ROUTH The main aspect of our project is making citizens think critically. This is representative for a person with self-guidance, self-discipline, a person who reaches the highest level in intellectuality, if he persists in this way. Individuals, who obtain critical and consistent thinking, are being more empathic, reasonable and rational. We want to give them the opportunity, to find out for themselves, as junior citizens who have creative and critical thinking, who realize their capabilities and roles in modern democracy, all the processes of that political system, that affects their lives. Our purpose is to make them understand that they hold their future to their hands, and that they should not allow anyone to manipulate them. A new network of active younger Citizens will emerge from their efforts. Our Youngers will commune every topic of that network in a forum that will be built by them. Our target group of students, aging from 13 to 18 years old,300 in number, will involve every specialization available in each school, both sexes, and mostly youngers who belong to disadvantaged groups.Our intention is to implement a project, that will have a lifetime impact on them, so students will be the core of every activity that we design.Our planning involves 35 teachers from every school. Their role will be to turn the results of our project into long-term practices for our students, at all levels. Teacher’s roles will be coordination and guidance for our students. They will act as an intangible resource for the students. Our objectives are: -Development of thinking critically, how to become a leader, communicational and social skill development. - Activate our youngers to community life issues. -Put the foundation of free thinking and acting -Emerge values such as respecting each other, being tolerant, democratic and active as a citizen. -to forward intercultural learning -Development of cooperation and idea exchanging among students across Europe Main activities The main core of our project will be the four exchanges. During these meetings, students will debate in real time dialogues, presenting their augments, as well as their counterarguments, that they derived from their research, that involved data analysis, situation assessment, performing interviews and role-play participation. The research that will be performed by every team of students , will ensure that the meetings will produce the expected results and that proper information exchange will be made. There are 5 exchanges with the following topics: C1- Immigrating issue C2 – Democracy and human rights violation C3 – Discrimination and it’s forms. C4 – Social motivation C5 - Joint Staff Methods used: Prior to each exchange, the groups of students will process each topic that will be presented there. There will be an established and scientific data collection methodology that will provide everything that is necessary, in order to present correctly the situation that is of their duty. To achieve this, each team is required to perform interviewing, contact personnel of several NGO’s that participate in related actions , data collection and analysis, assessment and decision making. Every research work will be presented by the students, as the exchange occurs. They will compare their data with the data of the other countries and come to conclusions. They will take part in several debates and think tank activities that will boost their ways of thinking critically. They will get in contact with local politicians and local services stuff, in order to analyze and discuss those issues. Impact Each student will become autonomous and will enhance the ability to think critically. He or she will learn about rights and obligations in the European and local environment, will increase civic involvement, will form an intercultural conscience. Finally the project will shape students and make them better professionally, personally and interpersonally . Students will learn to respect other cultures, civilizations, they will teach and be taught tolerance as well as respecting the fellow human. They will realize that being active citizens is a one way road, if we want Europe to succeed. Material assets, such as records of each debate, researches, each presentation and activities that make students think critically, will be communed in the best possible way. We expect to expand the impact of our project via the on line platform, the dissemination meetings and the tangible assets, exhibited on a large scale of physical spaces. Our intangible assets, will be posted in any on line space This project, is designed to be beneficiary not only for the students and teachers involved, but for the local community, authorities and ngo’s that will be a part of it. Teaching stuff will enrich its material and will improve communicational skills. They will develop their team working abilities and organize themselves much better.
In all countries which participated in the project, manifestations of disinformation leading to intolerance, hatred, violence and other discrimination forms of disadvantaged groups and minorities are visible. The covid-19 pandemic and Russian aggression against Ukraine showed us during the project duration the urgent need of development of critical thinking skills of our students. Intolerance can be fought by obtain critical and consistent thinking, by being more empathic, reasonable and rational. The project was aimed on more self-guidance, self-discipline of students. Gaining critical thinking skills in unevitable for the survival of modern democracies to be procted against manipalation by extremist politicians, fellow citizens and peers. Studnets need to know that they can automously decide about their future and need to become active citiziens able of networking. For that we intended to develop their respecting each other, being tolerant, democratic and active as a citizen, being tolerant with multicultural skills and knowledge. Participating students were teenagers of both sexes, plenty of them were disadvantaged. During their participation in the project, they worked on their critical thinking skills with the hope of the teachers of lifetime impact on them. We involved tens of teachers from each participating school into the TMs, LTTAs and the activities between them. Teachers tried to give the students as much autonomy as possible and performed a gentle coordination and monitoring being more consultants and observers to foster the personal development of the students. During LTTAs students followed the project application in detail and debated, presented their their augments and counterarguments, they derived knowledge from their research, that involved data analysis. Situation assessment, performing interviews and role-play participation were typical partial activities. The LTTA topics included the immigration, democracy and human rights violation, discrimination, and social motivation. The last LTTA was devoted to project evaluation done by participating teachers. Students discussed and explored each topic before each LTTA. The used methodology included collecting data, their evaluation, summary. The date collection included interviews with NGOs, critical assessment and making decisions. Their research work was presented. During LTTAs data from participating schools were compared and debated to foster critical thinking. Students participating in the project developed skills and attitudes and widened their knowledge in the field of critical thinking, interculturality, tolerance, antiracism, fighting discrimination, active citizienship, dealing with fake news, respect to other cultures, and English language skills. Participating teachers developed their methodology of teaching critical thinking and improved their language skills. Participating schools profoted by local and international networking. Within the project plenty of presentations were produced, a YouTube channel documenting project activities, an eTwinning project, posts on social media etc. There will be long-term benefits for the lives of students being able to use critical thinking in their lives, gaining methodologies concerning critical thinking for teaching approaches of the participating teacher, development of local and European networks of the participating schools included the non-governmental sector. .