LIFE LONG LEARNING

(about COMENIUS)

Eco- Sport, Eco-Culture and ICT (2008-2009)

COORDINATOR: ITALY

PARTNERS: POLAND, THE CZECH REPUBLIC, PORTUGAL, FINLAND, SWEDEN, ROMANIA

VISITS:
- Poland (gallery)
- Sweden (gallery)
- Portugal (gallery)
- the Czech Republic (gallery)
- Finland (gallery)
- Italy (gallery)


OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:

- to exchange experiences, to broaden one's horizons; - to be open-minded for other cultures; - to explore every participating country’s culture in search for common features; - to improve social skills, such as working in international groups, making decisions; - to improve modern communication skills through the use of common IT-tools; - to improve knowledge of foreign languages and mother tongue languages; - to give students and teachers real possibilities to meet their counterparts from all over Europe; - to eliminate such notions as discrimination, intolerance, racism, prejudices, stereotypes.

All Voices Against Intolerance and Discrimination (2012-2014)

COORDINATOR: BELGIUM

PARTNERS: FRANCE, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, TURKEY

VISITS:
- Poland (gallery)
- Spain (gallery)
- Belgium (gallery)
- France (gallery)
- Turkey (gallery)


OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:

- get to know the citizens’ local culture; - identify the European citizen’s common values; - identify the socio-economic-cultural differences of the European areas involved in the project; - to experiment the cohabitation among students and among teachers; - to develop a conscience of European citizen in today's citizen; - to improve the professional abilities of the teachers and the technical personnel through the realization of seminars, of lessons and the development of the abilities of reception; - to improve not only the ability of cooperation between the teachers and the students in the single scholastic realities but also generally among the institutions of the partners; - to involve scientific, humanistic and technological areas (history, religions, languages, mathematics, geography, education to the legality, computer science, sociology, pedagogy, psychology, etc); - to practice to speak, to read and to write in a foreign language with city of other nationalities; - to learn to build, to administrate and to elaborate questionnaires and interviews; - to improve communicative abilities; - to experiment various methodologies of teaching/learning; - to accept cultural exchange among partners of the project.
POLAND

During the project meeting between 01st October and 06th October 2012
teachers and students of all the delegations could get to know the history, traditions and customs of Łódź and Poland. There was a trip to Warsaw to visit the Royal Castle, Łazienki Park and the Warsaw Uprising Museum . We did sightseeing of the most particular sights in Lodz connected with Four Cultures which have co-existed in tolerance. We visited Jewish Lodz Cemetery, Radegast Railway Station, the Survivors’ Park , the Księży Młyn Complex, Orthodox Church of Alexander Newski, Roman Catholic Cathedral and Poznanski Palace. Students and teachers took part in peaceful march along unique Piotrkowska street to show other communities that we can live together despite cultural differences, the colour of the skin, religious orientations, age and gender. All the delegations prepared and showed the most important information and photos on Power Point Presentations of a given country involved in the project. Our students organized a fashion show and presented their own costumes made of unconventional materials to familiarize other delegations with the educational project called “Touch the Theatre” in which they have taken part for the third time organized by the Textile Museum in Lodz. Next all the delegations participated in the printing workshops there to create, design and make their own slogans promoting tolerance. All the students and teachers in international groups also did orienteering to solve different tasks connected with the topic of the project. The whole enterprise ended with a barbecue on the premises of our school. The visit of the delegations established friendly relationship among students, teachers and parents. Both teachers and students improved communication skills at English, enriched their knowledge of different cultures: differences and similarities, educational possibilities, developed their skills of using new technologies and students increased their educational level. At the end of the meeting we made arrangements for the next meeting in Spain, distributed tasks to be done within the period from November 2012 to March 2013.
The principal of the school
Mirosław Spychalski
The Polish coordinator
Dorota Białek

PORTUGAL

Agrupamento de Escolas Alexandre Herculano
Avenida Camilo - 4300-096
The 3rd Comenius Meeting was held in Porto from the 14th to 19th May. The delegations from Belgium, France, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Portugal engaged in several activities which allowed them to get an insight into the core-goals of the project: Fighting against all kinds of discrimination and avoiding any intolerant behaviours.
Among the activities stood out the designing of anti- discrimination, - intolerance, -prejudice slogans on T-shirts that were later used during the silent march/demonstration and the delivery of flyers.
Furthermore, students had the chance to participate in a ceramics workshop, in which everyone gave her/his contribution to the production of a tile panel with the project Logo. Students also got to observe and participate in Portuguese students’ classes, thus, getting an overview of the style of learning in another country.
Visits to major landmarks of Porto, and surrounding area, including the Mekor Haim Synagogue were also held. As stated on the programme there was also a Cross Country Race, which included traditional Portuguese games and small tasks related to the topic of the project.
All the activities matched the expectations and were well received by those involved.
Last but not least both students, teachers and host families got together and partook a traditional Portuguese dinner at school, in what was a truly enjoyable evening.
Two moments were devoted to the meeting itself: the first one to check up and evaluate the activities already undertaken and to agree on the ones to be done in the next meetings. The other one was aimed at filling together the progress report.
To sum up, and despite a few unpredictable hurdles, the meeting in Porto generally achieved its goals.
BELGIUM

Projectmeeting Veurne (Belgium)

4 till 9 November 2013

In the fourth project meeting held in Veurne, Belgium, from the 04th to 09th November, students and teachers of all delegations got to know each other via ice-breaking activities that were organized by Belgian students from the technical and social department.
Together with Belgian students and teachers the foreign partners were confronted with different cultures, people… In Brussels, the capital of Europe, we visited the European Parliament and were as such introduced in the structure, work and responsibilities of all European organizations. We also had a guided walk in the city centre in which the coexistence of different cultures, tolerance and no discrimination was emphasized. In Bruges, the beautiful West-Flemish capital, students had to do a walking-quiz in mixed nationality groups. There they got an insight in Bruges’ history and its links with some of the foreign partners.
The Belgian version of the peaceful march was organized in the village centre.Next to the foreign partners, about 300 Belgianstudentsandteacherstook part in a silentmarchfortolerance. Students held the banners thatwere made in Poland, but also new onesand a declaration of intention was handed over to the Mayor of Veurne.
BelgianpressinterviewedbothforeignandBelgianstudentsandafterwards a reportage was broadcast on Flemishregionaltelevisionandarticlesappeared in Belgiannewspapers.
The Mayorofficiallyreceived the partners in front of the old Town Hall andpromisedtodisseminateourmessage of toleranceto the inhabitants of Veurne.
Two workshops were heldto show tolerance and no discrimination on any type of topic. In the first one the foreignstudents had to make anuglydollunder the supervision of Belgian fashion andcreationstudents. For anuglydoll the outerappearance is not important (a very important lessonforourAVoID-project)
In the second workshop all partners preparedseveralregionaldishes (bothmain courses and desserts) for a multiculturalbanquet. Belgianstudentsfrom the department “organisation-assistance” assisted the foreign partners.
Thismulticulturalbanquet was servedtoall members of the delegations, hosting families andBelgianteachers.
The teachers had a long meeting. During this meeting there was a check up and evaluation of the activities undertaken so far and we agreed on the ones to be done in the next meetings. Moreover, a new concept of the website was introduced.
FRANCE

AVOID project
Mobility in France
Report

From Monday, March 17th to Saturday, March 22nd 2014, the participants to the Avoid Comenius project were gathered in Elbeuf, France, to work around the theme of fighting against intolerance and discrimination.
Were present in France:
one teacher (a second one arrived on Thursday, March 21st) ans five students from Belgium,
two teachers and four students from Poland,
three teachers and four students from Portugal,
two teachers and four students from Spain,
three teachers and three students from Turkey.
The French delegation of André Maurois High School was coordinated by five teachers. A whole group of 20 students has been involved since the beginning of the project last year and participated to the activities. Some of the foreign students had been hosted by French students who didn't belong to the group mentioned before but participated to some of the activities organised that week.
The main purpose for the first day of the gathering was to have all the students mix up. On Monday, March 17th, the school headmistress pronounced a welcoming speech and the participants were invited to share a traditional French breakfast. The first activity that day was an African dance lesson. A local association came and a dancer taught the students how to move on the rythme of the African instruments they had brought. Behind a joyful activity, students were invited to get rid of their apprehensions. The dancer passed on a message based upon open-mindedness and sharing feelings and emotions.
A second icebreaking activity was organised this morning: the students played a game called “Find someone who”. They had to ask questions in English in order to find comrades matching to the assertions written on their sheets. Several activities were added: by groups, they had to learn traditional folk songs from the six countries of the exchange, get to know the tastes of their comrades, etc.
The common realisation of this week is a DVD of videoclips, sort of advertising against intolerance and discrimination. The students, shared into six teams mixing all the nationalities, had to write the scenarios. After lunch began the videoclip scenarios workshop. The themes had been shared among the teachers during the mobility in Belgium in November 2013, so that each country could start working on the scenario in advance. The six themes were physical discrimination, sexism, racism, homophobia, social discrimination and disability.
On Tuesday the students had two main activities: the shooting of the clips and a game called “Puzzle out the city”. They stood all day long in groups, in order to shoot the videoclips more easily.
A professional team of Le CRDP, specialised in school shooting, contributed to the technical aspect of the shooting. They will realise the final DVDs. The shootings were made in different places in the school, according to the scenarios writen by the students.
“Puzzle out the city” was a kind of treasure hunt, in André Maurois High School and in Elbeuf city centre. Several tasks were given to the students. They had to answer a questionnaire in Elbeuf, about everyday life in France. A competition of the best pictures taken in front of the Comenius posters in André Maurois High School was also organised.
By the end of the day, once they had successfully achieved all these tasks, the students were given the pieces of a puzzle they had to recollect. Each foreign country received a puzzle, collecting all the logos of the project and the schools involved, as a souvenir by the end of the week.
All the day long, the teachers could attend classes in order to discover the French educational system.
On Wednesday, we visited Paris. The guiding line was to show our partners some places which both represent the French way of life and have a particular interest with our work subject.
We first visited the Père Lachaise Cemetary. The students were given a map and a workbook which pointed some very remarkable tumbs, because of their esthetical interest or because they belonged to famous people.
Then we made a guided tour in Quai Branly Museum. This museum is dedicated to primitive art has us discover the traditions and believes of distant civilisations.
So that our partners could have the larger view possible of Paris, we had a tour by boat on the Seine, before a quick stop on the Champs Elysées.
The peaceful march against intolerance and discrimination is a ritual moment in the Avoid project. On Thursday morning, the participants had a walk from the school to the City Hall of Elbeuf, using the banners made in Poland. The mayor of Elbeuf met us and made a speech in English in front of all the students, saying how much fraternity and cooperation were important for human kind.
The partners visited a local museum in Elbeuf, la Fabrique des Savoirs (“The Knowledge factory”) in the afternoon. The coordinating teachers were gathered for a meeting.
Another major moment of the Avoid mobilities is the banquet. The European participants and the French families were inivited to join and enjoy a friendly moment Thursday night.
The last day of the mobility was devoted to the discovery of Rouen, city capital of the region. A guided tour was proposed both in French and in English by two French teachers. The afternoon was free time for everyone.
All the delegations left Elbeuf on Saturday morning.