My home country, our life, our future Erasmus Project

Project Title

My home country, our life, our 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 : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The exchange and comparison of traditions between different cultures created an increased awareness of a tolerant and cosmopolitan action and strengthens the basic idea of a democratic Europe. Through an active exchange about these traditions with our partner school in the Czech Republic we sustainably gained new knowledge and social key competences for our daily life. Based on past experience, we realized that pupils show an enhanced willingness to learn and informal knowledge, especially through extracurricular content and innovative methods in the classroom. Extensive activities were planned to implement the project, which was documented in a blog in eTwinning. At the beginning, the students got to know each other by means of a profile and videoconference and expressed their ideas and ideas about the project idea. All students identified with the project, participated actively and knew their rights and duties in the project. In a training for the responsible teachers, we worked on the subject of customs, customs, festivals. In workshops, the teachers developed a mutual understanding of the concept and developed ideas for the implementation of the lessons. Each participant had a permanent exchange partner in the respective other country. At traditional festivals such as Christmas and Easter, other school students also used videoconferences to show what they cooked and baked. Decoration and customs also to local festivals were compared. The Czech students could watch by video how the traditional school carnival was celebrated. Each participant received a birthday greeting or a song per video from all participants during the project. The result is a “culture in the box” about the partner country. To do this, students had to gather information about their own country and sent it to the partner school responsible for designing a PowerPoint presentation on the cultural merits of the partner country. In small groups a personal music video was shot and rehearsed for a dance performance for presentation. At the end of the project, a GermanCzech cooking and baking book was created. The highlights for the 10 active participants in the 24month project were the 11-day student exchanges in Germany and the Czech Republic. During this time the guests lived in the family of the other country, whereby the parents acted as experts in the project. By reflecting on one’s own and foreign culture in all areas of life, the students learned to take responsibility for their own lives and to set goals for their own future. For this purpose, we developed a before-and-after questionnaire with objectives that reflected the longer-term benefits of the project. By expanding innovative teaching methods using the eTwinning platform, we liked to see active collaboration with the partner school throughout the project. In addition, new teaching methods were implemented and applied to the curriculum. The project had a long-term impact on the positive development of school communities.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 49340 Eur

Project Coordinator

Carl-von-Ossietzky Oberschule Werder & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Gymnazium Chotebor