Something4Nothing – school strategies in a multiculturel civil future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Something4Nothing – school strategies in a multiculturel civil future

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 : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Something4Nothing – School Strategies in a Multiculturel Civil Society has it’s background in Paris Decleration from 2015, where the target is promotion of fundamental human values, pluralistic societies, social inclusion and active citizenship in the European school systemes.
The five pariticipating schools from Turkey, Germany, Italy, The Nederlands and Denmark all want the develope and implement sustinable school strategies of how to on a school level, teacher’s level and student’s level work with these targets on a local basis in cooperation with the surrounding civil society.

The five participating schools have been:
Vester Skerninge Friskole, Denmark. A free school run by parents according the Danish free school tradition founded by Grundtvig.
Baken Park Lyceum, The Nederslands. A public secondary school situated 30 km from Amsterdam in the city of Almere in the province of Flevoland.
Elly-Heuss-Gymnasium, Germany. A secondary state school for girls only situated in Weiden, in the province of Bavaria.
Istituto Istruzione Secondaria Superiore Michele Fodera, Italy. A tecnical high school situated i Agrigento in the province of Sicily.
Bilecik Mesleki Ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey. A vocational and tecnical high school situated i Bilecik situated south of Istanbul

Target groups who have been addressed in the project are school administration and young teachers
The main question for this project has been how schools can develop strategies, learning tools and teach their pupils to contribute to the needs of the local civil society, in interaction with the market and political levels, challenging the future with its need for a more sustainable, more intercultural and more cost effective way of life. This also means supporting teachers in dealing with diversified groups of learners (such as immigrants) from the start of their profession.

Transnational approach: Student centred and problem based learning activities
Meeting the challenges of the multicultural society were achieved by an international exchange of ideas. Schools learn from approaches in other cultures, teachers learn from working together in multicultural groups, which will appear to be a requirement for success also at the local level.

During the project period of three years have the main activities been 6 project meetings (Denmark twice), where school strategies have been developed in the specific frame work:
Before each meeting the hosting school has developed a blue print, where the local and national structure of society has been descibed – both on a economical, political and civic level. Visiting schools have prepared partcipating students by comparison of the blue print of their own local and national structure.
The hosting school has also reached put to local civil organisations/NGOs to invite these to join the project meeting by giving a real life challenge they struggle with in their daily work. These associations and challenges are well described by the hosting school, and the students participating the project meeting are in groups going through an entrepreneurial workflow, where they meet the assiciation and the challenge, brianstorm, find different solutions and end up with the the most suitable, and present at the end af the work flow a complete suggestion to a solution that is presented to the association.
During the 6 meetings about 60 solutions to challenges have been met, and in the evaluations about 75% of the associations have implemented parts of or the whole solution presented by the students.
By using the international factor students realized that some local challenges could be recognized in different countries, and also that solutions in one area could be used as the tool to solve challenges in other areas.

On a school level all the schools collected during the project period experiences and developed a strategy of how to implement in a sustainable way structures and learning tools according to their school traditions and curriculums.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 110354 Eur

Project Coordinator

Vester Skerninge Friskole & Country: DK

Project Partners

• ISTITUTO ISTRUZIONE SECONDARIA SUPERIORE MICHELE FODERA’
• BILECIK MESLEKI VE TEKNIK ANADOLU LISESI
• Baken Park Lyceum
• Elly-Heuss-Gymnasium Weiden