electronic Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques (e-Reflect) Erasmus Project

Project Title

electronic Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques (e-Reflect)

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 addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Open and distance learning; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

Reflect Approach is defined as a structured, collaborative and participative learning process which facilitates people to critical analyze their environment, construct a personal understanding of local and global reality and challenge dominant development paradigms. In the core of this process rests the need for people’s empowerment as well as reflect and action for social change. Our project aims at designing, developing, implementing and evaluating of a high quality Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) under the title e-Reflect, which (a) introduces school educators in a rich technological environment for the implementation of the Reflect Approach in contemporary school settings, and (b) encourages inter-European teacher collaboration in active citizenship projects. MOOC’s instructional design process is placed in the context of the Reflect training methodological background and incorporates up to date e-learning principles. MOOC develops around 6 lessons which employ a variety of teaching strategies and involve learners in interactive and collaborative activities through the use of web2.0 tools.

Our project is especially timely. It addresses the need for continuing, in service education in active citizenship, since Eurydice points to improving teachers’ knowledge and skills for teaching citizenship throughout Europe. Eurydice notices that while several countries have reformed their citizenship education curricula over the last years, these reforms have rarely been introduced in continuing professional development programmes (CDPs) (Citizenship Education in Europe report 2010/11).

The project is Initiated by the 1st Primary School of Rafina – Greece, a public sub-urban school, through the agency of the following teacher education and research institutions:
– Bath Spa University, UK
– Centre for Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology LTD (CARDET), Cyprus
– University of the Aegean (UAEGEAN), Department of Primary Education, Greece
– University of Turku, Faculty of Education, Finland

Project activities evolved in two cycles:
In the first cycle, e-Reflect MOOC is designed and developed. An on-line training of teacher trainers follows, and the cycle completes with the actual implementation of the on-line course, attended by school educators.

In the second cycle, trained educators, in collaborative settings, implement e-Reflect activities in classroom communities settings. Pupils use web2.0 tools to articulate their thinking, to communicate and collaborate with their fellow pupils, to discuss issues and common school/community problem areas and take reflective action. It is expected that they get empowered to fully participate in society change initiatives. The cycle completes with the evaluation of the school/community based intervention on the grounds of improving the quality of school-based learning provision in fostering reflective thinking and action.

On teacher professional level our project was expected to contribute to:
1) the strengthening of educator’s professional profile through providing quality continuing training on key competencies and skills (digital skills in active citizenship education);
2) the internationalization at the level of education and training institutions (cooperation between schools, HEIs, and NGO’s around Europe);
3) the enhancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) uptake in teaching and learning and support of (a) ICT-based teaching and assessment practices, (b) access to open educational resources (OER) and (c) open and flexible learning.

The outputs of the project reached the target group members and the stakeholders through the training phase, the implementation phase, and all the dissemination activities. More specifically, the teachers received professional development by completing the e-Reflect course and through being exposed to the e-Reflect approach. The impact on them was the development of their competences when it came to the objectives and values of the project and their ability to apply the e-Reflect approach in their teaching and expanding it to address problems of the local community. The impact on the schools participating in the project was the improvement of the quality of school-based learning provision in fostering reflective thinking and action.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 152367 Eur

Project Coordinator

1st Primary School of Rafina & Country: EL

Project Partners

• TURUN YLIOPISTO
• CENTRE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LTD-CARDET
• PANEPISTIMIO AIGAIOU
• BATH SPA UNIVERSITY