The teenager’s dilemma: Pro-Social or A-social behaviour? Erasmus Project

Project Title

The teenager’s dilemma: Pro-Social or A-social behaviour?

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; Inclusion – equity; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The Erasmus Plus, strategic partnership project titled as “SO-PR-A” is based on two of the “Europe 2020” targets, namely: , Education and Fighting poverty and Social Exclusion. By means of a partnership among five different schools (in Greece, Italy, Romania) and three Universities (Greece, Italy and Romania) and various local stakeholders, we aimed at a mutual goal and product: social integration and awareness of cultural values. The general aims were concerned with fighting school drop out and increasing social integration of those young people who are weaker and without self esteem in order to improve the possibility of their future chances of social realization by improving their education and their formation.
It was planned in two years’ time, but the Covid-19 emergency obliged us to a stop and a procrastination of activities.
Participants
– University participants were chosen based on their expertise. Spain was substituted at the beginning with formal authorization.
– Country partners were chosen because, due to refugee crisis and immigration, they deal with new and increasing forms of exclusion.
– Schools were chosen based on their profiles, their interest and the challenges they are facing.
The main aims of the project were:
– training in the subject of prosocial behavior
– capacity building in the subject for students, teachers, schools
– needs analysis and intervention in order to change school dynamics towards prosociality
– promotion of personal responsibility
– dissemination of SO-PR-A results via: websites, booklets, brochures, project outputs, training groups, seminars and other EU Project platforms.
– enlargement of the participants’ horizons in the innovative aspects of education, with the theoretical background but also with the practical experience in this field.
Methodology
-There were three training activities for students and teachers :two in presence and one virtual.
-Participants found different chances on studying various themes such as: implicit and explicit forms of inclusion and exclusion, gender issues, prosocial and asocial behavior, decision-making.
-The students and teachers had opportunity to receive training and to conduct activities related to the training scheme in order to bring changes in their schools and deal with issues of inclusion and exclusion.
There were 2 transnational meetings for the coordinators held during the project duration.
There were two short term exchange mobilities for teachers and students in two countries, with the university taking part in the training.
There have been dissemination plans for the diffusion of project’s results in local communities.
-There is precise open access intellectual outputs stored in the Erasmus+ platform, school website, common websites, school libraries, printed and electronic material.
-Participants reviewed the general schedule of the project, clarified the evaluation criteria for the implementation and assessment of the project, its final products, dissemination studies and impact.
-The management team discussed the distribution of the project tasks among all partners, all the activities (including surveys to assess the students‘ progress, & monitoring all products) and the means of its dissemination. No adjustments were made in the distribution of tasks. The tasks were completed according to the project agreement.
All the experiences in each school were exchanged among the participants and reflected on, thus giving the skills and knowledge to help students in:
a) gaining awareness of the global character and consequences of inclusion and exclusion,
b) understanding that forms of inclusion and exclusion may differ in nature or intensity in different national contexts,
c) taking consciousness that prosocial behavior is a conscious and not a context-dependent decision.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and the extensive quarantine for all the participant schools during winter-spring 2020-2021, all the activities took place online via the digital platforms available at each school .Certainly the pandemia reduced the effects of the project and the students felt a great loss with the impossibility of meeting the other partners. They were very interested in this project but the problems of the Covid-19 period weakened a bit their interest as they didn’t have the possibility to meet and to share the information regarding the final part. The final activity on line was very interesting above all thanks to the Greek colleagues who presented the final results of the questionnaire as they gave instruments to both students and teachers for an efficient peer to peer relationship by means of pro-social gestures and words.
Apart from the difficulties related to the quarantine, the project did not face other serious difficulties.

Project Website

https://so-pr-a.blogspot.com/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 110625,6 Eur

Project Coordinator

ITT G. MARCONI & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Asociatia Prietenii Colegiului National Ion Neculce
• ISTITUTO DI ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE NEWTON PERTINI
• UNIVERSIDAD DE CADIZ
• Geniko Lykeio Vartholomiou
• PANEPISTIMIO PATRON
• 6o EPAL PATRAS
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA