The project will develop the theme of the discovery of a common historical and cultural background, to be traced in still existing castles and fortifications in the regions of each partner school taking part in the project. The idea is to carry out the project in different steps. The first step is aimed at establishing a contact between le scuole dei paesi partecipanti. It is thought of using social networks to favour contact among students and teachers of all partner schools, a virtual place where all participants could introduce themselves, their schools and our areas. In this way they could easily get into contact and lay the basis of their future cooperation. Moving over to following step, each school will choose one(or two)historical buildings (a castle or a fortification) belonging to the year span between the years 1000 and 1500. The students will carry out researches on 1. the life in the castle (who used to live in, how people used to ) 2. legends and folklore ( discover legendsa, myths and other relevant aspect of folklore related to the castles ) 3. the historical period (its main events, how did the area look like back then, why was the castlebuilt, by whom, etc) 4. the structure of the castle, its main features, size (and maybe create a glossary of the technical vocabulary concerning castles and fortifications),etc The students will then have to develop the results of this research in a multimedia file (a simple slide-share will be ok), which will be shared with all partner schools. Once this work is completed and all the schools have received the partner school’s multimedia file. The next phase, which will consist in the study and analysis of the materials shared by means of common grids that will guide each partner school in the comparison and highlighting of any common historical/cultural background. The exchange phase will take place at the end of the reasarch phase, with each school visiting the other partner schools. Each host school will prepare a guided tour for the visitors, during which the students will collect materials (pictures, videos, etc.) that will be useful in the following step. In the last step the students of each school will have to design creatively a 3D model of a “European” castle, which will blend different structures and features typical of the different castles they have visited.
The 'Common Roots, New Routes' (CRNR) project involved students from three European schools in carrying out research on a castle in their own area and comparing it with that of their European partners. The research and study of the three castles - Castillo de los Mendoza in Manzanares el Real in Spain, Stará Ľubovňa Castle in Slovakia, and Castello de Monti Corigliano d' Otranto, Italy - allowed the students to rediscover the local artistic-cultural heritage and compare it with the artistic-cultural realities of other European countries in order to identify similarities or differences, thus enhancing the European cultural patrimony and contributing to a common European identity among the new generations. The schools involved were: IES Manuel De Falla Mostoles-Madrid (Spain); Spojená škola Gymnázium, Spišská Stará Ves (Slovakia); Liceo Scientifico Da Vinci Maglie (Italy).Slovakia); Liceo Scientifico Da Vinci Maglie (Italy). During the first phase of the project, all activities encouraged participants to talk about their local area: students from each partner school tested their European peers' knowledge about their country of origin with an online quiz; they told their European peers about their country/region/school. During the second phase of the project, the students visited their fortress, reconstructed the history and studied the architecture of the three castles. Subsequently, they created digital files illustrating the results of their research to their European peers. The third phase of the project was the study and analysis of the other partners’ castle media files and the comparison of the three castles, especially from an architectural point of view. The activity of comparing the castles was entrusted to the coordinator school Liceo Scientifico da Vinci- Maglie, because it could provide specific know-how in this field. During the Covid-19 emergency, the students participated in different online meetings to promote socialization among peers undergoing a difficult life time . All the students contributed to animate the conversation on different topics under the guidance of a moderator teacher, after uploading their personal post on a virtual board. The Italian students compared the three castles based after the observation of comparison sheets created by the History of Art teacher. In the partner schools, the students researched stories and legends relevant to their own castle or territory. They uploaded the results of this research on a shared notice board (padlet) and during an online meeting with the participants. The mobilities were carried out in a virtual mode due to the worsening pandemic situation in the three countries and the uncertainty of the time The virtual mode tested the technological , organizational and management skills, and the creativity of all participants. During the activity in Slovakia, the participants worked on the creation of three leaflets containing the most representative legends of their castle/territory. In Spain participants were involved in a discussion during which they wondered how castles changed from military fortresses into venues for cultural events as well as tourist destinations. The mobility in Italy let participants identifiy elements from the three castles in the 3D model of the European castle and label the power point presentation of the 3D model of the European castle with captions. For the monitoring of the project, 4 questionnaires were administered. The first was submitted during the initial project activities, the second and the third after the first mobility and a fourth at the end . The project developed the awareness of local and European heritage, the sense of belonging to the community of European people, the ability to collaborate in a transanational context, language and IT skills. The results were tangible products (the most significant will be the subject of an exhibition at the coordinator school premises) but also intangible ones, such as the social and intercultural growth of the students, the openness and curiosity of the participants towards other cultures, the enhancement of problem-solving skills in the use of technologies, the development of critical thinking in web research activities, the development of creativity. The project created relationships of cooperation and friendship among the students and the teachers of the schools involved and created opportunities to improve the organizational and management skills of the teaching and non-teaching staff .