In order to respond to the new changes in the globalised community threatened by nature disaster and virus pandemic, the education institutions also need to change themselves in a timely manner to provide their schoolchildren with adequate preparation, which in turn, will build them as young professionals highly competitive on the European labor market. This requires the introduction of new pedagogical training methods as well as ICT solutions in the learning process. In order to encourage the adaptation processes to the new realities, three pre-primary schools from Bulgaria - "Buratino" Kindergarten, Portugal Agrupamento de Escolas "Sá de Miranda" and Italy - Istituto Comprensivo Statale "Don Lorenzo Milani", each experienced in the respective pedagogical field, join efforts and create a partnership within which they will exchange good teaching practices in the following areas: 1) Developing of key digital skills and competencies. 2) Introducing new creative and interactive learning methods. 3) Multicultural teaching trough implementation of arts, folklore and cultural heritage. The main objective of the project is to enhance the quality of the offered training by the three pre-primary schools, by complementing it with new teaching methods reflecting the contemporary socio-economic realities and to exchange among them good practices and innovative training approaches. In this way, the young learners will be more prepared for the real life, more competitive for the forthcoming primary schools classes and will receive better adaptation to the new reality of the global calamities. In line with this objective are the specific objectives of the project: 1) Creating a more attractive and more practical learning process 2) Enhancing the digital competences of teachers and children 3) Introducing in the daily training process the latest ICT tools and applications 4) Strengthening the profile of the teaching profession by supporting teachers to provide high quality education 5) Making the education for children more attractive trough using creative approaches 6) Promoting the European cooperation in the field of education and exchange. These goals will be achieved through 3 learning teaching training events (including 21 teachers), in which the three partner organizations will exchange pedagogical experience and good practices in the area where they have proven expertise. The learning teaching training events will be aimed at teachers in order to demonstrate better and different perspective the new pedagogical training methods. Thus, the teachers' groups will observe, discuss and exchange ideas and good practices. The acquired new skills and competences will be transferred by the teachers to their pre-primary schools and on a later stage to their kindergartens in the countries. The events will be held as exchanges on a rotation basis in the three countries - Portugal, Italy and Bulgaria - one short-term joint staff training event. The training methods that will be used during these events will be in the form of presentations, workshops, group discussions, simulations, case-studies, etc. The main groups of participants from the 3 partner organisations who will take part in the project will be the work teams of each of the pre-primary schools that will administer and manage it and 21 teachers will be involved in the planned mobilities. Upon the completion of each event, the participants in it will receive a Europass Mobility Certificate to certify the knowledge, the competences and the experience gained. The expected results from the implementation of the project are: + improved language and digital competences of the participating teachers to work with the new ICT in the learning process - multimedia, interactive boards, virtual labs, 3D simulations + implementation of the latest ICT in the learning process + adopted creative teaching methods (learning games, role-play, visual associations, design thinking) as well as those for work with schoolchildren from vulnerable groups (representatives of ethnic minorities and refugees) by the participated teachers and their subsequent implementation in the teaching activities + developed ready-to-use pedagogical materials - presentations, articles, interactive tasks, etc. - on project topics and their distribution among other schools in Europe. The exchange of good learning practices and the implementation of innovative learning approaches will contribute to the updating of the learning process in the three pre-primary schools, and thus benefiting not only the direct participants, but also current and future teachers, thereby achieving sustainability project results.
Project "Future skills and competencies for children" under the Erasmus + Program, KA2 "Strategic Partnerships" is implemented in partnership between Kindergarten "Buratino",Plovdiv,Bulgaria and ICS "Don. L. Milani",Gela,Italy. Its main objective is to improve the quality of training by supplementing it with new teaching methods.In the implementation of the project, each of the educational institutions presented their experience and good practices on topics on which they have proven expertise.Within the framework of the formed partnership,we exchanged good teaching practices in the following areas: - The application of creative learning methods,role-playing games,visual associations,design thinking and simulation creation have already proved to be much more successful learning methods than a number of traditional approaches.With their help,students learn the new material in an informal and funny way, freeing themselves from the mandatory nature of the training and enjoying the learning process.This facilitates the process of remembering, develops the creativity of the students and motivates them to look for non-standard solutions to various problematic situations. In this way, they become more prepared for real life after graduating from school. - Inclusive teaching approaches when working with children from vulnerable groups (ethnic minorities,different cultures and religions,refugees).These approaches include creating a supportive learning environment,building a positive image of ethnic groups among other students, nurturing tolerance.In this way, learning becomes a joyful experience and students are prepared to participate fully in a new different society - the society of the 21st century. At the beginning of our work we set ourselves the following goals: 1) Creating a more attractive and more practical learning process; 2) Increasing the language and digital competences of teachers and students; 3) Strengthening the profile of the teaching profession by supporting teachers to provide high-quality education and adopt new teaching methods and tools; 4) Reducing the number of early leavers; 5) Promote European cooperation in education and exchanges. These goals were realized through the implementation of two training events,in which we exchanged pedagogical experience and good practices in the field where we have proven expertise.The events took place as a rotational exchange in both countries.17 teachers participated in mobilities.Upon completion of each event,its participants were given a Europass mobility certificate to certify the knowledge,competences and experience gained. Kindergarten "Buratino" has experience working with children from vulnerable groups,part of our team has worked on the project "Active inclusion in the pre-school education system" under operational program "Science and Education for Smart Growth" 2014-2020.During their visit to Bulgaria,Italian teachers became acquainted with methods and approaches for working in a multicultural environment,learned how through art,folklore and cultural heritage and a supportive environment to integrate children from different social groups into the learning process,how to meet their specific needs and how to keep them in school.They discuss and exchange ideas and good practices and test the effectiveness of new teaching methods in a real educational environment. Our Italian partner shared with us its creative training methods,including training games,role plays,visual associations,design thinking,etc.During the training events in Italy we had the opportunity to build on our teaching experience in applying creative learning methods and creating a creative learning environment in the classroom.The inclusion of new approaches in our work has made the lessons taught more interesting and engaging for children. The training methods we used during these events include presentations,games,workshops,group discussions,classroom visits,practical work with children,etc. The exchange of good learning practices and the implementation of innovative learning approaches contributed to improving the quality of the learning process in both institutions.We have already shared the accumulated new knowledge and ideas with the other teachers in kindergarten "Buratino" and ICS "Don. L. Milani",with colleagues from other kindergartens,with parents and the public.The language and digital competences of the participating teachers to work with the new ICT in the learning process - multimedia,interactive boards,interactive applications - have increased. We presented the results of the project at international conferences for sharing and disseminating good pedagogical experience to colleagues from the country and abroad,Plovdiv Municipality,parents. Thanks to the project we have laid the foundations of a stable partnership and friendship with our colleagues from Italy, and we hope that in the future we will continue to work so successfully on other initiatives and projects.