Young in Europe: a Comparison Erasmus Project

Project Title

Young in Europe: a Comparison

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Creativity and culture; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Context/background
Our project is called Young in Europe and focuses on an exchange of experience between the students of different cultures within that field. Do notice that the language for all communication in this project will be Spanish used for investigating interesting global phenomena. We want to provide possibilities for our students to use their language skills in real life which will deepen their knowledge of the language and develop their confidence. The students will start the project by communicating via ICT and social media in order to introduce themselves and get to know each other. They will communicate concerning their hobbies, what they do on their spare time, cultural phenomena such as cuisine and greeting ceremonies and cultural clashes, etc. They will go on by meeting each other in real life where they document some of these events by creating films. These films will be spread within their own social media in order to share their experiences within the field. This project will provide the students with a greater understanding for another culture than their own and lead to global awareness, which is part of the outcome for this project. The European added value is a significant part of this project.
Cultural experience is essential to foster intercultural experience and to prevent intolerance and racism among youth. The students will gain new experiences which will make them more suitable for an international labour market.

The objectives with our project
The objectives with this project are to motivate the students to learn a language and to make them aware of other cultures by presenting a real life experience of Spanish language usage.
Our organisational goal is to provide the students with a sense of purpose in learning. We want to put emphasis on the students’ ability to read and write in a European language in a real life context.
Internationalisation is of key importance in order to make students employable on the European market. In order to “acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, […] global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development” (globalgoals.org)

Participants
During the first project year a group of 12 students age 15-17 and two teachers of Spanish from the secondary school Escola Secundária D. Manuel I are participating in the project. For Polhemsgymnasiet the same conditions will be applicable. When it comes to the digital communication, via e-mail and Skype, around 200 pupils will be involved. In the second project year 12 new students and two teachers from each school will participate.

Description of activities
The pre-activities for the students involved within this project started in February of 2019. The students from the two countries are now communicating via ICT. The purpose with their communication is to exchange experience and thoughts about what it is like to be young in Europe and to practice the Spanish language. The topics discussed are all connected to their everyday life. During this stage many students are involved. By involving many students in the pre-activities we believe that we will more easily awaken interest for the later stages of the project and the outcomes of the project will benefit from this.

During the next step of the project a smaller group of students is involved. The Portuguese students will arrive in Gothenburg in October. The visiting students will stay in the families of the Swedish students. The Portuguese students will attend lessons together with their new Swedish peers but they will also visit other groups to present themselves and their country. The pupils will together visit cultural events and different parts of the city where the Swedish students are responsible for a presentation, all in Spanish, obviously. The students document their days together and at the end of their stay they will in pairs produce a short movie which will be shown in the evening in front of the other students.

After the visit in Sweden the communication between the two groups of students will continue.
The Swedish students will visit the Portuguese in April. The arrangements in Beja will resemble the ones in Gothenburg and the activities will once again be documented. By producing the movies the students practice their teamwork skills.

Methodology, impact and longer term benefits
We believe that this project will lead to higher goal fulfilment within language acquisition for our students since this project will put emphasis on the students’ ability to read, write, listen and speak since the project is based on these LTT methods. The students’ films will be spread on Erasmus+ Project Result Platform, by the students on social media and will be used in the classroom by the teachers via organisations such as the Spanish teacher organisations.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 56320 Eur

Project Coordinator

Polhemsgymnasiet & Country: SE

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas nº 2 de Beja