Nowadays, we are more often confronted with cultural diversity. The unification of economic markets and the opening of borders means that we need to communicate with each other in the world, to meet, co-exist and work together in a positive linguistic and sociocultural context. Sharing ideas and opinions, educating each other, cooperating in solving conflicts is the task that affects all of us. "My Europe, my life, my future " - it is a project which objective is to develop language skills, information and key competences through the implementation of activities related to cultural heritage. This will enable to explore, find common relations, gain knowledge and understand diverse yet shared cultures in all mentioned aspects. The project will contribute to the training of basic life skills and competences necessary for personal development, future employment and being an active Citizen of Europe. Cultural heritage will be a means to achieve the objectives of the project, facilitate learning and personal development. The participants of the project are the students and teachers from the six European countries such as: Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania and Portugal. Each school trains their students in a different field of education but the vocational and technical schools are the majority. During each mobility there will be 11 students and 6 teachers from each country as well as the host’s school and local community. However, the project's impact will cover a lot more participants: students, parents, teachers, and local communities. We assume that there will be about 1200 partakers from all partnering countries.There are six international meetings planned. Each meeting will be related to the selected aspects of culture from which every country has got its own title: Poland – the history of dance, Romania – the history of sport, Bulgaria – tradition and music, Portugal - famous figures, Greece – habits and customs, Croatia – regional and national cuisine. This will raise participants curiosity, interests and desire of taking part in project activities. Before every mobility students are supposed to gather the information about the topic, prepare a presentation, make videos, photo albums, fill in some questionnaires , do some researches, learn a dance, a song or make a dish. Collected materials will be shown at the meetings and they will be used in the international group works. The partakers will have a chance to participate in workshops, educational trips, sport, art, dancing activities and language or cooking classes. There will be quizzes and contests. After each mobility the products and materials will be exposed amongst other students, parents or teachers. The exhibitions, photo galleries, films and presentations will be prepared. During the lasting of project, there will be surveys, questionnaires, interviews, discussions, observations and contests whose purpose is to check students’ knowledge of culture and the progress of acquiring foreign language. The international project meetings in Greece and Bulgaria will serve to efficient management and coordination of the project.Introducing various methods such as a project method, a webquest method, workshops during which the theoretical knowledge will be used in practice, the method of learning by doing it, through cooperation or group work (including international grouping) will increase the effectiveness of learning. It will also increase motivation for learning and action, develop students' creativity and creative thinking. Those factors will facilitate the process of learning and it will make it to be more more varied.The project will contribute to the development of language skills, the efficient use of information and communication technologies, develop key competences needed for the labor market in personal and professional life. Through international cooperation, trips and permanent contact by using social networks and e-mails, the development of virtual mobility will take place. This will break down social, mental or linguistic barriers between the Citizens of Europe. They will become more confident, open, communicative and respectful for one other and their personal and social competencies will be improved. The final products are a project website , an educational platform, brochures, lesson plans, handouts that are supposed to be distributed through the schools websites, social networking, e-twining platform, meetings and presentations.Working on the project will contribute to the promotion of education, it will increase the prestige, attractiveness and popularity of each school among teenagers. It will also improve the recruitment process and the development of good relations between schools and local communities. It will motivate teachers and students to work harder and to continue further education. The international cooperation will cause stronger bond and can increase the employability of future graduates.
"My Europe, My Life, My Future" is a project whose main goal was not only to develop language and information skills but also key competencies by implementing activities related to sports, music, dance, cuisine, famous people as well as history and traditions by using innovative methods and new computer technologies. Another aim of the project was cultural education such as finding differences and similarities between cultures, overcoming stereotypes and prejudices or shaping the attitude of tolerance. What is more, encouraging participants to develop and implement innovative teaching methods and teaching materials, stimulate students' creativity and imagination and help in acquiring basic life skills and competencies. There were students and teachers from six European countries namely Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Portugal and Greece. Amongst vocational and technical schools, there were also general high schools. Each mobility concerned a different theme related to a selected aspect of culture. These were topics studied in each country: Poland - dance, Romania - sports, Bulgaria - music, Croatia - cuisine, Portugal - famous people and Greece - custom and traditions. Before the mobility, the participants explored a given subject of the meeting in their schools, preparing presentations, films, making videos, creating photo albums, conducting surveys, searching, collecting, and selecting needed materials. Students learned how to dance traditional dances, sing songs or prepare characteristic dishes from each country. Some of the project members took part in competitions and events. Prepared materials were presented to the partners used for the project by international groups. All participants had the opportunity to become involved in dancing, culinary or artistic workshops, educational lessons, sport events and language classes. Moreover, there were organized competitions, quizzes and some educational trips. After completing the mobility, students and teachers prepared exhibitions, presentations, photo galleries, showing all moments which they had experienced. Through the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, tests, document analysis, all of the project’s activities and participant progress and knowledge was evaluated. The transnational meetings of the coordinators were organized at the beginning and at the end of the project. They were related to the efficient organization of the project, division of responsibilities amongst partners, evaluation and summary of the project. They contributed to the competent project coordination. The proposed activities with the use of productive methods have increased the effectiveness of learning, self-motivation to learn and act, developed creativity and creative thinking. It has contributed to the development and growth of language skills, efficient use of information and communication technologies and development of key competencies needed in the labor market in students personal and professional life. Participation in the project has greatly influenced the development of cultural competences of the participants. International cooperation, trips, live contacts and using online portals, have developed tolerance, acceptance and openness to other cultures by breaking social, language and mental barriers amongst European citizens. The final effects of the project are the project website, educational platform, brochures, class scenarios, Europass-Mobility certificates, diplomas, posters, Erasmus walls, souvenir showcases, project logos, meetings and banners. There are some products that were created in the project: five publications - Legends of Sport, Dances of Europe, Famous People, Music connects Nations and Generations, Tastes of Europe and the European Calendar of Holidays and Customs. There are also multimedia guides around the region, a presentation about Easter customs, videos presenting project meetings, dances, songs and food preparation and The European Tree of Culture. All the products have been described and posted on the project and schools websites, the e-Twinning platform and the dissemination platform. All of the above mentioned results are saved in both paper and multimedia versions and they were sent to school libraries and transferred to other neighboring schools for the didactic use as work and inspiration for similar activities. The implementation of the project contributed to the promotion of schools, the growth of prestige, attractiveness and popularity among young people, educational authorities, which influenced the development of good relations in school and local communities, establishing cooperation with local institutions. Local media helped to reach the local audience with the project. There has been an increase in motivation and activity of teachers, as well as students who we hope will not resign from continuing education after school graduation. The international cooperation has strengthened and will be continued.