The project "Togheter for better" involved 5 schools from Romania, Turkey, Portugal, Macedonia and Poland. The project aims to create a diverse learning and co-operative context for 300 disadvantaged and SEN students (10-19 years) and to enhance communication by supporting the effects of students on their lives and to be more active in inclusive environments. Learning outcomes can be improved and equity and efficiency grow with learning innovation, understood as the adoption of new services, technologies and skills. The main objectives of the project are to focus directly on the issue of social inclusion and the development of key competences, such as: improving student performance, with emphasis on developing skills and digital competences in specific curricula; promoting motivation for learning and school participation through the implementation of attractive learning methodologies; Developing social skills such as cooperation, tolerance, through activities that offer them the opportunity to feel important, appreciated and socially integrated; reducing absenteeism; to improve teachers' ability to use specific intervention strategies in situations of early school leaving risk. The target group of the project includes about 300 students with SEN and disadvantaged (10-19 years) from partner institutions. 2 TPM, 1 LTTA and 2 short-term exchange of student groups are organized within the project. In the framework of the three transnational mobilities that will be for teachers: exchange of experience and practical innovation in social inclusion, the use of digital technologies in the classroom, and for pupils: working in intercultural groups, exchanging ideas and learning experiences in care will involve without any differentiation. The project activities will lead to the development of results that can contribute to the educational inclusion interventions for social inclusion: 1. Web –tv. We are going to create a web tv including students’ activities and their products. The students are going to responsible for the development and streaming of the programs with the assistance of their teachers 2. E book creative way of learning. Creating e books will allow our students the imagination and they will take responsibility for their own learning progress. 3. Digital scrapbook. Students will put selfies and social media photos to good use. Students will gather all kinds of images from their digital devices into an adaptable scrapbook layout. 4. An accredited and dedicated digital competency curriculum to foster creativity and innovation and to support the professional development of teachers; 5. An online platform where teachers can exchange good practice and discuss on the social inclusion of students; 6. a course on social inclusion methods for teachers and parents. The expected outcomes will focus on applied learning, addressing the transdisciplinary approach proposed to students, which exploit what they have learned through the formal curriculum but bring complementary elements, varied methodologies, specific to inclusive education that promote student-centered learning. The materials produced in the project will be piloted at each school level and the results will be capitalized in the final form of the products. In terms of project impact, the following can be mentioned: -the students participants in mobilities will develop a set of socialization, communication, collaboration skills that can compensate for the lower functioning of other abilities (different depending on the degree of disability / educational education); - developing a more inclusive environment at school partner level, with a greater degree of empathy and openness on the part of students without disabilities / disadvantaged; - Developing the skills of teachers working with pupils from disadvantaged categories, both in didactic and promotion of inclusion, digital competences improvement; - Promoting differentiated learning at school level, taking into account the characteristics of all students. Project detail: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/82668/home
All project activities have led to the development of results that contribute to the social inclusion of students. The results focused on applied learning, approaching the transdisciplinary teaching proposed to students, which exploits what they learned through the formal curriculum, but brings complementary elements, various methodologies, specific to the inclusive education it promotes. The materials produced in the project were coordinated at each school, and the results were capitalized in the final form of the products. The main objectives of the project were: improving students' school performance, emphasizing the development of digital skills and competences in the specific school curriculum; promoting motivation for learning and participation in classes by implementing attractive learning methodologies; developing social skills, such as cooperation, tolerance, through activities that give them the chance to feel important, appreciated and socially integrated; improving teachers' ability to use specific intervention strategies for students with SEN. The teachers had the chance to compare the new educational approaches in the partner schools and to improve their own style after the implementation of the project.
The partner schools have students with few opportunities and/or students with disabilities, who feel socially ostracized and are exposed to a high risk of isolation. Based on the internal assessment of organizational needs, we found that the low access to ICT and digital skills of a significant part of the population, especially for students in special schools, which is an obstacle to information, education, employment, social inclusion and the fight against poverty, even more so in a period of digitization. Studies show that the use of technology is largely limited to extracurricular activities, while the use of ICT for educational purposes in school is insufficient. (OECD,2015). The challenges and potential benefits of digital education in school are multiple. From a social point of view, the challenge is about inclusion: the digital gap between those without digital skills and the others, with a high level of skills, could accentuate the existing differences in society and could lead to the exclusion of a part of the population (European Commission, 2016). The use of technology could provide innovative and stimulating learning environments, facilitate individualized learning and increase student motivation.