Modernisation and quality are key words defining education nowadays. Growing development in present society made it compulsory to adjust school offers and forms of delivery to the requirements of the competitive 21st century. Five European schools have partnered up to design activities, methods, tools, materials that are to support students in their English language learning. English is the leading language in various sectors so English language competences offer easy access to global opportunities in education, marketplace, boosting professional and personal development. Participants Project target group includes students aged 13-18 with basic English skills (A2 level). The project activities will address approximately 250 pupils as direct participants in each partner school. Target group of teachers in project team will consist of English language teachers whose expertise and experience in English language teaching, language projects and/or projects through English, project management skills will ensure its success. Besides foreign language teachers, exchanges will be attended by a person with key role in project team, contact person or, if not possible, the legal representative or another person can take over responsibility. 110 students and 32 teachers will participate in 4 transnational exchanges; participants will be selected from target groups on a set procedure. Objectives 1. develop students' interest in and motivation for reading activities; (minimum 50% of target group) 2. foster instances that stimulate and aim at developing students' creativity and English language skills; (minimum 75% of the target group); 3. cultivate critical, creative thinking, personal and social capability among participant students; ; (min. 60% target group) 4. enhance comprehension of their own culture in European context; (minimum 70%) 5. promote European values and positive attitude towards cultural exchange; 6.boost language teachers’ competences and improve the pedagogical portfolio of the English teachers; 7. design English language teaching aids and share them with foreign language teachers in own countries and across Europe. Activities Project objectives will be achieved through local and international activities. We planned 4 international students exchanges: C2 – March 2019 - Latvia: Developing literary and interpretative skills through stories C3 - May 2019 - Greece: Teaching reading and critical thinking skills through stories and digital resources C4 – November 2019 - Romania: Teaching writing skills and creativity through stories and humour-based approches C5 - April 2020 - Hungary: Teaching speaking skills the fun way Exchanges will comprise topic-related seminars and workshops, cultural activities, attending lessons. On the scope of project management and evaluation, we will organise C1 in Turkey for only teachersin November 2018. The main aim is to work on final evaluation stage of project and draw up final report. Methodology Project management will rely on planning, organisation, implemetation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of results activities and events. Planning stage: we identified common needs and established the aims of the project. In the organisation stage, we will elaborate action, monitoring, dissemination plans, timeline of events, distribution of tasks and necessary resources in terms of participants, time, materials, budget. Implementation stage we will deal with organization of selection, preparation and participation in exchanges, production of final products. The dissemination plan will outline the form of delivery, channels, target groups, the results and activities within our partnership and beyond it, so as to impact the target groups, the institutions, local/regional/national/European, materials and resources. Project evaluation will be done for each planned project activity through questionnaires, group discussions, observation forms, number of participants, number of products and materials created, and its results will be included in the impact study. Impact and results - Students are expected to become more motivated, self-confident in their ability to use English, improve language skills and intercultural competence; literary competence,reading, speaking, writing, interpretive, critical thinking skills and creativity. - Teachers more focused on modernisation, improve team work, increased degree of confidence to set up new international projects. English teachers exchange experience, good practice on school curriculum, teaching and learning methods to deliver key competences. - Schools become more visible in their community, develop their human resources, vary curricular offer. Tangible results include: Compendium of literary theory for secondary school students; Collection of story-related activities; Curriculum for optional English language class, project website, project etwinning space.
The two-year project is over. Five European schools have worked together to develop activities, methods, tools and materials to help students learn their English. Participants The target group of the project included students aged 13 to 18 with basic English language skills (A2 level), as well as students from Latvia who study according to a facilitated program. The project activities were attended by an average of 45 - 200 students in each partner school. The target group of project team teachers consisted of English language teachers with knowledge and experience in teaching English, language projects and / or projects through English, project management skills. In addition to foreign language teachers, the exchange was also attended by a person with a key role in the project team or contact person, and people accompanying the students. 88 students and 64 teachers participated in 4 transnational exchanges; participants will be selected from the target groups in a certain order. Goals 1. to develop students' interest and motivation for reading activities; (at least 50% of the target group) 2. to support stimulating cases aimed at developing students' creativity and English language skills; (at least 75% of the target group); 3. to develop students' critical, creative thinking, personal and social abilities; ; (at least 60% target group) 4. to raise awareness of their own culture in a European context; (at least 70%) 5. to promote European values and a positive attitude towards cultural exchanges; 6. to increase the competence of language teachers and to improve the pedagogical portfolio of English language teachers; 7. Design English language teaching materials and share them with foreign language teachers in their countries and across Europe. Activities The goals of the project were achieved through local and international activities. There were 4 international student exchanges, unfortunately the Greek team did not participate in Hungary due to the pandemic: C2 - March 2019 - Latvia: Development of literary and interpretive skills through stories C3 - May 2019 - Greece: Teaching reading and critical thinking skills through stories and digital resources C4 - November 2019 - Romania: Teaching writing skills and creativity through stories and humor-based approaches C5 - April 2020 - Hungary: Teaching speaking skills in a fun way Within the framework of the exchange, related seminars and workshops, cultural events, class attendance took place. In the field of project management and evaluation, a C1 meeting was held in November 2018 in Turkey for teachers only. The main goal was to work on the project plan and time allocation. Methodology Planning phase: we identified common needs and set project objectives. During the organizational phase, activities, monitoring, dissemination plans, event schedules, division of tasks and the necessary resources in terms of participants, time, materials and budget were developed. During the implementation phase, we were engaged in organizing the selection, preparation and participation in the exchange, production of final products. The dissemination plan will describe the mode of delivery, channels, target groups, results and activities within and outside our partnership to influence target groups, institutions, local / regional / national / European, materials and resources. The project evaluation was carried out for each planned project activity using questionnaires, group discussions, observation forms, number of participants, number of products and materials developed, and the results will be included in the impact study. Impact and results - Students have become more motivated, self-confident in their ability to use English, improved language skills and intercultural competence; literary competence, reading, speaking, writing, interpretation, critical thinking skills and creativity. - Teachers have modernized their teaching methods, improved teamwork, increased confidence in the creation of new international projects. English teachers exchanged experiences, best practices in school practice, teaching and learning methods to provide basic skills. - Schools have become more visible in their society, developing human resources, changing the offer of curricula. Project results: compilation of literature theory for secondary school students; story collection; English language optional classroom curriculum, project website, project etwinning space.