Feel Europe! A sensory approach to a European experience for students with special needs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Feel Europe! A sensory approach to a European experience for students with special needs

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: Inclusion – equity; Access for disadvantaged; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

This project is addressed to schools that teach students with special needs. Despite an increasing awareness and inclusion of disabled people, this minority is still often on the margins of society, and doors that should be open remain closed. In order for impaired people to gain the opportunity to participate in society, this project was launched.
The project wants to make it possible for students with special needs to experience Europe with all senses. Thus, even severely impaired students can and should develop awareness of cultural, social, landscape and climatic diversity, experience it sensually and be able to get into social contact with their peers at eye level. In this project, they should be given time and space to perceive the participating countries with all their senses. We want to focus on the basic experiences that all our impaired students can make, such as tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, touching and feeling.
In total, 515 students from special needs schools from Austria, Ireland, Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain will participate in the project.
There are mobilities to each partner country (3 days program + 2 travel days = 5 days in total). Participation in any mobility is compulsory (at least 1 teacher / 1 student, maximum number of participants 10). The project lasts 2 years. The participants in the mobilities will be partially severely disabled students and their caregivers from the educational staff of the respective schools. The number of participating students is kept deliberately low in order to ensure optimal individual care and support, but also the greatest possible safety.
During mobilities, experiencing new environments, countries, landscapes, climates and people can be done in the context of cooking and eating together, exploring carefully selected environments, experiencing nature, plants or animals, dancing and making music or art. Each school will bring in its own expertise and will introduce school-specific specializations (Sensory Integration, Musical Puppet Theater, Augmented Communication, Inclusive Sport,…), which will benefit pupils and educators alike.
An important role will be played by the materials exchanged between countries. On the one hand, materials should be designed, produced and sent to the partner schools. On the other hand, the materials received from the partner schools are being used in classes. This can be the re-cooking of image recipes from partner countries, the planting of preserved seeds or the work with musical elements. Likewise “country boxes” are to be exchanged, in which country-typical objects on different topics (seasons, festivals in the annual cycle, nature, fragrances, …) are exchanged. In addition, photos of the activities will be exchanged via eTwinning. At the beginning of the project a photo book about the own school should be designed and sent to all partner schools. In all these activities reading and writing skills or cultural techniques should not be assumed; written language should be replaced by images and photos, as many of the participating students can neither read nor write. This fact should never exclude them from getting to know other cultures and acquiring knowledge!
Objectives of the project for the pupils are e.g. consolidated knowledge of Europe and partner countries, better understanding of spatial distances, increased openness to new (learning) environments, cultures, people, languages, increased willingness and ability to cooperate and communicate, improved conflict-resolution strategies, more sophisticated verbal and / or non-verbal expressions with or without means of Augmented Communication, increased self-esteem, and increased individual competencies for coping with activities of daily life.
On the other hand, educators who have participated in mobilities should have learned about new methods of special needs education and, ideally, have acquired the competence to incorporate elements into their teaching. Furthermore, they will be informed about the structural conditions of the school systems of other European countries and will disseminate this knowledge.
The local public should perceive impaired young people with their potential as valuable, productive members of society. It is intended to stimulate a change in thinking away from disabled people as grant beneficiaries towards perceiving them as equal members of a European community.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 8500 Eur

Project Coordinator

SKÖ 18 Hans Radl Schule I & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Marino School
• CEEE Santa Rosa de Lima
• Center for special educational support “D-r Peter Beron”
• Sakine Nesibe Zamanoğlu Özel Eğitim Uygulama Okulu