European Heritage : meeting to build our future Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Heritage : meeting to build our future

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; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

This Erasmus partnership has been composed by four partner schools: Spain, Iceland, Germany and Greece. Some of these countries had a vast experience in Erasmus projects, for others this has been the first time participating in such a kind of task. The projects have been organized around the development of an “European Cultural Heritage Virtual Museum”.
The project came up from the necessity and opportunity to reinforce and improve the European Development Plan in each school. From our experience in other European projects such as Comenius or KA1, we wanted to go in depth in the internationalization process of our school and create a European added value in our students’ education, as well as to open the doors towards Europe for teachers, families and institutions.
We started from our necessities and opportunities that were emerging:
1.-One of the priorities highlighted by the European Commission is European Cultural Heritage.
2.-As coordinator school, one of the results of the KA1 project in which we participated was the acquisition of skills regarding Project Based Learning.
3.-The necessity to keep implementing and internationalizing the school´s European Development Plan.

Once we had identified the necessities and opportunities that we had, we proceeded to search for partner schools which wanted to join us and had the requirements needed for the project, using eTwinning.

The project was thought to last 24 months but we asked for an extension due to the COVID situation and, finally, the project lasted 36 months. It was divided into 4 periods of 6 months. Each period was led by one of the partner schools and it focused on their cultural heritage. The four periods had the same structure. During the last 12 months, the project was based on virtual activities related to Iceland mobility as it had to be cancelled because of the COVID situation.
1.-At the beginning of each period, 2 teachers from the different schools met in a short term formation mobility (3 days) at the host country’s school. The objectives of this meeting were to propose to the rest of the partners and coordinate with them a variety of activities related to the cultural heritage of that leading country to be carried out in each school during the semester; and to build trust, understanding and a solid partnership between organizations in the project. The teachers were trained in virtual reality development and design. Another goal was to know the educational reality of each school as well as the educational system of each country and to carry out a job shadowing among teachers.
Teachers from Greece could not participate in the mobility to Iceland because of force majeure due to COVID-19 but all the meetings were virtual to facilitate their participation.
2.-During the semester, the activities agreed in the preparatory visit took the form of challenges, tasks and projects and were jointly addressed in and with the partner schools. The activities tackled the following aspects of cultural heritage:
a)World heritage
b)Intangible heritage (music, traditions, local languages, traditional craftsmanship…)
c)Natural heritage
d)Monuments, archeological sites
3.-At the end of the semester and as a close up activity, a short term pupil mobility (5 students per country) took place in the leading country. Students had the chance to apply, experience and enhance the skills acquired thanks to the activities previously worked. More than five pupils participated in these mobilities when it was possible and in the case of pupils´mobility to Iceland was cancelled because of the sanitary situation caused by COVID. Pupils worked during these period virtual activities about Iceland.
4.-New contents related to the European Cultural Heritage of these countries were uploaded to the virtual platform of the museum.
We had the need, the opportunity and clear objectives in mind, so we also had a clear methodology:
1.-New means of addressing the complex realities within the classroom, the inclusion of pupils and attention to diversity.
2.-Interdisciplinary and innovative perspectives on education.
3.-Introducing PBL (Project Based Learning) and virtual reality as a means to tackle the issue of European Cultural Heritage from a multidisciplinary perspective.

We wanted the impact of the project to go beyond the participants, so its diffusion has been developed in a comprehensive plan carried out by all the partner schools under the coordination of the coordinator school.
The results (tangible and intangible) we expected were the following:
1.-Acquisition of new skills by both teachers and students who participated in the project.
2.-Changes and improvements regarding how to tackle the teaching-learning process through the methodology.
3.-New knowledge, value and commitment to the preservation of the European Cultural Heritage at local and European levels.
4.-The implementation of long term structural changes in the participant schools´ organization.
All these expected results have been registered, so having the quality of the project in mind, there was an evaluation of the project and the activities before, during and after each period. Besides, the results were incorporated into the European Development Plan of the school. At the same time, we hope this project becomes the starting point of new projects and activities which provide the schools involved with an added European value.
As a final assessment of the project, we value it as very positive since there were not any meaningful issues except for the cancellation of the last mobility caused for the COVID situation. Nevertheless, the mobility was supplied by virtual tasks.
The project made a great impact in the four schools as all the pupils and teachers had the chance of knowing the cultural heritage of the other countries. Furthermore, the methodology in all schools was modified by the inclusion of PBL.
In our opinion, mobilities make a great impact on pupils and teachers who participate in the project, but also in the hosting families.

Project Website

https://europeanculturalheritagevirtualmuseum.blogspot.com/?m=1

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 90902 Eur

Project Coordinator

COLEGIO RURAL AGRUPADO RIO ARAGON & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Barnaskólinn á Eyrarbakka og Stokkseyri
• first primary school of chania,crete,greece
• Grundschule im Beerwinkel