It can be seen that the most important issue mentioned in SWOT analysis of our institution’s 2015-2016 strategic plan is improving student motivation and actively involving unsuccessful students in learning process. In our institution it is confirmed that 43 percent of 777 students in 28 classes including nursery class, cannot be actively involved and have no satisfaction in learning. They cannot express themselves in the classroom; they are lack of self-confidence and so introvert. Traditional methods were applied in order to actively involve our students in learning and overcome the current problems; however, we could not come up with the desired result. In order to improve our students’ personal, social and academic developments and actively involve them in learning process we have decided to apply ‘Peer Coaching’ method that out partners practiced before. Self confident peer coaches who have different competence and high communication skills will support their friends in personal, social and academic way. All the works will be carried out on the basis of mutual respect, understanding and tolerance. The students to be peer coaches will receive trainings about communication, empathy, indulgence and the method. They will be chosen on a volunteer basis according to the results of sociometry technique. There will be 3 to 5 ‘Peer Coaches’ in each class. Within the scope of the project; teacher, student and parent trainings will be arranged. Trainings will be about communication, self-confidence, time management, peer coaching and will be provided by specialists. An ‘activity room’ will be created in the school in order to help peer coaches and other students socialize. In addition to this, cultural and social activities will be organized. Our Project will be carried out between October 2017 and September 2019. The project has got 4 partners (Turkey, Poland, Portugal and Italy) at primary school level. Within the scope of the project 2 Transnational project meetings and 3 Learning/Teaching/Training activities will be organized. Transnational project meetings will be held in Turkey in the beginning and end of the project and will be hosted by Cumhuriyet Primary School-the coordinator institution. A booklet about adaptation of good implementation samples to Peer Coaching will be prepared at the end of the workshops. Teachers are required to attend all of the activities mentioned above. Numbers of participants are determined considering the numbers of staff and students at the institutions. 3 personnel from Turkey and Poland, 2 personnel from Italy and Portugal will attend the transnational project meetings. Participants will consist of Project Management Teams of the institutions. 6 personnel from Turkey and Poland, 3 personnel from Italy and Portugal will attend Learning/Teaching/Training activities. Participants will consist of key staff and rest of the personnel will be chosen by ‘Participant Determining Committee on a volunteer basis. Project Management Teams will be created in order to carry out the project in a healthy way. The coaches and the students to be coached will be determined. Teacher, student and parent trainings will be organized. ‘Project Mid-term Evaluation Report’ will be prepared every 5 months by all partners. The project will be revised in the direction of these reports and we will be able to prevent a possible risk. With the help of Peer Coaching method, our little hearts who we will entrust our future could be able to involve learning from the very beginning of their education life. Searcher and questioner generations who have communication skills, who can look at the future with hope and can fulfill their potential will be raised. The percentage of students who cannot actively involve learning will drop from 43 percent to 8 percent. Students will be provided with leadership skills. Teachers will be more qualified in their fields. Parent student conflicts will decrease and communication between them will become stronger. New generations in partner countries will be eager to learn thanks to involvement of the students in active learning from very beginning of their education life, at primary level. More qualified, successful and active students who can use the knowledge will be sent to higher educational institutions. As academic success rates of the partner countries increase, international PISA and TIMSS success rate is also expected to increase. In addition, behavioral problems in our society will be reduced by raising self-controlled children. Those individuals who keep learning will be role models in the society.
In the SWOT analysis of the 2015-2019 strategic plan of our institutions, it is seen that the most important topic that is aimed to be developed in our institution is the active participation of students with low interest and motivation to learning and low academic success. It was found that 43% of 777 students in 28 classes including kindergarten in our institution could not actively participate in educational activities, could not achieve learning satisfaction and could not express themselves in the lessons,had lack of self-confidence and were withdrawn. Traditional methods have been applied in order to actively involve our students in the educational processes and to eliminate the existing problems, but the desired result has not been achieved. In order to ensure the personal, social and academic development of our students and to actively involve our students in the educational and learning processes, our project was decided to implement the “Peer Coaching” method. The peer coaches chosen among the students who have different competencies and skill levels, who are confident and have strong communication skills, supported the students they coached personally, socially and academically. All the activities were carried out within the framework of respect, understanding and tolerance. Coach students were trained in communication, empathy, tolerance and methodology. Coach students were chosen on the basis of voluntariness as a result of sociometry technique data. Each class has a different number of peer coaches in line with the needs of the students. Teacher, student and parent trainings were organized within the scope of the project. Parent trainings were conducted by relevant experts and guidance services. Trainings were given on communication, self-confidence, time management and peer coaching. An “Activity Room” was established within the school in order to ensure that the coach and coached students spend time and quality, and cultural and social activities were organized. Our project was carried out between October 2017 - September 2019. Our project consisted of 4 partners from primary schools (Turkey, Poland, Portugal and Italy). 2 Transnational project meetings (TPM) and 3 Learning / Teaching / Training (LTT) activities were held within the project. Transnational project meetings were held in Turkey in the coordinating institution of Cumhuriyet Primary School. 3 Learning / Teaching/ Training (LTT) activities were organized. In this way, the best practices in the institutions have been seen and adopted. At the end of the workshops, brochures were prepared about the adaptation of the best practices to the Peer Coaching method. Teachers participated in all of the activities which are mentioned above. The number of participants was determined by considering the number of staff and students of the institutions. 3 participants from Turkey and Poland, 2 participants from Italy and Portugal joined toTransnational project meetings. Participants are Project Management Teams. 6 from Turkey and Poland, 3 from Italy and Portugal joined to Learning / Teaching / Training (LTT) is the activity. Participants except key personnels were determined on a voluntary basis by the “Participant Selection Commissions”. Project Management Teams have been established in institutions for the effective execution of the project. The coach and coached students were determined. Teacher, student and parent trainings were organized. After the implementation started, Project Interm Evaluation Report was prepared by all partners in three terms and 5-month periods. In this way, evaluation studies of the project were carried out in certain periods. These reports are presented and discussed at each LTT activity. As a result of the active participation of the little hearts that we will entrust our future through the Peer Coaching method to the educational environments at primary level, generations that can look to the future with hopes, use their potential, have strong communication skills, research and questioning have started to be raised. The percentage of students who could not participate actively in education and training decreased from 43% to 18%. Students were given leadership qualities and teachers became more professionally equipped. There have been reductions in parent student conflicts and communication has been strengthened.Qualified, successful, active students who can use the information have been sent to higher education institutions. This situation is thought to improve the quality of education in schools. As a result of the dissemination activities, peer coaching method have been started to implement in different institutions.