Music, as a fundamental component of human experience, offers a symbolic and relational space for the activation of processes of development of the individual in itself and as part of the community. The different stimuli, practical, theoretical, emotional, are fundamental in the construction and processing of personal, social and cultural meanings. The motivation of UNIC is in this "hyper-educational" value of music, as a source of development of students as individuals and active citizens. The target age of the project (12-13 years) corresponds to a fundamental period in the construction of the self and in the integration of new citizens in society, too often neglected from this point of view. UNIC therefore wants to propose actions that shift the perception of music as "general culture" to fundamental teaching for the integration of the individual student in the local community and in the wider European Community. For this reason the selected horizontal priority is "social and educational value of the European Cultural Heritage", as it is fully in line with the aim of stimulating the acquisition of trans-sectoral skills of cultural awareness and democratic citizenship in the students and to provide the teachers engaged in the musical and artistic teachings innovative and internationalizing skills to make their teaching more effective. UNIC has the following objectives: -creating an innovative approach to music teaching -to make music teaching part of the student's civic and psychological education, promoting through music, social, civic and intercultural skills that promote the growth of the young person as an individual and as a citizen -promote the European musical heritage as an element of integration, dialogue and development -promote local musical traditions as a source of social identity and a sense of belonging -increase the quality of music teaching in schools through staff training, exchange of know-how and internationalization of teaching methods. The project will involve 40 students (10 per partner) and 8 teachers (2 per partner) in exchange and mobility activities, while at least 50 students and 10 teachers per institute will take part in on-site activities. In particular, participation in the exchanges of deaf students (but equipped with an acoustic system) by the German school is foreseen, to encourage integration and inclusion of "diversity" in normal musical activities. UNIC provides different types of activities: -on-site activity: training, research, musical production, practical exercises, content production, musical performances for differentiated audiences -4 exchanges between groups of pupils: with joint practical exercises, cultural and workshop activities, thematic visits, content production, comparison and dialogue -3 joint staff training events: training on innovative teaching methods, e-twinning, use of music in civic education, exchange of good practices and know-how - Dissemination and promotion of UNIC, including through events in schools - return activity, both through the staff and through the students -production of a database within the project website, in which the musical pieces addressed and the works connected to them will merge according to an open source philosophy. The project will use a democratic and bottom-up methodology, to stimulate the full involvement of the participants. The planned activities will avoid notionism and frontality, favoring direct engagement of staff and students in the activities. Team building and gamification strategies are planned for each of the activities. Expected results: - overcoming the generalist and notional approach to musical teaching - integration of musical teaching in matters of civic importance - improvement of teaching, internationalization and exchange of know-how -promotion of European Cultural Heritage for economic and social development, and dissemination of knowledge of the main European musical expressions -contrast to phenomena of discomfort and violence / bullying through the development of critical sense, aesthetic autonomy, intercultural dialogue, respect and collaboration with others. The impact on the medium / long term will be: - greater opening of schools to Europe - improved teaching strategies thanks to the international exchange of know-how and best practices - enhancement of the subjects that contribute to civic education -development of active and aware citizens, able to be fully integrated into European citizenship - greater ability to manage interculturality, diversity and hardship - sensitization on the importance of music teaching as an all-round educational tool - Dissemination of the European Cultural Heritage as an instrument of social education, personal and economic development, motor of social cohesion.
Music, as a fundamental component of the human experience, offers a symbolic and relational space for the activation of development processes of the individual in itself and as part of the community. The different stimuli - practical, theoretical, emotional - are fundamental in the construction and elaboration of personal, social and cultural meanings. The UNIC project was motivated by this 'hyper-educational' value of music, considered a source of development of students as individuals and active citizens. The age of the project's target group (12-13 years old) corresponds to a fundamental period in the construction of one's identity and in the integration of new citizens into society, aspects that are too often neglected in this respect. UNIC therefore proposed activities aimed at shifting the perception of music from a mere "general culture" to a fundamental teaching for the integration of the individual student in the local community and in the wider European Community. The horizontal priority "social and educational value of European Cultural Heritage" was selected, as it is fully in line with the objective of stimulating the acquisition of transversal skills of cultural awareness and democratic citizenship in students and of providing teachers engaged in music and arts teaching with innovative skills in line with international standards to make their teaching more effective. The main objectives achieved by UNIC were the following: -Creation of an innovative approach to music teaching -Music teaching as part of the student's civic and psychological education -Promotion through music of social, civic, intercultural competences, which foster the growth of young people as individuals and citizens -Promotion of the European musical heritage as an element of integration, dialogue and development -Promotion of local musical traditions as a source of social identity and sense of belonging to the local community -Improvement of the quality of music teaching in schools through staff training, exchange of know-how and internationalisation of teaching methods. The project involved 40 students (10 per partner) and 8 teachers (2 per partner) in exchange and mobility activities, while at least 140 students and 20 teachers per institution took part in the premises, more involved following the Covid19 Pandemic. Particular was the participation in the exchanges of deaf students (but equipped with hearing aids) of the German partner school, to encourage integration and inclusion of "diversity" in normal musical activities.The activities carried out within the UNIC project were as follows: On-site and virtual activities: training, research, music production, practical exercises, production of content, musical performances for diverse audiences -4 exchanges between groups of pupils: with joint practical exercises, cultural and workshop activities, thematic visits, production of content, discussion and dialogue (2 in presence and 2 online due to force majeure) -3 joint training events for staff: training on innovative teaching methods, e-twinning, use of music in civic education, exchange of good practices and know-how (2 in presence and 1 online due to force majeure) -Dissemination and promotion of UNIC, also through events in schools -Return activities, both through staff and students -Constant updating of the project website, which will contain the musical pieces addressed and the work related to them according to an open source philosophy. The project was based on a democratic and bottom-up methodology, stimulating the full involvement of the participants. The activities avoided notionality and frontalism and favoured the direct engagement of staff and students in the activities, also through team building and gamification strategies. The results achieved by the UNIC project are as follows: -Overcoming the generalist and notionistic approach of music teaching -Integration of music teaching into civic subjects -Improvement of didactics, internationalisation and exchange of know-how -Promotion of the European Cultural Heritage for economic and social development, and dissemination of knowledge of the main European musical expressions -Counteracting discomfort and violence/bullying through the development of critical sense, aesthetic autonomy, intercultural dialogue, respect and collaboration with others. The medium/long-term impacts will be: -More openness of schools towards Europe -Improved learning strategies thanks to the international exchange of know-how and good practices -Expansion of subjects contributing to civic education -Development of active and aware citizens, able to be fully included in European citizenship - Greater ability to manage interculturality, diversity, discomfort - Raising awareness of the importance of music teaching as a comprehensive educational tool - Dissemination of the European Cultural Heritage as a tool for social education, personal and economic development, an engine of social cohesion.