National and local differencies – an inspiration for political action and active citizenship Erasmus Project

Project Title

National and local differencies – an inspiration for political action and active citizenship

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

We decided to focus on the possibilities and challenges of using ICT and computers in the classroom. On the one hand, it offers access to immense amounts of knowledge and teaching programmes, and vast possibilities of international collaboration. On the other hand, teachers have little experience in handling the new technologies in the optimal way in their everyday teaching.

The Project targets objectives:
1. To exchange best practice in using ICT in teaching and learning
2. To explore and develop new ways of using ICT in the field of international collaboration between teachers and students in order to empower young people to participate in society and inspire them to active citizenship.

We wanted to:
-exchange best practice in using ICT and computers in teaching by creating networks of teachers from different countries
-explore new possibilities in teaching by using colleagues in other countries for inspiration, co-operation, surveys etc.
-develop an international dimension in learning by the use of ICT technologies based on partly face-to-face corperation and “cyberspace” communication in
transnational project groups of students from different countries, an thus to enhance learning and prepare for the seminars
-enhance the involved students’ and teachers’ knowledge and awareness of the possibilities in ICT and innovative learning by introducing teamwork in spite of
physical distance
-encourage teachers not directly involved in the project to introduce new teaching methods using ICT in the classroom
-enhance the pupils’ awareness of the importance of knowledge of own identity in order to participate democratically in an active citizenship and encourage
them to take responsibility and to act in a democratic way
-develop language skills by forcing students and teachers to work together on common assignments and challenges
-enhance the students’ developing of intercultural competences and strengthen their open-mindedness towards other ways of living and learning
-focus on how to keep students with “non-academic” backgrounds in school and exchange best practice in preventing drop-outs. Education paves the way to
more active participation in democracy

This has been reached and the ideas spread by the following activitees:
-Five transnational seminars took place with participation of app. 160 students and 40 teachers from all five partner schools. In two of the seminars external organizations were an active part of the program. One was in France including an organisation for deaf persons and the other one concerns participative Democracy in real life reaching young people living in the local area.
-Transnational groups of students worked virtually at common assignments (homework) for the upcoming seminars,
-Long term individual exchanges has improved their language skills & intercultural competences by working in pair with predefined assignments producing teaching materials for language class and as preparation for the seminars.
-Two short term staff training courses including shadow teaching ie. observation on topics like “Teaching in inovative ways”, “Using ICT in teaching”, discussing “Best practise”, “How to teach in a second language” and the rationales of the different schools.
-During the period four project management meetings took place, one of them embedded in one of the five seminars. All partner schools participated in these meeting with one or two teachers. The meetings took place in Spain, Denmark and in France. Besides these meetings we used some hours at each of the five transnational seminar to discuss and monitor the project. Communication between the meetings was done by mails and google documents. The project meetings met two needs: First to monitor the project. Second, we focused on a short term staff training with different topics addressed like “Best practice” , “ICT teaching” and “How to prevent dropouts and secure motivation” etc.

Dissimination activities:
-The teachers participating in shadow teaching and the project meetings just mentioned produced articles, “hands on” short journals and speaches targeted relevant profesional/academic networks, groups and magazines and our fellow collegues at home got these short journals presented at staff meetings. The topics addressed were “ICT in teaching across borders”, “How to keep students from “non-academic” backgrounds at school”, “Participative Democracy in real life”, “Teaching in inovative ways”, “Using ICT in teaching” , “Best practise” and “How to teach in a second language”.
-Other ways of dissimination of the project results are blogs, production of an e-book or similar product. All products are available on the internet with links on the website on each partner school.
In total we estimate that around 5-6.000 students, teachers, local citizens, professionals, host families will get in touch with this project in small or large scale.
Please provide a translation in English.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 264956,48 Eur

Project Coordinator

Midtfyns Gymnasium & Country: DK

Project Partners

• IES Poeta García Gutiérrez
• TURK EGITIM VAKFI INANC TURKES OZEL LISESI
• Thor-Heyerdahl-Gymnasium
• lycée charles de foucauld groupe de l’estran