The European Union stands for diversity, respect and tolerance. Although we hold these values to be self-evident, the rise of nationalism all across Europe over the previous years has shown that we must never take them for granted: peace, stability and prosperity are the final consequence of intercultural understanding, a European core competence that needs to be acquired in school. As a result, we saw it as our duty as teachers to design a project that aims recognizing diversity and promoting interaction between people from different origins. In this school exchange project the partner schools in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Brittany and Styria, are located in regions rich in cultural heritage: linguistic varieties, history, art, dance, music, food and social values. We want our students, aged 14-17, to encounter the variety of these regions’ local traditions and cultural habits. Learning about them is essential, but to experience them in reality will promote the development of a European identity: during the mutual exchange students will find out similarities and disparities among them. The will discover that cultural traits and differences contribute to a colorful, enriching and diverse European society, while joint values and shared opinions and common interests make it cohesive and strong. The partner schools will develop a common curriculum covering a wide range of topics. These topics will be prepared and implemented in regular teaching in the respective schools. Progress, opinions and outcome will be shared online via e-twinning, documented on social media, collected and summarized during the exchange in Graz. The project's results will be presented by students and teachers in an information fair during Europe Week in May as well as on the respective school homepages year books.
The European Union stands for diversity, respect and tolerance. Although we hold these values to be self-evident, the rise of nationalism all across Europe over the previous years has shown that we must never take them for granted: peace, stability and prosperity are the final consequence of intercultural understanding, a European core competence that needs to be acquired in school. As a result, we saw it as our duty as teachers to design a project that aims recognizing diversity and promoting interaction between people from different origins. In this school exchange project the partner schools in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Brittany and Styria, are located in regions rich in cultural heritage: linguistic varieties, history, art, dance, music, food and social values. We want our students, aged 14-17, to encounter the variety of these regions’ local traditions and cultural habits. Learning about them is essential, but to experience them in reality will promote the development of a European identity: during the mutual exchange students will find out similarities and disparities among them. The will discover that cultural traits and differences contribute to a colorful, enriching and diverse European society, while joint values and shared opinions and common interests make it cohesive and strong. The partner schools will develop a common curriculum covering a wide range of topics. These topics will be prepared and implemented in regular teaching in the respective schools. Progress, opinions and outcome will be shared online via e-twinning, documented on social media, collected and summarized during the exchange in Graz. The project's results will be presented by students and teachers in an information fair during Europe Week in May as well as on the respective school homepages year books.