All European schools in our project are facing the challenges of integrating, involving and teaching students from ever more different backgrounds and abilities with ever more different and more or less intense problems like inability to concentrate, vastly diverse cultural backgrounds, past traumata or social disadvantages. In these respects, student populations are changing faster than schools can single-handed follow. At the same time, it is our duty to bring all these students to a common goal: to offer the students the competences that they need in order to grow as human beings, study, work on an integrated European job market and be citizens in the future world. What is expected of them, is a standard in knowledge, abilities, skills, attitudes and values that is not there at the time when they enter our school. To deal with this situation, many schools have started using or even developed new and special learning methods to reach these diverse student populations better and more efficiently. To improve all kind of students' learning, teachers are e.g. using new digital technology, combining different school subjects or offering specialized courses or trying out completely new teaching and learning methods. In our group of schools, we have found that all of us are presently engaged in trying out such innovations, to create a culture that facilitates learning, inclusion, well being and a sustainable way of life and to better prepare our students for the challenges of the European job market. To improve our efficiency, to learn from each other and to share our good practices we would like to use the framework of an Erasmus+ project. We would like to meet and introduce these innovations to each other, at each participating school in turn, with a scope towards taking inspiration from these demonstrations and trying out the same methods in our own schools. Each school in our group has identified two such new concepts that are presently being developed or in an advanced state of implementation at each participating school. We would like to meet in Erasmus+ transnational project meetings and demonstrate these new methods, in classes, with students, to our full group. All participating schools will then take these methods home and are engaged to implement them (at least in parts) at their home locations and give feedback to the group how and to what extent these methods can be used in other schools. In year 2 and 3 the experience exchange about these new teaching methods will take place with five students and two teachers in the framework of "European week" meetings, with learning demonstrations and discussions about the feasibility of the new methods in all participating schools. Between the project meetings and learning, teaching and training activities we will have ongoing communication between partner schools and trial runs of the concepts presented. We will talk about the project in and out our schools. Then we will exchange teachers' and students' experiences with concepts tested and upload the feedback from trials to the project's website. At the end of the project we will ensure the use, dissemination and sustainability of the project’s results. These are the new trends and methods that we have agreed to demonstrate, discuss, share and distribute: 1 - 2: "Digiexam" and "Flipped classroom" will be demonstrated at Östra reals gymnasium in Stockholm. 3 - 4: "Metacognitive lab" and "School/Work activity" will be demonstrated at Liceo Virgilio in Mantova. 5 - 6: "Digital schoolbooks" and "GroupPlus: streaming in E and M in years 5 - 8" will be demonstrated at Campo de Flores in Almada. 7 - 8: "The ISP project (International student project)" and "Elective subjects Business and Life science" will be demonstrated at the Theresianum in Vienna. 9 - 10: "Phenomenon based learning" and "Language sensitive teaching" will be demonstrated at Keravanjoki school in Kerava. 11 - 12: "Europass" and "Education and integration through sport" will be demonstrated at Zespol Szkol Sportowych i Ogolnoksztalcacych in Gdansk. 13 - 14: "The Exit program" and "Community services" will be demonstrated at IES Poeta Maragall in Barcelona. We believe that, apart from the positive impact of meeting and discussing our common challenges, we might learn from these new approaches and use them to improve our own work and make it more efficient and better suitable to meet our common goal: bringing our students from diversity to employability.
We are a group of seven schools: Keravanjoki school, KERAVA Finland; Östra reals gymnasium, STOCKHOLM Sweden; Zespol Szkol Sportowych i Ogolnoksztalcacych, GDANSK Poland; Öffentliches Gymnasium der Stiftung "Theresianische Akademie", VIENNA Austria; Liceo Classico Virgilio, MANTOVA Italy; Instituto Poeta Maragall, BARCELONA Spain; Colegio Campo de Flores, CAPARICA Portugal. In the preparatory meeting in Vienna in January 2016, we found out that we all had serious challenges with students from very different backgrounds, different cultural and social circumstances and with very different skills. For all that we had to help the students to grow as human beings, study and work on an integrated European job market. We realized that we really need to support students to find their abilities, skills, values and attitudes that they need in the future world. We had long conversations: How could we see the diversity - diverse thoughts and approaches - as enriching (not as complicating)? How could we encourage students to find their specific qualities and personal strengths and help them to show self-respect? How could we prevent the social exclusion and reduce early school leaving? And we found out that there are many new, useful methods at our schools, which are good to learn together and from each other during this project. To deal with this situation our group of schools have built up or brought into use two newish methods in learning and integration. To improve all kind of students' learning we teachers have been e.g. using new digital technology, combining different school subjects, offering specialized courses and trying out completely new teaching and learning methods. In practical terms each school identified two such new concepts that were developed or in an advanced state of implementation at each participating school. We have met and introduced these innovations to each other, at each participating school in turn. We have taken inspiration from these demonstrations. We have tried out the same methods at our own schools. Experiences have been reported back to the group and evaluated. Each partner school have hosted one Transnational Project Meeting or Learning, teaching, training activities, with all partner school participating. Each partner has presented two new learning concepts. Experiences have been reported back to the group and evaluated. Event sequense was always about the same: Before Transnational project meeting or Learning, teaching, training activities the hosting school sent out information about the methods that were presented. Some of the hosting schools also sent pre-tasks to participant schools. At the project meetings we always had welcome and starting occasion, introduction, presentation and debate of methods, an implementation plan of the new method at other schools, a feedback session, planning for next meeting and farewell. After project meetings we gave different presentations of new methods e.g. at teacher conferences, in front of parents and other audience, we had trial runs with demonstrated methods at all schools, we exchanged teachers' and students' experiences, we shared our experiences and uploaded material from trials to our official website. Between the project meetings and learning, teaching and training activities we always had ongoing communication between partner schools about method adaptations and trial runs. The last six months were quite complicated because of Covid-19 virus. We made an application for an extension of the project period but unfortunately no extension was granted. That's why we had to accept that our project may not achieve its full potential due to circumstances. Due to pandemic situation we still need to do some tasks to complete our project. We can never bring this project to an end as we thought before Corona pandemic, but there are still some things to do: - As soon as the Corona situation is better, the trial runs of concepts presented in Barcelona can be performed, presented and compared; - We will never fulfil one Learning, teaching, training activities in Mantova and one Transnational Project Meeting in Almada but we will continue our communication via WhatsApp, e-mail and telephone to ensure the use and sustainability of the project's methods.