The main assumption behind the project is the understanding that the teacher is the key figure in the educational process whose skills and competences are decisive for the quality and effectiveness of education. Most of the countries in the world face serious issues in this regard. Among these are : 1) shortage of teachers ( especially young instructors) because of low economic incentives, hence low prestige of the teacher's profession and ineffective government policies; 2) inadequate professional qualification of a considerable number of teachers; 3) insufficient motivation to upgrade professional qualification. Against this background the proposed project aims: 1) To develop innovative, ICT based, methodology for enhancing the intercultural competences and skills of both teachers and students; 2) To stimulate collaboration between the participating countries through exchange of good practices; 3) To upgrade the level of English language proficiency of the participants; 4) To strengthen the profile of the teacher's profession and thus increase motivation for lifelong learning; 5) To encourage school-local authorities partnership. The project team consists of seven different institutional partners (schools, an NGO, and two regional departments of education) from Bulgaria, Malta, the Netherlands, and Turkey . Thus the project includes organizations that operate in diverse socio-economic, cultural and educational contexts. The target group is made up of about 50 English language instructors and 30 pupils. In addition, the project will reach about 100 teachers and pupils from schools not involved in the project, stake-holders and the broader public. The project involves the following main activities: - developing an innovative platform of communication; - training sessions for teachers and pupils; - mobility activities; - meetings with stake-holders; - summer schools; - mobile exhibition; The project is based on an innovative method of teaching English and aims to hone the intellectual, intercultural and interpersonal skills of the participants and broaden their cultural horizons and critical thinking. The goals will be achieved through development and discussions of interdisciplinary topics chosen from a wide range of fields: science, humanities, art,politics, cultural studies, and public life. Discussions will be conducted in English and moderated by prominent specialists in teacher training, language teaching, inter-cultural communication, and experts in the respective thematic field. Special emphasis will be placed on interactive participation in class and use of ICT. The participants will be given various assignments, oral and written, and at the end of the training the acquired knowledge and skills will be evaluated by tests. The following results will be achieved during the project: - creating a new platform of communication - developing an innovative methodology of teaching and learning English; - designing new teaching materials; - establishing partnerships with schools, regional educational authorities and NGOs that are not members of the consortium; - exchanging good practices among partners. The project activities will have both short-term and long-term impacts. Short-term, they will result in enhanced teaching and learning skill of trainees, higher motivation to work and upgrade their professional qualification, heightened intercultural sensitivity, stronger partnerships; long-term, engagement of schools outside the project; more active involvement of regional authorities in intercultural education. In the middle of the second project year the project team will draw up a Sustainability Plan with clearly defined actions and responsibilities. After the end of the EU funding, all partners we will continue to maintain active contacts. The following activities will be sustained: maintaining the innovative platform for three additional years; training sessions; open lessons; ongoing communication with local, regional and national educational authorities. We also plan to organize another summer school for pupils and teachers and therefore we intend to approach foundations and other possible sources of financial support. The new methodology, the productive communication and valuable exchange of good practices with our partners will be the basis for creating an innovative intellectual product. It will be made available online, on CDs or in a printed form. The intellectual product will be interactive and could be periodically updated and enriched both in terms of form and content to include new hot topics from various fields and fresh approaches in tackling them. We plan to apply for funding to finish the intellectual product.
The main assumption behind the project “Creating an Innovative Platform of Communication and Teaching in a Digital Society” was that for a number of socio-economic, political and cultural reasons the quality of education has declined on a global scale, especially in Bulgaria. We also believe that the teacher is the key figure in the educational process whose skills and competences are decisive for improving the effectiveness of education. Most of the countries in the world face serious issues in this regard: 1) shortage of teachers because of low economic incentives, hence low prestige of the teacher's profession; 2) inadequate professional skills; 3) insufficient motivation to upgrade qualification. Against this background, the proposed project aimed: 1) To upgrade the language proficiency and intercultural competences of teachers and students by developing an innovative method of foreign language teaching and learning; 2) To strengthen the profile of the teacher's profession and thus increase motivation for lifelong learning; 3) To stimulate collaboration between the participating countries through exchange of good practices; 4) To encourage partnerships between schools and local educational authorities. The project team consisted of 7 institutional partners (3 schools, 2 NGOs, and 2 regional departments of education) from Bulgaria, Malta, the Netherlands, and Turkey. The coordinator was Association “Education Without Barriers” (www.ewb.bg). In this way, the project included organizations operating in diverse socio-economic, cultural and educational contexts. The direct participants in the project were 22 teachers and 166 pupils. In addition, the project reached about 140 teachers from schools not involved in the project and about 800 school principals, experts, educators, youth workers and other stake-holders. The grand total of project beneficiaries, including partners, is estimated at 1,145 persons. The project involved the following activities: 1) developing an innovative platform of communication; 2) training sessions for teachers and pupils; 3) mobility activities (C1 in Malta, TM1,2,3 in Sofia, Istanbul, Valkenburg); 4) online event involving groups of pupils (C2); 5) online meeting with partners, including TM4; 6) dissemination of project results (meetings with stakeholders, trainings, TwinSpace materials, toolkits, publicity materials, info-boards, banners and project corners in schools, posts in social networks, etc.) The project is based on an innovative method of teaching English which consists of 3 components: language study through a topic-related approach, use of ICT tools and non-formal techniques in and out of the classroom. The method’s essence can be summarized as “Learn, (Re)think, Express”: learn new words, expressions, and terms related to a topic selected from real life, actual events, and the personal experience of students; think about the questions the topic raises, and express a critical opinion using the new vocabulary. The final effect will be three-fold: general culture will be enriched, intellectual horizons will be broadened, and critical thinking will be energized. In addition, the creative use of ICT aids and resources from non-formal education will make the study process more interesting for teachers and learners alike. The following results have been achieved: 1) a new platform of communication (TwinSpace, eTwinning, Padlet); 2) innovative methodology of teaching and learning English; 3) English and German lessons based on the new method; 4) Toolkit I, “Teach Better, Learn More”, and Toolkit II, “Learn, Re(think), Express” available on TwinSpace; 5) productive partnerships with schools, regional educational authorities and NGOs; 6) exchange of good practices among partners. The project activities will have both short-term and long-term impact. Short-term, they will result in enhanced teaching and learning skills of trainees; higher motivation to work and upgrade professional qualification; heightened intercultural sensitivity; stronger partnerships. Long-term: involvement of schools outside the project; more active engagement of regional authorities in projects related to intercultural education. After the end of the project, all partners will continue to communicate. The following activities will be sustained: maintaining the innovative platform; conducting training sessions and open lessons; ongoing contacts with local, regional and national educational authorities; organizing a face-to-face summer school for pupils and teachers, the pandemic situation permitting. The Toolkits may be used as a basis to create an intellectual product which could be periodically updated and enriched.