The cultural heritage is the most vivid illustration of the evolution of a nation. Is an important component of our identity and our common heritage and it makes us not only proud citizens of a nation, but Europeans as well of a culture with a long and rich history, with past full of challenges and future with great expectations.Is our own responsibility to preserve it and pass it on to the next generations.Today our cultural heritage is under constant danger in front of new challenges due to development pressures, globalization, the transformation of society and the economic crisis. Its protection is imperative, because contributes to promoting cultural diversity, promotes the creativity, the respect between different nations and communities of Europe and enhances its preservation but in the same time allows the development of new forms of cultural expression and gives quality in our lives. Cultural heritage is is our past and our future and so important such as our life.The integration of cultural sensitivity in the value system of society and the economy are priority issues which require the existence of cultural conscience of all. Aim of this project is the understanding of cultural heritage of young children, through relevant selected activities from the area of pre school education (including ICT), in order to sensitize and awake the cultural consciousness for protection of our cultural heritage and creating of new morals as result of the realization that our life and our future are intertwined and depend directly of our past. During the program, children will share their ideas and their work with children of other European countries ,will learn about their culture, they will visit museums and at the same time they will share songs,stories,languages, traditions,dances and customs of the participant countries,getting the sense that they are part of a larger world called Europe.They will acquaintance with the heritage and culture of other European nations,will understand the similarities between different cultures, understand their lifestyle, accept their coexistence and imagine a common future, thereby strengthening their national and European identity. It will be encouraged their respect and tolerance towards cultural, linguistic and social development of the different countries participating in the project. By using of cooperative teaching approaches that requires the adoption of methods of active learning and energetic acquisition of knowledge and skills,we will give to pupils the opportunity to gain the knowledge that will contributes to understanding, respect and tolerance between people, will give information necessary for the harmonious coexistence within the European family and it will contribute to the creation of the concept of European cultural identity. We will use the cultural education as a way of teaching and learning for participants in combination with cooperative and innovative teaching methods, evaluating the fact that tradition contains a lot of different elements which help to acquiring experiences, to building knowledge and to adopting a positive attitude towards theirselves and the tradition and helps also the eliminating marginalization and smooth integration to society, through understanding diversity of cultures. Equal opportunities will be given to all children of all nationalities, with the encouragement to participate in the different activities of all, specially to children with educational disabilities or economical obstacles , immigrants, refugees and children with any kind of disabilities. Six schools representing more than 500 pupils from north and south of Europe will cooperate in this project and give the opportunity to staff and trainees, to cultivate their cultural conscience and to strengthen their European identity, knowing the culture of other European nations and shape attitudes of a European citizen , characterized by awareness, tolerance, desire for improvement, care and respect for local and global cultural values.This project contributes to the development of a European conscience and prepare European citizen of tomorrow, who respects the environment, human rights and values of life, preparing him to be able for action and right decision for a better tomorrow.The most important expected results are the creation of web site, e twinning project, "School Museum" e books ,stories, dvds and cds and the creation of e library for learning material. All partners expect through cultural education to understand and overcome the contemporary social problems such as racism,ethnic prejudice,social class oppression and discrimination.We believe the cooperation experience with other people from different cultures can change our attitude and perception of the world carry more responsible behavior and enrich all participants with the knowledge, experience and strong relationships and we hope this cooperation will continue in the future.
Cultural heritage as guardian of the common values contributes to the communication of people, particularly those with common cultural elements, which is crucial for maintaining peace and developing friendly human relations. Five schools representing more than 500 students from northern and southern Europe collaborated during this project. The teachers and students were given the opportunity to cultivate their cultural awareness and to strengthen their European identity by knowing the culture of other European nations and form the attitudes of a European citizen characterized by tolerance ability, desire for improvement, care and respect for local and global cultural values. Our aim was to awaken children 's conscience, to help them to realize that the tradition is a very important part of our life and future depends on our past. Cultural heritage within the Kindergarten, as the first step of systemic education for so young learners, has the potential to contribute to shape features and prepare sensitive citizens who know their past, history and culture, create conditions for a better future and to fasten the social-economic development and prosperity of their place of living and Europe in general. The cultural influence in young age is a necessity. The experiences enriched during preschool education can affect their lives today, in the future and basically be present throughout all their lives. It is, therefore, extremely important to offer the best possible experience for children and their families. We believe that thanks to this project we managed to sensitize pupils, their families and local community about culture and tradition of our country and other European nations. The program gave children the opportunity of sharing their ideas and working with children of other European countries, learning about their culture, visit museums ,shared games, songs, stories, traditions, dances and customs of the participant countries, getting the sense that they are part of a larger community called Europe. They learned about the heritage and culture of other European nations, understood the similarities and differences between cultures and lifestyles, accepted their coexistence and imagined a common future strengthened national and European identity. We gave equal opportunities to all children of all nationalities supporting to participate in all activities especially children with special educational needs or economical obstacles, immigrants, refugees and with other mental or physical disabilities. We have used cultural education as a way of teaching and learning in conjunction with collaborative teaching methods, assessing the fact that tradition contains many different elements that help to gain experiences, build knowledge and adopt a positive attitude towards oneself and tradition, and help eliminate marginalization and smooth integration into society by understanding the diversity of cultures. Thanks to this project, children gained respect and tolerance for the cultural, linguistic and social development of the different countries participating in the project. The project contributed to the development of European awareness and the preparation of a European citizen of tomorrow who respects culture, human rights and values and is prepared to act and make the right decisions for a better future. Thanks to the experience gained in the project, the pupils became more open to getting to know other cultures. They also experienced various cultural events that unite people and build bridges of peace and friendship. The most important results of the project are the creation of a project website, active cooperation in eTwinning projects, created of guide of good practices , e-books and study materials, posters, albums, mock-ups, calendars, dvd and cd's, e-books with stories, tales and myths, customs, creation of local events "Week of culture" and " Museum of old time " in each participant school. This project will have a long-term impact on every partner institution. All school guarantee that cultural education will be a part of school's development plan for the next years. Cultural education will be integrated into the school curriculum as way of teaching and learning and during "Cultural weeks " every year children and their families will take part in various cultural activities. The end of the project will be the beginning of a new cooperation between the partnerships’ schools in the future. We believe that thanks to this project we contributed to the improvement of the quality of pre-school education and reinforcement of knowledge, strengthening the European value of education. We also believe that the cooperation experience with other people from different cultures changed our attitude and perception of the world, carried more responsible behavior and enriched all participants’ knowledge, experience and strengthened relations. We hope this cooperation will continue in the future.