LEARNING TO PLAY, PLAYING TO LEARN: APRENDIZAJE COLABORATIVO PARA LA INCLUSIÓN EDUCATIVA DE JÓVENES CON BAJO RENDIMIENTO Erasmus Project

Project Title

LEARNING TO PLAY, PLAYING TO LEARN: APRENDIZAJE COLABORATIVO PARA LA INCLUSIÓN EDUCATIVA DE JÓVENES CON BAJO RENDIMIENTO

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The European Union set the reduction of the school drop-out rate to less than 10% as a priority objective in education, in accordance with the provisions of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). Despite the complexity of this endeavor, just at the deadline of 2020, the figure of 9,9% was reached.

This data does not reflect the current national reality of each of the countries that make up the European Union, since they show large variations in their school drop-out levels, but it does reflect a clear positive trend and a collective effort (done by families, educational centers, and public authorities) for fighting this serious educational and social problem that our youth has faced for many years. This is an issue capable of weighing down the social, personal, and labor future of youth, not only due to the lack of regulated qualification, but also due to their loss of confidence and the lack in the development of transversal competences and attitudes towards life that can arise in them.

This immense achievement has been possible thanks to the implementation of projects, initiatives, and tools in innovative educational centers, among which we find the project “LEARNING TO PLAY, PLAYING TO LEARN: COLLABORATIVE LEARNING FOR THE EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION OF LOW PERFORMING STUDENTS”; an initiative developed between 2018 and 2021 to generate innovative changes in the learning processes of students from a holistic perspective that would allow generating a teaching method to attract young people, to motivate them, and generate a fun self-learning process to build confidence in their your academic prospects; all through the digitalization of teaching via a gaming methodology.

An innovative methodology has been generated based on the use of effective and innovative digital games in the classroom, which allows students to develop their educational skills together -without isolating anyone- and in a transversal way, specifically addressing low performance in mathematics, science, and literature in the first years of secondary education. These subjects, according to recent studies, are one of the main causes of school dropout by widening the gap of knowledge between students at risk of school leaving and their peers, sowing the seeds for future school dropout, and creating in them feelings of inferiority that can lead to anger and bullying towards their classmates.

As a result of the severe COVID-19 pandemic and the serious consequences it will leave in our society, the development of this gaming and digital methodology has become even more important, which is reflected in the results generated in this project. In order to achieve the planned objectives, a European network of 6 educational centers in Spain (Colegio Sagrada Familia – PJO), Finland (Harjurinteen koulu), Germany (Gesamtschule An der Erft), the UK (Carrickfergus College), Italy (Liceo Classico Statale Giulio Perticari), and Slovakia (ZS a Gymnázium s VJM) carried out intense work during 36 months, allowing to conduct 3 student mobility activities, 3 Transnational Meetings, 1 large Multiplier Event, multiple management, visibility, and dissemination activities, and many on-site and virtual activities for the creation of an innovative Intellectual Output, the “O1- VIDEOGAME: LEARNING TO PLAY, PLAYING TO LEARN”, coupled with -among other tangible and structural results- the manual “CURRICULAR ADAPTATIONS FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING THROUGH GAMING”, which facilitates the inclusion of said video game and the gaming methodology in the educational strategy of secondary school teachers.

All these results and actions have endowed the project with great impact, not only in the educational centers of the partnership, but also in schools from various European countries, thanks to the networks of the partner entities and the relationships they have with other educational centers like “Institut Technique de l’Enseignement Catholique-Boisfleury” (France). This project, despite having developed at a terrible time due to COVID-19, which particularly impacted the educational field, didn’t suffer a negative impact on its quality and ability to promote the creation and work of an effective European network that can already be seen in the day-to-day of these centers. This network grows every year, developing new Erasmus Plus projects (it has already been granted 2 new continuation projects) and contributing to achieve the ET 2020 objectives for school leaving.

Project Website

http://www.pjoeurope.com/learning-to-play/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 172199 Eur

Project Coordinator

Patronato de la Juventud Obrera & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Harjurinteen koulu
• Gesamtschule An der Erft
• Carrickfergus College/Academy
• ZS a Gymnázium s VJM
• LICEO CLASSICO STATALE GIULIO PERTICARI