Europe 1 to 4: "Learning through New Methodologies" is a project based on some of the main methodologies recommended in the educational curriculum of our school. We see a need for a major methodological change in schools encouraging cooperative learning activities that promote mutual support, peer support, heterogeneity between members within groups and the inclusion of everybody, where each student starts off with the same possibilities. We believe that an Erasmus + project which promotes these aspects will help strengthen and encourage the sharing of active methodology experiences and knowledge with the other European schools. To do this, we will use linguistic, mathematical and scientific concepts to help us apply these methodologies and gradually be able to carry them out routinely.We aim to achieve the following objectives:- To improve linguistic, mathematical and scientific literacy of students, in addition to an improvement in autonomy and personal initiative whilst not forgetting the development of social and civic competence since, in the use of these methodologies, teamwork is encouraged.- To share the methodologies of cooperative learning and multiple intelligences with other European schools, research new cooperative learning structures for the classroom and in this way get to know other European schools whilst adding value to our school.- To learn and compare how students from other countries learn the curriculum content we learn using these methodologies and others that are yet to be discovered in lots of schools (Flipped Classroom, ...) and thus provide us with real context.- To provide a real context to develop innovative use of new technologies for communication between schools and as a tool in the use of new methodologies.- To promote professional development through international cooperation by sharing best practices and acquiring new approaches to enrich our curriculum.The project will be divided into 4 sections: "A Little Bit of Me" (group cohesion), "Numbers and Letters", "Sciences and Arts" and"A Little Bit of You."Each section of the project will tackle 5 or 6 issues. Each school will select some of these issues to be resolved. These issues will be addressed through proposals to develop active methodologies (Cooperative Learning, project-based learning PBL, Flipped Classroom, Multiple Intelligences, ...). The findings and conclusions will be posted on the etwinning project site and on the project website to compare and use them as a starting point in discussions and other investigations. This will subsequently be shared in transnational meetings.The activities to be carried out throughout the four sections are summarized as: the joint cooperative creation of a project logo, a mathematical team competition, the preparation of a video presentation by schools through an invented structure called "School Chest " - the collection of material on group cohesion and new methodologies, the design and realisation of dynamic and cooperative activities, the comparison of educational models, the collection and viewing of short films on emotions and teamwork, an approach and implementation Challenge Day : a day without paper at school.Participants in this project will be both students and teachers from the four participating countries (Spain, Romania, England, Belgium), 1253 people in total.Students and teachers communicate with partner schools via the etwinning site, video conference, e-mail and face-to-face meetings through mobilities planned using English as the common language.The results expected throughout the project through questionnaires, videos, meetings, resolution of issues, graphs and so on will allow us to research and reflect on the use of active learning methodologies.The impact generated by this project will be reflected in each of the members of the educational community through their participation, understanding and development tas well as language level, participation, peer conflict resolution and improved teacher training .The benefits it will bring to students and teachers will emphasize the European added value of this programme. It also promotes the use of English as a communication tool between peers. We expect that this project will serve to open the minds of both children and teachers, to learn and teach life content with active methodologies which favour social inclusion.
Our project EUROPE 1to4: Learning through New Methodologies arose from the demand of the schools participating in the project to turn our teaching and the traditional methodologies used in the classroom around, and at the same time, cooperate together to further develop some new methodologies already being used. In addition, the choice of schools to participate in the project was based upon their ability to share positively with the other schools. For instance, the Belgian school were able to share kagan’s cooperative methodology, the Romanian school Neuroscience and applying Multiple Intelligence in the classroom and the Spanish school its experience of CLIL methodology and Flipped Classroom. The project was divided into four sections titled: “A Little Bit of Me”, “Numbers, Letters and Arts”, “Nature, Rhythm and Movement” and “Open-minded world: A new vision for Education”. In each section, there were a selection of proposed activities so that they could be worked upon using new methodologies. Furthermore, in each of the sections there was a compulsory final task for each of the schools. Amongst the activities were: - The creation and completion of a questionnaire by all teachers regarding the use of new methodologies. With the results, graphs comparing results between countries were compiled. - The compilation and putting into practice different group cohesion activities with the students. - The presentation by the students of each school via video using the “Baúl de la Escuela” dynamic. - The creation of a interactive creative musical map where other town entities (town hall and tourist office) collaborated in its diffusion in various languages so that tourists from other countries can access it. On this map, which is created using an Augmented Reality programme, it is possible to see the town’s various architectural places of interest combined with a performance by the children from the town’s schools. Here, the impact is at its most with eight participating schools (primary, secondary and music school). - A project called “How Healthy I am” working on multiple intelligences, presented via the webtool Genially. - Paperless day, where the challenge was to see from the beginning how we would impart our classes without paper, employing important changes in methodology. The methodologies used were diverse and highlighted new use of school spaces and technology. - A project called “trip around Europe” where the school was Europe and each class represented a different country. The activities and methodologies used were extremely diverse. - A video where teachers and students talked about their experience and their opinion of the project. In addition, each of the transnational meetings were very interesting since each contained an element of training (Flipped Classroom, Kagan Cooperative learning, ABN (Algorithm based on numbers), Neuroscience, Whole Brain Teaching, CLIL methodology, …) The results and the impact obtained are above all reflected as much in the school as in the teachers and the students. The implementation of new methods doesn’t only give rise to the creation of new spaces but also new uses of existing spaces (corridors, playground, streets), new ways of organising classroom space (grouped tables) which has also been received positively by both children and teachers. Students become the protagonist of their own learning and as a result of this change in educational practice, the assessment process is also slowly changing. The use and creation of success criteria, rubrics and self assessment has also been fundamental to this change. Furthermore, our new methodologies and best practices have served as an example to schools in our region, making the impact obtained even greater. The long-term benefits are even more evident given that these acquired methodologies are not only going to continue to be used in the classroom but also new teachers who come to our schools will learn them from their colleagues to also be able to put them into practice.