“DEARS” is a Project which has been created within the framework of the Erasmus + Strategic Partnership for School Education, aiming at achieving cooperation for innovation and the Exchange of good practices between schools from different countries across Europe. Having created a database for the drop out rate , the partners will assess and evaluate their teaching techniques; promote healthy lifestyles; build a sense of student success; document the current state of affairs where the drop out rate is concerned; promote the students’ professional profile by means of ICT; raise parents’ and local community services’ awareness of early school drop out rate and write proposals to law makers. The partners involved in the project are countries in which the drop-out rate varies from a very low level to a very high level, for example, two countries have a medium level of school DROP OUTS (Spain, Portugal and Lithuania), while the drop out rate in another country varies from region to region (Turkey). All school-partners have dealt with drop out rates and are experienced with previous and ongoing European programs. A number of activities and events to be carried out through teleconferences and on-line platforms will be used during the Project and collaborative work in the mobilities. Preparation will be effected through teleconferences while the first mobility in Lithuania will initiate the first network platform and an eTwinning platform learning community. A training meeting will also be held on innovative approaches. The production of educational materials concerning drop out “DEARS Guidebook and a leaflet will be created. Besides , a learning program entitled "Promotion of healthy lifestyles and development of students’ social skills through physical education and environmental activities" will contribute to combatting student drop out in the participating partners as well as implement effective teaching approaches within their curriculum. At the end , mobilities and training events during the final stage of the Project and multiplier events and activities will allow the project results to disseminate on local ,regional and national scale as well as on a European level. Educational material as a natural consequence of the project will be presented as instant materials for teachers and school principals including written reports and proposals. At the same time, the participating teachers will have the opportunity to develop and improve their pedagogical skills and expertise within European projects as the participating students will be a part of the teamwork, organizing events, inspiring creativity, communicating with their peers abroad and analysing the drop out problem in the participating organizations. Also parents and local community services will become informed on drop out rates and law makers will receive suggestions on how to deal with the problem DEARS is a project dealing with collaborative work within the participation of various institutions which have different backgrounds , cultures and understandings, which have come together for innovation and the exchange of good practices between schools on the matter of early school drop- out rates. The project includes a variety of titles ranging from labour market problems ,to career coaching , unemployment of youngsters; early school leaving, direct failure in education; entrepreneurial understanding and entrepreneurship training. Promoting the practice of entrepreneurial experiences in education, training and youth work, young people's social inclusion and well-being , in addition to the most relevant priorities addressed by the project are: -Job shadowing as well as interviews are the best way to lead students to improve quality via career counseling and self- evaluating tools. -To raise students’ awareness of European labour market in terms of necessities , offers and problems . -To have better communication skills using their language skills. -To raise self esteem to develop their abilities to assess their suitability for a particular job. A closely-knit network of schools trying to cope with drop- out rates effectively in the long term, can be a sustainable event, an open access site with relevant educational material and follow-up events and long-distance collaboration will continue even after the project has officially ended
Context of the project: DEARS is a project dealing with collaborative work within the participation of various institutions which have different backgrounds, cultures and understandings, which have come together for innovation and the exchange of good practices between schools on the matter of early school drop-out rates. The partners involved in the project were countries in which the drop-out rate varied from a very low level to a very high level, for example, three countries had a medium level of school DROP OUTS (Spain, Portugal and Lithuania), while the drop-out rate in another country varied from region to region (Turkey). All school-partners had dealt with drop-out rates and were experienced with previous and ongoing European programs. Project objectives: The main objectives were: - Create a database on drop-out in high education - Document the current state of drop-out in the partner school, city and country - Assess, evaluate and renovate teaching technics - Promote healthy lifestyles - Build a sense of students’ achievement - Promote students’ professional profile by means of ICT - Raise parents’ and local community services’ awareness of early school drop-out rate - Write proposals to law makers With this project, partners hoped students become aware of the connection that school has with the real world. Promoting a healthy and self-controlled internet and computer usage through outdoor and indoor activities help students to cope with the isolation from the community and to have connection with real life. Project activities: In order to achieve the project objectives each school developed curricular and extracurricular activities regarding the different topics of the project for their entire educational community. In addition, they promoted in the classroom, through the different subjects, the professional perspectives of students in the labor market, healthy lifestyles, responsible use of digital devices and ICT, motivation through sports and arts. Diverse activities and events were also carried out through teleconferences and networks and collaborative work was developed during the mobilities. PROJECT GENERAL ACTIVITIES - Logo conquest - Students presentations about their school, city and country and each mobility specific topic - Erasmus+ wall - Bookmarks, calendars and leaflets conquests - Questionnaire to analyze causes and consequences of Early school dropouts ICT ACTIVITIES For reporting and learning about Dropouts: - Presentations - Videos - Programming videogames - Webpages INTERNATIONAL DAYS ACTIVITIES - International Day of Education: January 24th - World Environmental Education Day: January 26th - International Women’s Day: March 8th. Girls students drop out more in poor countries - Europe Day: May 9th CREATIVE ACTIVITIES - Games: Quizzes, Photogymkhana - ABP: Designing a Shadow Theatre - Competitions: Logo, Bookmarks and Leaflets - Arts: Poems, Music, Pictures, Dance - Articles, Sayings, Proverbs, Quotes EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - Questionnaires and surveys Project's results and its expected longer-term benefits As the main aim of the project was to provide students with knowledge, skills and self- confidence activities were planned to support the achievement of the goals. Through the activities the educational community reflected on school dropout, its causes and consequences in the short and long term, as well as the actions that can be carried out to mitigate the situation. During and after the pandemic situation, the partners continued to reflect on school dropout, but from a new point of view. After their experiences of online collaborative work, they discovered other risks and other motivations. Expected impacts in the long term: - For teachers: diversification of non-formal methods of teaching, training and development of teaching skills, IT, communication in foreign languages. The teachers shared good practices with their department colleagues. - For students: learning in a more attractive context, raise of motivation, development of self-esteem and skills needed in working life. Students shared their proposals with other students. - For school institutions: involvement in the society, an approach to education at European standards. There were several meetings to share the results. Open days activities helped extend the results to the new families. - For the authorities in education: educational materials, results and articles have been shared through the project dissemination activities and through the final reports of the subject departments involved in the project. A higher level of cultural awareness and deeper understanding of inter-cultural dialogue were provided with knowledge and skills that will help them be successful in the labour market and develop European identity by exchanging experiences.