TRUE COLORS Erasmus Project

Project Title

TRUE COLORS

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

In connection with Cindy Lauper’s song, TRUE COLORS highlights the full range of colors which different people embody as part of different nationalities, races, sexes or religions: that’s why everyone is special and unique in his diversity.
The 6 EU partners (Italy – 2, Romania, Turkey, North Macedonia and Croatia) face specific geographical, social, economic and cultural backgrounds, but have common goals: to promote a multicultural approach by abating the walls of discrimination and to fight negative stereotypes.
TRUE COLORS is innovative, supporting all the agents, operating in schools and in broader communities, to enhance inclusion and more responsible citizenship at a local, national and international level.
At a local level, it seeks to promote an innovative and inclusive approach in education, fostering active learning, valuing physical and virtual resources and ICT tools starting with the 1st project year to strengthen a positive learning environment (O1).
It also aims at training the involved students as promoters of civic engagement and multiculturalism by participating in thematic activities in the 2 project years (O2), developing a sense of shared democratic leadership in all partner schools by designing and implementing volunteering campaigns in the 2nd project year (O3).
At a national level, it fosters an ongoing collaboration between local schools, administration and national institutions by promoting and strengthening a democratic culture in each partner school and setting up a cooperative network of schools and relevant stakeholders on joint activities, aiming at encouraging prosocial behaviour for minimum 3 years after the end of the project (O4).
Internationally, TRUE COLORS focuses on the knowledge of EU institutions, all the efforts that EU is making for the integration process and on the European Agenda 2030 goals, mainly addressed to fight poverty, foster inclusion and implement democracy among the people, regardless of their nationality, race, religion or sex.
At least 70 participants per partner school (50 students, 10 teachers, 10 representatives of the local community or specialists in the field of democracy and civic education) will be involved (100 students in bigger schools).
6 LTTs are scheduled, with teams of 4 students aged 15/18 and 2 accompanying teachers. No staff mobility is required: the partners will discuss and share all the details through ongoing contacts, both formal (emails) and informal (WhatsApp group). Materials for the project sustainability and replicability will be shared, stored and disseminated on the TRUE COLORS Etwinning project (ID: 212348).
Mobility themes:
– Education: ‘All Together Now!’ – IT
– EU law policy: ‘All the Colors of Europe’ – MK
– Empathy: ‘All Colors and Shapes of Empathy’ – HR
– Communication: ‘Communication Colours Our Life’ – RO
– European awareness: ‘Let’s Paint the World Grey’ – TR
– The Path to Democracy: ‘True Colors’ – IT.
Project outputs: an educational App (C1); a booklet (C2); 3D watches (C3); volunteering campaigns (C4); short films on social discrimination (C5); recreated ‘agora’ (C6).
Methodology – student-centred: teachers encourage students to use problem-solving and designer thinking strategies to develop critical skills (leadership, teamwork, peer to peer learning, tutoring and inclusive education) and to better appreciate different perspectives and voices.
Estimated tangible results:
1. An innovative and inclusive educational approach, favouring the personal and academic success of students;
2. Min. 120 students trained to become Democratic Agents;
3. Min. 25 students and 10 teachers acting as cohesion factors in their communities;
4. Activities in/outside the classroom targetting the democratic culture.
Envisaged intangible results:
– preventing discrimination;
– increase in interpersonal communication and self-awareness;
– improving schools’ profile;
– forging links with families and larger communities.
Ongoing evaluation will assess the quality and the impact of the activities, thus ensuring the optimum premises to model young people according to the scope of the project.
On the short-term, students will consolidate competencies regarding social responsibility, communication, dialogue, mutual understanding and openness. On the long term, they will learn how to act as balancing factors in their classes, to combat exclusion, to approach an unfair situation positively, building bridges across communities and contributing to more peaceful and multicultural societies.
Continuation is ensured firstly through the outputs, e.g. learning materials, maintaining open and free access to content published on the TRUE COLORS online project, school websites and Facebook page. After the project’s end, the work will continue at the local level (e.g. implementing methods and practices), at the national level (e.g. trying to influence policymaking, legislation) and at the EU level (e.g. replicating the project in other countries).

Project Website

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/education_culture/dissemination/share/page/valor-promoter-project-details?nodeRef=workspace://SpacesStore/7e9926df-9a37-49d2-ac3b-3ee3be5c250d&projectNodeRef=workspace://SpacesStore/d7babe70-3c96-4538-9e2a-82687ebccb51&mode=edit

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 177870 Eur

Project Coordinator

ISTITUTO ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE BERNALDA FERRANDINA & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Liceul Tehnologic Economic “Virgil Madgearu” Iasi
• Opshtinsko Osnovno Uchilishte Dimkata Angelov Gaberot s. Vatasha, Macedonia
• Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “F. Alderisio”
• Gimnazija Matija Mesic
• Sule Muzaffer Buyuk Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi