Student Culture Ambassadors Erasmus Project

Project Title

Student Culture Ambassadors

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: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

The school exchange project was focused on European cultural heritage. Our main motivation was to give our students the opportunity to socialize and have discussions with peers from our partner school during mobility. We wanted them to become more aware of their cultural background, to expand it and to develop their European identity. We wanted that our students were proud of their culture and heritage, whereas at the same time learned about cultural diversity working in a spirit of tolerance and civic cohesion being a barrier against the spread of extremism in Europe.
The goal of our project was to get students
– deepen their knowledge of their cultural background and extend it to the knowledge of the history and cultural heritage of their region and the region of their partners
– develop their European identity
– to use and develop their competences in French and to be able to introduce their hometown, its past and culture and to learn about the history, culture and traditions of the partner region in French
– know their peers and develop new friendships
We met the first three goals of our project. The students did not meet in person due to the ban to travel because of the spread of a new dangerous virus in both partner countries. Students had the opportunity to get to know each other via social network, which, however, cannot fully replace interpersonal contact.
In the preparatory phase, the students, in cooperation with their teachers, focused on the history and cultural heritage of their region and prepared documentary-didactic material about it. The acquired knowledge was processed in their own creative way using modern information and technological means in order to be attractive and content-wise for their age category. They focused on important personalities presented in the form of comics and prepared a sightseeing plan about the historical monuments for their partners and its interpretation in the French language. The project was focused on Easter traditions in Slovakia and France: students were to meet grandparents and parents to tell them about the customs and traditions of Easter during their youth and their testimonies were to be recorded on camera. Unfortunately, this part of the project did not take place. During Easter, a travel and visit ban was introduced under Government Regulation due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In an effort to protect the health of older people, in particular, joint social contacts were broken. The inability to visit grandparents was a painful experience and a great loss for many students.
The students were admitted to the town hall in Trenčín, where they learned various facts about civil society and the activities carried out by the city government also in connection with its candidacy for the European Capital of Culture. Visiting the town hall, the students approached being active citizens, participating in the running of society and taking on civic responsibility.
Mobility was scheduled for March 2020. Due to the epidemiological situation, it had to be cancelled. The director of the partner grammar school, Kreisker, banned travel abroad and at the same time cancelled all visits and stays of foreign partners in France until the end of the school year. This ban was also confirmed by an official statement from the French Ministry of Education, and at the same time, the Slovak Ministry of Education issued a recommendation to cancel all school exchanges and stays abroad.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 6000 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnazium Ludovita Stura, 1. maja 2, Trencin & Country: SK

Project Partners

• LYCEE GENERAL ET TECHNOLOGIQUE PRIVE ND KREISKER