Culture, coexistence and language through cultural heritage and regional characteristics all over Vulkanland Steiermark Erasmus Project

Project Title

Culture, coexistence and language through cultural heritage and regional characteristics all over Vulkanland Steiermark

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: Regional dimension and cooperation; Creativity and culture; Cooperation between educational institutions and business

Project Summary

The project’s content is about culture, coexistence and language through common history and regional characteristics over all Steirisches Vulkanland.
Back to our history we both have the same roots, which was interrupted almost a hundred years ago. This has led to the different development of the two neighboring countries. Due to these differences, various workshops help to rediscover the similarities and diversity of our cultures and to treat them with respect, appreciation, mindfulness and without prejudice. They concern to the historical background respectively the new discoveries and attitude toward life’s in Austria and Slovenia. The participants are students of primary schools. Austrian participating students of the so called non mandatory subject called “Slovenian” and Slovenian participating students of the so called subject “German as a second language” are mainly involved. There language teachers of these certain subjects support them during the project. Their teaching and language learning approach lead the students to improve their secondary language learning skills.
Around 25 pupils per school aged between seven and eleven years are involved in the project.
The teachers prepare several scheduled six full-day excursions – three per year, each organized by a school. These include workshops and activities that are attended at the host school. All activities at the workshops of the facilities, sights, etc. are planned in consideration of all five learning senses of the participating students (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory ). The groups of pupils are put together in such a way that children from all three schools participate in a group, in order to strengthen communication, language and social skills.
Priority methods for actively carrying out the activities during a visit are workshops, visits, interactive games and the use of digital media.
For this reason, the purchase of various digital materials was accelerated. The topics and contents are discussed at regular intervals in the foreign language lessons at the respective schools with the pupils and prepared or followed up by the foreign language teacher. A dissemination of the project is given in school through decorations, presentations on the pin board, window, notice board, homepage, etc. In addition, this is provided via regional media and newspapers but also via the project-internal Twinspace of eTwinning. In this regard as many people as possible can be reached and informed about the project.
The project’s end-results are to improve skills in the areas of appreciative social interaction with one another and with the people from neighbor countries or other strangers. It’s sustainability is remarkable. Despite the limited knowledge of the foreign language, communication is possible. Knowledge about one’s own and cross-border region is expanded. The pupils get an insight into regional and national companies and get to know sights on both sides of the border through various actions and workshops.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 24000 Eur

Project Coordinator

Volksschule Ratschendorf & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Osnovna šola Kuzma
• Osnovna šola Tržišče