"Come, my friend, get to know our culture" is a two-year project that involves six countries: Slovenia, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Europe is undergoing a change. The EU's task is to tackle unemployment, migration and marginalization. Some countries face a brain drain; others with school desertion. Our time requires compassion, responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and the school must respond. We will overcome the current challenges only with European cooperation At the initiative of the students and after analyzing the situation among adolescents, the partner schools decided to present a project that will strengthen the awareness of European citizens through international cooperation, promote tolerance and social inclusion, put the participants in real intercultural and linguistic situations and give them business knowledge and practices A joint travel agency will motivate all participants and encourage them to know and value the wealth of our National and European heritage. Accepting the differences, we will discover shared intercultural democratic values. New friendships, mobilities, welcoming foreigners into homes will develop empathy in the whole school population, which is decreasing drastically among young people and it will promote non-discrimination in terms of gender, nationality, religion, appearance and other forms of exclusion. Through these exchanges we will spread the vision of the business world, in real situations, we will improve linguistic skills, we will acquire digital skills and we will have better job opportunities A joint international travel agency will be the main long-term result of the project, which will allow for a lasting impact on creativity and entrepreneurship. Students will learn the work of a tourist guide from real experience, from job searching, travel and being a guide, editting a Guide for Young Travelers, learn about the laws of youth work, and the creation and promotion of the company. With informal learning, they will reinforce their attachment to European cultural heritage: they will explore and visit partner countries, make a video, and attend classes with classmates. All this will allow students to recognize the social, cultural and educational value of their European cultural heritage and its contribution to job creation, economic growth and social cohesion By working together at home and by travelling, adolescents of different ages, interests, nationalities, religions, beliefs and health with the support of teachers will work on tolerance and respect for diversity. They will live with host families, learn about their habits and discover common values. Girls and boys will use digital technologies to create products (films, digital books, padlet, prezi) and communicate through social networks, and educators will educate them about the responsible use of the Internet, privacy, bullying, violence, and false information Partner schools face early school desertion caused by psychological, educational and student learning difficulties. Teachers will find an effective way to deal with these problems using the Montessori pedagogy, a friendly educational approach that promotes independent work and the acquisition of work habits, while students mantain the joy of discovery, research and learning The project also plans to have a seminar on innovative practices, ICT workshops, and eTwinning, job shadowing, visits to emblematic European places, which will make the teaching profession more attractive and diverse, since it will allow them to cooperate, to have a cultural and linguistic experience, to learn new methods and promote professional development The project will involve the entire community of six countries (students, teachers, school administration, staff, families, local authorities, associations), which is a very large number of participants, who will address the project issues during the classes, create products, welcome guests, acquire new knowledge and skills. The project foresees five days of mobility by 120 students between 12 and 16 years old and 66 teachers from six countries The project will have long-term benefits since the established travel agency will be permanent. The students will transfer the knowledge and skills they have acquired to the next generations and will train their colleagues in tourism, corporate management and ICT use An online travel agency will include the new partner schools which will participate in the next eTwinning, Erasmus or school exchanges and will negotiate virtually through eTwinning The results of the project will be published in local and youth media, on websites, TwinSpace, School Educat. Gateway and in Erasmus+ Projects Results. This will benefit all those who know our project. Last but not least, the families of the students, the teachers, the school staff will benefit from the project when planning their vacations, since the project website will become a useful database for all.
COME, MY FRIEND, GET TO KNOW OUR CULTURE Slovenia, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom Europe is undergoing a big change. The EU's task is to tackle unemployment, migration, marginalization, brain drain, early school drop-out. Our time requires compassion, responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit. We will overcome challenges only with European cooperation At the initiative of the students and after analysing the situation among adolescents, the partner schools decided to present a project to reach these OBJECTIVES To strengthen the awareness of European citizens To promote tolerance and social inclusion To improve linguistic and digital skills To provide better job opportunities To give the teaching profession an added value We came to the idea that a joint travel agency would motivate students and teachers to know and value the wealth of our National and European heritage. New friendships, mobilities and welcoming foreigners would develop empathy and non-discrimination - long-term benefits we expected to reach Through mobilities we would expand our knowledge of the business world, improve linguistic and digital skills. These results would help our students to get better job opportunities So we created an international travel agency which allows for a lasting impact on creativity and entrepreneurship The project involved the entire community of 6 countries (students, teachers, administration, staff, families, authorities, associations), a large number of PARTICIPANTS who addressed the project issues, created products, welcomed guests, acquired new knowledge and skills, guided students and teachers during the project ACTIVITIES LEARNING TO TEACH: FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ICT, eTWINNING The Spanish school organized a seminar on educational innovative practices for foreign languages, ICT and eTwinning workshops, job shadowing and visits to emblematic places which made the teaching profession more attractive and diverse, since teachers could cooperate, gain cultural and linguistic experience, learn new methods and promote professional development LEARNING TO TEACH: EDUCATION FOR A RESPONSIBLE FREEDOM Partner schools face early school drop-out caused by psychological and learning difficulties. During the seminar in Slovenia the teachers found an effective way to deal with these problems using the Montessori pedagogy, a friendly educational approach that promotes independent work and the acquisition of work habits, while students maintain the joy of discovery, research and learning RESEARCH OUR HISTORY, DISCOVER OUR HERITAGE VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE Exploring our countries, we reinforced our attachment to common European heritage, made a video, improve ICT HOW TO PLAN A TRIP TURIST GUIDE OF YOUNG TRAVELLERS Students investigated how to plan a trip, what we need to know, explored cultural sights, customs, geography and edited the guide JOB: TOURIST GUIDE JOB INTERVIEW SKILLS HOW TO START A BUSINESS TRAVEL AGENCY PROMOTION Students learnt what the job of a tourist guide comprises from a real experience, travelling, visiting new places, listening to real guides, having a workshop with an expert in Czech Republic. In Scotland they learnt how to succeed in a job interview. In France they learnt about the foundation of a company. In Poland they experienced how to successfully promote a company VEN AMIGO WEBSITE VEN AMIGO REPORT BOOK AMIGO TRAVEL AGENCY Products with a sustainable impact, as the activities and results are on the website. The report book is a valuable travelogue, result of all the experience got during the project made by students themselves. The travel agency was created after the project ended by Erasmus students for the new generation RESULTS All these activities allowed students to recognize social, cultural and educational values of the European cultural heritage and its contribution to job creation, economic growth and social cohesion By working together, travelling, adolescents of different ages, interests, nationalities worked on tolerance and respect for diversity Staying with host families they learnt about their habits discovering common cultural values Teachers and students improve linguistic and digital skills LONG-TERM BENEFITS A permanent website and travel agency, so everyone can benefit Students are transferring knowledge and skills, acquired during the project, to the new generation and training them in tourism, corporate management and ICT, improving the products of the project Students are involved in the company and will be able to take initiatives on their own, start a business and lose their fear of uncertainty. That will strengthen their civic activity, increase their ability to meet people, create new friendships, maintain European relations and communication in foreign languages Students, families, school staff will have a sustainable benefit when planning holidays, since the project website will become a useful database even after the project ended