We are less when we don’t include everyone Erasmus Project

Project Title

We are less when we don’t include everyone

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The necessity of this project has been the need of enhancing the motivation for learning In and About Diversity, in the social context, considering Culture, History, Economy of Europe, involving students to become more Active Citizens of European Future.
Target groups of the project have been teachers and students with SEN and without SEN from 6 partners.
The activities carried on have been thought considering INCLUSION, connecting people who are experiencing barriers in daily social-life and people who are not experiencing them to build bridges among young people with and without special needs in educational and social fields to let them share and live their experiences from another point of view.
The Objectives of the Project have been
• To motivate the Fewer Opportunities students into School Atmosphere,
• To reduce early school leaving rates (nearly %15) in the communities and make it (% 10 ),
• To develop the key competences, such as ICT, linguistic and language competences using ways of teaching and learning focused on children,
• To encourage children the capacity of work in Europe since early ages by working on linguistic and social competences,
• To implement the European dimension amongst all participants, encourage them to be open minded,
• To use ICT as international instrument of communication, elaboration, evaluation and dissemination of the outcomes,
• To improve students’ and teachers’ communication, group working skills, the use of English as common language,
• To compare methods of teaching and learning, values of education, school organization and curriculum in order to adapt innovative ways of teaching and learning methods to the School
Strategic Plans,
• To strengthen Communication Skills through students with SEN and without SEN, parents and teachers,
• To make SEN students and parents comprehend future employability.
Project was planned for 2 years but due to the COVID pandemic situation the project deadline has been postponed till August 31, 2021. The project involved 2 schools from Italy, from Romania, Turkey, Poland, and Bulgaria. Most pupils who have taken part in this project are mostly with fewer opportunities and face problems such as economic obstacles, educational difficulties and are Sen Students or refugees.
Students aged 10 to 14 years old have been involved to achieve the objectives of the Project. Some children worked directly on the Project, but the whole school community has been involved in it. During project activities, we moved from the Traditional Teaching and Learning techniques and used Innovative techniques which are inspired from Multiple Intelligence Theory. Pupils and teachers collaborated and investigated innovative ways of learning and teaching. Teachers were promotores of social integration and inclusion of vulnerable young students. Students developed specific competences that are necessary in special education and understood more better the phenomenon of inclusion in all dimensions of society, using 3 axes as imperatives of the new century: Learning from anywhere and Learning during all life time, Learning for ALL.
We constituted a committee to choose people who were going to participate in mobilities, to evaluate the Project and to disseminate the results, to intervene in an emergency and to control the budget.
The Time Schedule of the Project:

1st Mobility in Italy November 2018 /5 Pupils 2 teachers from each partner (apart from Turkey)
2nd Mobility in Bulgaria March 2019 /5 Pupils 2 teachers from each partner (except for the number of students from Turkey have been implemented to cover the missing mobilities in Italy and three teachers from Sassari)
3rd Mobility in Turkey May 2019 /5 Pupils 2 teachers from each partner (except four teachers from Sassari)
4th Mobility in Poland October 2019 /5 Pupils 2 teachers from each partner (except five teachers from Sassari)

6th Mobility in Romania was held online on 5th-6th-7th-10th-11th May 2021
Final Mobility in Italy (Sassari ) was held online on 17-21 May 2021
In the two mobilities online over 100 participants (teachers and students) from Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey took part in the events. During these online meetings, activities have been organized in order to share with the partners products and results of these years project activities to learn about inclusion.

INTANGIBLE RESULTS :
Students have become more conscious about their life and position as individuals in social context (cultural, political, economical) and gave more value to creativity, independence, tolerance and growing in the environment.
Making students’ voices heard by using English in presentations and free conversations have improved students’ self-confidence and assure the importance of public appearance.They became creative and delivered sustainable social action projects. Travelling abroad gave the students and teachers the chance to visit new places, stay with new friends, speak in English and learn about the culture of the partner countries.

2. TANGIBLE RESULTS:
Project webpage and link creation from schools’ sites to the project web-site, Facebook Group, Erasmus corners on webpages of schools, 3 etwinning project space, Blog;
1 Digital interactive map;
6 Green mini-gardens in the schools spring flowers/ trees of friendship in my school (with names of Partner Schools );
2 articles about special education and human rights;
2 E-twinning Projects and Online Events;
1Multi-lingual Dictionary;
E-book: My Memories Abroad;
1 guide book, teachers can use whenever they come across a problem with students at risk;
maps with national cultural personalities;
3 articles about special education and human rights;
stories for blind students and in the sign language (Pinocchio);
2020 Calendar;
Project Based Learning activities;
lecture about Web 2-00 tools and creating games on digital platforms: teachers learned how to use Web 2.00 tools and how to make games and use them in the classes in order to motivate disadvantaged students lessons using interactive ICT tools such as Kahoot, Actionbound, Quizlet, Quizizz, and coding tools;
brochures about Social Inclusion /Inclusion Techniques;
Composition contest at each school about Active Citizenship;
Multilingual Dictionary
The competences acquired during this project will be useful in the participants future lives and careers. Wide horizons are important in every aspect of life, they also encourage prospect.
By knowing new countries and understanding their history, tradition and culture, by experimenting common activities with different types of individuality, including people with disabilities, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities, orphans, etc, young people became more tolerant and respectful.
Owing to multicultural collaboration they gained experience that transferred into confidence. The project established new international friendships. Students and teachers have been motivated to learn foreign languages and use İCT devices more efficiently. Overall the project improved competences needed to success, career independency and to be a European Citizen.
Contribution on Pupils and Staff:
-ability to search, organize, select, share and collect pieces of information;
-improvement of İCT and language skills through communication;
-discovering the diversities resulting in tolerance;
-openness on European countries and European belonging;
-more autonomous attitude and skillful communication;
-social engagement;
-Determination of their future career and comprehend their future employability;
-development of: creativeness, empathy, critical thinking, entrepreneurship.

During the project and after its completion the activities concerning Active Citizenship,İnnovative Teaching- Learning Activities, and History have been included in the curriculum and School Strategic Plans.The results were also used in our yearly and daily plans for each lesson and integrated into the curriculum.
The project’s products will be always available in each school involved in the project ,on the website and twinspace for a long time.We will keep the website of the project running for at least 5 years more after the project has finished.
We sent the materials to other schools, local libraries and tourist offices so that they will be available for more people for a long time.
Some Partner schools host Annual Alumni Party( For example in Turkey) every year and by means of its party, we can also monitor the long -term effects of the project
We will also organize annual Etwinning online events for all participants including involved students and we are going to learn and report the effects of the project

The partner schools from Romania, Turkey, Sassari and Livorno decided to continue and improve their partnership and collaborated in writing a new project which was funded in 2020: Project “Don’t change the climate; change the system” KA2 2020-1-IT02-KA229-079442_6

Project Website

https://stoold.starachowice.org/erazmus_plus1820/index.html

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 156718 Eur

Project Coordinator

Scuola Secondaria di 1° “G. Borsi” & Country: IT

Project Partners

• ULAMIS ORTAOKULU
• Spoleczna Szkola Podstawowa STO
• 54 SU St Ivan Rilski
• Liceul Tehnologic Special Vasile Pavelcu
• IC Monte Rosello Alto