Come and discover my European corner! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Come and discover my European corner!

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Creativity and culture; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

As soon as the project started in autumn 2019, it appealed to the pupils’ open-mindedness to European citizenship ; indeed they were asked to meet young people their age but living in another “corner of Europe” . They were led to acknowledge how different their respective lives were because of their different school systems, of their local heritages, of the local geography and climate; yet they were also able to see they had common points such as after-school activities and interests in general. The way the pupils met through the making of videos and thanks to on-line meetings, rose their interest in getting to know each other better. It also generated respect and tolerance for “the other”, which was one of the most important goals that appeared in the application form.
On both sides the pupils knew little of the partners’ country and culture and most pupils only had a vague representation of France and Sweden . Thanks to the project it was possible to precise and deepen the pupils’ general knowledge : this was reached through the activities and works which were done and exchanged ahead of the first mobility. Cultural and historical themes were chosen accurately so as to give the French the maximum of chances to understand the Swedish culture during the mobility . It took place as planned in February 2020. Some more palpable topics were also explored such as clothing and food, which were studied in the early 2019-20 winter: the pupils who were getting ready to leave for Sweden could have a precise idea of what to expect and how to be ready to live this experience at their partners’. The preparation of the mobility was a guarantee of success and on both sides; Swedish and French families took up the challenge. The Swedish families did their best to host the French students and make them discover their way of life. The French families turned out to be curious and interested in the culture their children were about to discover .Therefore, as soon as their children were ready to leave, they started to make plans in order to host the Swedish students in the best way they could in May 2020. However the Covid-19 crisis prevented them from going further and they had to drop their plans. The moments of share and friendliness that were planned would have gathered all the students and families who were taking part in the project as well as the local community(town hall representatives, school representatives from the parents and students communities) . A new phase of reflection and of re-adaptation had to be conceived by the teachers as the second mobility was cancelled and thanks to the project ‘s prolonging , new pupils on both sides could benefit from the project in the new school year and from the opportunities it was offering. “Come and discover my corner of Europe” started again in autumn 2020 , though only in a digital way. The students could meet virtually and they benefited from the fact that both schools had tightened their links between September 2019 and March 2020. Therefore the goal consisting of encouraging students to become aware of their European citizenship was reached for twice as many students as it was planned in the application form. Moreover, in France where students were on the verge of taking important decisions regarding their school curriculum , the project aroused some reflections:
– From a personal point of view, the students who were able to visit Sweden challenged their ability to be immersed in an unknown environment, to manage their emotions and anxieties , to open themselves and get to know themselves better.
– Regarding their high school studies, the project helped and still does this year, students to make choices in terms of academic orientation : it helps them see what they wish to study in the future years (optional subjects, majoring subjects, offers to take part in individual mobilities)
– Regarding their college studies, this project has given some students the idea of studying abroad , of speaking a language fluently in order to experience an immersion programme and get to know the culture of another country .

This project has allowed all the students to think and analyze what their local heritages are made of . They appreciate them and try and make their partners appreciate them too as they put to the fore the components of their own cultures. Working on their local heritages helps the students to step back and question the elements that give every culture its specificities. It puts them into a perspective that would not exist if no work was done on it. Finally, the use of IT tools made the students aware that these are necessary to communicate, cooperate and help build together common activities , interesting for all, all the more so in such a context of pandemic. The digital activities have given the students the opportunity to improve their IT communication skills.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 21121,75 Eur

Project Coordinator

Collège René Nickles & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Luleå Gymnasieskola