Our schools are committed to advancing European integration from North to South and from East to West. The majority of our students identify themselves with our cholastic rules of an open and intercultural life together. These students have already developed a positiv attitude towards Europe through school work and class projects and understand themselves as part of the European community. However, a part of our student body is opposed to the cultural diversity in Europe. Our focus is on students between 13 and 15 years who represent intolerant, nationalistic and anti-European ways of thinking. At this age, their attitudes and values have not yet cemented from a developmental/psychological point of view. The adolescents/teenagers are going through a period of transition in those years and are developing their identities, building a perspective for their futures, expanding theit social skills and are searching for meaning. This is why we believe that this phase is especially suitable to initiate a change of attitude towards Europe through intercultural encounters and collaborations. Because we only have limited educational opportunities as a school, we may not be able to turn our students into Cosmopolitans during their few years with us. However, we have made it our goal to help them turn into Europolitans - European citizens. To reach this goal, it is indispensable to discover, experience and understand cultural diversity in Europe. Through intercultural experiences during the excursions, our target group is supposed to discover cultural diversity as one of Europe's substantial values and mature into Europolitans. It is our goal to enable our students' social Integration into the European community. We are planning six excursion with different thematic focal points: - Cyprus: Our song for Europe - Portugal: Regional but European - Macedonia: Communication & multilingualism - Poland: Democracy and culture as a peacemaker - Latvia: Our common heritage - Germany: Art connects Six students from each partner school will participate per excursion. The participants will continue to pursue the project goals in the interim phases and will function as multipliers: They will give presentations in their classes, organize information evenings for parents together with their teachers, and reflect on their experiences in class, for example in the form of an online blog. This way, they will continue to develop further into Europolitans after the excursions. At the same time, we want to position ourselves in our communities and towns as strong European schools as well as symbolize forward-thinking schools that live the European idea in everyday school life for our future students and external persons. The review of our project goals consists of two central components: We use indicators that show changes in the behavior of our students towards acceptance and appreciation of European diversity. For this purpose, we plan to conduct observations of our students’ behavior and thought patterns throughout the project duration. During the interim phases, we want to consciously include situations in class in which we can analyze the actions and thoughts of our students, for example by confronting them with otherness. Our second component consists of questionnaires that we will use at the beginning of the project and after the meetings for all participants. The questionnaires are modeled after the Eurobarometer survey. With this method we want to examine whether the students are able to have a differentiated perception of cultural differences, reflect critically on their own value orientation and whether they have dismantled stereotypical thought patterns. By reviewing the indicators and the questionnaires, we can draw comparisons between the current and the initial situation at the start of the project. The project will be an integral part of the school development. The Max-Ernst-Schule aspires to further develop into a European school (Europaschule) in Hessen. Our partner schools are also planning to sharpen their profiles with regard to the European sentiment. Our cooperation is supposed to serve as a kick-off for our plans regarding school development. For this purpose, our schools will take new directions in curricular work and focus on long-term cooperations with the participating schools and external participants via eTwinning.
The project "Becoming Europolitains - Experiencing Cultural Diversity" was implemented and coordinated between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2022 by partner schools in Cyprus, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland and Portugal under the coordination of Max-Ernst-Schule in Weilrod - Germany. The initial goal was to promote true European integration and a truly European spirit among the students and teachers of the aforementioned partner schools. It was crucial that the participating young students develop a positive attitude towards Europe and its common space and feel truly integrated into the European Community. The target group of the project was students aged 13 to 17 from different grades and types of schools (Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium). The reason for this was that at this age young people begin to develop their identity, imagine their future and develop their social skills. The main goal of the project was to build bridges of friendship and to challenge prejudices as well as to overcome barriers, to understand cultural differences and to reflect on their own values and to break down stereotypical thinking patterns. Although the project had to be changed from physical mobilities to virtual mobilities due to the pandemic, all mobilities could be carried out and the pre-defined thematic focuses could be implemented. Two of the mobilities took place virtually due to the pandemic (Northern Macedonia, Latvia). Another one was also implemented virtually (Poland) due to the beginning conflict as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, participation was high and the students additionally enhanced their digital skills. In the run-up to each mobility, the students prepared information about the respective partner country and its regions and were also supported in their English language and social skills. In all mobilities (real as well as virtual), the participants worked together as international teams in different workshops and presented their results to the group. For example, a common song for Europe was composed in Cyprus. In Portugal, the students focused on positive aspects of the regions as well as on the problems and tried to find solutions together. Brochures and leaflets were created, as well as posters that were presented. Not only in North Macedonia were tasks in the area of multilingualism actively created and jointly implemented, but also in Latvia regional fairy tales and legends were jointly written down and presented, so that the language skills of the students were expanded. During the mobility of the host country Poland the focus was put on the preservation of the local as well as regional cultural heritage. In Germany, international teams solved challenges (city rally) and worked together on artistic projects (graffiti). Language deficits fell into the background and the students communicated freely by the end of the entire project. In the course of the project, it became clear that some students had certain fears of contact with other exchange students. The hurdle of hosting a guest student as a host family was clearly recognizable and noticeable for many. Through the virtual mobilities, this fear could be reduced and the interest in participating increased. The physical distance made it easier for many students to engage in intercultural exchange. With the help of the evaluation of the activities carried out during the three mobilities with physical presence and the three online mobilities, we can happily say that our project goals were successfully realized. Through the intercultural experiences during the mobilities, both physical and virtual, the students as a whole have recognized cultural diversity as an essential asset of Europe and some of them are still in active contact today. In addition, their self-confidence, intercultural competence, and linguistic and social skills have increased. Overall, the students have become more open, curious and courageous towards other cultures, and thus developed a strong awareness and appreciation of being a member of the European Union.