Make me a European

“Make me a European” aimed at developing 21st century skills in students and teachers of schools from five different countries through project-based, competence-oriented collaboration. It focused on the development of critical thinking, digital skills, foreign language skills as well as transversal skills like communication, collaboration and creativity.Students obtained skills needed for future education and the world of work and teachers gained more confidence in using modern technology in their classrooms and thus improve their teaching and the quality of the participating schools.The project was organised in three major steps, which built on each other and each result in a collaborative product. 1) Starting from the BBC documentary “Make me a German” students deduced how to describe a country and created presentations about their countries, showing how each country can enrich the European Union: “We make you a... (inhabitant of the respective country)”2) During transnational learning activities participants could explore living and learning in their partner countries and compared the expectations their partners’ presentation had created. The knowledge gained through joint learning and participants’ photos, videos, etc. was used to produce a collaborative product: “We’ve been made …-European”, reflecting on the shared experience during the meetings. The concept of a ‘hyphenated European’ underscores diversity in unity.3) For the final product “Make me a European” students analysed data on the European Union and reflected on the chances for their future education, work and life. This video shows a selection of material created by all partners during the course of the whole project.The work on the three kinds of products was accompanied by an ongoing ICT course, which was organised in four stages, each lasting six months:1)Scoop it up! (Curation)2)Team it up! (Collaboration)3)Show it! (Presentation)4)Praise it! (Evaluation)Every second week participants were offered a new tool to try and use for project-related products. There was at least one webinar going with each stage to answer questions, support participants and discuss how those ICT tools can be implemented into daily teaching.All products are available on the eTwinning platform as the project is also run as an eTwinning project. The skills gained working on this project enable students and teachers to cope with the challenges of unprecedented changes in 21st century life. They worked collaboratively in multinational teams, communicating in a foreign language, created products on the basis of critical and creative thinking, and invigorated their feeling of a European identity. Schools strengthened their European dimension and quality of the learning environment.The products of the project as well as the ICT course are made available on the eTwinning platform and the Erasmus+ dissemination platform and thus sustain for future use as teaching or training material. The learning outcomes and the resources are shared with the community, schools’ and teachers’ networks.The methodology of the project is also presented in an eTwinning project kit to be available for any member of the eTwinning community to use or adapt.