WE! – World of Emotions Erasmus Project

Project Title

WE! – World of Emotions

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Social dialogue; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

The project “WE! -World of Emotions” was able to offer a balance to the predominantly cognitive education system. In the project, the young people dealt with the demands of social interaction holistically and creatively in the form of a theater play. The approximately 60-90 students, aged 14 – 18 years, from a Spanish, a Bulgarian & a German school got here the opportunity to express themselves & their feelings creatively. The project was supervised by about 15 teachers.
In all participating countries, the students faced similar challenges. With this in mind, the nations had additionally identified special needs ahead of time. The German school provided a platform for creative expression that could simultaneously integrate shy outsiders into the school community. The Bulgarian school also aimed to increase students’ academic performance, increase attendance & decrease dropout. The Spanish school wanted to teach students to live together without prejudice & create projects from which they could draw knowledge/experience. The Spanish were particularly keen on innovation in teaching processes & trying out new methods, here also to promote self-confidence. All three schools were looking forward to a broadening of their horizons on a cultural, social, medial & theater-specific professional level – all hopes & wishes regarding the project could be achieved to the previously mentioned extent, even if under unforeseen circumstances (cf. Corona pandemic).
The holistic approach in the form of a theater play dedicated to the themes of equality & community spirit offered the students many opportunities to expand their social & intercultural skills. They were thus encouraged to think critically and reflect on their own ways of acting. Especially through the different fields of action (acting, theater technique, creative writing, etc.), students who had deficits in the cognitive area & experienced failure were also addressed. Here they were offered new ways of developing individual talents & motivating feedback, which will increase self-confidence & motivation & in the best case will have a positive impact on other school areas in the future.
All four project phases were to deal with a thematic focus (e.g. storyline, stage design) each. Unfortunately, the planned last meeting in Germany could not take place due to the ongoing Corona pandemic. Nevertheless, it was possible to work on thematic tasks related to the project within the other phases. The respective short-term exchange was considered to be the highlight of these work phases, as the previous work results were compared and further developed in direct exchange in internationally mixed groups. In the last phase, the students switched to digital communication channels, which nevertheless proved to be profitable and unifying. Between the meetings, the students exchanged their work progress digitally. During the project phases, topic-related workshops were held. Existing talents of the students could thus be further developed. The resulting sense of achievement boosted the participants’ self-confidence. The final result should have been an internationally cast theater play, which shows the technical, creative & personal skills of the students. Due to the worldwide Corona pandemic, however, the planned final product could not be realized to the extent envisioned. Improvisation was done at all ends & efforts were made to make the best of the situation. We were granted a project extension, which we were able to use profitably, since the project “WE! – World of Emotions” was a great change of pace for the students, even under the circumstances, to temporarily escape the dreary everyday life – often in lockdown. The digital realization of the piece could be initiated & will provide a connecting point for the new project. Participants’ experiences during the project were collected through questionnaires. The results were used to optimize further work in subsequent phases. In parallel, the students recorded the results in short thematic tutorials (e.g. “How to build a suspense?”, “How to overcome my fear of speaking in front of a large audience?”), which were published on public digital platforms (Youtube). Dissemination of the results beyond the school also took place through the school homepages as well as the Erasmus+ homepage, which were regularly updated with the progress made. In this way, various information channels were created that offered interested parties the opportunity to participate in the project work.

Project Website

http://www.we-erasmus.net

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 81480 Eur

Project Coordinator

Silverberg-Gymnasium & Country: DE

Project Partners

• “St.St. Cyril and Methodius” Comprehensive school
• IES JOAQUÍN RODRIGO