21st century skills for success – Teacher collaboration across Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

21st century skills for success – Teacher collaboration across Europe

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 addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

One of the top challenges of the education systems nowadays is high achievement gap, both between students from different schools within a country and students from different countries. Whereas the analysis of top performing education systems show that students acquire not only subject-knowledge but also higher-order cognitive and non-cognitive competencies, as well as essential mindsets and attitudes. The development of these competencies and mindsets provide every child can become a part of productive learning process and gain skills they would need to be successful in the complex 21st century world.

This project was another step towards bringing 21st century skills in each participating classroom. The project put young and motivated teachers from 4 countries into situation where they themselves learnt as 21st century students. By experiencing this approach they learnt how to teach 21st century skills to their students.

The project was a part of a training program for just-started teachers that is carried out by well recognised educational NGOs from 4 European countries: Iespējamā misija, from Latvia, Zaedno v chas from Bulgaria and Noored Kooli from Estonia, Fundacion Empieza por Educar from Spain. The teachers implemented 21st century teaching practices in their classrooms, had transnational digital cooperation to solve common tasks, involve their students in online cooperation projects, each teacher participated in at least one exchange visit to another country, they had regular goal setting, task review and reflection sessions and they put their experiences together in a digital material to share with other teachers.

By the end of the project teachers became experts in teaching 21st century skills and they are motivated to continue their work in education on a national and international level. The students have had an opportunity to expand their horizons and to gain higher aspirations and access to knowledge. The partner organisations have had a chance to exchange the experience and improve their practices.

We believe that the education challenges many European countries currently face are very similar. The achievement gap and the difference in motivation levels and the access to knowledge of diverse population groups are a reality that is best combatted through joint efforts. We know that, given the chance to work together, the partner organisations have enhanced each other’s impact and make contribution towards a growing and shareable body of knowledge which would benefit other external partners. The implementation of the project is a good example of that.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 57835 Eur

Project Coordinator

IESPEJAMA MISIJA NODIBINAJUMS & Country: LV

Project Partners

• SA Noored Kooli
• ZAEDNO V CHAS
• FUNDACION EMPIEZA POR EDUCAR