Knowing the history of the European Union , the national and common history, sensing historical and cultural values, and UNESCO cultural heritage help us analyse the past , understand the present and efficiently manage social, cultural and identity problems which harrow society nowadays in order to bulid a better future. At the same time, knowing present history helps students to better understand the UK’s Brexit , the refugee crisis form the past years, the causes and the consequences thay had on the EU and the impact on today’s society, to develop tolerance and respect for human rights and to increase the wish to eliminate rasism and xenophobia. This project is an extension of an eTwinning project which was carried out by Romania in partnership with a school from Greece. The six schools are focusing on finding the most efficient and attractive integrated strategies of tackling history, at formal/non-formal level, curricular and extracurricular level in order to motivate students to understand the logic of the phemomena, of the historical facts, the interactions between history-arts-culture , all needed so as to form argumented personal opinions and lasting skills. The „trasnational” didactical materials which are to be devised , the good practices and cultural exchanges, the LLT activities for both students and teachers justify the necesity of this partnership. The objectives of the project are addressed especially towards the students and teachers from the six partner schools: Objectives: 1.Stimulating the interest of 150 students for knowing national and common European history, art and culture 2.Raising awareness and motivation in 150 students through knowing, respecting and protecting the UNESCO cultural heritage at European level through placing it centrally in a transdisciplinary didactic 3.Developing the capacity of 38 teachers from the six schools of using modern transdisciplinary methods of teaching-learning-evaluating history and other subjects. 4.Improving the quality of education at school level through efficiently integrating cross curricular elements of formal, non-formal and informal education to prevent early school abandon. In the project’s activities there will be directly involved 150 students between the ages of 13 and 17 and 40 teachers from the six partner schools, who are intersted in the topic of the project. The activities of the project focus on: -Students- to develop their interst in history, arts and culture form the past-present-future perspective, so as to become capable of managing the problems of future society and to understand their belonging to the common European space without disctimination, racism and xenophobia (thematic visits/trips, curriculum integrated activities in various subjects, creating exhibitions, collecting information about painters, musicians, writers, famous inventors, parades, charity shows, conferences on historical topics. Etc.) -Teachers- who will approch history thorough integrated and active-participative teaching-learning methods meant to develop crtitical thinking and creativity , methods which will be acquired / applied throughout the project ( at local/transnational level) through exchanging experiences, good work practices and ideas. The activities of the project wiil have rezults obtained by: -The students (the project’s logo, quizes , puzzles, educational games, leaflets, CDs, virtual libraries, documentaries, papers of the students for the thematic conferences from the LTT frame, plays, collection of information about inventions etc.) -The teachers (the methodological guide, thematic workshops on active-participative methods, formal /non-formal activities, curricular/extracurricular activities, etc.) The webpage of the project will include all these results which could be used by the wider audience interested in the topic of the project. -We envisage a positive impact at student level , teacher, school and community level: develop respect for the history of Europe and UNESCO culture, developing the feeling of belonging to the European Union, the attitude of combatting racism and xenophobia, opening towards novelty, freedom of speech, active citizenship, developing critical thinking, creativity, civic skills, developing ICT and English communication competencies, enhancing teachers’ motivation of training students in the light of critical thinking, developing inter-instititional collaboration relationships, developing the triad school-community- parents, motivating students to continue to learn, thus preventing dropping out of school early. -Exchanging good work practices between teachers at European level, intercultural exchanges between students, teachers and schools’ openess towards national, inter-sectorial and international cooperation will bring long-term benefits to partner schools which will be capable of offering quality education , at European standards.
Knowledge of EU history, awareness of the cultural and historic values, of the UNESCO patrimony values help us analyze the past, understand the present and efficiently manage the social, cultural and identity problems confronted by present day society in order to build a better future. In the same time, knowledge of contemporary history helps students better understand Brexit, the recent refugee crisis, their causes and consequences on the EU, the impact on our society and develop their tolerance and respect for human rights and boost their desire to eradicate racism and xenophobia. By joint effort, the six schools focused on finding the most efficient and attractive strategies towards an integrated approach of history at formal/non-formal, curricular and extracurricular level as well as on the best solutions to motivate students to comprehend their belonging to the common historical and cultural European space. Objectives: 1.To stimulate the interest of 150 students in knowing the national and common European history, art and culture 2. To raise awareness and motivation in 150 students through knowing, respecting and protecting the UNESCO cultural heritage at European level by placing it centrally in a transdisciplinary teaching approach 3. To develop the skills of 40 teachers from the six schools to use modern transdisciplinary methods of teaching-learning-evaluating history and other subjects. 4. To improve the quality of education at school level by efficiently integrating cross curricular elements of formal, non-formal and informal education to prevent early school leaving. All activities within the project involved in a direct, indiscriminating manner , 160 students between 13-18 years old and 48 teachers from the six partner schools, interested in the theme of the project. The project activities focused on: - students - in order to develop their interest in history, art and culture from the past-present-future perspective so that they become capable of managing the problems of a future society and make them aware of their belonging to the common European space without discrimination, racism and xenophobia (visits/thematic trips, activities, curriculum integrated activities within different school subjects, putting together thematic exhibitions, collecting information about painters, musicians, writers, famous inventors, parades, plays, humanitarian performanc-es, conferences on historical topics, elaborating materials about the town history, UNESCO objectives, traditions, customs, myths, legends, development of educational games, logos etc.) - teachers - who diversified/developed/practiced their competencies by sharing their experiences, comparing/exchanging ideas and good practices with students( at national and international level) so as to approach and integrate history by means of communicative teaching-learning methods and develop critical thinking and creativity. The products realized during the activities: - students: the project logo, quizzes, puzzles, educational games, brochures, virtual libraries, virtual albums, films, the materials made by students for conferences on history themes, the refugee crisis, human rights, equity and inclusion, the UNESCO patrimony, etc. from within the LLT, the plays, the collections of information about inventions, inventors, discoveries, photography exhibitions, etc.) - teachers: the methodological guide, workshops on the topic of communicative methods, formal and non-formal activities, curricular and extracurricular activities, the site of the project, the project diary, etc. The webpage of the project, the project diary, the eTwinning platform, the EU dissemination platform, Youtube incorporate the most eloquent results that can be used without restrictions by a large audience interested in the project topic. The project had a positive impact on students, teachers, school and community: the development of respect regarding the history of Europe and UNESCO culture, the feeling of belonging to the EU, of the attitude of fighting against racism and xenophobia, critical thinking, creativity, social, civic, digital competences together with those of communication in English, access to freedom of speech, spirit of initiative, active citizenship, motivating students to carry on studying, to improve their school performance, motivate teachers to train students in the spirit of critical thinking, development of inter institutional collaboration relationships, consolidation of the school-community-parent triad. The exchange of good practices among teachers at European level, the student intercultural exchanges, the opportunity of both teachers and students for national, intersectorial and international cooperations brought numerous long-term benefits to the partner schools which became more capable of providing qualitative education at European standards.