European Culture and History Outlines Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Culture and History Outlines

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: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

History and civilization constitute the basis of modern Europe.However, people are not really aware of the common origins and the historical landmarks through which the European identity was developed.Students do not fully appreciate the significance of History, mainly due to the way it is usually taught.This can impede the development of the conscious European citizen.There appeared to be need to increase students’ awareness of the common values that define Europe using History as a tool. Parallel/complementary aspects of History narrations can lead students to a synthesis of “European History” increasing understanding and responsiveness to EU values and policies.When students met, interacted and worked together “History”was made tangible.On-site visits helped them understand the interaction and continuity of European history and the bonds that link European countries. Students were able to meet professionals, visit venues and places of historical interest.Workshops were organised for the pupils to work in collaboration.Our proposal aimed basically to enrich students’ knowledge and skills in order to understand the evolution of the multidimensional European culture and promote understanding of the importance of Europe through its long-standing characteristics and its cultural achievements.The main objectives were: raise awareness of our common cultural origins, our common values, problems and goals; promote mutual understanding; soften differences; consolidate democratic ideals; establish respect for cultural diversity and harmonious coexistence; raise awareness of the responsibilities students have as future citizens in order to develop a constructive attitude towards key issues of concern to the European community.The project included several concrete productions: the creation of a logo, a video, a website, an ebook with pedagogical resources, interviews with delegates, visits to places of cultural/historical interest directly related to the topic, the creation of a historical timeline, the compilation of authentic (taken by students) photos of relevant sites and finally an exhibition in all five partner countries with the presentation of the timeline and the photos related to each historical period. Unfortunately, due COVID 19 the exhibition has not taken place yet, although the material is ready and the compilation of students’ authentic photos of sites has been published in ebooks, separate for each country, with short summaries. Additionally, the website includes a) teachers’ materials for the workshops, b) students’ presentations for every historical period in each country separately, c) students’ articles based on talks/debates and d) students’ authentic photos of monuments and locations historically linked to the subject.The project intended to involve all the school community, (including pupils, teachers, parents) as well as representatives of the local and regional community. Each country set up a team with a number of members (from 3 to 9) who started working before the official beginning and will be working regularly on the project.As the projects aimed to be interdisciplinary, the team includes teachers of history, foreign languages, law, ICT, Geography, Science, Maths and P.E..Each school involved a team of 15-20 pupils, aged 15-19. All the pupils, the school community (teachers and parents) and the local community were regularly informed about the evolution of the project. The project was carried out in 7 LTT activities in which partner schools exchanged short-time visits to work with.Before each activity, each team of students prepared a short presentation with photos and a timeline.During the activity, the students got the project’s oriented knowledge in extracurricular classes involving teamwork techniques and teachers’ supervision in class or in field trips, which proved indispensable for the project’s tasks.Unfortunately, in the last LTT with pupils, the Greek and the Italian school were not allowed to attend by their respective Ministries of Education due to Covid 19.The project’s results were shared with all the students.After each activity the partners published their different findings on the project website, the pupils’ works and the teachers’ pedagogical resources.Gained knowledge was facilitated within our institutions as the project results were integrated in the institutions’ future practices and curriculum in an attempt to transform the teaching practices of teachers and through them other teachers.Results of our project and our experience have been shared via eTwinning and the project website.Finally, we hope that all the material will prove handy to educational institutions which will seek pedagogical resources for the teaching of history.Teachers were also a target group and for this reason two short-term joint staff training events were organised at the beginning of the 1st and the 2nd years of the project with activities specially designed to the needs faced.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 130258 Eur

Project Coordinator

3o Geniko Lykeio Chaidariou & Country: EL

Project Partners

• Instituto de Enseñanza Secundaria “ANTONIO CALVIN”
• AGRUPAMENTO ESCOLAS RAFAEL BORDALO PINHEIRO
• ISTITUTO D’ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE CIUFFELLI – EINAUDI
• Lykeio A Ethnarchi Makariou III Pafou