Broadening one’s cultural and scientific perspectives : a school exchange between Paternò and Illiers-Combray Erasmus Project

Project Title

Broadening one’s cultural and scientific perspectives : a school exchange between Paternò and Illiers-Combray

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Access for disadvantaged; Natural sciences

Project Summary

“Broadening one’s cultural and scientific perspectives : a school exchange between Paternò and Illiers-Combray” is a school exchange project between Italy and France. This project, carried out by the sciences teachers of Marcel Proust High School, started at the end of 2018 through eTwinning. This platform brought together the school and the Istituto Comprensivo Statale G.B. Nicolosi around a common will to work together, which first took the shape of a KA101 project in october 2019. Both schools decided then to build a KA229 project to keep on with and deepen their partnership, get the pupils to discover the other country and work on topics corresponding to shared learning goals.

Indeed, cultural and international openness is a major focus of both institutions in an environment marred with socio-economic difficulties and relative cultural isolation. Both fulfill their commitment towards openness through foreign languages education in particular. Thus, Marcel Proust High School offers optional extra courses in European Languages and Cultures (LCE) in English, Spanish and German, as well as an optional “cultural and scientific openness” course starting in September 2020. Nevertheless, pupils’ poor cultural awareness and families’ financial problems are just as many obstacles when building mobility projects, in spite of the commitment of the educational community, the social fund and local partners.

In that respect, European subsidization of some mobility projects gives all pupils a chance to go abroad that some of them would not otherwise get because their family simply cannot afford it, which goes against the principle of equality.

The project revolves around five moments :
– before the mobility, fifteen to twenty pupils part of the selective optional “cultural and scientific openness” course will be paired with their Italian penpals, eTwinning interactions will be set up in the other’s language, visits that will be guided by pupils during the immersion will be prepared ;
– during the immersion of French pupils in Sicily, they will be hosted in families, attend classes at school, do several field trips focusing around scientific (volcanism) and artistic (Norman architecture, Sicilian baroque) thematics and common works on what has been observed ;
– between both mobilities, eTwinning interactions will be continued, French pupils will complete preparations for their penpal’s coming, communication on the project and an initial assessment of the mobility will be carried out ;
– during the immersion of Italien pupils in France, they will be hosted in families, attend classes at school, do several field trips focusing around scientific (Palais de la découverte) and artistic (Châteaux of the Loire Valley) thematics and common works on what has been observed ;
– after the mobility, diffusion of the project and its teachings will be made towards those pupils who were not part of the project through presentations, communication on the project and the final assessment of the mobility will be carried out.

Tha aims of these mobilities are :
– developing higher skills in the fields of arts and sciences ;
– fostering access of young people to education and hospitality abroad, to another school system, to other families, to another culture ;
– fighting early school leaving, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

It is about furthering pupils’ knowledge on artistic and scientific topics and broadening horizons so as to facilitate their educational trajectories and prepare adults that are curious and open-minded. Indicators such as accreditation of prior learning (cycle 4), presentation of the project during the oral exam of their diploma (diplôme national du brevet), application in Arts and Sciences and school results in higher education will help assess the significance of the project.

Presentations will be made by pupils in others classes, during open house days or towards the educational community and parents, the press covering the event, to help disseminate the project and value pupils.

The implementation of such a project perfectly fits with the open territories policy of the academic project and gives an actual meaning to teaching. The staff involved are already doing their best so that this project is succesful and are commited towards a lasting partnership benefitting pupils.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 32245 Eur

Project Coordinator

College Marcel Proust & Country: FR

Project Partners

• ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE G.B. NICOLOSI