The project WISH involves two Universities (Education Faculties) from Romania and Turkey and three High Schools from Slovakia, Spain and Italy. All the partners are facing complex educational contexts especially related to students at risk of social exclusion (where the traditional way of teaching is no longer effective) and have two main common needs: the need to empower students with the necessary skills to be successful in their future professional lives and the need to build a more tolerant and inclusive society. The project will focus on a very innovative learning strategy: improving the 21st century skills through a project based learning (PBL) approach. Teachers will receive specific trainings and prepare curricular & extracurricular activities in project topics and students will write & implement Social Inclusion Projects (SIP) to raise awareness in their schools by using a Project based Learning (PBL) approach, through which students gain knowledge & skills by investigating and responding to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem or challenge. The main OBJECTIVES of the WISH are: -To raise an awareness for the importance of social inclusion -To help students gain 21st century skills by using the project based learning approach -To support personal and professional development of teaching staff in order to improve their teaching methodology on 21st century skills & inclusiveness of their students from different marginal groups. -To improve undergraduate teacher training curricula (partner universities) and school curricula (partner schools) in regard to improve 21st century skills of students and ensure social inclusion of all students who are in disadvantaged groups by integrating best practices to curricula. -To improve the students’ key competencies (communication in foreign languages, Social and civic competences, Digital competence, learning to learn competence) Approximately 200 people from 3 participating high schools will actively benefit from project in average. The universities are planning to conduct pilot studies of the project in two more high schools in their areas. That will raise number to 3000, including direct participants & also teachers, experts/lecturers, policy makers, regional politicians, media representatives, head teachers, educators &other stakeholders. Besides, two universities involved are planning to integrate the outputs of the project in their course materials & this will also benefit about 600 undergraduate university students per year. Concerning the METHODOLOGY in use while carrying out the project, it will focus on an active learning; we want our students to be the “most active” part of the project and we will make use of team-building techniques and cooperative learning methods. Participants will have to “manage” a real project about inclusion; they will also have an active role in the preparatory and final activities of the project (i.e. decide how to make a good presentation, create websites/blogs, choose appropriate tools and styles, etc). The activities will build confidence and self-esteem and empower students to take initiatives to come up with creative solutions. Important skills such as communicative skills in English, cultural awareness and expression, intercultural communication will be developed by positive interaction among participants. We expect Partnership activities to have a very strong IMPACT: students will develop 21st century skills and will be aware of importance of social inclusion among their peers & schoolmates. Teachers will gain an understanding of project-based learning cycle and they will have the chance to learn new practices to cater for the needs of students at risk of social exclusion; they will also get chance to work in European collaborative team and engage in peer-learning process. Schools will gain a more dynamic learning environment and they will improve the quality of education by introducing innovative learning activities & by adding project outputs in their curricula. This is going to have positive effects also at local/regional/national level: it will allow students to become fully-functioning and responsible members of their communities in terms of responsible planning, leadership, sensitive approach to the people threatened by social exclusion, and empathy to help them as an integral part of our society. At international level project will foster cross-country transfers of knowledge and cooperation between schools & Universities and will allow students to really experiment the concept of an active and responsible European citizenship. The potential long term benefits also refer to the fact that, all along the project, the participants will have to face important tasks: to negotiate conflicts, to manage uncertainty, to communicate across and within cultures, sub-cultures, families and communities; thus, the project approach & methodology will lead to a real life learning education.
The WISH rpoject included 2 pedagogical faculties from Romania and Turkey and 3 high schools from Slovakia, Italy and Spain. All the partners were connected with very similar pedagogic problems regarding the students in the risk of social exclusion. The basis was the will and effort to equip the students with recent skills and to contribute to building more tolerant and more inclusive society. Project aimed at innovative educational strategies in order to enhance the 21st-century skills via project-based learning. Teachers were trained at specific workshops and prepared educational and free-time activities which related with the project topics. Students wrote and realized social-inclusion projects at school to increase the awareness about social inclusion using the project-based learning (approach) thanks to which the students gained the knowledge and skills. These were the activities linked with recognition and solving the real-life, recent and complex problem, question or a challenge. Main project goals were: 1. to increase the awareness about the importance of social inclusion, 2. to help the students to obtain the 21st-century skills using the PBL approach, 3. to support the professional pedagogic staff development to improve the 21st-century skills and inclusion of students from various marginal groups, 4. to increase the quality of pedagogic students at partner universities and school curricula at partner high schoolsin order to enhance the 21st-century skills and secure the social inclusion of students from disadvantaged groups, 5. to raise the key competences of students (communication in English, social, civic and digital competences and other). Approximately, 200 people from 3 participating high schools were directly involved to the project activities. Universities supervised the pilot studies also at 2 other high schools (Timisoara and Gaziantep) what has risen the number of involved persons to about 3000 including direct participants (students and tecahers), experts/lecturers, policy makers, local and regional politicians, media representatives, headteachers and other relevant and important persons or groups of people. Besides that, universities accomplished to integrate the project outputs into their syllabus and other educational materials what means that other approx. 600 people benefit from project. Used methodology focused on active learning by students within the project, especially, thanks to teambuilding activities and ways of co-operative teaching. The participants had to manage a real (social-inclusive) project in a school environment meaning they played an active role in the preparatory and realization part of these school projects. They organized various activities, chose appropriate digital tools, created different outputs, etc. All the project activities were directed to build uf self-confidence and to motivate the students to be initiative at action and to be creative at proposing solutions. Important skills such as English language communication, cultural awareness and intercultural communication were accomplished thanks to positive interactions among participants and mutual co-operation of the project partners. Students developed the 21st-century skills and acquired the awareness about the importance of social inclusion among their peers and schoolmates. Teachers understood the steps of PBL and learned new practices how to fulfil students´ needs at risk of social exclusion. Pedagogues co-operated on European level and were directly engaged in the youth educational process. Schools proceeded in developing the dynamic learning environment and increased the quality of provided education by integration of innovative methods and and project outputs to the school curricula by several thematically-connected subjects. All that has had very positive impact on local and regional level. The project enabled students to become fully engaged and responsible members of their communities.in terms of planning, leadership, sensitive approach and empathyto the socially-threatened people.as an inseparable part of our society. On an international level, there was a cross-border transfer of knowledge, experiences and co-operation among schools and universities what enabled students to live and experience an active and responsible European partnership. One of other long-term project benefits represents the fact that participants faced important tasks: to solve problems, to cope with incertitude, to communicate through culturesmeaning that the project approach led to a real life-long learning not only of students but also of the pedagogues. Throughout the project duration, several activities were realized in co-operation with local and regional partners, be it non-profit, private or public sector. All the project activities are archived in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform as well as on the project webpage (www.wish-project.eu).