SCHOOLS WITHOUT BORDERS Erasmus Project

Project Title

SCHOOLS WITHOUT BORDERS

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

When we started the Project, according to the Lithuanian Statistics department, in 2016 there were more than 50.000 people who emigrated. The statistics say that 14.200 people came back to Lithuania. Due to the fact there is a clear evidence that (re)emigration creates problems for children changing the educational systems. The project “Schools Without borders” helped us to look deeper into the problem, make some researches, compare British and Lithuanian educational systems and help children who are forced to change schools.
Having spent 3-5 years learning at schools abroad, Lithuanian children experience difficulties adapting back to their native school system. The school has to help them to cope with these problems, which are more complex by not knowing the background of their previous education. The same problems are in UK. Westbourne Academy also wanted to study cultural, educational differences as to help their students.
It was the first Erasmus+ project for Westbourne Academy so that is why we coordinated the project and encouraged them. There were 40 Lithuanian students studying and with the help of meetings, discussions, surveys we found out about their feelings, difficulties they had while adapting to a different educational system. Sharing the partners’ experience in working with emigrants, shadowing them helped us to find the ways how to help such students. The main attention was paid not only to academic problems (adapted programs for Lithuanian language) in our school but the project helped us to find ways how to help students face problems occurring from different teaching/learning environment as well as personal adaptation ones. Sharing British and Lithuanian schools best practices, studying, analyzing and discussing educational systems, comparing the teaching/learning environments and curriculum, sharing teaching methods as well as the approach to emigrants’ needs from Eastern Europe in the UK and re-emigrants’ from UK in Lithuania helped a lot and the result of the project is seen in “Methodical recommendations for teachers working with (re)emigrants”.During the 2 years we had 3 transnational mobilities (5 teachers), 2 Learning activities (team of 6 teachers from each country) and 1 multiplier event – conference “Schools without borders”. After the first year of the project the main differences and similarities in educational system process, environment etc. were outlined and the frames for the final project product set up. Psychologists, special needs educators, social worker and teachers were involved.The final products – IO1and IO2 – were prepared and they definitely will bring longer term benefits to other schools (seminars are already planned) and participating in the seminar “Better integration of refugees and migrants in the Nordic-Baltic region” in Finland, Helsinki in October, 2017 will ensure the sustainability of the results.
Cross-border cooperation and the ‘peer’ learning method not only helped the school staff to strengthen their professional skills, but also allowed teachers to increase their multicultural understanding, education without borders and that already had influenced educational process in a positive way. The cultural, social and educational differences were outlined and the recommendations how to increase educational staff motivation to help migrant students were provided. The joint team (teachers, psychologists, social workers, school leaders, special child’s needs educators, etc.) from Westbourne Academy and Karmelava Balys Buracas gymnasium worked together in preparing the recommendations for school staff on how to create and maintain learning environment that support target students, how to develop and adapt different teaching strategies and skills to meet the needs of the migrant students. A handbook for teachers “Methodical recommendations for teachers working with (re)emigrant students” was published. In this handbook the cultural, social and educational differences were outlined and advice how to increase educational staff motivation to help migrant students was provided. The final conference “Schools without borders” was organised, the best experience shared and the final project products presented.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 37015 Eur

Project Coordinator

Karmelava Balys Buracas Gymnasium & Country: LT

Project Partners

• Westbourne Academy