Context The primary school is the natural place to introduce children to EE, since at this level they have a holistic view of the environment and they are not at the stage where learning is compartimentalised. Introducing critical thinking and problem-solving approaches in EE, especially at primary school level, is fundamental if students are to become skillful in the identification and solution of environmental problems as students and later on as adult citizens and possibly decision-makers. This project is intended to have an impact both inside and outside our schools, by running cross-curricular activities in the classroom and campaigns in the local community. Once children get committed to the responsibility of caring for the environment, we firmly believe that they’ll have the necessary voice to impact their communities as well. We, primary school teachers, want to learn from each other, present our success stories and our challenges and work together to make an impact in our schools and communities. We want to see how EE is tackled in each of the five regions involved and in what way the local realities influence the extent to which EE is given priority in the school curriculum. Objectives O1. To exchange practices and experiences related to EE among primary teachers from different European countries O2. To enable the development of digital materials suitable for the cross-curricular teaching of EE O3. To improve the level of environmental awareness of students O4. To equip pupils with the duty of individual and social responsibility O5. To strengthen the role of the school in our local communities O6. To promote active citizenship and social responsibility Participants We will organise 5 LTTAs which a team of 5 teachers from each sending school will attend. Therefore a total number of 80 mobilities are planned. Participants are mainly primary teachers, but also IT teachers, science teachers and teachers of other subjects, depending on the LTTA. Activities Teachers will work together and create a platform on which they share cross-curricular EE lesson ideas which they will then teach to students from the host school in order to assess its strengths and areas of improvement. All lessons will be attended by participating teachers who will contribute to the analysis. Besides the classes, each LTTA presupposes meetings with local NGOs for presenting environmental issues in each area, cultural and thematic visits, workshops on cross-curricular teaching and on the methodology for the organisation of a local environmental campaign with students. The topics of the meetings are: C1 – Exchange of practices and experiences related to EE; workshops about cross-curricular approaches to EE teaching C2 – Water – scientific approach (data, experiments), source of life, uses, water shortage, water pollution, rules C3 – Earth – scientific approach, problems, earth-related issues, deforestation, endangered species, rules C4 – Air – scientific approach, air pollution, the greenhouse effect, global warming, what the future may look like, acid rain C5 – Building a proactive attitude within pupils – Teacher training workshop, meeting with environmental groups Results The project is intended to produce both tangible and intangible results, which will measure the level of attainment of the proposed objectives. Intangible results: students’ increased environmental awareness and social responsibility, better awareness of similarities and differences among systems of education and approaches to EE (teachers), improved language skills and critical thinking, improved team-work skills, strengthened collaboration among teachers at EU level. Tangible: digital collection of lessons and materials on the 3 main EE-related topics, methodology for involving students in environmental campaigns, presentations of schools / systems of education, workshop materials, students’ work, worksheets, lesson evaluation forms, observation sheets, campaign materials, students’ artwork, brochures, posters, reports, photos, videos. Impact All the partners will use the lessons produced and uploaded on the platform during EE classes during the project and after its completion, which means that the material basis of the schools will improve. Teachers can develop new courses for students using the materials produced in the project. Teachers within the same school will cooperate more, which will strengthen the intra-institutional relations. Since they include digital materials, EE lessons will become more attractive to students, who will feel more motivated to learn. Also, students will develop a sense of initiative and start playing a more active role in their community. Students and their teachers will organize environmental awareness campaigns in the future years. Also, they can organise after-school volunteering clubs, thus turning active citizenship into a common practice at the level of the school.
Context The primary school is the natural place to introduce children to EE, since at this level they have a holistic view of the environment and they are not at the stage where learning is compartmentalised. Introducing critical thinking and problem-solving approaches in EE, especially at primary school level, is fundamental if students are to become skilful in the identification and solution of environmental problems as students and later on as adult citizens and possibly decision-makers. This project was intended to have an impact both inside and outside our schools, by running cross-curricular activities in the classroom and campaigns in the local community. Once children were committed to the responsibility of caring for the environment, they then had the necessary voice to impact their communities as well. We, primary school teachers, learnt from each other, presented our success stories and worked together to make an impact in our schools and communities. We saw how EE was tackled in each of the five regions involved and in what way the local realities influenced the extent to which EE was given priority in the school curriculum. Objectives: O1. Practices and experiences of EE were exchanged by primary teachers from different European countries O2. Digital materials were suitably developed for the cross-curricular teaching of EE O3. The level of environmental awareness of students was improved O4. Pupils were equipped with the duty of individual and social responsibility O5. The role of the school in our local communities was strengthened O6. Citizenship and social responsibility was promoted Participants Representatives from each of the 5 schools attended each of the 5 LTTAs. Participants were mainly primary teachers, but also IT teachers, science teachers and teachers of other subjects, were actively involved. Activities Teachers worked together and created a platform on which they shared cross-curricular EE lesson ideas. These were firstly trialled with students from the host school in order to assess its strengths and areas of improvement before implementing at the LTTA's and being added to the EE e-Leaflet. In addition to the teaching of EE lessons, all LTTAs consisted of meeting with local NGOs, presenting relevant environmental issues, relevant cultural and thematic visits, workshops on cross-curricular teaching and on the methodology for the organisation of a local environmental campaign with students. LTTA topics were: C1 – Exchange of practices and experiences related to EE; workshops about cross-curricular approaches to EE teaching C2 – Water – scientific approach (data, experiments), source of life, uses, water shortage, water pollution, rules C3 – Earth – scientific approach, problems, earth-related issues, deforestation, endangered species, rules C4 – Air – scientific approach, air pollution, the greenhouse effect, global warming, what the future may look like, acid rain C5 – Building a proactive attitude within pupils – Teacher training workshop, meeting with environmental groups Results The project produced both tangible and intangible results, which measured the level of attainment of the objectives. Intangible results: students’ increased environmental awareness and social responsibility, better awareness of similarities and differences among systems of education and approaches to EE (teachers), improved language skills and critical thinking, improved team-work skills, strengthened collaboration among teachers at EU level. Tangible: digital collection of lessons and materials on the 3 main EE-related topics, methodology for involving students in environmental campaigns, presentations of schools / systems of education, workshop materials, students’ work, worksheets, lesson evaluation forms, observation sheets, campaign materials, students’ artwork, brochures, posters, reports, photos, videos, impact report. Impact All partners had a role in developing and analysing the EE lessons during the course of the project thereby improving the material basis of the schools. Teachers now have the opportunity to develop new courses for students using the high quality materials produced in the project. Since they include digital materials, each school's new EE lessons are now more attractive to students and are more motivated to learn. Also, students have developed a sense of initiative and have started playing a more active role in their community. Teachers within the same school now cooperate more, strengthening intra-institutional relations. Due to the success of the project students and their teachers will continue to organise environmental awareness campaigns in the future years thus turning active citizenship into a common practice at the level of the school.