The Erasmus+ partnership “YOUR CHOICE, YOUR LIFE” reunites 5 schools from 5 different European countries: Spain, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Romania. The common problems that brought the partners together are: increased rates of early school leaving (ES 9%, IT 7%, TR 11%, PL 5%, RO12%), lack of students’ motivation and commitment towards education. United by the desire to build a supportive community for learners, families and teachers, the project partners decided to join their efforts in offering a practical example that can contribute to the target set by the European Commission of reducing ESL to less than 10% by 2020. “YOUR CHOICE, YOUR LIFE” was designed to promote innovative inclusive learning activities that engage learners in the learning process in order to contribute to their personal and educational growth as future EU citizens. OBJECTIVES -to explore practices of the partner countries of reducing the number of early school-leavers -to foster pro-social behaviour among students and teachers from 5 European schools -to create innovative ICT tools to prevent and reduce the school dropout -to raise awareness about the multiple intelligences theory in preventing and combating ESL -to awaken in students and teachers motivation for self-development and education -to build cultural awareness through formal and informal activities The diversity of the partners will facilitate the exchange of know-how practical solutions and policies used to prevent and combat early school leaving. A total number of 64 students (aged between 14-18 years old) and 36 teachers are the direct beneficiaries. The participants are going to be selected according to the criteria established by each partner school taking into consideration students’ interest to be an active member of the team involved in all the stages of the project, the willingness to disseminate the international experience, gender balance, motivation for self-development. Besides the direct participants, there will be also head teachers, counselors, school advisers, education authorities, the inspectorate, curriculum developers and decision makers (local, regional, national and European). All partners will cooperate with neighboring schools so as the project results will be disseminated to a wide audience. The methodology used in our project will empower the participants with pro-social behavior along with motivation for self-development and education. The activities are structured in such a manner that will tackle all types of intelligences offering the students the opportunity to discover themselves and acknowledge their inner potential. Students will be involved in interactive outdoor and indoor activities that will help develop their team building and social civic spirit. The international cooperation will offer the possibility to make all participants aware of the national and international heritage fostering human interaction, empathy, tolerance, moral values and understanding. For a better implementation, the project was divided into subtopics; therefore, each meeting will approach a different topic. Spain – transnational meeting - kick off meeting Italy –Subtopic: WORD and MUSIC POWER Poland –Subtopic: REASONING SMART Turkey–Subtopic: NATURE VITAMINS Romania –Subtopic: INFLUENTIAL COMBINATION The practical examples of materials created by students will be tested in classes to make students more aware and responsible of the fact that they are the architects of their future. The project will develop and implement innovative ideas for pedagogical practices that place the student in the center of the learning process fostering to build bridges between students and school. Tangible results of the project are electronic, audio-visuals and 3D materials that can be used as tools in prevention, intervention and compensation of early school leaving. Through this project the participants will benefit in a range of different ways: empathy, social acceptance, ICT and communication skills, self-esteem, and autonomy. Their motivation for learning and working will increase acknowledging that they are architects of their future. Students will become active European citizens and more tolerant towards other cultures. Teachers will spice up their teaching methodology to optimize the educational process. The materials created will impact many other institutions and offer a practical support to institutions interested to implement similar activities and initiatives. The materials will be available to the wide public on the project website and through the dissemination activities. We are positive that the project will have a strong echo for all participants and make a great impact in the schools and wider communities, at local, regional, national and international levels. Each partner will organize activities according to the sustainability plan for at least three years following the end of the partnership.
The different countries that joined the project had analysed the lack of students’ motivation and commitment towards education which turned into early school leaving (ESL). The reasons for this varied in each country, but all the partners felt the need to get in deep into this matter and try to find good practices in order to solve it. So that YOUR CHOICE, YOUR LIFE was aimed to promote inclusive learning activities that engage students in their learning process and leading them to personal growth as future citizens. Taking as a basis the multiple intelligences theory by Gardner, the partners have designed different activities during the two years and they also have had an insight into the educational systems through the different school partners. The exchange of good practices by know-how learning has benefited the schools when it comes to terms of having resources to motivate their students to keep on studying. Bearing in mind the main aim, which was inclusive learning in order to avoid ESL, it was also considered to give importance to raise awareness about the multiple intelligences and foster cultural awareness through activities. A total of 31 students(aged 14 to 19) and 20 teachers have been directly participated in the project, since they have travelled to the different cooperating countries, but at each school, a greater number of students have also been involved in the project (about 60 students and 3 teachers more per school). Students were selected under application and teachers were selected by the board of directors depending on their speciality and interests. The activities were structured in such a manner that tackled all types of intelligences offering the students the opportunity to discover themselves and acknowledge their inner potential. Activities evolved throughout the mobilities were related to the topic offered by each country based on the Application form: Word and Music power, Smart reasoning, Nature Vitamins and influential combination. Students were involved in interactive outdoor and indoor activities that help develop their team building and social civic spirit. The international cooperation has offered the possibility to make all participants aware of the national and international heritage fostering human interaction, empathy, tolerance, moral values and understanding.Through this project the participants have benefited in a range of different ways: empathy, social acceptance, ICT and communication skills, self-esteem, and autonomy. Their motivation for learning and working will increase acknowledging that they are There was a willingness to disseminate the international experience and we were really convinced of the impact of the project and therefore, as indicated at the beginning, some of the products remain active even once it finished, that is the reason why the website will be open for some more years.