As they are from a rural background, it is not an easy task for our pupils to go and study away from home, to open up to new horizons and to have professional ambition. Furthermore, the cultural activities are often far away and the social background is not a facilitator. Considering this context, the project aims at boosting pupils’ambition and cultural awareness and at the same time promoting a shared European culture and a true intercultural experience thanks to pedagogical work between European teachers, cooperative work between pupils and encounters between the participants. The school choir is the perfect communication medium. It conveys values such as solidary and gender equality. It also increases self esteem and the ability to learn for foreign peers coming from culturally and socially underprevileged backgrounds. It also reduces cultural and social gaps. Music reaches beyond language and social barriers. This project is led by two French secondary schools that have already worked together on common choir projects for years. We have common programmes. Our european partners have joined the project because of the historical ties their countries have with Normandy : Sicily, Southern Italty, Corfu and Ireland have indeed been in close relationship since the Middle Ages. The different partners also share the same educative concerns about the necessity to develop culture and interculturality for students socially disadvantaged. When all the choirs meet, they will form a European choir. The pupils will then have the opportunity to develop their curiosity for others and for other countries, and a better understanding of what European citizenship means both in terms of history and territory. Thanks to this project we wish to reinforce the sense of belonging to the European community for the students engaged into our European Choir. The project will run for two school years - from September 2019 to June 2021 at least 200 students and 40 European teachers will be involved.
As they are from a rural background, it is not an easy task for our pupils to go and study away from home, to open up to new horizons and to have professional ambition. Furthermore, the cultural activities are often far away and the social background is not a facilitator. Considering this context, the project aims at boosting pupils’ambition and cultural awareness and at the same time promoting a shared European culture and a true intercultural experience thanks to pedagogical work between European teachers, cooperative work between pupils and encounters between the participants. The school choir is the perfect communication medium. It conveys values such as solidary and gender equality. It also increases self esteem and the ability to learn for foreign peers coming from culturally and socially underprevileged backgrounds. It also reduces cultural and social gaps. Music reaches beyond language and social barriers. This project is led by two French secondary schools that have already worked together on common choir projects for years. We have common programmes. Our european partners have joined the project because of the historical ties their countries have with Normandy : Sicily, Southern Italty, Corfu and Ireland have indeed been in close relationship since the Middle Ages. The different partners also share the same educative concerns about the necessity to develop culture and interculturality for students socially disadvantaged. When all the choirs meet, they form a European choir. The pupils will then have the opportunity to develop their curiosity for others and for other countries, and a better understanding of what European citizenship means both in terms of history and territory. Thanks to this project we wish to reinforce the sense of belonging to the European community for the students engaged into our European Choir. The project will run for three school years - from September 2019 to June 2022 at least 220 students and 40 European teachers will be involved.