B&B: Building Bridges intends to be a collaborative learning project by which the students will educate each other and good practice will be shared by staff. The main aim of the project is that students from each institution gain a full understanding of their cultural identity and ethnicity, as well as understand and appreciate one another. By working together in a joint project it will make the idea of Europe seem less abstract. The students will be able to understand and learn about other ways of thinking from their fellow Europeans and from different ways of teaching. During the visits they will be staying with families in order to learn their customs, traditions and also their language. It will be an opportunity for students to feel like they are part of Europe and that they can learn from one another. They will understand not only their differences but also all that they have in common. The participating institutions will learn from one another through effective pedagogy, which will allow students to become independent learners for life and develop initiative and entrepreneurial skills. Students will experience a variety of cultures and traditions from both communities and become aware of the differences and similarities in both cultures. Sharing experiences about different European lifestyles and their values, will provide students with the opportunity to empathise with one another and increase their tolerance as well as reduce discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes; all would be impossible without working together. The project will familiarise students with the use of foreign language, improve fluency using a communicative approach and promote the sense of belonging to the European Union. Through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the frequent exchange of Spanish and English resources, students will overcome the obstacles in communication. Also, students will have the opportunity to share knowledge, ideas, opinions and interests related to their daily life at school, home and in their free time whilst discussing their past and hopes for the future. The project will develop social and communicative abilities by working together in a joint project. The visits with students will allow them to gain vital life experiences. The planned activities will allow staff to learn more about the partner school and demonstrate how their school system works. Working together will strengthen ties between the partner schools. It could serve as a platform for future European projects. The objective of our project will be two-fold. With regard to the student body: To ignite the students’ interest in learning about each other and the possible historic links which unite the two countries. To include all students, regardless of their origin, beliefs and mother tongue. To create a learning environment where students act as guides to educate their peers and vice versa. To improve knowledge of English and Spanish through an exchange of activities and experiences within the partnership. To utilize the use of new technology and ICT through research and presenting the results. To improve team building skills by working together to perform various tasks. With regard to the quality of teaching: To create a partnership between two departments and two schools. To improve the language skills of all those involved. To improve knowledge of the staff through comparing the different education systems and sharing good practice. To create didactic units An exchange of CLIL experiences Inclusion of student diversity.
B&B: Building Bridges wanted to be a collaborative learning project by which the students would educate each other and good practice would be shared by staff. The main aim of the project was that students from each institution would gain a full understanding of their cultural identity and ethnicity, as well as understand and appreciate one another. By working together in a joint project it would make the idea of Europe seem less abstract. The students would be able to understand and learn about other ways of thinking from their fellow Europeans and from different ways of teaching. During the visits they were going to stay with families in order to learn their customs, traditions and also their language. After the project was approved, the British partner said the the familly hosting was imposible due to their laws. This matter was never discussed during the preparation of the Project. The project would familiarise students with the use of foreign language, improve fluency using a communicative approach and promote the sense of belonging to the European Union. Through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the frequent exchange of Spanish and English resources, students would overcome the obstacles in communication and have the opportunity to share knowledge, ideas, opinions and interests related to their daily life at school, home and in their free time whilst discussing their past and hopes for the future. Etwinning platform was chosen to develpo these exchanges but, again, the British partner said the this was imposible due to the data protection laws which made the common work very difficult. Nothing about this problema was said during the former discussions to prepare the Project. None of the proposed objectives were fullfilled due to the previos difficulties. Moreover, only very few of the activities were carried out.