Jumping over Barriers – sport and free time activities for handicapped and non-handicapped pupils Erasmus Project

Project Title

Jumping over Barriers – sport and free time activities for handicapped and non-handicapped pupils

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Disabilities – special needs; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The aim of the project was to allow access to the handicapped-specific sports “goalball” and “blind football” for non-handicapped young people and to open up these sports to everyone as defined in Inclusion. For this purpose, a tournament should have been organized in each country (goalball tournament in Finland, blind football tournament in Germany). Teams made up of pupils from the surrounding mainstream schools should have been invited to these tournaments. In preparation for the tournament, training units should have been created for the classes so that the mainstream students could have prepared themselves for the particular sport.

In the first year of the project, several video conferences were held, eTwinning chats and letters were sent between Jyväskylä and Hamburg in order to get to know each other and to work out cultural differences. A blind football tournament was planned for May 11th, 2020 in Hamburg (and an associated project week from May 6th to May 13th, 2020, in which joint activities with the students from Hamburg and Jyväskylä were planned). For this, 5 classes from Hamburg district schools and grammar schools which wanted to take part in the tournament were won over. In preparation for the tournament, bell balls and blindfolds were purchased, head protection made of foam and rubber bands were built and small training sessions were prepared. In addition, it was agreed with the vocational preparation department of the BZBS that they would take over the catering (drinks and food) for the tournament.
Because of the Corona pandemic and the resolutions to contain it, the tournament (and the project week) were to be cancelled. The hope was that the Hamburg tournament could be rescheduled in the second year of the project and that the goalball tournament could be held in Jyväskylä as planned. Unfortunately, this was not possible due to the ongoing pandemic situation, so it was decided to conduct a virtual project week. During this project week, the students worked together on a teaching unit for blind football and goalball. Working progress was shared and partially tested in the other country. It turned out that the Finnish students were a little underperforming compared to the Germans, so that a tutorial video on goalball was made in Finland and a teaching unit with an image film on blind football was developed in German and English in Germany.
The tutorial video for goalball is used in sports lessons at the BZBS in Hamburg and the teaching unit for blind football was sent to Valteri-koulu Onerva, as well as to the sports department of the Hamburg Institute for Teacher Training so that Hamburg’s mainstream schools can borrow it and use it in class. In addition, the YouTube channel “Jumping over barriers” will continue to exist, where all small tutorial videos are available.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 18220,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

Bildungszentrum für Blinde und Sehbehinderte Hamburg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Valteri-koulu Onerva