We should always support our values in each and every part of human activity. Living and working together in family, school, society or the broader globalized world are based on certain values. These values originate from morality (truth, justice), religion (love for fellow men, offer of help) or politics (freedom, equality). Besides transmitting knowledge, school must contribute to the formation of adolescents’ personality. All partners who join our project have deeply realised that an Erasmus+ project is not merely a short-term event, but also inducement for a constant process of educational development. Within this framework, we establish a close collaboration among the school community, social workers, special tutors and therapists. The participants share both responsibility and provision, even in classroom level – teachers and students learn how to argue for topics and experiences that relate to democratic attitude. Furthermore, they commit themselves to beliefs and roles and experience different points of view. It must be pointed out that the responsible treatment of the above constitutes a high priority for us, along with the moral schooling which carefully targets certain practices and experiences. The six organisations that take part in the project have approximately 1900 students, 600 of which face learning and/or social-economic difficulties. Every student is more than welcome to take an active part in the project. We deal with four thematic sections: Taking decisions. Participation / democracy. Inclusion at school enviroment Offer of help. The working language of the project is German, so German students are encouraged to help and support their fellow students who learn the language as a foreign one. The teaching methods which are used in the project share the following characteristics: - Action: by focusing on learning through acting. - Interaction: by using discussion. - Practice: by referring to questions raised by young people and the society in general. - Critical thinking: by encouraging students to develop their own personal way of thinking. - Collaboration: by including group work and cooperative learning. - Participation: by offering students the chance to join in the whole learning process. Our aim is to encourage students to experience and at the same time juxtapose important values through role playing games, discussions and debates, theatrical techniques, workshops and specific-purposed visits. In this way, we expect to strengthen their self-confidence and show them how to deal with changes and challenges like bullying or any sort of discrimination. Young people become vocal at school, in peer groups and in society as well, thus taking an active part in procedures concerning decision making and voting. They begin to understand that active citizens should control authorities which in turn should account for their actions and decisions. As they grow up and become more mature, adolescents learn to tell the difference between right and wrong and appreciate the necessity of justice in a democratic society. Having broadened their way of thinking, they start contemplating social, intellectual, moral and cultural issues and exchange their points of view. In a more practical sense, they get to know the proper operation of democracy and its institutions in both regional and national level. Our priorities, which include the development of appropriate and valuable skills, the acquisition of central abilities and the reduction of early school leaving and injustice, form a certain context of aims: 1. Language development. 2. Exchange of innovating ideas concerning learning difficulties, offer of help or reduction of early school leaving. 3. Active members in school and social environment. Furthermore, all partners of the project aim at making our students adopt a positive attitude towards learning and maintain a constant development of their skills and abilities. Throughout this process, students get to know the origin and the history of fundamental values and familiarise themselves with different cultural approaches in a conscious and open-minded way. This kind of knowledge sets the foundation of a future active involvement in supporting such values and making sure that these remain relevant in a united European context. The results of our project will be available in the common website, e-Twinning and Erasmus+ platform in order to act as multipliers for other educational and civil institutions. In addition, the outcome of our common effort will constitute a motivation for the future development of all participants. According to our point of view, the formation of a healthy personality and the cultivation of humane and democratic values should constitute fundamental aims of a common European educational system.
The coordinating organization 2nd Junior High School of Kalamata along with the participating ones Anne Frank Schule Linden (Germany), Taurages Ausros progimnazija (Lithuania), Scoala Gimnaziala Bautar (Romania) and Osnovna sola Strocja vas (Slovenia) tried to highlight the primary effect that values such as respect, tolerance, cooperation, mutual help and responsibility have upon the thorough development of students through the Erasmus+ project Active Student, Active Citizen. Moreover, these exact values in fact shape our identity and determine our social status, thanks to their personal, social and cultural importance. Not only do they guide us by showing what is important, good and useful, but they also motivate us, bring humanity to the surface and cultivate our inner qualities. All partners who joined our project have deeply realised that an Erasmus+ project is not merely a short-term event, but also inducement for a constant process of educational development. Within this framework, we established a close collaboration among the school community, social workers, special tutors and therapists. The participants shared both responsibility and provision, even in classroom level – teachers and students learned how to argue for topics and experiences that relate to democratic attitude. Furthermore, they commited themselves to beliefs and roles and experience different points of view. It must be pointed out that the responsible treatment of the above constitutes a high priority for us, along with the moral schooling which carefully targets certain practices and experiences. Students were involved in the following thematic areas: 1. Offering help at school (peer mediation). 2. Democracy and active citizenship. 3. Right decision making. 4. Solidarity and mutual help. Through hands-on workshops, artistic expression, role-playing games, debating, collaborating learning and case study, students experienced values, strengthened their self-confidence and learned new skills. These skills enable them to help their schoolmates/fellowmen (mediation) and also cope with difficult situations successfully (right decision making). In addition, young people are able to take a stand at school, peer groups and society, as well as join voting and decision-making procedures actively. What’s more, they understand the role of citizens in connection with political authority and distinguish fair from unfair. They realize that equality and justice constitute essential keystones of a democratic society, whereas they become conscious of other people’s experiences by taking into account moral, social and cultural parameters. In particular, the exact goals of the project, which originated from the priorities set by the coordinators (development of higher value skills and the subsequent acquisition of relevant ones, support for schools against student drop-out), were the following: 1. lingual development, 2. exchange of innovative practices towards offering help and solidarity, 3. active students’engagement in school and social happenings. Furthermore, a new and more positive attitude on behalf of the students towards school was pursued, together with the development of those skills that will enable students to be informed about the evolution of the above values over time and be in favor of them actively for the rest of their lives. During the project mobilities, students worked together and created the following learning outcome: 1. Peer mediation – a video showing the necessary steps that we must follow to implement a mediation at school. 2. Democratic citizenship – the construction of a tree, the fruit of which are human rights / the planting of a tree at the school yard ofthe Anne Frank Schule in Germany as a symbolic act in favor of democracy being continuously defended by citizens. 3. Right decision-making – the creation of an e-book, where students themselves offer advice concerning the making of right decisions and dealing with life dilemmas / the construction of a pyramid that puts priorities about making important decisions on scale. 4. Voluntarism and solidarity – the creation of a word cloud containing words from their native languages, English and German, which refer to the above values. Long-term benefits for students: 1. The ability to handle conflicts through active listening, empathy and dialogue. 2. The impetus for substantial participation in democratic procedures, both in local and national level. 3. The skill to make the right decisions. 4. The understanding of the value that voluntarism and offering have. 5. The training in offering first aid. The results of our project are available in the common website, e-Twinning and Erasmus+ platform in order to act as multipliers for other educational and civil institutions.