“CROSSOVER: Promoting School Success through Sport” it’s a two-year Strategic Partnership for Innovation in School Education, and involves public schools and non-profit private organizations, from Portugal, Italy, Romania, Cyprus and Turkey. CONTEXT Raising school success is a key goal of every education system. Educational success is presented as a prerequisite for social inclusion at individual level, and for the advancement of society as a whole. While there is no doubt that education alone is not always enough to ensure such a progress, it is also true that it is absolutely necessary in order to make this change possible. According to Eurostat, 26.9% of children (aged 0–17) in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Children growing up in poverty and social exclusion are less likely to do well in school and realise their full potential later in life, being at higher risk of becoming unemployed, poor and socially excluded. Early school leaving (ESL) is a complex issue and a concern for policy makers as evidence shows that dropping from school is connected with several forms of individual and social disadvantages, with significant negative consequences for life (EC, EACEA, Eurydice and Cedefop, 2014). ESL is a multi-faceted and complex problem caused by a cumulative process of disengagement. Indeed, there are different kinds of personal and social factors predisposing to the dropout, including behavioural, integration and learning problems, lack of motivation, low self-esteem, high rate of absenteeism, low expectations regarding learning and their future life, lack of resilience, among others. To develop our project concept we conducted a preliminary documentary research. Scientific evidence has been gathered on the contributions and benefits of Sport and Physical Activity in schools for both children and educational systems in several domains. MISSION: To develop an innovative empowerment program for students using Sport and Physical Activity as a tool to develop skills and key competences with a strong focus on personal, social and learning to learn competence, promoting school success, promoting social inclusion and preventing ESL. Based on our preliminary research, we will create CROSSOVER program, targeting students aged 12-14 years old, tackling 3 dimensions: 1) Development of personal, social and learning to learn competences such as self-awareness, self-efficacy, confidence, motivation, resilience, behaviour management, self-determination, communication, cooperation, conflict management, among others; 2) Exploring cultural awareness and expression competences, fostering intercultural dialogue, diversity and social inclusion; 3) Connecting the dots: using competencies learned through sport in school and life. Strategic Objectives: 1. To share knowledge and good practices between partners to develop an innovative approach, using Sport and Physical Activity as a tool to develop key competences; 2. To design and test an innovative empowerment program – CROSSOVER using Sport and Physical Activity to develop key skills and competences to promote school success, foster social inclusion and contribute to prevent ESL; 3. To conduct a correlational and case study to validate CROSSOVER program. Considering and adapting principles from Sport Management, Sport Psychology, Self-determination and Coaching, among others, and following the principles and values of non-formal learning, the program will be structured and planned although flexible and adaptable. We will promote dynamic activities with focus on learning by doing, based on experimental and experiential learning, with practical, dynamic and interactive approaches. The project is framed within a long-term perspective and planned with a view to achieve a multiplying effect and sustainable impact, and it has a good geographical balance, involving 5 countries, which will contribute to ensure a real European outreach of the project.
The project aimed at developing an innovative empowerment program for students using Sport and Physical Activity as a tool to develop skills and key competences with a strong focus on personal, social and learning to learn competence, promoting school success, promoting social inclusion and preventing ESL. We created CROSSOVER program, targeting students aged 12-14 years old, tackling 3 dimensions: 1) Development of personal, social and learning to learn competences; 2) Exploring cultural awareness and expression competences, fostering intercultural dialogue, diversity and social inclusion; 3) Connecting the dots: using competencies learned through sport in school and life. The project had the following main Objectives: 1. To share knowledge and good practices between partners to develop an innovative approach, using Sport and Physical Activity as a tool to develop key competences; 2. To design and test an innovative empowerment program – CROSSOVER using Sport and Physical Activity to develop key skills and competences to promote school success, foster social inclusion and contribute to prevent ESL; 3. To conduct a correlational and case study to validate CROSSOVER program .
Eurostat reported that 26.9% of children in the European Union (aged 0-17) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Early school leaving (ESL) is a complicated problem that policy makers are concerned about, as research has shown that dropping out of school is associated with several types of personal and social disadvantages, which can have significant negative effects on one's life. According to Eurostat data from 2016, PT, IT, RO, and TR were still among the countries with high rates of early school leavers (14%, 14%, 18%, and 34%, respectively), while CY was the only partnership country with a lower rate. Furthermore, a social diagnosis conducted by the Cascais Social Network found that 57% of the organizations surveyed and working directly with children and young people considered school failure to be a significant issue in their county. Additionally, 51% classified dropping out of school as a very serious problem. The consortium conducted a Tree Analysis based on each partner's work experiences and knowledge to address this issue. This project was created to develop a new effective and motivating methodology that promotes students’ success, fosters social inclusion, and prevents early school leaving.