Improving Children’s Learning Outcomes and Well-being Erasmus Project

Project Title

Improving Children’s Learning Outcomes and Well-being

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

Project “IMPROVING CHILDREN’ LEARNING OUTCOMES AND WELL BEING” – ICLO

CONTEXT
Students’ learning outcomes had been weakening constantly in all the project participating countries before and during ICLO project (2018-2021). At the same time also students’ school motivation had been decreasing and students’ challenges had been growing constantly. Our target was creating new ways of operating, with what we could improve children’s well-being and school motivation. We also created indicators with which we could view the improvement of children’s well-being better and better predict future challenges. The indicator work continued after the project.

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE ICLO-PROJECT WERE
TEACHING with two objectives: * Increasing student’s motivation
* Improving learning outcomes and
WELL-BEING with three objectives: * Promoting children’s well-being
* Supporting disadvantaged children and
* Developing multi-disciplinary co-operation
The first project year ICLO partner groups were divided in 5 above mentioned target teams. During the year Control Group noticed that to reach the main two objectives, we needed to divide the whole group only in two teams: Learning (teaching) and Well-being.

SUB OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT WERE
1. Teachers learn to confront students genuinely and caring.
2. Teachers get interested in using new motivating teaching methods.
3. Headmasters know better how to motivate, encourage and support teachers in their work
4. Directors of education and headmasters plan new co-operation methods together with those multi-professional people working with our students and their families
5. New methods produced during our project ensure that the disadvantage children get better support

WORKING STRUCTURE WAS
Work was done by auditing every partner’s school system during and between the project weeks.
1. Starting query according project’s objectives. You find the preview of the query in the attachment “Audition; Starting query”
2. Preliminary analysis of the collected material.
3. Field phase; objective groups explore the schools according their objective
4. Documentation and analysis of the collected field material
5. The group discusses about the school’s situation with the host
6. Recognizing and reporting of the key strengths and challenges
7. Setting up improvement targets, follow up acts and monitoring ways

We achieved the objective by approaching it from three point of views: child’s, teacher’s or adult’s and headmaster’s or organization’s point of view. Every point of view was opened four ways: a) challenge, b) target, c) act and d) indicator The diagram of the objectives and the working method was presented in the attachment “ICLO objectives and audit working method”.

The project was planned with our partners: Mr. William Griffiths, headmaster and director of 11 schools in Leicester, UK, Mr. Antonio Manday, headmaster from Rota, Spain, Mrs. Johanna Olsson, headmaster and director of 7 schools in Vaasa, Finland and Mr. Juha-Pekka Lehmus, director of education and the coordinator of this project, in Raisio Finland (Mr Lehmus started to work in the city of Lohja August 2020 and Mrs Leena Laakso continued Lehmus’ work as the coordinator city representative) and the University of Turku and the faculty of education and associate professor Marjaana Veermans.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES
We developed new modes of operations according to the objectives of the project.
We audited the hosting partner city’s schooling.
We developed indicators for describing children’ well-being.
Project week’s structure consisted exploring local schools and social child services.

PRODUCTS OF THE PROJECT
1. Headmaster coaching program for better leadership. Headmaster coaching continued in Finland after ICLO.
2. New and shared modes of operation for schools and multi-disciplinary people. Especially this would have needed more time without Covid19 to be a successful product.
3. New and effective patterns for school and multi-disciplinary co-operation. Covid19 spoiled this product, but the work continued after ICLO.
4. Relevant indicators for evaluating the improvement of students’ motivation, resilience, attitude and
well-being both nationally and internationally. The Wagtail-, Tern- and Sea Eagle-models were big successes used in basic education.
5. Project produces large collection of materials for scientific research. Scientific research was done in Vaasa.

DISSEMINATION OF THE RESULTS
Control Group members were in charge in disseminating the good and relevant results right after they appear. ICLO products were used when disseminating the good results by the end of the project. Because we could not go through the original plan, but the ICLO publication (attached) combines all the good ideas we got during the project.

Project Website

https://sites.google.com/view/iclo/front-page

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 80920 Eur

Project Coordinator

Raision kaupunki & Country: FI

Project Partners

• COLEGIO SALESIANO NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROSARIO
• Eastfield Primary School
• VAASAN KAUPUNKI