We have witnessed changes in our school in the past few years. The family model, in many cases, is not the same and its responsibilities are now shared with the school. Our children grow up in a different world, focused on technologies and extracurricular activities, leaving little time for what was essential to them: playing. Children and families do not have the time to be together and share the process of growing up. This explains the problems in social and school development and the lack of values among pupils. Values education, once in the hands of parents, is now a responsibility of the school. This project aims to work with values such as sharing, solidarity, happiness, peace, respect, freedom, family, honesty, citizenship, among others. Also, the use of significant words (please, excuse me, thank you, good morning, sorry...) contributes to the change of this school and social framework. This is only possible through constant and persistent work, from an early age. It’s important to explain to pupils that these values are not out of fashion. We want healthy and well-educated children, crucial for the construction of a well-structured society. The paradigm shift is only possible if we open up learning, provide new experiences, and promote, along with logical reasoning, mastery of mother and foreign languages and digital technologies, exploration of arts, sports, health, and contact with nature. Thus, the pupils’ horizons become broader and they are motivated toward attitudes compatible with responsible and conscious citizenship. Working with values at school is a great need, combined with the contribution of families to make this action more effective. Children will grow up with balance and will not be deprived of interaction with their peers. The use of stories as a pedagogical strategy will allow the development of necessary learnings for the pupils, starting from imagination and establishing parallelism between fiction and real concepts. Step by step, children will develop their moral sense. The activities of the project will have, as a starting point, previously selected children stories that refer to universal values. In each month, a story will be associated with a value, and consequently a theme. The stories, values, and themes, will be intertwined with the seasons or festivities common to partner countries. This will be the motto for work planning. In order to make this project stronger, more coherent and effective, with meaningful and long-lasting learnings, we foresee the involvement of the educational community, highlighting the fundamental role of families and also directing some of the activities to them. This will lead to bigger accountability of all the actors. Transnationality and funding are necessary for the project in order to allow children to contact with their peers from other countries, virtually and in mobilities, thus getting to know different cultures and developing social and personal skills and European values. The main objectives of this project are: A. Increasing pupils' self-knowledge so that they are able to recognize their own feelings, emotions, desires; B. Providing children with tools for getting to know and respect their peers; C. Helping children value what they own and discussing the issues of "owning" in contemporary society (consumerism); D. Working on issues such as loss, frustration, change, discrimination, prejudice, exclusion, and conflict situations; E. Strengthening pupils’ self-esteem; F. Developing pupils' social and communication skills; G. Increasing pupils' literacy and interest in reading and writing through children literature; H. Raising human, upright and just children, citizens of a better future; I. Increasing the engagement of parents/families in school life; J. Developing the participating organization's capacity of operating at a transnational level; K. Exchanging ideas and sharing educational methodologies/practices/tools with partner teachers/staff. Concrete results we plan to develop during the project's implementation period: • Virtual Museum of Values - an online interactive space where values are explained and put in context; • Project Ebook - a collection of the project activities' results and expert's work on the subjects; • Online Booklet of Interactive Games - a guide of interactive games; • Short Film - on the topics of human rights and universal values; • Project Website/Blog - the project's online space, with updated information about the activities, mobilities, and results.
The project “ Growing up with values from storytelling” in partnership with schools from Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Romania was a response to the needs of each partner institution. The project was created in order to increase social and school development through the learning of values, which is crucial for a well-established society. The use of stories was a pedagogical strategy for the pupils to develop the necessary learnings. In addition, the project objectives were: • Increase pupil´s self-knowledge so they are able to recognize their own feelings, emotions, and desires; • Provide children with tools for getting to know and respect their peers; • Help children value what they own and discuss the issues of “owning” in contemporary society ( consumerism); • Work on issues such as loss, frustration, change, discrimination, prejudice, exclusion, and conflict situations; • Strengthen pupil's self-esteem; • Develop pupil's social and communication skills; • Increase pupil's literacy and interest in reading and writing through children's literature; • Raise human, upright and just children, citizens of a better future; • Increase the engagement of parents/ families in school life; • Develop the participating organization´s capacity of operating at a transnational level; • Exchange ideas and share educational methodologies/practices/tools with partners. Since the project priorities were Support to Individuals; Social inclusion; Civic Behavior and Responsible Citizenship, all partner schools worked with their students, in particular, and with all others, including those of the schools involved, with dedication, responsibility, collaborative spirit, supporting the most needy, in the different domains of their development and social and pedagogical/educational, so that everyone felt welcomed, understood, respected, integrated into the group. Only in this way can access to knowledge be guaranteed, to the construction of each person's personality, and to an integral formation of the individual, in a freer, fairer, more civically responsible way - essential values for a more humane society. The activities (P1-P50) developed monthly have contributed to the stated above. The concrete results developed during the project's implementation period were: Virtual Museum of Values, Project Ebook, Online Booklet of Interactive, Short Film, and Project Website/Blog. All the concrete results show the activities fulfilled. The partner schools have come to the conclusion that the students increased their knowledge and have acquired the tools necessary for the management of their emotions, in different contexts of their lives through the stories they have read, not forgetting the diversity of the themes explored and the values in it clear or not. The longer-term benefits are that the activities were an asset for the integral growth of the students involved thus making them more sensible, aware, and responsible for their peers and take on attitudes and behaviors compatible with the values worked during the project. This fact made the children ready for a conscient and better future.