Connecting European special schools by the students exploring, comparing and representing cultural tradtions (typical holidays) throughout the year. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Connecting European special schools by the
students exploring, comparing and representing
cultural tradtions (typical holidays) throughout the
year.

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: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

By participating in this Erasmus project and by the included exchanges with the partner schools, we wanted to push the development of our school culture and our culture of technology. Furthermore, during these exchanges, we wanted to compare, expand, and deepen our technological and cultural knowledge and skills with the partner country.
Through this project, our intellectual and social disadvantaged students had the chance to create a technological and cultural project for a long period of time. We learnt from each other, with each other and among each other, as well as grew together and learnt and deepened skills, which we will need in our everyday life and the future working life.
In coordination with our Polish partners, we have included our Ukrainian partner school. During the whole project, they were fully-fledged partners.
The project groups were appointed officially. The project mission was submitted ceremonially. The school-partnership-mascot was presented and will be with us from that day onwards.
The following goals were achieved:
– using the movie material to create a photo story in three languages
– a perpetual calendar for holidays of both countries
– wooden-puzzle-cubes, which show the holidays of each country in every season
Between the mobilities, the groups prepared their specific traditions, so they were all able to present it at the meeting and the sequences for the movie were filmed.
Costumes, the setting and other props were partly prepared by each country and were continually enhanced at the meetings, or each country was preparing one half of something and these were merged to one when seeing each other.
By retaining the different sequences in different ways and by reusing the material to create different products (wooden-puzzle-cubes, photo story, calendar, …), new fields of activity were opening. Skills and aptitudes were explored and lived.
The whole school community of both countries was involved in this project. The project group “Erasmus” consisted of around 25 students of each country aged 12 to 16 years in Germany and aged 12 to 20 years in Poland. They were supervised by the working group “Erasmus”, consisting of 8 teachers of each country.
As both schools are special needs schools, each participant was already dealing with these special needs in their everyday life. All activities were planned according to the abilities of the participants. Everyone was able to happily take part in these activities.
The weekly work of the internal school project group “Erasmus” was an integral part of the school coordination and the monthly meetings of the working group “Erasmus” helped organising the project.
We were not able to use eTwinning as a contact- and exchange platform but have gained positive experience during our project work. Transparency and openness were a special aspect of importance in all parts and phases of the project.
During the weekly meetings of the project group, we were working intensively on every part of the project. While doing so, every student was given the individual support, he or she needed to handle the different tasks.
Due to Corona, we were not able to present our results as planned. In Germany we successfully organised a celebratory presentation in June. We ware also able to participate in the Polish presentation in September. Therefore, all students were able to prove their social, communicative, and technological skills.
During these days of presentation, the students expanded and deepened their social, communicative, and technological skills.
Personality traits such as autonomy, courage, self-confidence and being proud of one’s results were positively influenced.
The results were sustainable and will be publicly available.
Technology, that was bought for this project, will be continued to be used in class after the project has finished (it was written into the technological concept of the school).
Founding a photo- or movie group for the students at the schools is still desirable and a goal for a couple of years.
The perpetual calendar and the photo story can be used for multiple purposes even after the project ended.
Our school partnership will be continued even after finishing this Erasmus-project. Student’s exchanges are an essential part of our school life and will be continued in the future.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 40843,51 Eur

Project Coordinator

Erich Kästner-Schule & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Specjalny Osrodek Szkolno – Wychowawczy im. Poczty Polskiej