6 Primary/Lower-secondary schools from 6 different countries (IT, FR, LT, MT, PT, UK), representing diverse European pedagogical traditions, have joined in the MELT partnership (Managing Emotions in Teaching and Learning-Building Inclusive Learning Environments) in the conviction that inclusive learning environments can only be developed if two converging processes are started: on the one hand, it is necessary to outline a common professional profile for teachers in Europe. The challenges that teachers have to face are due to two main concurrent factors: changed and complex pupils’ needs and curricula which often do not respond to different learning contexts and the fact that teachers themselves are often not aware of their actual training needs, due to the absence of a clear professional profile at both national and international level. On the other hand, MELT schools believe that the principle of social inclusion, one of the goals of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, cannot be translated into practice unless we build a pattern of transversal inclusive competences for all pupils. Although these competences are already contained in the articulation of the 8 Key competences for lifelong learning ( Dec 2006 Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council) and in the transpositions that each partner country has made of them, most teaching practice is still based on a widely spread approach which plans learning pathways for most pupils (the so-called normally intelligent pupils) first and differentiates the routes for those experiencing difficulties (special-needs pupils) later. The cultural change we would like to propose inverts that approach and seeks to identify a hard core of competences for all pupils, to be taught to all pupils. To this purpose, MELT proposes to carry out a two-fold participatory action research involving around 40 % of teachers and 50 % of pupils (mostly 10-14 years-of-age) of the partners schools with the aim of: -perceiving training needs of European teachers with regards to inclusion; -outlining a teacher's professional profile at both national and international level; -implementing a training pathway for teacher trainers centred on the teacher’s profile. -identifying inclusive competences for European pupils; -implementing learning activities on inclusive competences. The MELT research will be developed through cooperation at distance and joint short-term staff training events. A scientific committee of experts and coordinators of the partner institutions will guide and assess all the process: initial surveys, reviews of education systems, teachers and pupils’ mobilities, final products. Teams of teachers will contribute to outline the characteristics of the inclusive teacher’s profile and identify the pupils’ inclusive competences, as well as receive training from the experts of the coordinating institution during mobilities. A professional profile of the inclusive teacher, a teacher training protocol and a map risks of social exclusion in the partner schools will be produced. During short-term exchanges, pupils from all the partner schools will be involved in international learning experiences focused on inclusive competences. By travelling across Europe, pupils will work together through expressive means such as music, visual arts, drama etc. that can better favour the acquisition of competences such as cooperating, participating, being able to express one’s emotions, solving problems, acting autonomously and responsibly. Each host school will create authentic tasks in art subjects focused on inclusive competences, for which MELT will have built proper assessment tools (rubrics, self-assessment grids, storyboard). An e-twinning project will accompany the partners’work at distance. On the Twinspace, pupils will develop activities about how to give words to one’s emotions and feelings. The MELT outputs will be disseminated internally and externally, during the project development and at its completion, through seminars and special events to be held in the different countries at the end of mobilities, during a final conference, through a digital publication, a MELT blog, a website and an annual Newsletter. Pupils' works will be included in the MELT Twinspace. The most significant results will be uploaded in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform. All the didactic material (dossier of authentic tasks and assessment tools) will be collected and made available through the project website. The training activities for teachers will be used in internal initial or in-service training in the partner schools and through school networking. Since MELT seeks to identify and address teachers’ training needs and outline a system of inclusive competences for pupils, the results are expected to have a strong impact on the partner institutions' learning environments after project completion.
6 Primary/Lower-secondary schools from 6 different countries (IT, FR, LT, MT, PT, UK), representing diverse European pedagogical traditions, joined in the MELT partnership (Managing Emotions in Teaching and Learning-Building Inclusive Learning Environments) in the conviction that inclusive learning environments can be more easily developed by addressing teachers’ training needs on the one hand, and by devising activities based on transversal inclusive competences for all pupils on the other. The partner schools agreed that, having a clearly outlined professional profile at both national and European level could help define the competences teachers need in order to face the growing challenges posed by diverse and complex learning contexts. At the same time, they believed that involving pupils in the teaching/ learning process by having them reflect on what helps or hinders learning and sharing among partners a set of transdisciplinary activities for students could boost interest and motivation in all learners. Following the above indications, the MELT partner schools carried out a two-fold participatory action research involving teachers and pupils (mostly 10-14 years-of-age) and developing the following activities: -they conducted surveys with teachers and parents about the problems teachers face nowadays; -they compared the education systems of the partner countries in terms of initial/in-service training, teachers’ rights and duties analysing national ethical codes, contracts, laws, and devised a proposal for a European professional teacher profile; - they organised staff mobilities with training sessions, job shadowing activities and MELT research meetings; -they involved pupils in the definition of an ideal teacher profile; - within pupils’ mobilities, they involved the participants in pilot activities on transdisciplinary competences based on the hosting school’s best practises. The MELT research was developed through cooperation at distance and joint short-term staff training events. A scientific committee of experts and coordinators of the partner institutions guided and assessed all the process: initial surveys, reviews of education systems, teachers and pupils’ mobilities, final products. Teams of teachers cooperated to outline the characteristics of the inclusive teacher’s profile, prepared the pupils' inclusive activities, and received training from various experts during the mobilities. In the short-term exchanges, pupils from all the partner schools were involved in international learning experiences focused on inclusive competences. By travelling across Europe, pupils worked together through expressive means such as music, visual arts, drama etc. aimed at the acquisition of competences such as cooperating, participating, being able to express one’s emotions, solving problems, acting autonomously and responsibly. Each host school created authentic tasks in art subjects focused on inclusive competences. A Europass certificate was issued to all participants after mobilities. A MELT 6-part poster was filled in by pupils with the highlights of each mobility experience. An e-twinning project accompanied the partners’ work at distance. On the Twinspace, pupils collected their thoughts about learning and about their ideal teacher. Pupils also took part in a competition to design the project logotype. The main MELT outputs were disseminated internally and externally, during the project development and at its completion, through seminars and special events held in the different countries at the end of mobilities. Because of the Covid-19 pandemics, the two final mobilities and an international dissemination conference were held online. Although the virtual mobilities could not replace the real experience, at dissemination level the conference proved very successful, since more teachers than if it had been in presence could take part in it. The project activities and its step-by-step project are carefully recorded in the MELT blog, and in the two Newsletters. The MELT website contains the MELT research and its outputs, which have been also uploaded in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform. The results of MELT are expected to have a strong impact on the partner institutions' learning environments after project completion. The research on the teachers’ training needs and the European teacher profile, together with the input from the pupils’ work on their ideal teacher can be used both by institutions and single teachers to organise/choose in-service training and work on the teacher/learner relationship. The set of transdisciplinary activities shared among the partnership and put to test during the mobilities will become part of the partner schools’ practices to help build inclusive environments.