Bridges Over Opened Minds Erasmus Project

Project Title

Bridges Over Opened Minds

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Integration of refugees; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Bridges over opened minds BOOM was a project that lasted 3 years and involved schools from Romania, Croatia, Italy, and Poland. The diversity of the partnership brought together different institutions, of different sizes, located in rural and urban areas, with a strong European dimension that ensured us rich practices exchanges, experiments varied, with useful results and a strong motivation.
Around 1000 students were involved (10-14 ages) and around 350 students were direct beneficiaries. The main goal was to bring the people together, accept one another and involve all parts in actively participating by engaging them in collaborative activities. The main work was to show the beauty of difference and develop the acceptance and respect of our students. We wanted to enhance European values and European education. Our school was to become the field where all these different students would feel the security of being included in everyday life in all aspects. Our aims were a deeper understanding of the diversity, broadening the knowledge base, improving communication and strengthening interpersonal, intercultural, and social skills, improving tolerance, acceptance of the different, and increasing creativity and innovation, through cooperation and learning by doing.
We created cross-curricular activities that helped students develop key competences, but above all soft skills, thanks to which our students will cope with in the future in a globalized world, and above all in the European and global labor market ( the Europass provided after each mobility will offer them this possibility). The key skills in our project were: cooperation in a group, adapting to the changing reality (pandemic time and the implementation of project tasks), resistance to stress (communication in English, learning in an international group, speaking in front of the camera), creativity and ability of making decisions, organizing work (also when working remotely) as well as developing personal culture by teaching children tolerance, respect, acceptance of diversity and drawing positive experiences from it. Working in an international group motivated our students to develop their communication skills in English, and encouraged them to learn the languages of the partner schools. The intellectually and culturally diverse groups of students built mutual relationships, overcame language barriers and prejudices which allowed them to experience success at school on an equal footing with no importance on their status in the peer group, at school, and regardless of academic performance. They also developed the positive attitude towards other people and learned how to work out compromises.
We wanted students to enjoy diversity, to be aware of its positives and to love school, and above all, not to give up learning when faced obstacles. The ICT and computer skills of the project participants were of key importance in achieving the project’s objectives. They strengthened and made the educational process more attractive and allowed for effective online work even during a pandemic time.
The teachers involved in the project also formed interdisciplinary groups and international groups (teachers of the mother tongue and English, mathematics, ICT, music and art, as well as history and subjects in the field of learning in society and teachers for the students with special needs), which allowed them to develop personal, linguistic and pedagogical competences as well as on informal learning activities that encouraged students to work harder and learn. The value of willingness to learn and self-development was emphasized. In this way, it helped schools to cope with disadvantaged students, immigrants, quality childhood activities and social inclusion. A strong partnership has been established between teachers, students and schools which will be continued in future projects. All activities we programmed (surveys, questionnaires, visits, recordings of dances and theatre drama, dictionaries) were planned in this sense. Thanks to the diversity of the partner countries and the sharing of our findings, our experiences and our practices gave meaning to the training of our students. Indeed it promoted our best way to convey that attach to the tolerance and friendship.
Some of our main results developed ICT skills and linguistic competences ( BOOM Dictionary, Human Flash Tales, the Phone application for emigrants, Human Rights Calendar, Children Rights Calendar, Puzzle of Migration book).
All the materials developed by teachers: therapeutic stories, dictionaries, or an application, as well as presentations can be used by other teachers during classes. Workshops on the use of ICT tools in teaching, including language teaching, will be useful for every teacher in their further work. Also the Methodological Guide that include over fifty articles and project lessons can serve as good practice for a large spectrum of teachers on international level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 120321,4 Eur

Project Coordinator

Scoala Gimnaziala ,,Nicolae Iorga” Bacau & Country: RO

Project Partners

• 3o 12/Thesio Dimotiko Sxoleio Amaliadas
• Istituto Comprensivo Statale Adelaide Ristori
• Szkola Podstawowa im. Prymasa Tysiaclecia Stefana Kardynala Wyszynskiego w Fanianowie
• Osnovna skola “Matija Gubec” Cernik