The project is designed to develop new teaching methods and strategies, to foster the integration of students from different cultural backgrounds, and with different language needs; to build basic skills; and to develop innovative models of entrepreneurial education. The project will also equip teachers with new skills and strategies, to help them to deliver high quality learning opportunities, and meet the needs of their students. The project will utilize an inquiry-based and learner-centred method of teaching known as ‘Mantle of the Expert.’ The idea is that students are asked to think of themselves as if they are running an ‘enterprise’ of some kind; curriculum tasks are then undertaken within this fictional context. The system is designed to empower students, and to make them take on more responsibility for their own learning. The project will bring together both education providers and teacher training institutions. The partners are: a cultural organization (Midland Actors Theatre); UK schools at primary and secondary level (Woodrow First School/Turves Green Boys School); a vocational school in Turkey (Pagev Mesleki Ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi ); a regional school authority in Germany (Staatliches Schulamt in der Stadt Augsburg); and a teacher training institute in Portugal (Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti).Partners will plan schemes of work together, which they will then deliver in their own classrooms. A total of some 280 students will take part, in different countries. The project will pioneer a model of entrepreneurial education in secondary schools. It will also target young people from refugee and migrant groups, who may be experiencing challenges and barriers to integration, and other disadvantaged groups. A filmed record of the project will be made; it will be edited and issued as a dvd, and project videos will also be posted online. The films will show planning meetings, interviews with participants, and project delivery in classrooms in different countries. We will also produce a Teaching Guide, with schemes of work and teaching resources, so that other teachers can use the project in their own classrooms.The project will have a wider legacy. It will be rolled out and embedded as a teaching programme in a number of schools in partner countries; and it will also be incorporated in teacher training courses. We will raise awareness of the project through national and international networks, We believe that it will have an impact on the development of educational policies in partner countries, and on curriculum development, in its development of new ways to address diverse needs in the classroom; as an innovative model of entrepreneurial education; and as a pupil-centred and enquiry-based form of pedagogy.
The main aim of the project was the development of innovative teaching methods and strategies. It used a system of teaching known as ‘Mantle of the Expert,’ which asks students to think of themselves as if they are running an ‘enterprise’ of some kind; the teacher’s curriculum targets are met through tasks undertaken within this fictional context. The system is widely used in UK schools, but not in other countries in the EU; and part of the aim of the project was to raise awareness of the system, and extend its use, as well as to explore ways of applying it in different educational contexts. The project was led by Midland Actors Theatre and brought together: two UK schools, Woodrow First School and Turves Green Boys School; a regional school authority in Germany, Staatliches Schulamt in Augsburg; a teacher training institute in Portugal (Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti, ESEPF); and a vocational school in Turkey (Pagev Mesleki ve Teknik). Each partner institution developed a number of schemes of work, using the Mantle system, which were trialled in classrooms. A selection of these schemes have been published on the project website, mantlenetwork.com. The website includes other resources which have been produced through the project (as intellectual outputs), including a Guide to Mantle of the Expert, together with a series of films featuring interviews with partners, as well as records of training sessions, and examples of the system in practice. Together, these materials will ensure the project has a lasting legacy, serving as model for other teachers and practitioners. Partners have also developed resources in their own languages, including booklets and online publications. The films we produced have also been compiled and issued as a dvd, for distribution at multiplier events. ESEPF in Portugal has implemented courses in Mantle of the Expert for both students, and also developed a new course for teachers, for career and professional development, which was implemented for the first time in 2018. The team has also made presentations about the system at international conferences. There was a particular focus in the project on developing strategies to improve entrepreneurial skills; to enhance the performance of disadvantaged learners, and increase the integration of young people from different cultural backgrounds. Staatliches Schulamt in Augsburg took special responsibility for developing programmes of work which would foster the integration of young people from refugee and migrant groups. Heike Mengele (lead project member) worked an ‘integration class’ in a high school, to develop schemes of work which were designed to work in multilingual classrooms; build cooperation among students; serve different learning styles and needs; build language skills; and improve students’ self-esteem. Two partners, Pagev Mesleki and TGBS, focused on the development of entrepreneurial models of education, with special attention to promoting leadership skills; creative thinking; and transferable skills in areas such as IT, technology and design. One member of the ESEPF team has stated, ‘Mantle is changing how people think about teaching.’ The project has had a wider legacy. The Mantle system has been embedded as a teaching method in partner organisations, and also rolled out to other schools and institutions. We have raised awareness of the project through national and international networks. The final partner meeting took place in Lodz, Poland; meetings and events have stimulated interest in Mantle of the Expert and three Polish universities are now planning training programmes in the system.