In 2019 the European Union was going through a period of uncertainty (before BREXIT). There was also a raising wave of xenophobia, racism and intolerance all across Europe. Many people were afraid of migrants and refugees just because they are different and that causes fear and rejection. Our schools are a reflection of society and our students, teenagers, are somehow overwhelmed by a cocktail of emotions, prejudices and stereotypes that cannot be easily managed. Pupils may experience that others are different to their standard and many times that leads to conflictive situations. We have noticed at school that teenagers need to be aware of their emotions, be able to name them, recognise them, learn how to control them and how to react in different situations. And this was the main motivation of our project. This can be done by taking part in social and emotional competence workshops and the circus trainings, which will show them the universality of their feelings and emotions. The project "Circus of Emotions" aimed at helping pupils to open up to others and to promote tolerance and acceptance.They need to learn to learn methods to control their impulses, build empathy and assertive communication and practise social skills in order to improve all their relationships in life. We have trained body language and movement as well as stimulated creativity through different circus workshops and activities in order to have a final circus show with students from the different schools. We also enhanced the students' digital and linguistic competence in English, the lingua franca of the project and used eTwinning and TwinSpace in order to communicate and share videos and presentations all the project products. Learning and working together with four European schools has helped students realise not only their differences but also their similarities. This has enhanced their intercultural awareness and strengthen the idea of the European Union. Pupils from Secondary Education (aged 12-17) from the four schools took part in the project activities. Students from each school’s age group participated in the implementation of emotional intelligence lesson plans. Students who wanted to participate in all the project activities had to volunteer. Public selection criteria were be taken into account. We also gave students with fewer opportunities the chance to participate. The group of teachers selected for the project had different backgrounds, experienced staff together with teachers new to European project work. For the exchanges we selected mainly teachers working in the field of Theatre, Magic and Circus together with English teachers who are competent in speaking the lingua franca and have had a long experience in Erasmus + projects and exchanges. The European Projects Team coordinated all the activities. All the schools counted with the participation of experts on emotional intelligence, magic and circus to train teachers and students during and after the transnational meetings. The selected students (7 per school each mobility) were going to participate in the exchanges and take part in the different workshops and activities planned. They were going to stay in host families and teachers in hotels, two teachers with each group of students to ensure support and safety. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemia and health crisis, the 1st mobility with students (C2 - Langerwehe) planned for 1-7th March 2020 had to be postponed the week before travelling. Online Coordination Meetings were scheduled via Twinspace in order to make decisions and rearrange the original Timetable. A 4-month project time extension was accepted by the NAs. Unfortunately, all the mobilities finally turned into Virtual Meetings.(C8 Langerwehe: 11-13 Dec 2020; C9 Kaunas: 19-23 April 2021; C10 Alaquàs: 26-28 Oct 2021; and C11 Herzogenrath: 14-16 Dec 2021). We are proud of the hard work and great coordination among the 4 schools, which has allowed us to meet all the objectives planned, although the activities had to be implemented virtually. A shame for the students who were not able to travel and meet other countries and cultures. Some students left and others joined the project. A project Website was created and linked in each school's Website. Virtual activities allowed more students and teachers participate and developed their ICT competence (Teams, Zoom, Meet, Google shared docs, Drive, presentations, etc). The final show was adapted into a Video Show. The project Circus of Emotions will have a double impact in the four schools in the long-term. First, the emotional competence lesson plans have been included in Lesson Plans in each school and will continue being implemented after the project’s end. Second, Circus will be included in each school’s curricula in different ways depending on each school’s education system. Project results will be available in English in TwinSpace, the website and in the E+ Project Result Platform.
The European Union is going through a period of uncertainty. There is also a raising wave of xenophobia, racism and intolerance all across Europe. Many people are afraid of migrants and refugees just because they are different and that causes fear and rejection. Our schools are a reflection of society and our students, teenagers, are somehow overwhelmed by a cocktail of emotions, prejudices and stereotypes that cannot be easily managed. Pupils may experience that others are different to their standard and many times that leads to conflictive situations. They react without thinking and too often they interact in aggressive ways. We have noticed at school that teenagers need to be aware of their emotions, be able to name them, recognise them, learn how to control them and how to react in different situations. And this is the main motivation of our project. This can be done by taking part in social and emotional competence workshops and the circus trainings, which will show them the universality of their feelings and emotions. The project "Circus of Emotions" aims at helping pupils to open up to others and to promote tolerance and acceptance. Foreign habits, differences and traditions cause fears, and pupils don’t know how to handle that. They need to learn to learn methods to control their impulses, build empathy and assertive communication and practise social skills in order to improve all their relationships in life. They need to be empowered first, so that they can lose their fears in order to overcome stereotypes and prejudices. We will train body language and movement as well as stimulate creativity through different circus workshops and activities in order to have a final circus show with students from the different schools. We will also enhance the students' digital and linguistic competence in English, the lingua franca of the project, and use eTwinning and TwinSpace in order to communicate and share videos and presentations all the project products. Learning and working together with four European schools will help students realise not only their differences but also their similarities. This will enhance their intercultural awareness and strengthen the idea of the European Union. Pupils from Secondary Education (aged 12-17) from the four schools will take part in the project activities. All the students from each school’s age group will participate in the implementation of emotional intelligence lesson plans. Students who want to participate in all the project's workshops and transnational meetings will have to volunteer. If there are more candidates than vacancies, the public selection criteria will be taken into account. We will also give students with fewer opportunities the chance to participate. The group of teachers selected for the project will have different backgrounds, experienced staff together with teachers new to European project work. For the exchanges we will select mainly teachers working in the field of Theatre, Magic and Circus together with English teachers who are competent in speaking the lingua franca and have had a long experience in Erasmus + projects and exchanges. The European Projects Team will coordinate all the activities. There will be a Quality Coordinator and a Project Coordinator in each school, who will be in the Project Management Team. All the schools will have the participation of experts on emotional intelligence, magic and circus to train teachers and students during and after the transnational meetings. The selected students (7 per school each mobility) will participate in the exchanges and will take part in the different workshops and activities planned. They will stay in host families and teachers in hotels. There will be two teachers with each group of students to ensure support and safety. Both qualitative and quantitative indicators will be used to measure acquisition of the project's objectives. They will be included in the Project’s Follow-up and Measurement Plan. There will be a list of indicators to evaluate the activities and objectives and to have regular budget control. This will allow the project’s success and an accurate instrument for feedback and decision making at the right time in case adjustments must be done. The project Circus of Emotions will have a double impact in the four schools in the long-term. First, the emotional competence lesson plans will be included in the Tutorial Action Plans in each school. So these results will continue being implemented after the project’s end in the four schools. Second, Circus will be included in each school’s curricula in different ways depending on each school’s education system. There will be a Project Dissemination Plan before the project starts, ensuring an optimal use of the results and allowing for the transfer and exploitation of the project results to other European countries. Project results will be available in English in TwinSpace, the website and in the E+ Project Result Platform.