Activate Critical and Creative Thinking - Read to Lead

This project ACCT(Activate Creative and Critical Thinking-Read to Lead), though seemingly unrelated, was the offspring of a project on employability, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship incl. While prioritising employability and entrepreneurship skills we realised that critical and creative thinking are crucial. Another pressing need at school was to combat illiteracy. Linking these to respond to students needs we met EC priorities - HORIZONTAL: Social and educational value of European cultural heritage and Development of relevant and high-quality skills and competences; SCHOOL EDUCATION: Promoting the acquisition of skills and competences. We organised the project around 3 themes - Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage, Entrepreneurial learning, EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy - combined to create new perspectives. The project set out to enhance reading critical and creative skills. Young people today tend to ignore reading and school often fails to encourage them appropriately to do that. Our project raised our students' awareness about the importance of reading, thinking creatively, being confident, competent people. Six secondary schools from different countries brought together skills and expertise to recognise and develop their potential and build up the right set of attitudes, skills and values. We brought together partners from a wide range of backgrounds to cross-fertilise experience. By working together our students were exposed to innovative approaches young people from other countries experience and developed a sharper insight into the way ideas shape society. The design of project activities was based on the understanding that basic literacy was not enough. In the contemporary economy, multiple reading skills are needed. Readers must be able to navigate various sources of knowledge (we drew on from myths and legends to media) and be able to analyse, interpret and synthesise. We initiated a practical project which aimed to deliver a real social benefit through redesigning reading. By applying creative methodology in intensive and extensive reading, reading comprehension, writing, research, discussion, debate and drama, we tackled illiteracy. This project also set out to explode the myth that reading is a personal passive pursuit. It looked upon reading as a creative team activity, and addressed how reading, interwoven with creative activities, helps young people become good team players.The main goal was to translate the framework into a structured approach involving activities aimed at the following desired outcomes: a confident person with a strong sense of right and wrong, is adaptable, resilient, knows themselves, is discerning in judgment, thinks independently and critically, and communicates effectivelya self-directed independent learner who questions, reflects, perseveres an active contributor able to work effectively in teams, is innovative, exercises initiative, takes calculated risks and strives for excellencea concerned citizen who is rooted to their country and EU, has a strong sense of civic responsibility, is informed about their country, the EU and the world, and takes an active part in bettering the lives of others.The implementation of the project was based on permanent communication via email, WhatsApp, social media, face-to-face in 4 short-term students exchange activities and online in 2 short-term students exchange activities.As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the last two mobilities were postponed. The project was extended to one year, except for our German partner. They finished the project in 2020, informing their NA and partners. The fifth and sixth short-term exchanges were held online as a result of the continuous pandemic and travel restrictions.Considering that the topic is a European priority, we believe that it must be disseminated widely from the level of partners’ institutions to wider educational community by using mass media, a project website, a FB page and direct meetings.Having a broad range, looking at the interaction of institutions, it could be of interest to librarians, teachers, policymakers, local authorities and school library services. It argues that these, working in partnership, can play an increasingly important role both in helping the next generation to lead richer lives and by preparing them for their role in creative economy. High-level creative reading skills, coupled with social, civic and intercultural competences, media literacy, and critical thinking now form part of the toolkit that young people need in order to get the most out of their lives. This two-year project represents one phase of a long-term goal devoted to the acquisition of specific life and intercultural skills and strategies, which will enable students to make better sense of the world they live in and their place in it.