Broaden horizons: Enhancing international mobility and cultural awareness for better inclusion at home and abroad Erasmus Project

Project Title

Broaden horizons: Enhancing international mobility and cultural awareness for better inclusion at home and abroad

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

We are a group of 5 schools which either have students from multicultural backgrounds (France, Spain, Finland) or students who are keen to discover other cultures (Belgium, Austria). All of the establishments agree that students need to be open towards other cultures not only to help them adapt to their local environment (minorities, migration) and /or to help them adapt to the culturally different populations present in their schools, but also to be apt for future mobility as part of their studies or work placements. The project aims to develop students’ communication skills, autonomy, organisational skills and open-mindedness while removing the cultural obstacles which often hinder meetings between individuals from other backgrounds and any other cultural obstacles which might hinder European or even international mobility. To meet these objectives students worked on the following activities:
STM Short Term Mobilities: exchange weeks often involving three schools and three objectives:
Cultural awareness (family life, visits,presentations)
Language skills ( English language immersion during the project week)
Theme-based knowledge ( activities related to a specific theme, organized as much as possible by students themselves)
B) LTM Long Term Mobilities: 2 month exchanges between schools with 3 objectives
Cultural Awareness (family life, schooling in the host country)
Language Skills (language of the host country)
Dissemination ( activities within the host school organized by the guest student or promotion of exchanges at home)
These exchanges qualify students for Europasses
An Erasmus student remains an Erasmus student for as long as he/she remains in his/her school and becomes an ambassador for the project
There were 4 types of teacher activities in the project:
Preparation of STM exchange weeks, encouraging as much student responsibility as possible. Preparation of the trip and its cultural experience.
Selection of LTM students and tutorials for students with tutors in both the host and guest countries
Participation in bi-annual transnational meetings to share experiences, plan, organize, troubleshoot, manage and train)
Project Management for the coordinator
STMs mobilised several hundred students (travelling or not) their parents, dozens of teachers, administration and management teams of the different schools as well as local partners. A dozen students took part in the LTMs which involved all of our partners.Transnational meetings were hosted by each partner school which favoured the dissemination of the project in each school.
Feedback on the different mobilities was collected at every stage in the project and communicated to the partners during transnational meetings.The group’s initial line of thought broadened to encompass inclusive education in its widest sense which led to two partners (Tielt and Lyon) taking part in a KA1 training course in Lisbon during the second year of the project. Feedback about the mobilities from students and families was very enthusiastic; there were a couple of minor crises but these were dealt with smoothly. We believe our students developed personal skills such as independence and taking initiatives. They also improved their language skills, particularly during LTMs.
Students who took part in the project now appear to be more motivated for their school studies and are showing a keener interest in intercultural experiences. The number of teachers involved in the project has grown in each school and the visibility of the project is much stronger. The teachers involved have become more skilled in project management, developed their cultural awareness, especially concerning the different school systems and teaching methods. They have also modified their own teaching style. Both the students and the teachers who have been part of this project have improved their use of English as a means of communication. Sometimes the workload, whether for project management or for the organization of STMs and LTMs, has weighed heavily on the shoulders of the resource persons. Budget control has been managed smoothly thanks to mobility tool. Schools’ local influence has increased through dissemination activities (press, Erasmus anniversary, posters, open days) and because of the participation of local institutions in training and in student activities. The long term effects of this project are firstly the productions available on the eTwinning website and on Learning Designer: ready-to-do classroom activities and a colourful project brochure and secondly the fact that the partners are ready to write a brand new project together.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 159648,8 Eur

Project Coordinator

cité scolaire internationale & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Bundesgymnasium 9900 Lienz
• Karleby svenska gymnasium
• IES GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
• De Bron