European future- Taking the EU into the focus Erasmus Project

Project Title

European future- Taking the EU into the focus

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Due to a lack of knowledge and an attitude which takes a united Europe and the EU for granted, many populist parties spread their ideas and views across Europe. Especially the Internet is used for a continuous flow of information which makes it hard for students and adults to filter and evaluate this amount of information.
In order to approach this need for tolerance and understanding of cultural diversity and to tackle crucial issues like active citizenship, responsibility, national or local identity, the students participating in the project should develop self-oriented learning materials (SOL, methodology by Dr Martin Herold), like handouts, PPT’s, digital texts, which should pick up these issues and also transport a student-oriented approach to topic ‘EU’, including their fears, wishes, ideas and solutions. The use of cooperative learning methods (like SOL) focuses on the objective to support the development of key competences (for example the ability for teamwork, ability to plan their work and to evaluate their outcomes) which students need when they get confronted with future challenges and new situations. Besides this haptic material, the increased exposure to digital media, like the Internet, and its provided forms to communicate, work and learn should widen the learner’s digital competence and in the end strengthen their intercultural skills.
The participants of the project, next to the accompanying teachers, are students between the age of 16-18 years, interested in English and having a language capacity of about B1-B2 of the European reference frame. The targeted number of all students lies between 15-20, so that each school has the possibility to include 5-7 students. All students are in the final phase of their school career before entering their apprenticeship, the job life or further education at university.
The project will include 8 activities which can be divided into 4 mobilities and 4 periods in between the mobilities. The first phase will prepare the kick-off mobility in Germany, where the Bulgarian coordinators will give a seminar on eTwinning as a basis for the digital exchange of data. In addition to that, the German coordinators will introduce their awarded project measurement tool, which will be used as an evaluative tool, to make the increase of the key competences visible. This tool will present a test-situation, close to the student’s life. It is therefore authentic to the participants and close to the task which they will solve during the second mobility. After measuring the current key competence situation, the students will gain knowledge about the development, history and issues of Europe and the EU. This creates a basis for debates and discussions which will be carried out during the third mobility. In the phase between and in the final mobility, the students will then work out the SOL materials which should include their own perspectives of the current problems and issues raised within the EU (like Brexit, refugees, euro sceptical movements or democracy in general). The project will culminate in a final celebration were the development, the process and the materials of the project will be presented to the press.
These materials, which are the core the project, will be included in the school’s curriculum. This will provide a chance for all students to work, discuss and learn by themselves in SOL phases. It will become a fixed core element of the curriculum and the annual planning of the participating schools, guaranteeing that all materials will be available for everyone. By processing these materials with the help of digital tools, the learners strengthen their digital competence. The materials should also result in enriching the learner’s expertise to think about benefits, downsides, fears and hopes found in the population of the European Union. This will enable them to reflect, discuss and debate in groups and agree on possible solutions. That way the students will create a basis of knowledge on the topic of the European Union, sharpen their awareness of the EU, understand democracy and use forms of cooperative learning (like SOL) to acquire key competences (like their ability to participate in teamwork, to plan their own work and to evaluate their outcomes) which they should use in later life, when they get confronted with future challenges.
Other than being a fixed part in the curriculum, the materials and the project will be presented as a best-practice example of successful European cooperation. It will be presented at the annual coordinators’ meeting of the European Schools and to the school administration at the regional level, including also the neighbouring schools. This way, the project and its results will have a positive effect on the following levels: School Conferences, Teachers’ Conferences, annual Europe Day celebration, local authorities, Open Day, School Homepages/ websites, eTwinning, local press, billboards and information boards within the schools.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 52982 Eur

Project Coordinator

Nell-Breuning-Berufskolleg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Budapesti Gazdasági Szakképzési Centrum Békésy György Szakgimnáziuma és Szakközépiskolája
• Professional High School for Tourism “Asen Zlatarov”