The project Closer Together aims at developing a European identity among the participating students, since many of them feel strongly connected to parental or national roots. Only 66% of them perceives himself / herself as a responsible-minded European citizen which initially has been proved by survey. Therefore the students will focus on typically European traditions, values and common steps in history which through the ages lead to the development of a European Identity. Based on collaborative research and trips to museums, places of European cultural heritage and important institutions of the European Union the students will write an Online-Blog about their travel experiences. They will create audios, photos and videos to add them to the blog. To promote the project and to motivate students to engage in European policy, the students will also create a multi-lingual "commercial spot" which will be presented to student and staff assemblies, can also be shared with other schools and the city councils, etc. Moreover, the project will promote common goals towards the future sustainability by travelling only by bus or train. Closer Together establishes a link between schools in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, who share common experiences and priorities. All partner schools are motivated to establish a project based on innovations in digital educational technology and the skills that accompany collaborative work on global scale, with a view to broadening students’ outlook, skills and develop a European identity. All schools involved are located in the proximity of an urban setting and they share similar experiences concerning cultural, social and economic diversity, as well as comparable environmental concerns. Moreover, our schools uphold an international and multicultural ethos, and owing to the diversity of our school cohorts, many of our students share common languages and educational experiences. The objectives of our project are: - To develop students’ skills in ICT by producing an Online-Blog and a multi-lingual (inclusive) commercial spot. - To qualify students to become responsible-minded European citizens who actively engage in European issues and know about the worth of democracy. - To develop students’ research and presentation skills by investigating and presenting the results about European values, traditions and history. - To develop students’ skills in cooperation and diplomacy to agree on blog contents. - To promote cross-curricular learning and to provide students with a broader skills set, including foreign language skills, which are relevant to global concerns and careers of the future. - To promote European cultural heritage as common thread for European social coexistence. - To elaborate the principles of European unity and diversity and create tolerance and acceptance. The project will run over twenty-three months and will include a week-long movement to each participating country and to Strasbourg / Brussels. At the beginning of the project, there will be a series of collaborative workshops on ICT and the implementation of an Online-Blog, delivered by video conference and eTwinning. During the project there will be face-to-face and video staff-planning meetings before each movement where clear aims, objectives and an itinerary for the movement will be agreed. Following each staff meeting, student participants from the partner schools will carry out directed research on values, traditions and history, which will be addressed next. During the project, students will engage in the following: - Team-building activities to support the development of a sense of togetherness among the project participants. - A series of workshops to develop necessary skills in the implementation of Online-blogs and commercial spots. - A series of workshops to investigate the rights and responsibilities of European citizens in the safeguarding of our cultural heritage. - Workshops and visits to local sights, museums, institutions of the European Union in Strasbourg and Brussels, places of cultural heritage to develop their awareness of significant European principles. - The delivery of assemblies to the wider school cohort to raise awareness of the project and its objectives. The results of the project will be advertised widely across the partnership using digital resources, eTwinning site, school websites, press and the Online-blog, which will be kept in business after the end of the project. Digital resources, produced by the project participants, will be promoted and disseminated to each of the partner schools, as well as other institutions, with whom the schools may have established links. In addition, the results and resources produced will be incorporated into a range of school project days and subject lessons, promoting cross-curricular teaching and learning and inspiring future areas of study within our educational settings and beyond into further education.
The project Closer Together aimed at developing a European identity among the participating students, since many of them felt strongly connected to parental or national roots. Only 66% of them perceived himself / herself as a responsible-minded European citizen which initially has been proved by survey. Therefore the students focussed on typical European traditions, values and common steps in history which lead to the development of a European Identity. Based on collaborative research and trips to museums, places of European cultural heritage and important institutions of the European Union the students created an Online-Blog about their travel experiences. They took photos and produced videos to add them to the blog. To promote the project and to motivate students to engage in European policy, the students also created a "commercial spot" which has already been presented to student and staff assemblies, was shared with other schools and the city councils and the link can also be found on the schools‘ websites. Moreover, the project promoted common goals towards the future sustainability by travelling mostly by bus or train. Closer Together established a link between schools in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, who share the diversity of school cohorts, common experiences and priorities. All partner schools were motivated to establish a project based on innovations in digital educational technology and the skills that accompany collaborative work on global scale, with a view to broadening students’ outlook, skills and develop a European identity. The objectives of our project were: - To develop students’ skills in ICT by producing an Online-Blog and a multi-lingual (inclusive) commercial spot: We produced the Online-Blog and also the commercial spot in English. - To qualify students to become responsible-minded European citizens who actively engage in European issues and know about the worth of democracy: During these years the students got multiple input on how important European democracy is. They were confronted with how the European institutions work and they also worked on some issues about what happens if there is no united Europe. Especially since the Covid pandemic and the war in the Ukraine the project topic became even more present. That the students now think differently about what Europe means to them shows the survey, which was carried out at the end of the project. - To develop students’ research and presentation skills by investigating and presenting the results about European values, traditions and history: This was a major part during the German project week. The students prepared an exhibition about European holidays and traditions. At the end of the week they presented the results to several classes that visited the exhibition. - To develop students’ skills in cooperation and diplomacy to agree on blog contents: This was really wonderful to see. The Dutch and German student groups got along with each other fantastically. They could find new friends and they are still in contact with each other. - To promote cross-curricular learning and to provide students with a broader skills set, including foreign language skills, which are relevant to global concerns and careers of the future: The students really profited from the project. The project language was English and we also trained some other skills like reading city maps, we had sports lessons and rented bikes to get to school in the Netherlands. - To promote European cultural heritage as common thread for European social coexistence: We visited Regensburg and Rome and learned that these cities are just two places where Roman history took place. Also Regensburg and its importance in Jewish history showed that it‘s only one piece of the puzzle. - To elaborate the principles of European unity and diversity and create tolerance and acceptance: This was included in the German and Dutch project week, since we discussed historic topics, water management issues, holidays and traditions. Every participant of the project was different but was accepted by the group. The project included a week-long movement to each participating country and to Strasbourg / Brussels. At the beginning of the project, there were a series of collaborative workshops on European institutions, creating a project logo and the implementation of an Online-Blog and we also made our own European song contest with whole classes, delivered by video conference and eTwinning. During the project there were video staff-planning meetings before each movement where clear aims, objectives and an itinerary for the movement were agreed.