“dual career in education and sports” Erasmus Project

Project Title

“dual career in education and sports”

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: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The course for a career in competitive sport is already set at school. The physical and psychological stresses for young athletes are present. They result from school, sport in the form of training and competition conditions and the demands of the social environment. The compatibility of school and sport has become very important, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for even gifted students to succeed in school and in sport. Consequently, these demands can hardly be mastered without support from school and the social environment. Within the framework of our project “Dual Career in School and Sport”, we, the two schools Sportska gimnazija (SPOGI) from Zagreb (Croatia) and the Integrated Comprehensive School Mannheim-Herzogenried (IGMH) from Mannheim (Germany), investigated the question of how the compatibility of school and sport can be ensured.
For this purpose, we elicited the demands of school and sport as well as the coordination and time problems of the athletes and developed forms of support for young athletes. Due to the tasks to be accomplished and the scope of the project, the two partner schools created a project plan that contained several phases. Individual cornerstones of the project could thus be developed and implemented in a process-oriented way and the results presented transparently. The two partner schools complemented each other excellently in the project work, which can be seen in the successful project work and the project results.

During the first two mobilities, the students first developed the methodological tools to conduct a meaningful needs analysis and evaluation of the stresses and demands of young athletes and to use their results for our project. Subsequently, they used these for the development of the guideline called “Roadmap”. In mobility C3, this was then finally developed and presented. Different aspects and points of view could be included in the question: What stresses and demands are there for young athletes and how can young athletes be supported in coping with the latter? The question of what role schools can play in individualised support was also explored. The feedback on the presentation of the results and the possible uses of the guide was well received by the athletes, teachers and school management.
The next phase offered space for the development of a student mentoring programme, with the help of which young athletes at the schools are co-supervised by fellow students of the same age.
Building on the first year of the project, the development of the “Mentoring Tool Kit”, which is embedded in a mentoring programme developed by pupils for pupils, was at the centre of the project work. Mobility C3 was crucial for the successful work on the mentoring programme including the tool kit. Basic theoretical knowledge in the field of coaching, the work of mentors and the role of mentees was intensively developed and combined with practice-oriented approaches. The students did an excellent job here. In the subsequent practical phase, the feasibility of the “Mentoring Tool Kit” was to be tested with specially developed evaluation forms. Due to Covid-19, we had to change our original planning at short notice. Covid-19 could only slow down our project briefly, but not stop it! In an innovative way, the students and teachers were able to overcome this challenge by continuing the work digitally. Thus, Mobility C4 became the first Virtual Webinar of our project and contributed significantly to the successful completion of the mentoring programme and set a strong final point.
During the project phases, there was a very close and trustworthy cooperation between the partners. We worked continuously, closely and cooperatively on different channels (including eTwinning). We had to extend the timeframe of the project due to Covid-19, but despite all the adversities we were able to achieve our project goals. Our outputs “Roadmap” and “Mentoring Tool Kits” are a strong proof of the successful cooperation of the partners.
In addition, we were able to make the project permanent after completion by anchoring the outputs in the partner schools. With the help of multiplier events, we were able to inspire more schools for our mentoring programme and attract more interested parties from the sport sector to use our project.
All of this has resulted in the continuous drive of our project to generate stable, reliable and strong partnerships at regional and European level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 43480 Eur

Project Coordinator

Integrierte Gesamtschule Mannheim-Herzogenried & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Sportska gimnazija