Think outside the box Erasmus Project

Project Title

Think outside the box

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: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

Scientific and technological knowledge is essential in today’s society, as it is recognized by international organizations that place the development of science and technology education among the most important educational goals of this century. Therefore, scientific knowledge is integrated in today’s humanistic knowledge that should be part of the basic culture of all people. Compulsory education should facilitate the achievement of competence in scientific and technological cultura. The four schools involved in the Project share this aims and we all want to improve our students scientific competence. We will share our good practices related to it, and we will contribute with our strengths working on basic competences, specially the scientific one.

The specific objectives of the Project were:
– Methodological innovation in the teaching-learning process.
– Promoting and improving students’ understanding and use of scientific language and terminology
– Developing students’ numeracy skills through scientific investigations and projects.
– Developing students’ metacognitive approach towards Science and their ability to self-assess their own progress.
– Developing an attitude of curiosity, research, and cultural integration and social inclusion.
– Create a sense of belonging within students’ own institutions and the wider partnership working towards the same goal.
– Discovering, evaluating and using instrumental and physical resources of the local and European level.
– Promoting a sense of active citizenship.

The project had four primary-secondary schools as partners, and had four physical meetings which aim was to provide partners with training courses for the participating staff regarding the methodologies and tools used to carry out the project and in order to share good teaching practices and monitor and re-design phases of the project if necessary. For these meetings the receiving school prepared a workshop related to one of the basic skills to be one of its strengths, so that they brought to the project their experience and the good practices they have developed. The hosting school managed the workshop and prepared a handout for participants. The topics of these workshops were: Development of scientific competence through art (Italy); Development of scientific and mathematical competence (Poland and UK); Development of scientific competence and second language learning. CLIL method (Spain). The hosting school also had the opportunity to share with the rest of the participants their lines of work, the daily classroom work and other projects under development.

There were some common activities in the project. They were developed for all the partners, some of them with a common outcome (Logo contest, web page, project blog, Science guide) with one of the partners as the main responsible. And some were developed, in a simultaneous way, in each school: Science Exhibition, Science Fair, video presentation.
Finally, each school carried out a specific project, as a good practice, based on its strengths. These projects were:
Spain: Interactive Groups to develop scientific competence through CLIL (L2)
Italy: Proects Science & Art. “Chemistry of Colors and Art” pupils 5 – 9 age. Science and Restauration for students ( 9-13). “Physic and Art” (12-14)
Wales (UK): Pupils will follow the TASC wheel – educational philosophy developed by Belle Wallace, specially connected to Maths.
Poland: Developing of scientific competence through PBL(Project based Learning) and GBL(Game Based Learning)

Finally, a small group of polish students (4) will move to enrich the project and their own learning and lifes.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 66825 Eur

Project Coordinator

Colegio JABY SL & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili
• I.C R. GIOVAGNOLI
• Szkola Podstawowa im. M. Kopernika w Czaslawiu