Active Agents for Embracing Diversity Erasmus Project

Project Title

Active Agents for Embracing Diversity

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

Project Summary

The topic of social inclusion is one which has a true relevance to communities facing the issue EU today. Our partnership was formed to create a project that would delve into this subject and aim to uncover new practices and approaches that can be shared in our schools, communities and Europe as a hole.

Our schools met with the goal to create a project to identify and work on a number of different and innovative social inclusion approaches. Our schools all identified with the need to spread knowledge and best practices about social inclusion and to create a platform on which our students could work on the subject and uncover some best practices that could be eventually transferred into classrooms and communities.

We also wanted to address those students who are at risk of ESL as a result of exclusion and discover ways and methods to better involve them in school life, increase their motivation and develop their attitudes and well being.

To study the topic of social inclusion each partner has identified their specific strength or point of view related to social inclusion approaches which will in turn make up the main knowledge well of the project.

Participants will take part in 5 LTTs organised in each partner school. These LTTs will form the back bone of project and provide the sharing and learning by doing environment to engage our students and teachers to study and research this topic.

The 5 LTTs will be based on the 5 social inclusion approaches that our partners have identified:

C1- Ireland: Using a hands on approach to foster the environmental arts as a vehicle for education and social inclusion.

C2 – Austria: Using national languages as a means to break down barriers, increase tolerance and to understand and learn about other cultures.

C3 – Germany: Promoting various engaging sporting activities destined to create a common ground for Intergenerational and intercultural learning.

C4- Finland: The use of animals and how they can bring these new members together through activities.

C5 – Czech Republic: Innovative teaching methods through technology to motivate those at risk of early school leaving, ethnic minorities and academically challenged.

Community inclusion surveys will be undertaken in each community prior to each LTT. Each survey will give an insight into local communities and their attitudes towards social inclusion. The surveys will then be presented and shared during the LTTs with the students able to analyse and compare their findings from around Europe.

Each LTT will also have two workshops on the approaches of that LTT. The workshops will provide a platform for sharing and learning of new approaches related to social inclusion. The knowledge learned from these workshops will be transferred to classrooms and communities and aid in the development of greater awareness and strategies related to social inclusion.

The approach that the project is taking to social inclusion is unique and will offer knowledge and expertise that can be shared across many different platforms. The 5 approaches of the partner schools are innovative and will cover a large range of subjects and topics insuring that the results will be able to be used by a wide range of organisations who are currently dealing with social inclusion issues. The Social Inclusion Handbook will provide information and knowledge on each of these approaches and by its nature will be highly disseminatable as an online file or printed and used in schools and classrooms.

The results of the community inclusion survey will give an insight into our communities and their attitudes towards the issues facing social inclusion. The 25 surveys (5 surveys per LTT) will provide information which the students and teachers can take into account when creating the Social Inclusion Handbook and when dealing with minorities int heir communities and schools.

The context for the project was formed when the partners met to discuss what issues are facing our schools. Dealing with minorities and decreasing ESL were top of our list of concerns and we wished to develop a project to share information and combat these pressing issues that are prevalent in the EU. By addressing and researching these topics we aim to provide schools throughout the EU with added means to be able to deal with issues and find new solutions and innovative methods to solve them. We also hope to influence the teachers who are at the front line of these issues and provide them with tools and best practices that they can implement in their classrooms.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 0 Eur

Project Coordinator

Meánscoil San Nioclás – Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board & Country: IE

Project Partners

• Stredni prumyslova skola Emila Kolbena Rakovnik, prispevkova organizace
• Kalajoen Lukio
• BHAK und BHAS Oberpullendorf
• Sekundarschule “Prof. Otto Schmeil” Gröbers