In the course of a collective planning meeting where the German teachers visited the Bulgarian school in January 2017, the German colleagues learnt about the European Club of the Bulgarian school in which pupils deal with current political topics regarding the EU. This led to the idea of introducing a European Club to the Karl Kübel Schule in order to provide space for an intensive extermination of European politics. Aim of the project called „The enhancement of a European awareness in an ever changing Europe“ is to make pupils realize the major importance of European politics and European integration and solidarity, to implement European politics into everyday school life and to enhance a European awareness of the pupils. Also social, intercultural, digital and foreign-language skills shall be strengthened. There are not only differences between Germany and Bulgaria in terms of economy, education system and wealth, also disparities in the political attitude of the citizens are noticeable. The project is dimensioned for 15 pupils per project year from both European Clubs. For the pupils of the vocational secondary school of the KKS the European Club will be offered as an elective subject, but pupils of the other school types of the KKS can also join. The Bulgarian European Club is a voluntary project group currently consisting of 23 pupils. The German teacher team consists of Ms. Streichert (English/Politics & Economics), who is responsible for the political and foreign-language aspect of the project, supported by the two colleagues Ms. Nissen (Economics & Ethics) and Mrs. Dr. Brodt (Chemistry/ Physics), who have already been involved in the prior Comenius project.The Bulgarian team consists of the two English teachers Ms. Petrova, who has experiences with prior Comenius projects, and Ms. Evtimova, who is responsible for European Clubs at schools for many years. For the first project year the following topics have been scheduled: Human rights, values and norms of the EU European diversity Dealings with the refugee crisis European capitals of culture EU Institutions The foundation of the EU European economy Eurozone The topics of the second project year might vary after an evaluation and reflection of the first implementation in year one. During the mobility phases meetings and discussions with political and economic representatives and visits of EU institutions, the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage “Nessebar“ in Bulgaria and the town “Malko Tarnova“ at the Turkish border are scheduled. The project aims to be pupil- and problem-orientated and includes a wide variety of cooperative learning methods. The pupils bring forward own ideas and discuss other’s constructively. By organizing a so-called World Café the pupils shall get into conversation with each other in English to reduce their inhibitions. Also a role play is planned in order to promote empathy, open-mindedness and communication, problem solving and team work skills. Here the pupils get into the role of several European countries and analyze and discuss their political attitudes towards the refugee crisis. Another scheduled learning method is the implementation of interviews. During the mobility phase a number of political experts are questioned, which can be used to integrate practical knowledge into school lessons. The pupils shall be supported in realizing, reflecting and evaluating their role as active EU citizens. The topic „Europe“ shall be strengthened at both schools by a continuous exchange and discussions between the pupils and shall function as a model for other regional schools. By working and communicating in English an improvement of the foreign-language skills is also expected. At the end of the project a lesson plan in English shall be developed that can be used by the Bulgarian teachers in their English lessons in order to compensate the lack of the subject politics & economics in the Bulgarian syllabus. European politics and active EU citizenship shall be firmly anchored in both school systems and communities so following generations of pupils can benefit from the results, experiences and products of the cooperation. The pupils shall develop an interest and understanding of the importance of mutual European politics on the basis of solidarity, unity and democracy beyond the boundaries of the classroom, which should contribute to the development and transmission of the European idea and work against the alleged political apathy on European levels. With English as the working language and the mobility phases the pupils should be fitted for the requirements of a globalized workplace.
The project "The enhancement of a European awareness in an ever changing Europe" highlights the importance of European politics and integration/ solidarity, integrate European politics actively into everyday school life and facilitates a European awareness of the pupils. Additionally, social, intercultural, linguistic and digital competencies were be practiced. The German teacher team consisted of Ms. Streichert (English/ Politics and Economics), Ms. Brodt (Chemistry/ Physics) and Ms. Nissen (Economics/ Ethics); the Bulgarian teacher team consisted of both English teachers Ms. Petrova and Ms. Evtimova. Part of the project was the introduction and establishment of the elective subject “European Club” at Karl Kübel Schule based on the model of the Bulgarian partner school. The formation of the European Club at Karl Kübel Schule was innovative, as interested pupils were able to sign up for this course voluntarily and had the chance to exchange their thoughts and ideas with peers from another European country for the first time. A similar course had not existed before. Additionally, the mobility phases were integrated into the club’s programme, enabling the pupils to gain first-hand experiences abroad. In the first year, 18 pupils signed up for the club, of which 12 took part in the mobility phase. In the second year 11 pupils signed up, eight of those traveled to Bulgaria. The visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the visit to the Bulgarian MP in Sofia were great opportunities for the pupils to direct their questions and concerns at politicians. They had the chance to receive an insight into the work of the Parliament and its members. All those meetings and conversations were held in English so the pupils could practice their language skills simultaneously. The participants of the German club were in constant contact with the participants of the Bulgarian European Club. They exchanged learning products like videos or presentations and planned and organized activities for the mobility phases. Many events were open to the whole school community, for example German-Bulgarian evenings, so other members of the school could get involved too. At the school’s Vernissage, which takes place once a year and is mandatory for all pupils of the professional Gymnasium, the European Club presented their results and work with posters and photos. Additionally, the products were published on the school’s websites and in the school’s newspaper “KKS News”. With reference to the project’s topic, a role-play with a following discussion was carried out by both European clubs, demonstrating diverging views on European politics. The project was problem-centred and oriented towards the pupils’ interests and skills. The pupils could contribute their own ideas and dealt with the ideas of other German and Bulgarian participants constructively. During the mobility phases in Germany, project-related excursions took place, for example a visit to the European Parliament including a plenary session and an excursion to Frankfurt/Main with a visit to the European Central Bank. In the course of the project, a simulation game on the topic of asylum policy was executed by representatives of the European Parliament in February 2019. Overall, 50 pupils of the professional Gymnasium participated in this game, among others 11 members of the European Club. During the planning meetings, the supervising teachers agreed upon activities. The teachers and pupils regularly exchanged and reflected on their experiences, process and the impact. At the end of each project year there was a discussion round in which the participants could share their impressions, expectations and suggested improvements. Since the beginning of the project, the European Club has been a fixed part of the school’s programme and will continue its work. The curriculum was made available for all teachers. The products that were created during the course of the project were digitalized and can be used by all colleagues. Several project results have been made available on the Erasmus project results platform.