ENVIRONMENTAL DUTY OF CARE Erasmus Project

Project Title

ENVIRONMENTAL DUTY OF CARE

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early childhood education and care; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

MOTIVATION
The project’s idea came up after reading an article called ‘Biophilia: that humans are instinctively drawn towards their natural surroundings’. Many parents nowadays, however, would question this theory, as they watch their children express a real preference for sitting on the sofa in front of a screen instead of playing outside. The international concern about children spending too much time in the house has become so extreme that the situation has a name: ‘Nature deficit disorder’. It might be merely rhetorical to call it a disorder, but it’s clear that kids stay significantly more inside than outside. This shift in attitude is largely due to technology: It is said that the average European child to spend 4 to 7 minutes a day in unstructured play outdoors, and over 7 hours a day in front of a screen.
This project involves two main ideas in its core; on the one hand it will determine the kids outside on the other hand it will teach the kids individual responsibilities towards nature and environment. Depending on all these motivations and aims, as the primary school teachers of Europe, we got together and developed this study to integrate a systematic discipline to bring together our children with nature, make outdoor enthusiastic, develop and integrate entertaining simple and practical activities within the educational systems.
Since suburbs and exurbs continue to become bigger, our natural environment is parceled off more, and children seem less interesed to spend time in a fenced-in yard, let alone go over the fence into a neighbor’s backyard or walk in the woods. Instead, activities inside the house can seem easier (no sunscreen necessary!), safer, and even more sociable for children who grow up with multiplayer video games and social media personal accounts.
After discussing with our partners we have established the following objectives:
1. To exchange experiences and practices linked to teaching outdoor games among primary teachers from more European countries;
2. To develop multiple teaching materials appropriate for the educational system;
3. To develop children’s environmental awareness;
4. To improve children’s individual and social responsibility;
5. To strengthen the role school plays in our local communities;
6. To develop active citizenship and social responsibility in our children.
The project activities will determine children to play outside and it will teach them individual responsibilities towards nature and environment. So they will be more aware about protecting nature.
PARTICIPANTS
The project identified children aged 4-11 as main beneficiaries via their teachers’ studies and work in the LTTAs. Teachers are the second beneficiaries who will be main actors in terms of implementing all of the activities as instructors. Every LTTA includes the participation of 5 teachers / partners. The project will include 100 teachers as direct participants and 100 teachers as indirect participants. As a whole, with dissemination we will reach to about 500 teachers. 300 students at the age of 4-11 will be involved in the activities.
ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY
We thought of 50 different outdoor activities/games (10 for every LTTA) which primary school teachers will put to practice in 5 LTTAs and they participate to workshops to develop them, making them suitable for schools with own methods, preparation, materials and application scheme. They will apply the activities/games after the meeting in their schools so they will integrate this work into the curriculum.
RESULTS AND IMPACT
The outdoor activities/games created and uploaded on the project’s platform during classes of the project and after its completion will be used by all partners. They will improve the material basis of the schools. There can be developed new courses for pupils such as using the materials produced in the project.
The project also includes the human resources’ self-improvement, which is useful both on the short and in the long term. This project will develop relations between teachers and their European peers and it’ll give the chance to develop future project ideas.
Teachers within the same school will collaborate more, which will improve the strength of intra-institutional relations. This will develop the positive climate and better cooperation, which will profit all the actors in the school.
Lessons will become more attractive to students when outdoor activities/games are included .This way children will be more motivated to study. They will also develop a sense of initiative and start playing a more active role in their community, which will benefit from themselves, the public image of the school and the community itself. Environmental awareness campaigns will be set up by pupils and their teachers in the future years. They could organize also after-school clubs for volunteers and to transform the active citizenship into usual practice at school’s level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 92760 Eur

Project Coordinator

Kohtla-Järve Lasteaed Tareke & Country: EE

Project Partners

• DIREZIONE DIDATTICA “III CIRCOLO BALDO BONSIGNORE”
• EDEBALİ İLKOKULU
• ȘCOALA DE ARTA „SERGIU CELIBIDACHE”ROMAN
• Agrupamento de Escolas José Sanches e São Vicente da Beira