The accomplishment of our project is based on the need of the involved institutions. The core topic of the programme is the exploration of music in the past and in the present. Students nowadays do not feel the importance of learning music and singing and they are less motivated in doing so. That is why we made up a programme in which we would like to get familiar with new teaching methods and as a result of these methods we could regain the motivation and enthusiasm of our pupils. For that we searched for partners in the European Union who has best practices in teaching music and singing and are willing to share these information, but also eager to get familiar with the well-known but a little bit faded way of teaching called Kodály-method. The project is divided into two years, the past and the present. We would like to discover our past, the origin of music by searching for folk songs and learning folk dances which are in a close relationship with them and we also have to mention folk musical instruments which are rarely used nowadays. Children will do these discoveries and present the results they got. They will search for information about folk music collectors who had a great task in the past to preserve the values for later generations. In the second year the pupils will do exactly the same but in the present. They will collect information about modern music, and modern musical instruments. They will also introduce their favourite band or singer. There will be a Just Dance competition and a Cup song contest. With these activities their motivation will be increased. During the common work their comprehension in mother tongue and in the target language will develop. They can make good friends with their pals abroad. During the mobilities they will introduce what they found after the researches and how they learn music and singing. They can become self-confident as the last project product will be a performance, a musical-like show for which they will write the text and search for music they can sing. The pupils will stay at host families during the mobilities so they will see the everyday life of a foreign family. They will have to use the language to make themselves understood and express their feelings and thoughts. They can be part of another culture which enriches their inner world. Teachers will also play an important role in the project as they are the facilitators of the children who will help them in the realization of the project activities. But they will have the chance to get familiar with the new methods and they can make use of it in their later work to enrich their lessons. Methodological renewal is also guaranteed by experiencing the best practices of the partners. It is hoped that participating in a cross-border project all the participants (pupils, teachers and parents) will benefit and make use of the reached results and will be open minded and rich in emotions and active citizens of the European Community.
The need for this project was a common desire of both halves in the partnership. They chose music for their theme and its eploration in the past and the present. It was clear for them that pupils nowadays do not pay much attention towards learning music and singing and they are not so motivated in that. It was the reason to create this programme in which we wanted to get familiar with new teaching methods and as a result through these methods we could regain children’s motivation and enthusiasm. In the realiziation of this task the first step was to find partners in the European Union who had best practices in teaching music and singing. The participants showed and shared these new pedagogic methods and the well-known Kodály-method. Originally the project was planned for two years and divided into two part. The aim of the first one was presenting the past and the second one was to deal with music in the present. The origin of music is folk songs so we examined them together with folk dances and the traditional instruments which are rarely used these days. Connected to folk songs the children created presentations about folk songs, their features, and they also talked about folk song collectors. They sang not only their own folk songs but they collected information (text and notes) and sent these to their pals abroad. So the children had the chance to learn foreign folk songs which was challenging to them. In a strong connection with folk songs the pupils learnt their own folk dances and during the mobilities they taught the steps to their friends and danced together. During some activities they could listen to lectures about the origin and features of folk instruments. In the second year the pupils gathered information about modern music. They also created portfolios about modern musical instruments and modern music. They introduced their favourite bands and singers. The pupils could show their talent in Just Dance competition and a Cup song contest. As a result of the Covid-19 crisis the final few months of the project were postponed. In the prolonging we searched for the best way to complete the project. Originally we intended to perform a musical for which the pupils already found and learnt music but the series of lockdowns made it difficult and had to be modified. Unfortunatelly the final meeting where the musical would have been showed was dismissed and as a result the final products a musical video and performance were realized by the involved partners in the home countries. All the listed activities raised children’s motivation and enthusiasm. During the joint work their understanding in mother tongue and in the target language increased. They made good partnerships abroad. Taking part in the mobilities the pupils introduced the result of their research and how they learn music and singing. They stayed at host families during the project meetings so they had a glance in the everyday life of a foreign family. They had to use the English to make themselves understood and express their feelings and thoughts. They could be part of another culture which enriched their inner world. The teachers had a significant role in the project as they fulfilled the role of facilitators who helped the pupils during the realization of the project tasks. The colleagues also could get familiar with new teaching methods and they tried to insert these good practices in their everday work to make their lessons vivid. This way our aims in methodological renewal were carried out. The cooperation between the partners was the base for another common project with extended topic with more partners. We think participating in cross-border programmes all the involved people (children, colleagues and parents) benefited and made use of the experiences and became open minded and rich in emotions and active citizens of the European Community.