EMBRACE DIVERSITY Erasmus Project

Project Title

EMBRACE DIVERSITY

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 for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

At a Contact Seminar, 3 teachers coincided each of us from very different schools but with a single need: for all our pupils, especially the disadvantaged ones, to become European citizens on equal terms. This was the seed of Embrace Diversity.
In the end, five partners joined the project from very different backgrounds: 2 from rural areas, 2 from small cities and 1 from a very large city, all of which helped to make the project innovative. Directed as it was mainly at pupils in primary education, the diversity came from the fact that there were pupils from 30 different nationalities and from families of very different social-economic status as well as some minority groups, principally gypsies.
The priorities of the project were directly related to the objectives:
-To foster the inclusion of students from poor backgrounds and with learning difficulties as equal citizens. To encourage them to become aware of other realities and to consider a future life abroad as a possibility.
-To raise awareness of the fact that contact with other cultures, religions and beliefs enriches and makes us more tolerant and understanding of others.
-To promote collaborative teaching-learning.
-To increase digital competence, which is absolutely essential in today’s world.
-To promote the development of critical thinking by the experimental approach.
-To foster a love of foreign languages and to aid communication at work, socially or for fun.
Activities were organised to promote the project: leaflets, a logo competition, an informative video, a showcase in the schools to show how the project was developing and dissemination through a range of websites. Other activities focused on reaching the proposed objectives. 5 blocks of work were chosen: our school and its surroundings, gastronomy, music, art and science; all of which helped us attain our main objective, that of social inclusion. The final product for each of these topic areas was put together during each of the visits to the five countries, which in itself helped us learn about the culture of the other countries and offered us a broader vision of Europe. A 3rd group of activities was aimed at assessment, both of the project itself and its impact and sustainability. These included the initial and final questionnaires, interviews, quantification of the visits and interaction with the project websites.
The methodology was primarily collaborative: peer-teaching, mixed-ability group work and, whenever possible, the use of the experimental method to generate critical thinking. Most of the activities were carried out using ICTs as the main tool, which served to foment digital competence.
The tangible results were: etwinning website, project logo, mascot and anthem, presentation of the participants, a Blog describing visits, DVD presentations of each school, book of experiments, DVD songs and dances, exhibition of artworks, virtual dictionary and cookery book from all the countries and a calendar for 2020
The strategic results were: management and organization of human resources and materials, achievement of a tolerant attitude, cooperation and communication based on ICT tools, dissemination of the extent of the project and its tangible results amongst the whole community, development of critical thinking through science experiments, improvement of oral and written communication skills and awareness amongst the pupils of the possibility of moving within Europe as a single space. The main impact of the project was the inclusion of disadvantaged pupils, as the project allowed them to work alongside the rest, so helping them to feel integrated members not only of the school but also of the society and Europe. Besides, the mutual knowledge that came with the project made us all more tolerant towards the cultural diversity within Europe. Embrace Diversity contributed to a marked increase in digital and communicative competence and collaborative work in a European setting. All of the above enhanced the sustainability of the project in so far as it served to motivate pupils and teachers to participate in other aspects of the Erasmus + programme. The transferible products are available on the different digital platforms, so they can be transferred to other educational areas. All the students have been able to access and learn from them. Attending seminars, conferences or workshops within the schools also supported its sustainability. Teachers presented the results, distributed both leaflets and the materials. The project website was kept up to date and the project team remained motivated even after its end. This has proven to be an effective way of exploiting of the outcomes in this ITC era.
in an organizational level, we created two files that give transferability to the project. One is a set of useful documents and the other is a follow up notebook. Both have shared on the E+PRP platform.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 117730 Eur

Project Coordinator

CEIP NARCISO ALONSO CORTÉS & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Zakladna skola
• Agrupamento Vertical de Escolas de Vila Cova
• INSTITUTO ESPAÑOL VICENTE CAÑADA BLANCH
• Pales pamatskola