Innovating teaching ideas and methods for the 21st century Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovating teaching ideas and methods for the 21st century

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Open and distance learning

Project Summary

We live in a constantly changing world characterized by fast developments in society and technology and the opening and expanding of markets. Our globalized world offers a lot of opportunities but at the same time we need to take responsibility and address problems such as youth unemployment, sustainability, xenophobia, discrimination, questions of social equality and political fairness.

The objectives of this project have been to innovate teaching methods and learning at the participating schools, and enabling students to adapt to and deal with the constant challenges that they face in an ever changing world.

The partners in the project consist of teachers from seven schools, who had worked together in different Comenius Project, with a common goal: innovating teaching and learning practices in order to prepare students adequately for their future life.

Austria: Heustadelgasse is a secondary school. Supporting every individual according to their abilities and creating a fruitful learning environment are primary goals.

Denmark: Sabro-Korsvejskolen is a primary- and secondary school. Sabro Korsvejskolen has three basic values: Credibility, Respect and Commitment. Students, parents and staff work with an appreciative approach to communication and cooperation.

Finland: Pietarsaaren lukio is a high-school, and the mission is to provide nurturing and challenging environments that emphasize democratic values, cultural diversity and life-long learning.

Italy: IIS Bodoni Paravia is a secondary school. School works in the field of multiculturality through a number of projects.

Poland: ZSS “Splot”. The Independent Middle and High School of Nowy Sącz works towards open and tolerant Europe through education.

Slovenia: Gimnazija Jurija Vege. Grammar school, Technical secondary school and vocational school. Works towards Xenophobia. Use the Slovenian language as the prime language.

Spain: Joan XXIII is a primary- and secondary school, involved in nets of cooperation and learning with the criterias of respect and solidarity, commitment to sustainability and environment.

The main focus of the project has been innovating practices in the educational areas: Sustainability, International Dimension, Entrepreneurship, Teambuilding and Creativity. The methods used have been Flipped classroom, Student Teams, Cooperative Learning, Peer Education, and Design Thinking in our practices, and educational tools provided by Web 2 platforms.

Meetings have been very successful. As planned, we had two transnational project meetings in the first two years and three in the final year, followed by short-term exchanges of students. Each meeting has been followed-up with new practices tried out in participating schools, and followed up with evaluation for teachers and students. These evaluations were examined currently, and if necessary, changes in plan were made.

1st Transnational Project Meeting was in Aarhus, Denmark. The headline was Innovation and Teambuilding. Headline for 1st LTT students meeting was “Kids take Action” on Sustainability.
2nd Transnational Project Meeting was in Idrija, Slovenia. The headline was “ Innovation and Learning Skills, Teaching Tools I”, and followed immediately by LTT students meeting. Same theme.
3rd Transnational Project Meeting was in Barcelona on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 3rd LTT students meeting had the headline: “The student as Producer and Entrepreneur” .
4th Transnational Project Meeting in Finland was about Innovation and Sustainable Development, followed up by LTT students meeting “Youth takes green Action”.
5th Transnational Project Meeting was in Austria. The headline was Innovation and Learning Skills, TeachingTools II. The 5th LTTstudents meeting had the headline: Web 2.0, and “ A common Europe of Cultural Diversity”.
6th Transnational Project Meeting in Poland had the headline: Innovation and creativity and the 6th LTT students meeting “Creativity as an Innovative Skill”.
7th Transnational Project Meeting in Turin was about summing up results, working on final report and planning future activities.

Results of the meetings and cooperation in between meeting have been significant, and published in blogs, booklet and films. All schools now have a policy for sustainable education, which has impact on local communities and families. Each year all schools participate in Earth Day with a sustainable agenda. New practices have been implementet at all schools, and shared among collegues, which has resulted in an educational “make-overs” for all schools.

Long term benefits are among others that many teachers have revaluated their role as teachers and established professional networks and will continue to cooperate after the project has finished. Lots of our students are still in touch with each other, even those who have left our schools. The project has forstered internationalisation, and enhanced understanding of cultures.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 228410 Eur

Project Coordinator

Sabro-Korsvejskolen & Country: DK

Project Partners

• GRGORG22Heustadelgasse4
• Zespol Szkol Spolecznych SPLOT
• Pietarsaaren lukio
• I.I.S. BODONI-PARAVIA
• Jesuites Bellvitge Centro de Estudios Joan XXIII
• Gimnazija Jurija Vege Idrija