Our students’ drop out and their poor cultural level are issues we have been concerning for the last years. Our students suffer from a huge demotivation because they do not see any good perspective at the end of their secondary school. The general knowledge, which is often a bad understood word, is too often associated with classic literary and musical knowledge. Many students are unaware of their historical, architectonical and archaeological estate that can transfer to them a cultural richness because it is an evidence of our past. Being able to know where we come from, has always been the big question of those, who are looking for where to go. Being 2018 the year of the Heritage, it appears to be the right moment to propose this project which claims the two above said priorities. The project, will take place in 2 years, it is addressed to students ranging from 16 to 19 attending the final years of tourism, restoration, cooking and reception schools and of course to their teachers. The total number should be 170 roughly. The activities will be the following ones: • Carrying out a research on one element of their architectural, historical and religious heritage. The project will be based on one important building in the history of Heritage. The research will deal with the geographical location, its description and the history of the building. It will be also possible to include information concerning traditions, folklore and gastronomy of the place studied. It can be presented in different informatic ways ( Word, Power Point, video, ... ) • Dossiers will be selected according to criteria previously decided • They will be translated by students in French, Italian, English or Dutch • All the documents will be saved in an E-Book inside a site reserved to the project • Students participating to the mobility, will be selected in accordance to the quality of their dossier. The above selection will also depend upon their regular attendance and the passing to the 4th year classes of their school. • Following the selected dossiers, students belonging to the receiving countries, will organize a series of guided sightseeings ( 2 each day) for their host partners. • In the first term of 2020, the Belgian students will visit Sicily for a 9 days stay in the Island. They will share a program of activities organized by the Sicilian partners who will make them discover the cultural, archaeological and historical Heritage of Sicily. A part of the stay will be spent in a Sicilian family in a full immersion situation. • After that, the Sicilian students will visit Namur for a 9 days stay in the same way as above. • Also the program of the different visits will be edited in the site The mobilities are to be considered as the final moment of the project accomplished during the two years of the project, for this reason, they come at the final moment of the project itself. The methodologies used will be centered on the collaborative learning and on the full immersion situation. The two years project will enhance, both in the students side but also in the teachers one, their working motivation, furthermore students will certainly improve their school results and will live a brand new relationship with their teachers. The project results and any kind of document implemented, will be published in the site of the project, for the benefit of anyone interested in getting more information regarding the project.
The frequent dropout from school and the low level of general knowledge among our students have been a concern for a long time. Dropping out is even more tempting at the end of the school curriculum and general knowledge is often associated with classical literary and musical knowledge. However, knowledge of our historical and architectural heritage can strengthen general culture and enrich those who are interested in it. 2018, the European Year of Heritage, was the ideal moment to offer a new project highlighting these two priorities. The project, spread over two academic years, was aimed at the students of the last two years of the tourism, restoration, cooking and reception sections and their teachers, i.e. approximately 170 people. The students participating in the project were aged between 16 and 19. The project was stopped by Covid-19, but was extended for one year. The activities carried out are the following ones: 2018-2019 - Meeting of teachers for a training session on "organising and promoting an organised tour" and to define the criteria for the participation and the selection of students. - Students carried out a research project on an element of their architectural, historical, cultural or religious heritage. - This promotional dossier had to cover a landmark in the region and respect the guidelines set out in the aide-mémoire (see website). - The files were evaluated and selected according to criteria defined beforehand and published on the website. 2019-2020 - Meeting of teachers for a training session on "calculating the cost of an organised tour" and the organisation of the future mobilities. - The files were translated by the students into French, Italian and English. - The translations of the dossiers were published on the website. - All the dossiers were compiled into several virtual books which are accessible on the project website. - The students participating in the mobilities were selected on the basis of the quality of their application and their participation was conditioned on regular attendance at classes and the successful completion of their penultimate school year. On the basis of the selected dossiers, the students in each country organised various guided tours for the visit of their partner. 2020-2021 - In March 2020, due to the closure of the borders because of the pandemic, the Namur-Marsala mobility and the Marsala-Namur mobility had to be cancelled. - In August 2020, due to the cancellations of the mobilities, the organising country submitted a request for a one-year extension in order to carry out the planned activities. It was accepted. - In September, as the majority of the students initially enrolled in the project had left the school in June, we had to select new participants. In order for them to be involved in an optimal way while meeting the initial objectives of the project (improvement in the use of ICT), they were asked to create PowerPoint presentations based on the dossiers already produced the previous year. During a meeting between partners, various virtual alternatives were considered in anticipation of an extension of the health blockade. - In November, the partner schools were again closed due to health measures in their respective countries and the continuation of the project in any form was interrupted, postponed to 2021 and then abandoned due to the lack of improvement in health conditions. However, a majority of the Sicilian students were able to hand in a PowerPoint version of the files produced the previous year. These results were turned into a video and published on the website. Most of the Belgian students were not able to make the desired PowerPoint presentations due to a lack of specific training. The main methodologies used were based on participative and collaborative learning. Due to the Covid measures, although links and exchanges between students from the partner schools took place, immersion learning was not possible. Despite all the inconveniences caused by the Covid epidemic, these years of innovative work have resulted in increased motivation, improved students’ performance in school and a new perception of the relationship to school and to knowledge for both students and teachers. The sustainability and accessibility of the research work compiled in the form of a virtual book and the activity reports have been ensured via the website (https://www.erasmus-isj-namur.be/PATRIMONIA), a Facebook page "erasmus.patrimonia" and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform (http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects). They are therefore accessible to any person or organisation wishing to be informed.