“On the edge” is a interdisciplinary project. Our 11-13 year old students will be shown the beauty of learning, intensify their curiosity and broaden interests as well as increase their level of knowledge and skills by acknowledging that there are many interesting topics hidden in the school subjects. We want to reveal and detect students’ undiscovered interests, hobbies and, even though they’re still very young, maybe show them the perspective of a job career by visiting or working closely with local businesses/ institutions. We want to offer students living in low income households, have special educational needs or belong to ethnic minority groups, the opportunity of experiencing other cultures and meeting their peers in other countries. Our students are on the edge of leaving primary school. Through the study of a broad range of subject areas and a hands-on approach, this is the perfect timing for our students to find out that school subjects can be taught and learned in free, not stressing ways, using visual aids, group work, project methods. Therefore, we’ll have Portugal on the edge of Arts and Music; Romania on the edge of Science and Maths; Poland on the edge of Biology and Ecology; Germany on the edge of Sports and Technology; Finland on the edge of Nature and Culture; and Greece on the edge of the European Cultural Heritage. The incorporation of the activities into existing syllabuses will inspire students and give them new and exciting insights into familiar subject areas. We want all the learning in this project to be contextualized and made relevant to life beyond the classroom. That is why relating learning to real-life settings and the world of work is a central feature. “We are creating the European Union but we are forgetting to create the Europeans”, someone once said, that’s why the international teams are the foundation of this project. By working in international teams students will raise awareness of the rich cultural and social diversity within Europe and enrich their development in a way that is impossible in the traditional classroom environment. By organising students this way and having them working in an international environment, they will increase the sense of self-confidence, develop social and literacy skills by sharing ideas, knowledge, tasks, materials, etc. and learn a foreign language in a true situation of communication. This project also aims at stimulating the imagination of our students and lead to a deeper love of learning and understanding of the continent which they inhabit. By striving to communicate with their teammates, students will realise the importance of learning a foreign language. By mingling and working together during a mobility, students will compare themselves, find similarities and differences, and by overcoming language barriers and cultural differences they will increase their level of competence in foreign languages. This multinational approach will produce a deeper understanding of important and complex concepts such as citizenship and cultural identity and hopefully it will facilitate the creation of a large network of international contacts and a more positive attitude towards the European project and the EU values. We believe that straightening these ties is of the utmost importance in the times we’re living. This project is a vehicle for professional development. Working with colleagues abroad gives staff the opportunity to share ideas, compare conclusions and find solutions together. Sharing good practice is at the heart of this project. Exposure to different teaching methodologies, education systems and classroom cultures will develop the integration of the European dimension in teaching. It will provide teachers with another perspective. One of the legacies of this project will be the emergence of long-lasting sustainable professional relationships between all the partners. We will encourage an intensive exchange of teaching methods and good practices, creative thinking and media use. Our teachers will cooperate closely, plan and carry out project work together and share its results. We will involve parents, local communities and other partners. Schools will increase their ability to work in international projects. The opportunity to interact with institutions all over Europe and the sharing of the successful results of this project will give our school headteachers not only new insights of the state of education in Europe but it can also reach local decision-makers, the ones who have the power to change the school policies the following years. The title of this project “On the edge” should bring to our minds the idea that beyond the edge, there is a world with thousands of possibilities that students may benefit from. So “the edge” is “a door” to the unknown, fascinating, full of curiosities world. The only thing students need to do is to open it.
“On the edge” is an interdisciplinary project for 11-13 years old students. We tried to show our students the beauty of learning, intensify their curiosity and broaden interests, as well as increase their level of knowledge and skills by acknowledging that there are many interesting topics hidden in the school subjects. Even though our students are still very young, we tried to uncover their interests, hobbies and show them the perspective of a future job career by visiting or working closely with local businesses and institutions. Some of our students living in low-income households, having special educational needs or belonging to ethnic minority groups, had the opportunity of experiencing other cultures and meeting their peers, both online or in the partner countries. Participating students are on the edge of a new life, preparing to leave primary school. Through the study of a broad range of subject areas and a hands-on approach, our students found out that school subjects can be taught and learned in free, not stressing ways, using visual aids, group work, and project methods. Therefore, we had Portugal on the edge of Arts and Music; Romania on the edge of Science and Maths; Poland on the edge of Biology and Environment; Germany on the edge of Sports and Technology; Finland on the edge of Nature and Culture; and Greece on the edge of the European Cultural Heritage. The incorporation of the activities into the existing syllabuses has inspired our students and gave them new and exciting insights into familiar subject areas. We wanted all the learning in this project to be contextualized and made relevant to life beyond the classroom. That is why relating learning to real-life settings and the world of work was a central feature. “We are creating the European Union but we are forgetting to create the Europeans”, someone once said. That is why the international teams were at the foundation of this project. By working in international teams, students raised awareness of the rich cultural and social diversity within Europe and enriched their development in a way that is impossible in the traditional classroom environment. By organizing students this way, and having them work in an international environment, they increased the sense of self-confidence, and developed social and literacy skills by sharing ideas, knowledge, tasks, materials, etc. while learning a foreign language in a true situation of communication. This project also aimed at stimulating the imagination of our students and lead to a deeper love of learning and understanding of the continent which they inhabit. By striving to communicate with their teammates, students realized the importance of learning a foreign language. By mingling and working together during a mobility, students compared themselves, found similarities and differences, and by overcoming language barriers and cultural differences they increased their level of competence in foreign languages. This multinational approach produced a deeper understanding of important and complex concepts, such as citizenship and cultural identity and led to the creation of a large network of international contacts and a more positive attitude towards the European project and the EU values. We believe that straightening these ties is of the utmost importance in the times we’re living. This project also tried to be a vehicle for professional development. Working with colleagues abroad gave staff the opportunity to share ideas, compare conclusions and find solutions together. Sharing good practice, being exposed to different teaching methodologies, education systems and classroom cultures has certainly helped develop the integration of the European dimension in our teaching. One of the legacies of this project is the emergence of long-lasting sustainable professional relationships between all the partners. We tried to encourage the exchange of teaching methods and good practices, creative thinking and media use. Some of our teachers cooperated closely, planned and carried out project tasks together. We involved parents, local communities and other partners whenever possible. Schools increased their ability to work in international projects. The opportunity to interact with institutions all over Europe and the sharing of the successful results of this project gave our school headteachers new insights of the state of education in Europe. The title of this project - “On the edge” - brings to our minds the idea that beyond the edge, there is a world with thousands of possibilities that students may benefit from. So “the edge” is the "door” to the unknown, fascinating, full of curiosities world. The only thing students need to do is to open it.