Intercultural Dialogue Association of Slovenia provided insight into the practice of intercultural dialogue in Slovenia. Interviews on the experiences of minority groups reveal oppressive reality, ignorance and intolerance, perception and evaluation that is Eurocentric and on the side of the majority. Through the blaming of foreignness as the main culprit of the country's hardships, xenophobic, hateful, and intolerant practices that are normalised in political, media and even school discourses are revealed. We believe that individuals should be empowered to be aware of their rights and to report Islamophobia and discrimination. We note that intercultural dialogue is a term that is often used in speech but rarely put into practice. Funding and implementation of actions to increase intercultural dialogue between groups would be suggested. The interviews with the teachers confirm our observations of the lack of acquisition of intercultural competences during the education at the Faculty of Education. The development of intercultural competences is necessary for a more equal society in which all individuals are respected and accepted in their diversity. The solution, in our view, lies in knowledge that goes beyond the ethnocentrism of the Western world, encompasses critical thinking and cultural competence. We believe that such knowledge should be provided within the compulsory education system. The school system is the one in which the greatest number of individuals are involved. Quality education helps to create relationships between people based on tolerance, cooperation, and trust. We have conducted a social skills workshop with students of the Faculty of Education in Koper, which was positively evaluated by the participants. We believe that similar practices should be introduced into the educational process of future teachers, but all of them and as repeated, ongoing work. In the master’s thesis, we conclude that interculturalism in the multicultural societies in which we live is a principle that needs to be put into practice in both educational and social work practice. We show that the two disciplines of social work and education can work together to develop intercultural practices and argue that the two disciplines should work together to put interculturalism into practice.
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