Young children today are exposed to a lot of information and stimuli that they need to discern. The media abund in images and information, either positive or negative. Sometimes they shape identities and social realities according to what they receive and see, as the visual impact is influential. Sharing the photos they take with foreign peers enhances their experience with perspectives. Thanks to this Erasmus+ project, we plan to give children the opportunity to produce their own content, and not act just as simple recipients but to help hem see things from a different perspective and angles by means of photography. Photography will be their inner voice that will spread their message in an artistic manner. We are five European schools motivated by similar needs identified in our institutions. Through this project that we want initiated, we want to stimulate and encourage students become more actively involved in their own learning path, take part in a range of project-related activities to result in personal values and lifelong skills. We have established the following aims for students: to improve students’ motivation for learning and increase their enthusiasm, to enhance practical skills through photography, to develop intercultural awareness and sense of identity, to empower students with European values like acceptance, tolerance, non-discrimination, to boost students’ language, communication and digital skills, to foster various activities for practicing interpersonal and social skills, to encourage self-expression and creativity, to increase students’ self-awareness and self-appreciation. For teachers, the project aims to: increase their motivation for professional development in international setting, promote cooperation and collaboration among teachers across Europe, facilitate the exchange of good practices and their transfer in schools, develop Erasmus+ project management implementation expertise, raise communication, interpersonal and social skills. To achieve set goals and add a stronger intercultural component to the project, we considered it appropriate to combine the topic of photography with students’ daily lives, aspects of each country’s culture, their views and perception of art. Therefore, we have planned 1 student exchange to take place in each partner school along the project period. The topics for exchanges are the following: 1.My day–Introduction to photography; 2.My school–Photography techniques; 3.My hometown–Composition principles; 4.My area-Motion in pictures-capturing techniques; 5.Europe, our home – Photo editing tips &tricks. Before the exchanges take place, students will be assigned some tasks related to the topic to complete. During the exchanges, their products will be evaluated, attend workshops chaired by photography specialists in which they learn tips about the art of photography. Students in the target group are aged 12-14. 20 students from each partner school will be selected to take part in the exchanges. There will be 2 teachers accompanying them in each exchange. The approximate total number will be 100 students and 40 teachers in the exchanges.The project is aimed to produce tangible and intangible results.Tangible results refer to: workshop materials, students’ photo stories gathered in a digital story book, students’ photo albums per LTTA, self-assessment forms, feedback forms, evaluation instruments, dissemination materials such as newsletter, photo exhibition, project website, eTwinning platform space, leaflets, posters, roll-up, assessment reports, certificates of attendance, curriculum for photography optional course and club etc. Intangible results include: knowledge, attitudes, experiences, soft skills. All partner institutions will gain have gained worthwhile experience as a result of this project. Getting acquainted with the variety of European cultures, their way of life will give our schools a European dimension. As a result, we will become more confident in our institutional capacity to apply for future Erasmus+ projects. Schools may continue their cooperation by creating a network of photo clubs, extend it to other schools in their own countries or other countries. Photography competitions among students will be organized on different special occasions. Partner institutions will become more visible on the international level through cooperation with other European schools and gain more experience in managing Erasmus+ projects, add variety of interdisciplinary approaches, benefit from better teamwork between staff and students, among students and among teachers, which will lead to a better cohesion inside the institution; maintain cooperation with partner institutions through photography clubs.Teachers will also exchange good practices in the field of methodology, develop their professionalism, improve the quality of the teaching, become more confident in their ability to use English and digital skills.
The main objective of the project was to let new generations reflect on their use of technological media which abound in images and information, either positive or negative. Sometimes they shape identities and social realities according to what they receive and see, as the visual impact is influential. Sharing the photos they take with foreign peers enhances their experience from different perspectives. Thanks to this Erasmus+ project, we were able to give children the opportunity first of all to produce their own content, and not act just as simple recipients but to help them see things from a different perspective and angles by means of photography which should have been their inner voice. Besides, we gave them the tools to understand what it is behind a photo that sometimes doesn't reflect the real file and the truth of things. By means of the project and the photography participants involved had the tools to observe and show not only themselves, their world of teenagers, but also their day, their city, their region, their country, and in the end Europe. From the beginning, we were five European schools motivated by these similar needs: we wanted to stimulate and encourage students to become more actively involved in their own learning path and take part in a range of project-related activities to result in personal values and lifelong skills. The aims established for students were: analyzing the world of photos in a different way, improving student's motivation for learning and increasing their enthusiasm, enhancing practical skills through photography, developing intercultural awareness and sense of identity, and empowering students with European values like acceptance, tolerance, non-discrimination, boosting students’ language, communication, and digital skills, fostering various activities for practicing interpersonal and social skills, encouraging self-expression and creativity, increasing students’ self-awareness and self-esteem. For teachers, the project aimed to: increase their motivation for professional development in an international setting, promote cooperation and collaboration among teachers across Europe, facilitate the exchange of good practices and their transfer in schools, develop Erasmus+ project management implementation expertise, and raise communication, interpersonal and social skills. To achieve set goals and add a stronger intercultural component to the project, we employed the topic of photography with students’ daily lives (school and family setting), views of their town, country, and Europe with connection to the different cultural aspects. All of these were possible through 4 mobilities with 5 students each. The topics for exchanges were the following: 1. My day–Introduction to photography; 2. My school–Photography techniques; 3.My hometown–Composition principles; 4.My area-Motion in pictures-capturing techniques; 5.Europe, our home – Photo editing tips &tricks. During the exchanges, students' products (mainly ppt presentations) were evaluated, and students attended workshops chaired by photography specialists in which they learned tips about the art of photography. Students in the target group were aged 11-15. 20 students from each partner school were selected to take part in the exchanges for an approximate total number of 100 students and 35 teachers directly involved in the exchanges in addition to all the students and teachers of each organizing school who participated in the welcoming ceremony, as well as in the introductory activities. The project produced tangible results: workshop materials, e-books, students’ photo stories gathered in a digital storybook, students’ photo albums per LTTA, self-assessment forms, feedback forms, evaluation instruments, dissemination materials such as newsletters, photo exhibition, project website, eTwinning platform space (twinspace), leaflets, posters, roll-up, assessment reports, certificates of attendance, curriculum for photography optional course and club, etc. Photography competitions among students were organized on different special occasions. The project produced also intangible results: knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and soft skills. The participants got in touch with a variety of European cultures, and their way of life. Partner institutions added a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, and benefited from better teamwork between staff, students, and families, among students and among teachers, which lead to better cohesion inside the institution and with partner institutions. Teachers exchanged good practices in methodology, developed their professionalism, improved their teaching quality, and became more confident in their ability to use English and digital skills. Schools got a European dimension. Besides, as a result, we became more confident in our institutional capacity to apply for future Erasmus+ projects.