Searching for Home Erasmus Project

Project Title

Searching for Home

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: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Migrants’ issues

Project Summary

Migration for political, religious, or economic reasons has become a top topic since the beginning of the Millennium. People of different ethnicities are streaming to the West and North, seeking liberty and a decent life. European people are facing a new wave of ethnic mingling. All this has provoked in recent years a new wave of racism and intolerance spreading across Europe and reaching schools. The project “Searching for home” is a reaction to this trend aiming at deepening the understanding of migration as part of our European cultural heritage, enhancing students’ critical thinking skills and immunity against populism and demagogy, tolerance for the foreign and unknown, humanitarian thinking, developing English language skills, understanding of history and sociology, research, graphic and stylistic skills and self-management when abroad.
Five schools have decided to participate in the project which will last 24 months. The partner group comprises schools from the Czech Republic (the coordinating school), Poland, Portugal and two schools from Ireland. All of these nations have an important history of emigration, several times in history their citizens looked for a better life abroad and contributed to the target land´s economy, culture, and politics. This historical responsibility should be mirrored in our tolerance and willingness to help other people today when all the participating countries are becoming or have become target lands for other, less fortunate nations.
It is estimated that around 100 students and 25 teachers will participate in the project directly by getting involved in the five learning activities planned (one in each school). The learning activities aim at raising awareness of migration in Europe and acquainting students with the cultures of other partner schools through visits to various historical and cultural institutions, workshops, debates and presentations.
Additional work on eTwinning is planned which will be based on researching prominent historical figures who were immigrants or people in exile and preparing presentations and papers to be shared with the other partners. The end product of the project will be Exilopaedia – a book or booklet consisting of the students’ works connected with immigrants they researched throughout the entire project.
The expected results and impact:
– students will be more tolerant and open to different cultures
– students will learn about immigration in Europe and deepen its understanding as part of our rich, shared heritage
– students will feel more confident to speak English and make new friends also among people of different origins
– students will increase their knowledge about the four participating countries
– students will develop critical thinking and research skills
– the five participating schools will get integrated through collaborative activities.
In the long term we hope for the participants of the project to become true 21st century citizens of Europe who understand different processes that take place on our continent, are able to form opinions about them using critical thinking skills and challenging those conceptions which have no foundation in reality but are a result of prejudice and ignorance.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 132206 Eur

Project Coordinator

Nase zakladni skola, z.u. & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas do Bom Sucesso
• Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Stefana Czarnieckiego
• Coláiste Pobail Acla
• Maynooth Post Primary