Let’s value our environment and cultural heritage Erasmus Project

Project Title

Let’s value our environment and cultural heritage

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: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

This School Exchange project has been carried out by the Rural School Agrupado Cubillos del Sil which is located in the village Cubillos del Sil, in the northwest of the province of León, Spain, and the Primary and Infant School in Strzyzowice which is located in a rural setting in southern Poland in the region of Silesia. Both centres contacted through the eTwinning platform, and we brought together the Polish centre’s experience in European programmes and the novel experience for the Spanish centre.

The objectives of the project have been threefold: to promote inclusive education by reinforcing the European dimension of teaching; to enhance knowledge of the history and cultural heritage of other countries in order to value and respect it; to develop social and civic competences of respect for the environment by fostering an attitude of continuous learning in different environments.

The participating pupils were in the primary and infant stages (3 to 12 years old), although those who carried out the exchange were in the upper grades in the case of the Polish school, and a selection of pupils at all levels (infant and primary) in the case of the Spanish school.
All the students of the two centres participated in the activities developed in the centres throughout the academic year and therefore benefited from the experience. It began by proposing various activities to introduce the students through eTwinning for a first contact (videos, riddles, photographs, questionnaires…) and then proposed monthly activities that dealt with the environment and cultural heritage (“tree of life”, trip to the natural environment, recycling centers, research and implementation of work on cultural heritage, exchange of folk songs …). In most cases they were joint activities, with different results in each center that we could compare and from which we could learn giving us a new vision of what had already been done. On a couple of occasions they were unilateral activities (which were exposed to the other country) due to the different nature of the school contexts.

As for mobilities, one of the programmed activities was the use of a logbook for the students is the “Travel Diary” where all the experiences and lessons learned from that trip were collected. Although it was a small number of students who carried out the exchange, so that dissemination and information days were held for the entire educational community of both centers, so that the rest of the students could also learn what they had learned while in the other country. The activities programmed during these mobilities also dealt with the theme of the project: environment and cultural heritage, and were carried out jointly and cooperatively by the students of the two centres, with different cultures, ages and abilities, thus favouring inclusion and cooperative learning.

The methodology was based on learning to learn, focused on the students, and through relevant themes (cultural heritage and environment) tasks of cooperative and collaborative work were developed and research work was carried out. This project has meant a great personal enrichment for all participants and an exchange of knowledge of other educational realities, thus promoting inclusive education to reinforce the European dimension of teaching and learning. By acquiring knowledge of the history and cultural heritage of other countries in order to value and respect it, we have been able to enhance the development of key competences in a globalised way and undoubtedly it has been a unique opportunity for the entire educational community to exchange schools with primary students. By participating in Eramus+ experiences such as this one, we are forming our students as European citizens with the intention that they think in a European way, that they value and respect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the different countries in an experiential way.

We can assure that the realization of Erasmus+KA229 has caused a great impact on the entire educational community (students, teachers, families and other schools nearby) so it is the intention of both centers to continue requesting this type of programs to expand what we learned and lived during the school year 2018-2019.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 28590 Eur

Project Coordinator

CENTRO RURAL AGRUPADO CUBILLOS DEL SIL & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Zespol Szkolno- Przedszkolny nr 1 w Strzyzowicach