CONTEXT/BACKGROUND OF PROJECT
"Our School - My Future" is an ESL project initiated within the framework of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships for School Education, aiming at achieving cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices between schools from different countries across Europe.
ESL is typically caused by a cumulative process of disengagement as a result of personal, social, economic, geographical, education or family-related reasons. Part of the problem can also be attributed to lack of support and guidance, disengagement from schooling, and secondary-level curricula which too often do not offer enough options for varied courses, alternative teaching pedagogies, experiential and other hands-on learning opportunities or sufficient flexibility and support. Within this framework, the project is designed to focus mainly on in-schools ESL influencing factors such as teaching methods and curricular issues, positive/negative school climate, and the parents’ role as a contributing factor to ESL.
OBJECTIVES OF OUR PROJECT
The participating organizations aim to collect relevant information, improve on teaching techniques, promote healthy lifestyles, build a sense of student achievement, document the current state of affairs as far as ESL is concerned, promote the students’ professional prospects in the field of ICT, inform parents and local community services about ESL, submit written proposals to decision makers, and produce relevant educational material through cross-country cooperation.
NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
The partners involved in the project are located in countries where the ESL problem varies from a very low to a very high level, as follows: one country with a very low level of ESL (Poland), one country with a medium level of ESL (Greece), two countries where the level of ESL significantly varies from region to region (Romania, Turkey) and one country with a very high level of ESL (Spain). All school-partners are dealing and/or have dealt with ESL and are relatively experienced with other European programs.
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES - METHODOLOGY TO BE USED IN CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT
The project will involve a number of activities and events that will be carried out through distance (teleconferences and on-line platforms) and close cooperation (translational project meetings). Preparation will be effected through teleconferences while the first transnational meeting in Spain will initiate an asynchronous network platform and an eTwinning platform learning community ("Our School Garden"). A training meeting will also be held on innovative teaching techniques.
Further transnational meetings hosted by the rest of the partner organizations will promote the production of educational material regarding ESL ("ESL Guidebook – Activities for all"). In parallel, a distance learning program entitled "Promotion of healthy lifestyles and development of students’ social skills through physical education and environmental activities" and a "Robotics Club" will contribute to combatting ESL in the participating schools and implementing effective teaching and pedagogical approaches with their curricula.
Finally, training events during the final stage of the project in Greece and multiplier events and activities will allow the project results to dissipate locally, nationally, and on a European level.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE RESULTS AND IMPACT ENVISAGED
As a result, the project will produce concrete outputs in the form of educational material for teachers and school administrators, resources dealing with the ESL problem, on-line platforms and/or communities, written reports and proposals. At the same time, the participating teachers will have the opportunity to develop and/or improve their pedagogical skills and expertise with European projects while the participating students will practice teamwork, organizing events, sharpening their creativity, communicating with their peers abroad, and, effectively, controlling the ESL problem in the participating organizations. On the other hand, parents and local community services will get informed on ESL and decision makers will receive substantiated relevant proposals.
POTENTIAL LONGER TERM BENEFITS
In the long run, a closely-knit network of schools interested in combatting ESL effectively will have been created that will be able to sustain an open access repository with relevant educational material while follow-up events and long-distance cooperation can continue even after the project is officially concluded.