Accept, respect and get your message heard Erasmus Project

Project Title

Accept, respect and get your message heard

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; Inclusion – equity; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Project Summary

Context/background of project
All the three project schools are quite similar from their backgrounds. All the participating schools are from small towns where internationalization is not self-evident. Moreover the students have a strong desire to learn about different countries, cultures and languages. All the participating schools have students with special needs who find it even harder to make international contacts and to get to know and communicate with people from different countries. The schools have some experiences from international co-operation but feel that more is needed to ensure that the schools offer the students international experiences. Thus an Erasmus+ project is required.

Objectives of project
The objective of this project was to promote international communication between different European schools and peers in these foreign countries. In the process the students learned tolerance, learned about different countries, cultures and school systems. They gained confidence, saw the benefits of learning a foreign language and improved their ICT skills. In addition the special education students had a supported opportunity to experience internationalization. Common objectives were preventing bullying and school dropouts and social inclusion.

Number and profile of participants
The participating schools combined have around 1000 students and staff (teachers, school assistants and other staff) of 110. All the project schools have special education classes, (especially SOLV Campus Buso De Regenboog in Blegium) and thus the school personnel have a strong know-how in the special education field. Therefore there was a focus on special education. Nevertheless, two of the project schools have more mainstream students than special education students and therefore the project in each school involves all the students.

Description of activities/methodology
The two-year project had four meetings, semiannually. Each meeting was held in a different country (except twice in Finland) and by a different school acting as a host. For each visit there was a theme: the starting meeting in Finland literature and folk-tales, Belgium drama, Portugal theatre and the last meeting in Finland visual arts. In addition the meetings had a theme for the school staff, e.g. programmes and good practices against bullying, special education and inclusion. In other words each school in turn prepared and hosted the meeting and for each meeting all the schools contributed and prepared a presentation. All of the activities and methodologies were student-oriented which ensured student involvement and students taking responsibility of the activities as much as possible.

Results
During the project the participating schools presented and shared their special education practices. All good practices were discussed, an abstract gathered and published for future use. In addition the participating schools had an art exhibition in their respective municipalities, e.g. the town hall or library. The purpose of the exhibition was to promote the international project, the participating schools and the students involved in the project, especially the students responsible for the exhibition. Since the methods used in the project were from different fields of art, numerous art outputs were expected, e.g. music, dance, drama and theatre performances, artwork, videos and photos.

Impact envisaged & potential longer term benefits
Most of all, the project hoped to have a strong impact on the students in the participating schools. The goal of the project was to strengthen the students’ confidence. The awareness of oneself and others helped the students become more respectful and tolerant towards other people. Furthermore this had a positive impact on reducing bullying. The methods used in the project required student involvement which partly prevents school dropout. The project also aimed to increase the awareness of being a citizen of each nation and the EU. The communication and interaction between the students in the participating schools developed the students’ language skills, information and communications technology (ICT) skills and language skills.
The project involved several adults in the participating schools’ personnel. The staffs had an opportunity to learn about different school systems in different countries and to get new ideas to their own work. Furthermore this can lead to changing and improving the quality of teaching.
Through this project the schools had a chance to diversify their internationalization. International connections to other schools in other countries can lead to long-term co-operation between the schools. A demanding international project, which requires commitment and effort from the staff and the students strengthens the schools’ cohesion and public image. In the long run the schools are seen as a valuable asset to the municipality not just as places of learning but as places of bringing intercultural aspect.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 57045 Eur

Project Coordinator

Vistan koulu & Country: FI

Project Partners

• vzw scholengroep Onze-Lieve-Vrouw, Campus BUSO De Regenboog
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Tondela – Tomás Ribeiro