Future Erasmus – Carrying European values into the future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Future Erasmus – Carrying European values into the 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: Ethics, religion and philosophy (incl. Inter-religious dialogue); ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

“In a society shaped by science we don’t have to learn MORE, but we have to learn the RIGHT thing”. This quote by Roman Herzog the former President of the Federal Republic of Germany and European Statesman of the Year (1997) raises exactly the question schools across all nations have to face: How do we equip our students with everything that is necessary to succeed in our modern society? After an evaluation by the schools involved in this project, we have identified four crucial areas for the development of their students:
1. Being able to use modern media/technologies.
2. Being able to stand up for their beliefs (ethically and morally).
3. Being able to communicate in a globalised world.
4. Being able to demonstrate abstract and creative thinking.
These four pillars are at the core of our project “Future Erasmus”. We have come up with an approach to meet all these needs by an international and interdisciplinary approach which contains an open learning environment with our students at the centre of it.
During the project the students will at first meet the future in ‘texts’ (books, videogames, movies and art). They will get to know utopian and dystopian texts from the past and will be equipped with the necessary tools to be able to read these texts. They will notice that sometimes the vision of the future is bright, but very often it is also depicted as something dangerous and dark. Examples could be found for example in films and TV-shows like “Gattaca”, “Minority Report” or “Black Mirror” as well as in installations of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Having received an introduction into creative writing, too, the students will discover their full creative potential when it comes to different writing techniques.
In a next step the students will be introduced to new beneficial technologies and the world of science: The students will visit institutions such as a genetics and environmental laboratory, universities which have specialised in robotics and modern media technology – or even companies which already use these inventions. This will enable them to get an insight into the world of science and the study and employment opportunities they have to offer.
These current developments, especially in the technical sector, offer many possibilities to initiate a creative writing process. In doing so the students must get in touch with their own critical reflections about a future technological society and their place within. They will now use their knowledge about creative writing and art to reflect upon the chances and dangers of technological advancements. During the mobilities there will be a lot of time dedicated to these reflections as we agree with the American physician Richard Clarke Cabot, who demanded that “science and ethics should go hand in hand”. The results of combining critical thinking with creative writing will be an illustrated story, which will be published online, as well as an audiobook of a second story. Furthermore, the students will lay out their detailed visions of a technologized future in a pamphlet, which will also be published online.
We think that our well-structured and considerate project activities pursue a holistic approach to learning and teaching, as they will develop and use the maximum of the students’ input and potential. Consequently, there are many benefits for students and teachers who engage into our international process of combining the world of creativity and science. By doing so we hope to show our students that these worlds are not opposites but rather complimentary to each other. We also hope that our holistic approach will also lead to a decrease in gender differences exposing young women to science and young men to the world of literature. In addition, our project allows the participants to study and use English outside the regular institutionalised lessons and it helps them to develop a range of ICT, language and soft skills that are valued by employers and universities all over Europe. to give and receive feedback.
The project will show them how their own choices within this community will carry them on into a future full of opportunities. Thus, the quote “When you make a choice, you change the future!” by Deepak Chopra contains the concise message, why it is important for young people to learn about and reflect upon the values that should shape our European society, such as tolerance for those who are different, equal treatment for everybody, mutual respect, human rights. Accordingly, they should realize that these values are needed – maybe more than ever – also in the world of science and technology. This is what we would like to achieve for our students equipping them with an insight into the benefits of science and technology, but with a moral compass oriented towards the values of the programme Erasmus+ , hence, creating a “Future Erasmus carrying European values into the future”.

Project Website

https://hughguest.wixsite.com/futureerasmus

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 121444 Eur

Project Coordinator

Herzog-Christian-August-Gymnasium & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Sel kommune – Otta ungdomsskole
• Borrisokane Community College
• IES RAMÓN GIRALDO
• Kedainiu r. Setos gimnazija