Stories All Over Europe

Context Stories represent holistic approaches to teaching and learning that allow children's involvement with rich, authentic material. Stories are an essential communication tool for experiential learning because they have the power to safely move participants from their comfort zones to encounter something totally new. They offer a whole new imaginary world created by language that children can gain access to and learn to enjoy, while also acquiring language on the way. More than anything, our children need something to spurt their creative capacity. The project idea was developed as a result of the needs identified in all partner schools - that of helping students to get to know their cultural heritage and the European cultural heritage, while also boosting and exploring their creativity through the medium of stories. Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds - mainstream, minorities, students with SEN, students with behaviour problems, high achievers, students in orphanages. The main priority of our initiative is to create a culture of acceptance and respect among these. By involving them in activities related to stories, they will be able to acquire values and principles in a non-threatening environment. The world of stories is a world without boundaries or frontiers. Participants The target group consists of 200 students aged 13-15 in all the 5 schools. Among the students in the target group, there are students at risk of dropping out, students of Romani ethnicity, abandoned children, students with disabilities, immigrants, students with integration problems and, of course, mainstream students. Those who face difficulties represent almost one quarter of the TG. There will be 68 students who will attend the meetings, among whom 16 with special needs/financial, social or economic obstacles, cultural differences. The participating teachers are English and literature teachers, who will work to create the project outputs, but also teachers of other subjects who will be involved in the organisation of project activities. There will be 2 teachers per country accompanying the students in each exchange. Objectives: 1. to involve students in their own learning and motivate them; (minimum 50% of target group) 2. to develop students' language skills, literacy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability; (min. 60% target group) 3. to develop intracultural and intercultural understanding; (minimum 70%) 4. to promote European values and develop cohesion among European citizens. (measurable by analysing students' and teachers' attitudes to other cultures, as seen in the post-LTTA discussions) 5. to create an atmosphere of non-discrimination and mutual acceptance in each partner school. 6. to produce sustainable materials which will be used on a regular basis in the schools - collection of materials for teachers, set of adapted materials for SEN students, collection of stories illustrated by children. Activities M1 - coordinator meeting (planning) - Hungary- Oct/Nov 2017 C1 - Bulgaria - Feb/Mar 2018; Topic: Stories from around Europe C2 - Romania - May/Jun 2018; Topic: European stories to develop interpretive skills C3 - Italy - Oct/Nov 2018; Topic: European stories to develop critical thinking skills C4 - Hungary - Mar 2019; Topic: Developing creativity through stories - Creating the story map of Europe M2 - coordinator meeting (evaluation and sustainability) - Turkey - May 2019 Results and impact Project results include the website, eTwinning account, Facebook page, CDs, calendars, initial and final evaluation documents, progress and final reports, dissemination materials, certificates of attendance, Europass certificates, collection of stories from all around Europe, collection of activities for developing interpretative skills (special activities for SEN students), collection of creative activities starting from stories around Europe (special activities for SEN students), collection of activities and tasks developing critical thinking skills, map of European story characters. The impact will be observable at the level of students (cultural awareness, acquisition of European values, development of skills, acquisition of knowledge, improvement of school results, self-confidence), teachers (better cultural awareness, improvement of leadership, communication, presentation skills, experience in projects), institutions (improvement of human resources, increased group cohesion, positive image). Long-term benefits The results will be used during current class work by English teachers and the schools will also set up story clubs, in which students will cooperate with their peers, read common stories, discuss them, create artwork based on them. Schools will improve material basis and will earn Erasmus+ management experience, so that they can apply for new project in the future years.