Innovative Learning Experience for an Inclusive School for Children with Special Education Needs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative Learning Experience for an Inclusive School for Children with Special Education Needs

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: Inclusion – equity; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

More primary school is a comprehensive school that also integrates children with special education needs as well as children who come from socially disadvantaged families. Although More primary school had had experience with integrating these children in the learning process and social life, the school’s administration and teachers realised that it’s necessary to gain a broader experience outside of our country taking into special consideration the underachievement in different fields, the professional skills and competencies of teachers and the lack of ICT use in the learning process. For this reason More primary school decided to take part in this project and gain new experiences and share its own experience with other EU countries. As a partner for this project More primary school chose Scoala Gimnaziala Magura in Romania because they had similar education programs and they had had experience in implementing other Erasmus+ projects. Both partners of the project are comprehensive schools that integrate children who come from socially disadvantaged families and with special education needs. The main objectives we wanted to reach were: – integrating children with mild and severe mental development disorders in the studying process as well as the school’s social life e.g. avoiding discrimination not only against the mentally ill children but the whole student body; – using different digital technologies in the education process e.g. tablets, smartphones, apps that are meant for the education process etc.; – promoting the skills and capabilities of teachers, improving their competence-based teaching by applying the theoretically acquired knowledge in practice,; – addressing the underachievement in maths, science and literacy through effective and innovative teaching and assessment while paying special attention to children who come from socially-disadvantaged families; – exchanging experiences with other similar educational institutions. It is planned that the objectives of the project will be reached with the following activities: – to create a social networking profile in order to communicate and organize virtual meetings to divide responsibilities between both schools; – to assemble a project-planning team in each school that will decide what concrete steps need to be taken to successfully carry-out the project and decide upon the activities that will be implemented through-out the course of the project; – to develop a succsessful exchange trip program including workshops, local field trips, participation in the school’s daily activities etc.; – to ensure a successful exchange trip between both schools, from each school a group of 5 teachers and 10 students will take part in the exchange trip; – to develop a guideline for the content of dissemination; – to ensure a successful dissemination of the project’s results in the local communities of both schools; – to carry out interviews and questionnaires to assess the results of the project. The main emphasis of the project was to put on gaining experience in the visiting country. The experience was acquired not only by observing the daily life of the schools but also by visiting the country and learning about its culture and history. These were the planned results, envisaged impact and the potential longer term benefits of the project: – integrating children with special needs in the studying process as well as the school’s social life; – avoiding discrimination not only against the mentally ill children but the whole student body; – improving the childrens’ grades; – improving the understanding of maths and science through effective and innovative teaching and assessment; – the teachers learning new innovative teaching methods and undertsanding the role of ICT in the learning process, using the newly acquired skills and knowledge in the learning process; – broadening the point of view of the visiting country (culture, history, society, daily life etc.); – the participants will gain an intercultural experience; – the project will have a positive impact on the welfare of the project’s particiants; – the teachers will gain a broader point of view on how to better communicate with children with special education needs; On the whole, since the schools that participated in the project are small, rural schools, the project had a positive impact not only on the schools but also on the local communities of both participants.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 31570 Eur

Project Coordinator

Mores pamatskola & Country: LV

Project Partners

• Scoala Gimnaziala Magura