The project »Venturing into Future – Expanding Horizons« is the logical synthesis and further development of the work already done in the field of experiential learning at both partner schools. Alojzij Šuštar Primary School (SI) as the project coordinator, as well as Borge Skole Fredrikstad (NO) as the project partner see this field as one of their main focal points. Both schools have rich past experience in the matter, including a successful joint cooperation. The schools decided to prepare a new project based on the identified need to systemically organise and reflect the conducted activities combined with the perceived lack of appropriate teacher trainings regarding the use of experiential learning in their local environments. The project is conceived in a manner that would support the exchange of good practices and allow for the further development deriving from a profound self-reflection and a theoretical research of the implications of experiential learning. What we hope to do through this process, is to upgrade and expand the existing activities so that they could better support the acquisition and development of relevant high-quality skills and competences in the children that attend our schools. A big emphasis is placed on the strengthening of the professional profile of teachers. By attending international exchanges, conducting work placements allowing them to reflect their own practice and the practice of the receiving institution they will develop their skills and competencies. The extensive work within the project team, continuous cooperation in the scheme of the concurrent eTwinning project, the preparation, implementation and evaluation of activities with the children will lead the teachers to constantly link theory and praxis. Finally, the prepared trainings and seminars for teachers outside the project group on local and international level will force both institutions to consolidate their acquired know-how and reasoning behind it. By cooperating with various professional networks, these seminars will be able to produce the broadest and most sustainable impact of all the project results. Work in the project will connect most intensively both project teams. Certain activities will include entire staff of both institutions. Besides that, students of two grades will be actively involved. In the course of the project 8 younger teachers of both schools will get the opportunity to gain valuable experience of working abroad for a somewhat longer period of time. Shorter but more work intensive visits will provide the opportunity for 6 more experienced teachers to extend their professional networks and work on establishing themselves as authorities in the field. Finally, 8 teachers and 20 students will work on summarising the project, testing some of its results in the course of the 2 final mobilities. Logistical and administrative support will be provided for the included participants by the Institute for Education Research and Development (InERD) that operates within the coordinating institution. InERD will oversee the technical details of the mobilities, work on the proper preparation of the attendants and monitor their progress. In communication with the coordinators at both institutions the InERD will also track the development of the project and prepare recommendations for adaptations and developments during the course of the project. In addition, InERD will also help with the project dissemination that is a rather crucial part of the project. As one of the goals of the project is to establish both institutions as relevant experts in the field of experiential learning, much attention is dedicated to providing opportunities where the project partners will be able to gain access to some of the other interested stakeholders in this field. The main dissemination activities will be the two international conferences as well as two teacher training seminars (one for the teachers in Slovenia and one in the international context of Erasmus+ KA1 projects). All of the planned activities are nicely incorporated in the work and life of both partner institutions. As such, they present a sort of continuity in the field of developing the pedagogical method of experiential learning in the outdoor environments. They also follow the course of encouraging international cooperation and supporting a reflection on the European idea plotted at both schools. As such the project does not represent the first wandering steps into an unknown and on the other hand it does not pretend to aim for the pinnacle of the field. It represents, however, an ambitious and qualitatively relevant leap for both institutions. By consolidating the already trodden path and opening outwards, both schools wish to move from the position of adventurers through a vaguely familiar trail more into the position of guides to others. We wish to venture further and discover new horizons along with their challenges.
The project "Venturing into Future – Expanding Horizons" was prepared and implemented by the project coordinator Alojzij Šuštar Primary School (Ljubljana, SI) and the project partner Borge Skole (Fredrikstad, NO) the logical synthesis and further development of the work already done in the field of experiential and outdoor learning. Both partner schools see the field of teaching and learning in nature as one of their main focal points. They have rich past experience in the matter, including a successful joint cooperation. The schools decided to prepare the project based on the identified need to systemically organize and reflect the conducted activities combined with the perceived lack of appropriate teacher trainings regarding the use of experiential learning in their local environments. Therefore, the project was set up in such a way that, while exchanging good practices, the schools reflect on their own work with the support of each other and upgrade it. Further upgrading of the practice is also encouraged by previously little-known theoretical bases that help to evaluate the practice. In preparing and implementing the project, both schools sought to bring experiential learning to the maximum benefit of pupils with developing and upgrading relevant high-quality competencies that will benefit them later in life. A big emphasis was placed on the strengthening of the professional profile of teachers. By attending international exchanges and conductiong work placements, where teachers took over the tasks in the partner school and meanwhile reflected on their own practice and the practice they took part in, they developed their skills and competencies. The extensive work within the project team, preparation, implementation and evaluation of activities with pupils led teachers to the constant connection of theory and praxis. Finally, the prepared trainings and seminars for teachers outside the project group on local and international level consolidated the acquired know-how of the project partners and also achieved broader and more sustainable impact of all the project results. Work in the project connected most intensively both project teams. Certain activities (presentation of the project and its activities, meetings during the teacher exchange) includeed entire staff of both institutions. Beside that, pupils (mostly 9-11 years old) were actively involved – unfortunately less than originally planned as the exchanges of groups of pupils were canceled due to covid-19 epidemic. In the course of the project 3 Norwegian and 4 Slovenian teachers got the opportunity to gain valuable experience of working abroad for a somewhat longer period of time. Shorter but more work intensive visits of 3 Slovenian and 2 Norwegian teachers were also important. These visits were paying special attention to more specific areas of teacher's work (for example pupils with special needs) and also intended for planning of further project activities. 10 pupils and 4 teachers from each school would participate in the canceled exchanges - at the beginning of 2020, preparations for mobilities were already underway at both schools. With a goal of postponing the exchanges to spring 2021, the project was extended by one year, but the epidemic did not allow for pupils to travel even then. The Institute for Education Research and Development (InERD), which operates within the coordinating institution, was available to the participating teachers for all logistical and administrative issues. InERD took care of the technical organization of travel and, together with the project coordinators of both schools, of preparation of participants and monitoring of project activities. InERD also helped with the dissemination of project results, which is a rather crucial part of the project, as both project partners want to become relevant experts for experiential learning and teaching in nature. The main dissemination activities were the organization of seminars for Slovenian teachers and teacher training seminar for participants in Erasmus + KA1 projects. All activities carried out were nicely incorporated into the work and life of both participating schools. They represented continuity in the development of pedagogical methods as well as the promotion of international cooperation and supporting a reflection on the European idea plotted at both schools. The project is an important but certainly not the last leap on the set path. However, it meant an important qualitative shift in the consolidation of what has already been developed and moving from the position of adventurers through a vaguely familiar trail more into the position of guides to others for both schools. With the project, we ventured forward and discovered new horizons that opened up to us.