In the context of recent tensions between Europeans of different races, religions and cultures, we believe it has never been more important to promote values of equality and inclusion to our children. In learning about other cultures and traditions and comparing them with their own, children in the ‘Little Euro Guides’ project will develop acceptance and respect for the diverse range of cultures present across our countries. The project aims to directly engage with 900 participants aged 4-11 across 5 schools in Wales, Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Italy, The majority of pupils in half of the partner schools face social and economic disadvantage, and a significant proportion have special needs. Pupils in each school will engage in creative activities to explore the culture, traditions, famous landmarks and traditional games of the other countries in the project. These include: creating physical and digital 3D models of landmarks, creating artwork illustrating festivals and traditions, performing and filming national dances, and producing short films as tour guides to introduce their own country to the other schools. Each school will exhibit their work in their ‘project corner’ and share it online. Throughout the project pupils and teachers will develop digital skills through creating films and using online flipbooks, websites and Skype. While hosting teachers from the other countries, each school will also hold a traditional food workshop. An important part of the project is the short term joint staff training event. This event will add value to the project by equipping the staff who attend from each partner school with skills and knowledge in the areas of movie creation and editing, a deeper understanding of digital learning in the 21st Century and practical ways of integrating this into their teaching. The ‘Little Euro Guides’ project will develop a sense of national pride, cultivate a feeling of belonging to the European Union and inspire a life-long interest in international collaboration. Young people will develop a range of basic and transversal skills through the project which will improve their employability and widen their opportunities later in life. The students will learn to problem solve, collaborate, think critically and take initiative. They will develop digital competence, another crucial transversal skill, which opens the door to further learning and cultural awareness. The project will train young people to confidently and creatively use ICT to learn about other cultures, connect with others and exhibit their creative work. Further benefits of the project include improved English language skills, developed creative skills, awakened interest in other cultures and languages, and a sense of responsibility and pride in achieving something of value. Through sharing good practice and creative methodology, the teachers partnering in the project will ensure long term impact as their experience informs their future practice. They will also seek opportunities to share their learning with their peers locally, widening the impact to other schools in their networks. We expect that in total over 2500 children will experience the project through local performances, exhibitions and online presentations. In addition to this the project will have an impact on parents, local communities and those who access the online portfolio of work.
Our project is firmly rooted in the context of recent tensions across Europe. This project has been especially important in light of ‘Brexit’ which has created a division between citizens of the UK and other countries in Europe. Staff across all partner schools have used the activities in the project to promote a tolerant attitude towards other cultures and countries, emphasising the benefits to be gained from learning about and understanding people from other countries. We believe it has never been more important to promote values of equality and inclusion to our children. We aimed to give our pupils an understanding of their culture and heritage as, in the words of Marcus Garvey; “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” In learning about other cultures and traditions and comparing them with their own, children in the ‘Little Euro Guides’ project have developed acceptance and respect for the diverse range of cultures present across our countries. The project was successful in directly engaging with approximately 1400 participants aged 4-11 across five schools in Wales, Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Italy. The majority of pupils in half of the partner schools face social and economic disadvantage, and a significant proportion have special needs. Pupils in each school have enthusiastically engaged in creative activities designed to explore the culture, traditions, famous landmarks and traditional games of the other countries in the project. These included: creating physical and digital 3D models of well-known landmarks, creating artwork illustrating festivals, traditions and local buildings and scenery, performing and filming traditional dances, and producing short films as tour guides to introduce their own country and school to the other schools. Each school exhibited their work in their ‘project corner’ and have regularly shared it online. Throughout the project pupils and teachers have improved their digital skills through film making, digital word processing, emailing and using websites. While hosting teachers from the other countries, each school held a traditional food workshop. An important part of the project were the transnational project meetings, as this gave our teachers an invaluable opportunity to see the education systems of our partner countries. Working with teachers from different European countries and meeting them provided an insight into different teaching methods which has inspired innovation in teaching across our schools. The ‘Little Euro Guides’ project has successfully developed a sense of national pride, cultivating a feeling of belonging to the European Union and inspiring a life-long interest in international collaboration. Our young people have continued to develop a range of basic and transversal skills through the project, improving their employability and widening their opportunities later in life. The students have developed skills in problem solving, working collaboratively, thinking critically and taking initiative. Another crucial transversal skill, digital competence, has been key throughout the project and has opened the door to further learning and cultural awareness. The project has trained young people to confidently and creatively use ICT to produce work of an excellent standard. They have used their digital skills to learn about other cultures, connect with others and exhibit their creative work. Further benefits of the project include improved English language skills (especially in those countries where English is not the first language), more well-developed creative skills, an awakened interest in other cultures and languages, and a sense of responsibility and pride in achieving something of value. Through sharing good practice and creative methodology, the teachers partnering in the project will ensure long term impact as their experience informs their future practice. We have also witnessed teachers seeking opportunities to share their learning with their peers locally, widening the impact to other schools in their networks. We estimate that in total over 2800 people have experienced the project through the work in our school, local performances, exhibitions and online presentations. The project has had an impact on parents, local communities and those who have accessed the online portfolio of work. The results of this project will go on to influence the curricula taught in each of the partner schools and international collaboration will remain a key part of the teaching in our schools.