The main aim of the project “School Media Center - Taming the Fourth Power” is searching for new, better and more effective means of solving educational and child-caring problems in our schools. In the first stage we want to involve the whole community, but especially educators in analyzing, defining and searching for solutions to some problems. The next stage would be implementing ideas, developing basic strategies and finally creating some basic products which would serve our needs and help us in predicting and solving some problems in the future as well as in spreading the positive effects of our efforts locally and internationally. Firstly, we are going to change our strategy and concentrate in our project on educating a different target group – teachers. Previous experience show that although teachers have good contact with students, they are very competent in their subjects and know them backwards they fail in up-to-date methodology and new technologies. So this time we are going to put maximum stress on training teachers in new methods, forms of work and employing modern technological means in their work. We hope that after the program most or even all teachers would be able to use modern media materials, Internet, multimedia equipment and audio-visuals, etc., to make their students involved and interested in the subject which should bring better examination results. Secondly, as we are going to create, for the beginning, a technologically advanced classroom where we will be able to implement innovative methods practically in training teachers and educating our students. The classroom and the innovative Media Centre where school radio, TV and magazine will be created by both teachers and students on regular basis will be perfect places for conferences, presentations and workshops on modern techniques for the school community. Moreover, as we have already introduced a digital register we will conduct basic trainings for our students’ parents who often have huge problems using the Internet. Thirdly, the project will force all teachers to put the gathered knowledge in action in their subjects as the second target group – students should be our controlling and evaluating group. The students attitude, involvement and results will be checked regularly in traditional ways as well as in very innovative ones – video materials, presentations, films, articles, platforms output, excursions reports etc. which will be not only evaluated by teachers but also by the whole school community. This kind of innovative approach has a double advantage because those who teach, and those who learn become teachers and models to each other and to their peers as well. The impact will be even bigger as the trainings and workshop will be held internationally which should make all participants strongly involved in their tasks and education. To sum up it can be said that we will create not only innovative approach to improving our educational situation but also kind of infinite educational circle in which everybody is teaching everyone using modern equipment, technology and modern media. Acquiring new methods and technological knowledge by teachers, involving students, creating interesting materials of different kind and publishing the results in different forms so that everyone could get acknowledged with the outcome would be stimulating and encouraging to everyone involved in school life. The innovative approach of the project will also be reflected in discovering in teachers and students and then developing not only key competences but also so called "soft skills" like personal, emotional, psychological and social talents. And what is more important the results would be used long after the project is finished, as the main target group are teachers who do not leave the school after three years but would educate new groups of students in the future as well. And we are sure that the knowledge we acquire in the project will be continuously developed after the first steps have been made.
Thanks to the project “School Media Center - Taming the Fourth Power” we will break the educational, social and material stagnation in all our schools.We will participate in a project which introduces apparent, long lasting results for the school environment including teachers, students and local community and which will noticeably improve the material backstage of our educational efforts. All our institutions have similar educational situation. For the past few years we have experienced more failures in the field of education than successes. Poor end of the year grades, growing number of students skipping and consequently repeating classes, misbehaving, poor examination results, decreasing number of students applying to our school and finally fewer and fewer students continuing their education at universities, have forced us to analyzing the sources and reasons of the problem. We have concluded that, although being hardworking, most teachers have neglected almost every aspect of modern education and we must reorganize our work thoroughly. The changes must be introduced in all scientific and humanistic subjects. So to conclude, the project “School Media Center-Taming the Fourth Power” intends to use all power of modernity to introduce innovative way of thinking about education, implement it in practice and develop it constantly in the following years with the aim of: 1. enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in education, training and youth work by developing new and innovative approaches and supporting the dissemination of best practices 2. fostering the provision and the assessment of key-competences, including basic skills and transversal skills particularly entrepreneurship, languages and digital skills 3. increasing labour market relevance of learning provision and qualifications and reinforcing links between education, training or the youth fields with the world of work 4. promoting take-up of innovative practices in education, training and youth by supporting personalized learning approaches, collaborative learning and critical thinking, strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), 5. promote entrepreneurship education to develop active citizenship, employability and new business creation (including social entrepreneurship), supporting future learning and career paths for individuals in line with their personal and professional development 6. increasing participation in learning and employability by developing quality career guidance, counselling and support services;