The project context relates to the challenges that educational systems, with a specific focus on Secondary schools, have to face as a result of the growing multicultural backgrounds of students and the related possible opportunities that schools can offer in terms of the promotion among younger generations of non-discriminatory attitudes and behaviours to fill the gap between European traditions and new cultural models. The challenges affecting European societies at a general level often have a direct impact on the educational systems and on the everyday experiences of teachers. The correlation between social tension, lack of understanding and dialogue among different cultures and related discriminatory attitudes and poor students' performance plus early school leaving (ELS) is identified as intense. The OFF-BOOK aims to address these challenges through the achievement of the following objectives: - improving secondary school teachers' intercultural competences in new educational methods (non formal education) to make education less 'judgemental' and more inclusive, thus promoting non discrimination and reducing early school leaving. - Providing secondary school students with the opportunity to develop their knowledge of human rights principles and a sound cluster of soft competences they will use to combat discrimination and exploit multiculturalism as an added value. - exchanging of good practices amongst secondary schools, academic experts in pedagogy, theatres with experience in delivering educational use of performing arts at school and teachers’ training centres to innovate the The main OFF-BOOK methodological approach is to encourage the building of a new interaction between teachers and students putting the focus on the dialogue among individuals and not on the traditional vertical teaching methods, thus breaking up the still typical logic of traditional School education and dynamics within the class communities based on the overwhelming impact of personal opinions and judgments by individuals on other individuals. To encourage dialogue, listening and comparing means fostering participatory inclusion, identified as a source of change of typical negative dynamics in schools, leading to early school leaving, bullying and social isolationism. The OFF-BOOK project will make available 2 Intellectual Outputs that will be made accessible to Secondary School teachers through a dedicated Web Portal: Intellectual Output 1: Off- Book Guidelines for Teachers on the use of Performing Arts to promote integration at school providing school Teachers with a comprehensive picture on how to make use of Performing Arts and Theatrical Laboratories with their students, in order to IMPACT on school communities needs by: - enhancing a new dialogue pattern among teachers and students - enhancing students' skills with special reference to soft skills - enhancing the dialogue among students with special concern to multicultural classes in order to combat prejudices and discrimination practices - combating ESL as a consequence of the shift in teachers/students relation from vertical to horizontal - contributing to teachers' curricula development with special reference to the role of facilitator in non formal education environments - improving schools' capacity of planning, managing, implementing and evaluating new educational paths with special reference to multiculturalism favouring civil coexistence Intellectual Output 2: Off-Book Video Tutorial for tackling Early School Leaving through Theatrical Laboratories The Video will therefore assume the form of a "travel diary" that will encompass all the experiences performed in OFF-BOOK and will share the experiences of all users (students, teachers and professionals) from the organizational phase until the closing of the experience. It will be the practical witness on how the carried out practices can combat and prevent deviant behaviours in the school environment, when such behaviour should not be exclusively attributed to students, but conceived as the inadequacy of the entire system to keep up with the changes in society and people's needs, radically changed as a consequence of the sudden transformation of mass media and human relations. The project will involve a group of representatives of its main target groups in testing activities - 8 Teachers representing the two schools acting as project partners - 30 Teachers representing the 5 schools acting as associated partners in each country - 760 Students (estimating 20 students for each teacher involved)
CONTEXT The school system in many European countries is based on a judgmental approach, with teachers evaluating students’ performances on acquired knowledge. As a consequence the school rejects instead of including, and students with a “poor” performance drop out. OBJECTIVES The aim of the OFF-Book project is to promote school inclusiveness and the mutual understanding among different cultures as a strategic aim to contribute to the prevention of early school leaving. The innovative element of the project is the introduction of education through performing arts and drama theatre in particular without applying any judgmental approach. PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS In terms of results achieved of target groups involved: - a total number of 22 schools have been involved (the expected result was 17) - a total number of 58 teachers have been involved(the expected result was 42) - a total number of 1392 students have been involved(the expected result was 760) - a total number of 389 students with fewer opportunities have been involved (the expected result was 355) The expected results have been, therefore, achieved and exceeded. The target groups were directly involved in the carrying out of the project activities. The OFF-Book project had a relevant impact on their needs as it produced tools and methodologies to support teachers in dealing with the inclusion process of students. Many more potential stakeholders, to be estimated in more than 10 000 have been directly reached through the dissemination activities. If in the count we also include the potential target groups reached with papers and online articles the total number is bigger than 100 000 people. ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS The project activities have been organized in the following phases: Phase 1 – Development of the Guidelines The guidelines include 4 different modules. Each module is articulated in chapters, paragrahs and further usefull online resources. The modules are: - Understanding School Leaving (https://off-book.pixel-online.org/TG01.php). - Methodological and pedagogical aspects (https://off-book.pixel-online.org/TG02.php) - Theatre as Experiential Learning Tool: Step by Step Process to Implement Theatrical Laboratories in Classroom (https://off-book.pixel-online.org/TG03.php) - Practical examples of Theatrical Laboratories to be implemented at school (https://off-book.pixel-online.org/TG01.php). For each practical activitie, 2 videos have been produced: a video tutorial to help the teachers in the implementation and a video testimonial of direct implementation in one of partners countries involved. These 2 videos were not originally planned. Phase 2 – Production of Video Tutorial This phase was dedicated to the creation of a tutorial that shows, through video, the practical implementation of the theatrical approach to education. It assumed the form of a "travel diary" that encompasses all the experiences performed in the OFF-Book project and shares the experiences of all users (students, teachers and professionals) from the organizational phase until the closing of the experience. The video tutorial is available at https://off-book.pixel-online.org/VD_list.php. The video tutorial has been created starting from the national videos recorded by the project partners and that present each national experience. Phase 3 - Testing Each of the deliverables produced has been tested in the framework of specific events addressed to the project’s target groups. Teatro Stabile Grosseto (IT) organized several national workshops in Italy and 2 transnational workshops, one in Romanian and one in Lithuania. The testing phase allowed the collection of relevant feedbacks from the end users in order to further improve the deliverables produced and create results that are fully consistent with needs and expectations of the end users. Phase 4 - Multiplier events The project partners organized events addressed to teachers and policy makers, during which both project results characteristics have been presented to the audience, explaining their aims and potential impact on educational practices to foster inclusion and mutual understanding in multicultural classes through performing arts. IMPACT As far as the impact of the project is concerned, the project contributed to: - Enhancing a new dialogue pattern among teachers and students - Enhancing students' skills with special reference to soft skills - Enhancing the dialogue among students with special concern to multicultural classes in order to combat prejudices and discrimination practices - Combating early school leaving as a consequence of the shift in teachers/students relation from vertical to horizontal - Teachers' curricula development with special reference to the role of facilitator in non-formal education environments - Improving schools' capacity of planning, managing, implementing and evaluating new educational paths with special reference to multiculturalism favoring civil coexistence