Does gender matter? This question is the starting point of the Erasmus + project and focuses on the students' world. Demand for actual gender equality. On the one hand, the claim of equal rights for women and men is enshrined in the constitutions of the three countries involved in the project, Turkey, France and Germany. In reality in everyday life on the other hand, this claim is far from being implemented. The working language between the schools is English. The age of the participating learners is between 15 and 19 years. The project combines the subjects of social sciences and languages. The three schools (Lycee Ozanam - Lille / F & TAKEV - Samsun / TR & Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymn. - Frankfurt a.M. / D) are going to investigate different areas of life and work together. The project is divided into four work phases, each of which concludes with a project meeting. The first phase is going to deal with the stereotypes of gender roles and their implementation in advertising, films and music videos. The second phase is going to focus on politics and economics. The sexes are still unequally represented in politics and business, as shown by the proportion of female and male MPs and executives. Through the third phase of work, the contents of the two previous phases of work will be brought together through a historical perspective and a comparison between demands and reality will be made. This third phase of the project is going to end with a work assignment for the fourth working phase to develop tangible demands and action steps, which then will also find practical application in the immediate vicinity of the three participating school communities. The project should therefore end with tangible action measures developed by the students, which will then be implemented. Specifically, the project is based on an action-oriented approach. It aims at students understanding themselves as active European citizens and them getting to know the democratic options for action and using them for the future with the aim of gender justice and equality. At each project meeting, contact with policy-makers and business representatives is scheduled. Commissioned by the Lille meeting, which will include a visit to the EU institutions in Brussels, the Lycee Ozanam will establish contact with representatives of the EU. The second meeting in Samsun is going to include a visit to Ankara and a meeting with political representatives. For the third meeting in Frankfurt am Main, a visit to the Hessian state parliament will also be part of the program with an on-site discussion. The fourth project meeting is closing the circle of meetings with a visit of the EU in Strasbourg and an interview with representatives of the EU. The first three meetings will take place at the respective schools and with the help of host families. The last project meeting will take place in Saales in Alsace. The proximity and easy access to Strasbourg make this place a great opportunity for our students. Especially as Alsace, with its turbulent past, is very well suited to illustrate the European added value of the European integration. In addition to the visit to Strasbourg, it will also be the starting point for various excursions which the students make to the battlefields of the First World War (Lingenkopf) and the horrors of the Nazi dictatorship (Struthof concentration camp). Focussing on the subject of gender should also help to strengthen the students' self-perception and to clarify the problem of real unequal treatment for our students. This is precisely the reason why the quota of early school leavers can be targeted in relation to this aspect. The effect of the project is also based on the intercultural exchange of pupils. The project meetings are just one element here. A much broader impact of the exchange is the use of eTwinning. ETwinning forms the communication platform for the participating teachers, but the diverse functions are also used by as many students of the participating schools as possible in order to connect. Students can thus exchange results and queries during the work phases. Additionally, the ongoing evaluation of the project can be very well organized through the possibilities of eTwinning. The dissemination of the project work will take place via the school communities, the participating institutions and the political institution. Our own project homepage will supplement the dissemination via eTwinning. Does gender matter? Is the starting point for the research and work with the goal that the students shape and influence their own future.
Does gender matter? This question is the starting point of the “Erasmus+” project. The project focuses on the mismatch between desired and experienced reality in the students' world of a modern society with its claim for gender equality. On the one hand, the right for equal rights of women and men is enshrined in the constitutions of the three countries involved in the project: Turkey, France and Germany, on the other hand, everyday life does not fully mirror this claim. Specifically, the “Erasmus+” project is based on an action-oriented approach. The target is that students realise themselves as European citizens, get to know the options for democratic action/influence and learn to use them. This skill set is practised in the context of gender justice and equality. The participating students in this project were aged between 15 and 19 years. Social sciences and languages were simultaneously covered. The working language was English. The three groups of students from the participating schools (Lycee Ozanam - Lille / F & TAKEV - Samsun / TR & Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymn. - Frankfurt a.M. / D) investigates different areas of life and work together. Four face to face project meetings were scheduled, each with contact to policy-makers and business representatives. The starting point was a convention in Lille, France. It included a visit of the EU constitutions in Brussels. The members of the Lycée Ozanam group organised contact with representatives of the EU parliament. The activities in Lille included the joined work on a theatre project that visualised gender specific roles and stereotypes. The second event was planned to take place in Samsun, Turkey. It would have included a meeting with representative politicians in Ankara to investigate the role of gender equality and the its status in everyday life. Following the event in Turkey, the next meeting occurred in Frankfurt, Germany. The event was planned to include a visit of the state parliament of Hessen. The fourth and concluding phase of the project would have drawn the connection to the starting point with a visit in Strasbourg, France. Meetings and interviews with EU parliament representatives were planned. The pandemic restrictions only allowed to execute the first meeting in Lille according the original plan. The second meeting in Samsun as well as the fourth meeting in Strasbourg had to get cancelled in order to comply with the necessary precautions at that time. The meeting in Frankfurt was able to take place with an adapted Agenda: A visit of the state parliament was not possible. The deviation from the original content in Frankfurt was covered by a visit of the “Haus der Geschichte” in Bonn and various group events around Frankfurt with intensive reflection of European history and culture. The two meetings that had to get cancelled were substituted by virtual events. The three student groups did work together online and compiled a virtual exhibition of important female personalities in politics and history (E.g. Olympe de Gouges, Elisabeth Selbert). The value of the project is highly based on the intercultural exchange between the students. The project meetings are a vital element; further impact to the exchange is achieved by the use of “eTwinning“. The communication platform provides the possibility of exchange for the participating teachers. However, the diverse functionality is also used to connect as many students as possible. Students can directly exchange results and queries during the work phases. Additionally, the ongoing evaluation of the project can be very well organised through the possibilities of “eTwinning”. The necessary isolation and the impossibility of real encounters has pushed a lot of the project activities into virtual space. Here “eTwinning” gained importance and enabled to continuation of the project. It is fair to state that a real life exchange provides a higher personal experience for each participant. However, an intercultural exchange with high value was made possible despite the situation at hand. The publication of the project work will take place via the participating school communities and the political institution. Our own project homepage will supplement the publication via “eTwinning”. The focus on the subject of gender equality should also help to strengthen the students' self-perception and pinpoint the problem of unequal treatment in everyday life. Awareness of this context could improve the number of early school leavers in relation to this aspect. Does gender matter? The “Erasmus+” project is a starting point for students to reflect current reality and to shape and influence their own future.