Culture on the Stage

In this project we made sure that students enjoyed and experienced different cultures as well as practiced effective communicative skills through drama which made them able to hold compare each other's historical and literature backgrounds. Our project focused on theatre to help them to learn and practise the target language and to have the knowledge of different cultures by interacting with each other. During first meeting in Latvia, students wrote and acted a play all done by themselves and drama teacher. In the second mobility inTurkey, partners acted out the different parts of the play called The “Importance of Being Earnest” as the last step of the project mobility; characters were acted out by pupils from different countries. The reason why we chose this play is that it emphasizes on honesty which is one of the universal values. It's not enough to catch up with the rapidly changing world alone. Schools and teachers need each other to learn more, interact effectively and explore new perspectives. As teachers, we are sure that, for most pupils, this has been a springboard to new individual experiences abroad. So we enabled them to enjoy face-to-face English communication in real-life situations, interact with other cultures, and build up a good relationship with their European fellows in a comfortable atmosphere. English was the common language for the whole project and communication. Multilingualism is one of the cornerstones of the European project and a powerful symbol of the EU's aspiration to be united in diversity. The EU has set the goal that every citizen should have the opportunity to acquire at least two foreign languages at an early age. Meetings were opportunities to live “EU citizenship”, they brought Europe closer to schools. This project was organized with modern ICT tools (between meetings). Workshops were held to make sure that all participants were able to use and promote social and communication skills in a proper and modern way. We used email, social networks, video conferences, twitter, Instagram, etc. The fact that learning is not only theoretical, but involves hand-on experience, keeps students focused and engaged. We also used applications such as photo gallery and file archive on eTwinning since it is the European schools “safer“ online meeting platform. So there was a teacher social network group, a social network group (mainly for pupils), e-mail/ Facebook among coordinators/ teachers. All these channels ensured a direct communication, enhanced collaborative bonds and an immediate sharing of work throughout the project. The use of social networks is popular among pupils, so their motivation to contribute remained high throughout the project. On this social network pupils shared information about their historical, cultural and religious places, traditional cuisine, folklore songs and dances, local libraries and their life style. Participants (pupils and teachers) were chosen on the basis of their motivation. For sure, the motivations were different, enabling us to get a very heterogeneous group. Some took part in the project to learn more about language, others to share historical knowledge and cultural heritage, with other participants or to learn more about communication. Each partners' group consisted of people concerning teachers, learners & staff, but 3 students & 2 accompanying persons took part in each mobility (no Spanish students to Turkey).All partners are high schools and the pupils are aged 13-19.Our project activities were chat of the chairs(about the characters, the time, the costumes and the plot of the play), workshops about changing some parts of the play (such as the ending),presenting cultural and traditional values (such as food, folk dance and songs, costumes),having a chat with an expert on drama, presenting the drama activities of the schools and local communities of each partner, taking rehearsals with different performers from different countries, Performing the play to the families and other students in the region. According to the application form would host an LTT meeting but because of the pandemic just three countries were able to host the meetings. The dissemination was a running process as the results of the activities and mobilities were regularly presented on the project website and official websites of the participating schools. The development of the project was visible on the web and social media of the project, in school, local and regional newspapers and regional TV. Some results of the project (photo exhibitions, posters, presentations and other materials) were shown at schools in the cities of the partners to other students, teachers and parents, local community and local authorities. The outcome/product could serve as a recommendation for creative and innovative learning teaching materials. At the end of the project participating institutions transferred, and disseminated the achievements to similar institutions in their countries.