This project has been developed based on an idea to analyse three different European education systems (French, German and Swedish) all of which have, at different times, been held up as models of excellence. The idea of this project therefore is to examine if these different national systems can teach us any lessons that would be helpful in improving educational practice across Europe. The project has been conceived in the context of growing Euro-scepticism and so one of its significant aspirations is to foster a growing European consciousness amongst our students. The main objective of this project is for our students to devise and file a European Citizen's Initiative in order to improve the European School system. Only one European Citizen's Initiative will be officially presented, therefore the work of the other groups will be gathered on a website. There will also be an exhibition at the end of the project to present all students’ work. This will constitute the second significant outcome of the project. About 90 15 to18 year-old students from 3 different countries (France, Germany and Sweden) will directly participate in the project (one class in France, one in Sweden and two in Germany). The teaching teams along with the staff of the participating schools as well as parents, neighbouring schools and local businesses will also be involved. The main activities will be divided into two: - In the first year, the students will study the 3 different school systems in a comparative way in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each. To do so, students from each country will begin with a general on-site investigation. They will then organise 2 “German”, “Swedish” or “French” days at school to apply an experimental methodology and start the research period. This phase should lead to oral presentations in English to the rest of the groups at the end of the year, during a tri national meeting in Stockholm. - In the second year, the students will first study how a law is created in the European Union during a second international meeting in Müllheim. During this time, they will choose the main issues they want to address and work on for the rest of the year. They will then develop their European Citizen’s Initiatives in various fields and will present them to their peers at the end of the year. Gathered one last time in Villers-Cotterêts, the students will elect the best proposal and will then go to Brussels to present it to European deputies. To devise a European Citizen’s Initiative, we will use both comparative and experimental methodologies during the first year, identifying strengths and weaknesses of each system and testing other countries’ practices. During the whole project, the students will work in tri-national groups with constant exchanges between the partners from different countries through available digital means. As well as the European Citizen’s Initiative designed by the students, we will create a website specifically aimed at logging the ongoing works and presentations of all of the students; this will provide a record of their thought process and of the different steps of the project. This project aims at developing the understanding amongst our students of how the European Union works, while also strengthening their feeling of belonging to Europe. Finally, thanks to the exchanges with the other countries and the different trips the students will make, this project should encourage mobility, both for their future studies and in their professional life. Throughout this project, we will be very keen to share the progress and results of the project to local communities. The three countries will contact local medias and various organisations, such as Europe Direct, to promote the European project. We will also rely on our links with surrounding schools (especially the "REVE" network in France, and the University of Freiburg in Germany).
The project entitled « Building together tomorrow’s school » was born thanks to a joint thought of the partners on their school systems, and the will of each of them to make them evolve. Meanwhile, we noticed a growing loss of interest for the European institutions by some parts of the population, and this reinforced the collegial work between the partners in order to raise the European citizen conscience of our students. The main goal was to create and submit a European citizens’ initiative about the school system, written together to the European Commission. This proposition is the reflection of the collaborative work done during the mobilities between the three countries, but also the result of a voting process. In that, the students from the three countries have learnt, beyond the research, argumentation and presentation methods, the law’s mechanism and the work in commissions. The final citizens’ initiative is then the fruit of both an intellectual and experimental works, both constituent of their training as young European citizens. The run of the project followed the working scheme elaborated beforehand with the partners when we wrote it as much as possible. Indeed, the first step was based on the ambassadors’ experimentations during the first mobilities. The later had the opportunity to discover new systems, news working methods, often far from their own system. This led to a reflexive work on their own system and analysis work on the strengths and weaknesses of each one. This step also incited the French school, with a view to broadcasting the project within the whole school and as announced beforehand, to organize two thematic days: a “Swedish day” and a “German day”. These two days were highly successful and appreciated among the staff and students, allowing then the experiment to be collective. The feedbacks, in the form of questionnaires, allowed the students to asses which point could be improved, mainly in terms of food or the use of Information and communications technology. The mobilities have all been realized as announced, except for the last one which could not take place because of the Covid19 pandemic. The tri-national experiment process during the mobilities in Sweden and in Germany allowed the students to get grips with their respective thematic and topics. However, the weak point remains the communication between the partners during the intermediate phases, probably not enough explained by the teachers, and not imposed by a “real” need of communicating. The fact remains that the students were able to communicate and work together during the mobilities. This complementarity between the students has especially been highlighted during the oral presentations, each of them making their contribution. The second part of the project was about the process to create a law. Thanks to the working strategies developed, the students have experimented this way of working in commissions themselves, from the presentation to the argumentation, and even the debate. In that, the educational objectives set beforehand were reached, and allowed the students to progress in these abilities. The final activity aiming at electing the citizens’ initiative could take place, but in an online way. The students had the possibility to finalize their work, and present it to all of the partners, along with some “guest stars” during two online sessions. They also proceeded to the vote thanks to digital tools. The proposition which received the most support turns out to be entitled: “Equal treatment for everyone”. The outcomes obtained are rather encouraging in terms of progression on the working strategies, collaborative work, oral fluency and self-confidence. On a long term, we hope the students who participated in the project will consider mobility as an advantage in their higher education studies or their professional lives.