Preschools Community Strengthening based on outdoor learning and culture differences Erasmus Project

Project Title

Preschools Community Strengthening based on outdoor learning and culture differences

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: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Quality Assurance

Project Summary

Context of the project:
All preschools involved to the project meet a lot of problems when they are trying to engage the entire local community to preschool environment. It is very difficult process for preschools. Creating a successful community pre-school partnership is a complex, challenging, and time-consuming task. To be effective, partnerships need to engage in a thoughtful process to define a vision and clear goals. Community pre-school partnerships also need to draw from a broad range of perspectives and expertise—from inside the pre-school as well as from other organizations and individuals within the community. Finally, community pre-school partnerships need to connect, coordinate, and leverage resources from a variety of sources to support and continue their work. All project partners believe that sharing of other different cultures best experiences of engagement of the local community will improve the quality of preschool education.

Project objective – improve the quality of preschool education with sharing new intercultural methods and best outdoor learning practice engagement the entire local community to preschool environment.
The project tasks:
1) raise the competence of employees (teacher and administrative staff) through participation in
international trainings;
2) share the knowledge and best practise among other preschool partner countries achieving to
engage the entire local community – children, teachers, parents, family members, administrative staff,
volunteers, locals around;
3) to strengthen the entire local community based on outdoor pedagogy methods and best examples
of partners countries.

Biggest changes of the project (Force Majeure due to COVID-19):
There were 6 planned Learning teaching training activities that had to be held once in each partner country. One of the partners (Slovakia) didn’t sign the agreement in the very beginning as it appeared the legal status of the organization was not suitable for an Erasmus+. We took the responsibility to reach the goals even with one partner out.
So there were 5 planned activities in each partner country. Everything went smooth till March 2020 as due to COVID-19 pandemic each country went on a lockdown and the borders were closed. By that time only 2/5 Learning teaching training activities wereimplemented. And all participants had plane tickects for the third one as it was planned to be 2 weeks after the pandemic started in Europe. Due to this unfavorable situation the project was extended for 6 extra months expecting that by that time the situation in the Europe will be stable. When in the next half year the pandemic was even worse the 3rd acitivty was held virtually.

During the online meetings of the management team it was decided to organize only one virtual meeting instead of 3 that left (skip meetings in Austria and UK) as the project topic and the goals are hardly reachable via online meetings and traveling was still restricted. The project is about outdoor learning, community building, about visiting the outdoor kindergartens abroad and collab with communities and these things can be hardly reachable via virtual trainings.
It was agreed to make one virtual training instead of meeting in Turkey in April 2020, and adapt the program. The program was created involving all the partners to benefit the meeting sharing the best practices of each.

According to the Erasmus+ rules we were able to extend the project for 6 extra months again (till 30.11.2021, total lenght of the project would be 36 months).
Together with the management team the decision was made not to extend the project again. For this decision there were two serious reasons:
Changes in human resources. Project manager from Turkey is retiring from the school in July 2021. Project manager from Austria went on maternity leave from April 2021. Extending the project would mean that new people should overtake 3 years of work and cooperation just for finishing the project and for filling the final report. Also in the perspective of covid extending the project for 6 more months does not promise to finnish it properly as traveling without restrictions is one of the last thighs that will be allowed.

Activities:
C1) Training in Lithuania. Implemented program: Introduction of VSI Lauko darzelis, Training – VsI Lauko darzelis presented by it’s own problems and the best practise and experience about Six types of community involvement: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at home, Decision making, Collaborating with the community; Training – VsI Lauko darzelis presented by it’s own best practise and experience “A lot of ways to engage entire local community based on outdoor learning and culture differences”; involving best practises of “Miško darželis”; Intercultural meeting with children, teachers and administrative staff and job shadowing in Pavilniai department. International partners (Turkey, United Kingdom, Austria, Germany) sharing the best experience and practice with VSI Lauko darzelis (Lithuania), open discussion, preparing of recommendations for VsI Lauko darzelis, teamwork Report 1: reflection, summarizing, plan for the next steps

C6) Training in Germany. Implemented program: Introduction of StattHaus e.V. to international partners, community and meeting team presentation, excursion; Training – StattHaus e.V. presented by it’s own problems and the best practise and experience about “Six types of community involvement: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at home, Decision making, Collaborating with the community”;Training – StattHaus e.V. presented by it’s own best practise and experience “A lot of ways to engage entire local community based on outdoor learning and culture differences” Intercultural festival (arts, food, art craft, music, outdoor games) – “Be together” for all local community – children, teachers, parents, family members, volunteers, administrative staff, locals; International partners (Turkey, Lithuania, Austria, United Kingdom) sharing the best experience and practice with StattHaus e.V. (Germany), open discussion, preparing of recommendations for StattHaus e.V. , teamwork Report 1: reflection, summarizing, plan for the next steps.

C4) (C7 in the Mobility tool) Virtual training instead of meeting in Turkey. Implemented program: The program was created involving all the partners to benefit the meeting sharing the best practices of each. The program consist of the presentations from each country, topics were: “A lot of ways to engage entire local community based on outdoor learning and culture differences” or “Six types of community involvement: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at home, Decision making, Collaborating with the community”. As well as the videos were prepared to “experience” the “job shadowing” in each kindergraten. Management team meeting, preparing final report, summarisig the project.

Quantitative project results:
– 31 project participants who improved their competences, skills and deepened knowledge,
– medium integration of 5 preschools local communities to the preschools activities during the project
– 3 Partial Reports (1 report after each learning/training/teaching activity in host country),
– Final Report about the project results.

Qualitative project results:
Exchanged best experiences about strengthening of local community based on outdoor learning and culture differences (Observation result: 7.6 out of 10)
Better understanding about different culture education methods in children groups (Interview of management team).
Strong strategic partnership with partner organisations (Questionaire: 17 respondents out of 19 evaluated this question from 8 to 10).
Teachers and administrative satisfaction is higher, especially those who had a chance to travel or accept partners to their kindergarten. (Interview of management team).
Better English language skills of participants (for all partners except UK partners). (Interview of management team)
Participants feel more positive attitude towards the European project and theEU values (Questionaire, 94,7% replied as “Yes”).

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 52201,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

VsI Lauko darzelis & Country: LT

Project Partners

• Highway farm activity centre LTD
• Waldkindergarten Görlitz – StattHaus e.V.
• Mehmet Selahattin Colak Ilkokulu
• Waldkindergruppe Naturkinder-Verein zur Förderung natur- und tiergestützter Pädagogik