The project is mainly aimed at pupils at the age of 15-18 years learning Italien/German as foreign languages at„Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium“and „Istituto Superiore A.Volta“,but also pupils and teachers who are interested in cultural exchanges/Erasmus+ - projects.The title „Lingua-Cultura-Humanitas“ includes and summarizes the main priorities and principal aims oft the project,which are using foreign languages as a communication medium to implement an access towards cultural aspects of the destination country,to educate oneselves and develop personality.Authentic speech occasions of different kinds–such as lectures,presentations,creative writing,text production,explanatory notes of self-created artworks,blogs/videoclips,roleplays,theatre plays,the authentic communication with the students in the other country–extend the competences in the field of foreign language learning and awareness,multilingualism (German-Italian-English),intercultural learning by comparing the country of origin with the country of destination.The object through which communication takes place is always culture,such as arts,architecture,history,culinary delights,music, by making communication not only experienced as a means to an end or self–purpose (like mainly correct, functional and situative speaking),but also is filled by appealing cultural contents,which ultimately does justice to the holistic aspect of language learning.Education and humanitiy,both semantic categories of the latin expression „humanitas“,are achieved by succeding in not only to receive knowledge and content,but also to apply,to link,to transfer.All project results follow the cycle of knowledge acquisition (input orientation),its internalization and then transfer towards an own new and innovative product(output orientation-like an artwork or play).The excursion destinations were chosen in such a way that they should offer as many different speech and writing occasions as possible and that they should provide the opportunity to transform cultural input and language application into creative artworks.The project bases on the curricular learning objectives of the higher secondary level (German„Gymnasium“),but also pursues innovative and atypical goals.For the realization of the project,mobilities and teachers‘ meetings are planned,during which presentations,activities,seminars and discussions will be organized and students‘ project results will be created.C1/C3 are taking place in CastelSanGiovanni/Italy,C2/C4 are taking place in Wolfen/Germany.As for the first student exchange(C1)in Italy,the final logo competition will be taking place and the evaluation of creative writing(based on the short story „Anna torna a casa“, the protagonists of which are reminiscent of figures of the painting „Sistine Madonna“from Raffaello),guided tours in Piacenza/Milan,creating brochures,doing a watercolour painting of the wine-growing landscape around CastelSanGiovanni,lectures about Heinrich Heine,German Romanticism and GDRhistory.During the C2 project week in Wolfen, the famous Bauhaus architecture in Dessau will be visited and also Lutherstadt-Wittenberg,another artwork and its presentation in Italian/German will be done, as well as a lecture about the novel „I Promessi Sposi“by A.Manzoni will be organized.During C3 in Italy,excursions to Parma/Genova will be realized while focusing in Parma on music/Giuseppe Verdi and getting some input about the songs of Fabrizio de André in Genova whose song element/key expressions will be found again in students‘ drawings/hatchings.During the C4 exchange week,Dresden/Potsdam will be visited,reflecting on the original„Sistine Madonna“and developing an artwork.A play about August the Strong/Frederic II will be created and performed.The twinspace founded during the kick-off-meeting will be updated permanently with created students‘project results and artworks.In addition to the optimization of foreign language teaching,multilingualism,learning autonomy and intercultural learning,the students are encouraged by authentic speech occasions and input about the local areas to reflect and perceive the economic and social situation of their regions,to identify strenghts/weaknisses of their region and to use this knowledge process as a basis for expanding professional career- orientied potential.During all phases,the personal commitment of the students is in demand,they organize and manage all materials referring to the knowledge about their local areas,which is therefore important for a future workplace.Artistic creativity and personal initiative are promoted,which strenghtens the creative capacity.A continuous,fruitful cooperation between both schools is implemented,whose teachers have partly already got to know each other and established friendly contacts,which enable the establishment of a lasting school partnership.The aim of both partners is to establish this long-term school partnership and at the same time optimise the professionalism of the teachers.
The project is aimed at students aged 15-19 who are learning Italian or German as a foreign language at the Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium or at the Istituto Superiore A.Volta or at those students who are interested in cultural exchange. The title "Lingua-Cultura-Humanitas" summarizes the priorities/project goals, because the aim was to implement access to the culture of the target country by using the language as a communication medium in order to educate yourself and develop your personality. Authentic speaking opportunities such as reports, presentations, creative text productions like comics, explanations of self-created works of art, videos, role-playing games, photo series, simple shows or authentic communication in the target country Italy or Germany - expand the skills of foreign language learning, multilingualism (Ger./Ital./Eng.) and much more of intercultural learning by comparing the country of origin with the country of destination. Art, architecture, history, culinary delights and music were several occasions for communication - whereby communication was not only experienced as an end in itself, but was also filled with appealing cultural content, which reflects the holistic aspect of foreign language learning with reference to destination country corresponded. Education and humanity - both semantic dimensions of the term "Humanitas" - were achieved by not only receiving knowledge and content, but actively applying and transferring it. In their production, all project results followed the cycle of knowledge acquisition (input orientation), its internalization and renewed transfer into a separate product (output orientation). The excursion destinations offered a wide variety of opportunities to speak and write, as well as the opportunity to transform the cultural input and the use of language into an artistic product. Despite the restrictions of the Covid19 pandemic, it has been possible to largely implement the project goals formulated in the application. Since the C1 mobility in Castel San Giovanni did not take place due to the pandemic, we had to find other ways of realizing the project goals. The logo competition was held at both schools, and the winner was chosen at a virtual meeting via Meet. The activities for the short story "Anna torna a casa", which revolves around the painting "The Sistine Madonna", were also carried out at both schools, a German class in C.S.G. created a comic based on reading with the help of an app, while the students of the Erasmus+ AG at the H.-H.-Gymn. created a simpleshow. At both schools, the students created multilingual presentations/videos/flyers about their school and tourist destinations in their regions. In Italy, the presentations were collected in a brochure. The watercolor painting of the wine landscape by C.S.G. was carried out during virtual mobility in June 2021 and finally in June 2022 during physical mobility in C.S.G. repeated under real conditions based on fotos the students took during a bike tour near C.S.G. The lectures on Heinrich Heine, German Romanticism and the GDR were held as planned, just virtually. The same applies to the Italian teachers' lecture on the novel “I promessi sposi” by A. Manzoni. Unfortunately, the excursions to Parma/Genoa could not be realized, but there was a lecture on G. Verdi in an Italian course for the upper level of the H.-H.-Gymn. and a music workshop on Fabrizio de André during the C4 mobility in Italy (both composers are considered important sons of Parma/Genoa). During the C6 mobility, Dresden was visited, where the original "Sistine Madonna" was viewed in the "Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister". In preparation for the excursion, instead of the theatre play about August the Strong, the procession of princes ("Fürstenzug") was creatively reinterpreted by the students, resulting in a series of photos of the students disguised as princes. The excursion to Potsdam could not take place, for organizational and logistical reasons we decided on an excursion to Halle (Saale) with a multilingual city tour specially created by the students. The Twinspace was constantly updated with project results. In addition to the optimization of the foreign language lessons, with the teachers promoting multilingualism, learning autonomy and cultural learning, the pupils were encouraged by authentic communication opportunities and input to the regions to reflect on the economic and social situation of their area and to identify strengths/weaknesses and to expand their future professional, career-oriented potential on the basis of this knowledge process. Artistic work and initiative were encouraged, which strengthened the students in their creative abilities. In addition to these student-oriented goals, continuous cooperation between the schools was implemented, whose teachers now know each other very well and maintain collegial contacts that enable the establishment of a permanent school partnership.