Story Changers: enhancing pupils’ social skills and enriching teaching methods through storytelling and virtual reality Erasmus Project

Project Title

Story Changers: enhancing pupils’ social skills and enriching teaching methods through storytelling and virtual reality

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

‘’Story Changers: enhancing pupils’ social skills and enriching teaching methods through storytelling and virtual reality’’ is a project that targets pupils of primary education and teachers and utilizes storytelling (live and digital) aiming at:
• developing basic social skills such as empathy, emotions management, problem solving, critical thinking among primary education pupils
• acquaint pupils and teachers with new technologies
• enriching everyday teaching methodology across different subjects in the primary education
• upgrading teachers’ skills such as creativity and flexibility
• promoting diversity in primary education
The above goals will be achieved through the following main activities:
1. The consortium will create the ‘’You Tell’’ stories and ‘’You Tell’’ interactive Virtual Reality scenarios.
(a)The ‘’You Tell’’ stories (10) are a series of prototype interactive stories for primary education pupils with several alternative evolutions to be decided by pupils based on their social skills and values. In parallel children will learn on how to use storytelling for upgrading their skills in general. The creation of the ‘’You Tell’’ stories will draw inspiration by the legacy of Gianni Rodari’s (Italy) methods described in his classic manual ‘’The Grammar of Fantasy’’ and his stories collection ‘’Tante Storie Per Giocare’’ (‘’Stories to lough with’’) but also Evgenios Trivizas’ (Greece) fairy tales series ‘’Fairy Tales with lots of branches’’.
(b) Afterwards, some of the the ‘’You Tell’’ Stories (5) will be transformed into the ‘’You Tell’’ interactive VR scenarios which, as a tool, will highly boost the training package
2. The development of a teaching package to be used by teachers that includes the above mentioned deliverables but also icebreakers, guides etc
Teachers inside and outside the consortium will be trained to use the teaching package

Implementation of the ‘’Change the Story’’ experiential teaching events for primary education pupils based on the Teaching Package developed that includes also the You Tell stories and the You Tell interactive VR scenarios , aiming at developing pupils’ empathy, emotions management etc. but also teach children on how to use storytelling to upgrade their skills in general.
The workshop will be pilot tested in schools of the consortium. In the first phase, pupils will be acquainted to basic social skills and values throughout the ‘’decision points’’ of the YOU TELL stories and in the second phase, they will be introduced to an interactive digital world (VR) through which pupils will have a life-time learning experience and teachers will be introduced to a new and innovative teaching philosophy.
The project will be promoted through multiplier events in all partner countries, ending with a large scale event in Cyprus where all the interested parts (pupils, teachers, policy makers, stakeholders and all types of child/education specialists) will exchange views regarding the inclusion of new technologies and innovative teaching methods in national education systems, with, of course, a special focus on Storytelling and Virtual Reality.
The partnership comprises of educational and research institutions, primary schools and development company. thus, ensuring the duality of experience and expertise.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 285116 Eur

Project Coordinator

M.M.C MANAGEMENT CENTER LIMITED & Country: CY

Project Partners

• KENTRO MELETIS KE DIADOSIS MYTHON KE PARAMYTHION
• IERA MONI AGIOU IOSIF/ ELLINOGALLIKI SCHOLI JEANNE D’ARC
• St. Joseph, Mater Boni Consilii School
• Apostolos Varnavas Primary School
• Escola A. Aguilera
• EUROCIRCLE ASSOCIATION
• THEOFANIS ALEXANDRIDIS KAI SIA EE