Sick or sound: enhancing young Europeans´competences to achieve health and prevent diseases Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sick or sound: enhancing young Europeans´competences to achieve health and prevent diseases

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: Natural sciences; Health and wellbeing; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

Sick or Sound (SoS) was a project of four high schools in Germany (Schönborn Gymnasium in Bruchsal), Romania (Grigore Ghica College in Dorohoi), Poland (Józef Tischner Junior High School in Domoslavice) and Spain (Instituto Pons d´Icart in Tarragona), and their students (14-16 years old). It was designed to bind together disciplines, perspectives, teachers and schools of different nations of the European Union. Starting point was the students’ profound experience of being sick and the vital interest in being healthy. Departing from the distinction of feeling ill and the presence of objective diseases, the project made an issue both of what the students undergo suffering from sickness and what they can do to become and stay sound (=healthy) again.
The project´s first objective was a new approach to teaching Sciences, Mathematics and English. It therefore fostered general and transversal skills, namely to formulate own SoS topics or to find strategies for getting information or doing research. By the use of advanced teaching environments like workshops, innovative experimental settings like chemical release principles, web based communication, teaching tools like a wiki or content management systems and interdisciplinary project oriented learning, SoS improved high performance and at the same time prevented poor achievement. This was attained by improving teaching skills and through the motivation that the students draw from working on themes with real life relevance and a comprehensive view on a subject of vital interest with a European and a global perspective.
The participating schools worked together in coordinating teaching activities; cooperating common projects like on the proliferation of infectious diseases or transnational comparisons of hygienic measures or cultural bound concepts of sickness; and in complementing each other through propagating themes each of them was specialized in.
Along with the items directly referring to performance, having a good and critical look on sickness and suffering or the comparison over cultural borders strengthened both classes and schools, fostered tolerance among students and teachers, enhanced the identity of the participants as Europeans and promoted a better understanding of the human condition under the threat of becoming ill.
The sustainability of the project results is guaranteed, on the one hand through the documentation of our activities, enabling others to emulate what we have done, on the other hand web based presentations not only of the teaching activities but also of the results and of open projects like a wiki, that are to be used, worked on, increased and improved by others as an ongoing productive outcome of the SoS-project.
To sum it up, the students of the SoS – Project – Erasmus+ enhanced their competences to achieve health and to prevent diseases. They learned a lot about chemistry, biology and technology, improved their research competences and English skills. But moreover students and teachers became a group of friends, aware of differences but always with mutual respect and understanding. We learned that we are all Europeans and as such messengers to bring the European spirit to the world. And this task goes to all of us, students, teachers and parents alike, to stand up for a united Europe, which is at stake right now and suffering from terror attacks. SoS – an accomplished project for students, teachers and parents to stay sound in a world threatened to become sick.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 87675 Eur

Project Coordinator

Schoenborn-Gymnasium & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Institut Pons d’Icart
• Zespol Szkol i Przedszkola
• Colegiul National Grigore Ghica