Fair Play is a catchy concept that is used in various sports. Nations, international organisations and associations promote Fair Play through various actions. The football association FIFA, for example, defines fair play as playing according to the rules, using reason and respecting team mates, referees, the opposing team and fans. However, the concept has been expanded to fight racism and build bridges between opponents. This is where we start and ask ourselves: -How can Fair Play promote an education of positive values among the pupils, how can we fight against racism, discrimination and exclusion? -What experiences do pupils make in their social environment that help to apply the rules and values of Fair Play to other contexts? -What role does Fair Play play in economy and politics? In our projects we will search for answers to these questions. In a variety of very different game situations (theatre, movement games, board games, role plays, sports games) the pupils will have experiences while playing and interacting which they will reflect and document in various forms. Games from the European regions are reinvented and reinterpreted, with the focus on the fact that every game needs rules which must be fair and transparent for every player. Different activities are planned inside and outside of each school, with a different focus depending on the country. Each country has a different culture and its own traditional games. In this project we will learn the traditional games of our partner countries and thus realise intercultural communication. This project will thus also contribute to the promotion of cultural heritage in the partner countries. Fair rules of international cooperation will be simulated and tested in a political and economic game. All our project partners are teachers of German in their countries. At the request of our partners the project language is going to be German. For this reason, the project will also contribute significantly to the more effective use of the German language in the partner countries and to the promotion of German as a foreign language. Nevertheless, English will also be used by all students as their demand of English as a second language will most probably be stronger. These games can be repeated and taken up in everyday teaching at the various schools. The experiences gained should motivate the pupils to shape their cooperation in other contexts according to the rules of fair play. The documentation of our work results via video, podcast and a European game book, which we will publish on the appropriate platforms, will offer access and suggestions for fair play to all interested parties. The main goal of the project is to raise the students' awareness of morally correct behaviour, tolerance and respect for human values. The focus is on the acquisition and use of foreign languages in addition to the playful and sporting components. The pupils communicate in German and English and are supported by the foreign language teachers of the respective schools. The expansion of foreign language skills (both as the person who has to speak the foreign language as well as the native German speaker who helps the guest students to express themselves) is another learning goal. The participating students will be between 15 and 18 years old and will be in grades 9 - 11.
Project idea Fair Play is a catchy concept that is used in various sports. Nations, international organisations and associations promote Fair Play through various actions The football association FIFA, for example, defines Fair Play as playing according to the rules, using reason and respecting team mates, referees, the opposing team and fans. However, the concept has been expanded to fight racism and build bridges between opponents. Thus, we seeked to combine games and reality by focusing on the education of positive values among students in order to fight against racism, discrimination and exclusion. We wanted to find rules and values of Fair Play that could be applied to other contexts of the young people’s social environment. We wanted to create different forms of games and playful situations in which the young people could interact. In a variety of very different game situations (theatre, movement games, podcasts, role games, sport games and music) the students would have experiences which they could reflect and document in various forms. Games from the European regions involved in the project (Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southwestern Europe and Southeastern Europe) have been reinvented and reinterpreted, with the focus on the fact that every game needs rules which must be fair and transparent for every player. Different activities were planned inside and outside of each school, with a different focus depending on the country. The main goal of the project was to raise the students’ awareness of morally correct behaviour, tolerance and respect for human values. The expansion of foreign language skills (both as the person who has to speak the foreign language as well as the native or fluent speaker who helps the other students to express themselves) has been another learning goal. All the results of our encounters, activities and games we were playing had been documented on the platform etwinning which isn’t accessible any longer. Background Each country has a different culture and its own traditional games. These games normally lead to positive interaction and experiences. On the other hand, European countries have been experiencing different crises which have led to Eurosceptism, nationalism and populism in a lot of countries. While it seems at times that Europeans are drifting apart, each country seeing its own interests, it is decisive and crucial, that young Europeans experience the European Union as beneficial, vibrant and worth engaging for. Therefore, international youth exchange programs that do not only carry through tourist activities but motivate the young people to seek for common rules and solutions while experiencing positive contacts and establishing friendships across borders, help to create a positive image of Europe in the young students’ minds. An important step towards future democratic and open-minded societies is most probably created, when solidarity and positive exchange are promoted among the future generations. Needs Maintaining and strengthening moral goals and the fair treatment of each other is a continuous process and a task for every responsible human being. Already from a very early age on, children are introduced to sets of rules and morally correct behaviour patterns that enable us to live together. So it is only logical, that young students between the age of 15 to 18 who are about to enhance and broaden their spectrum of social interactions, are to be made aware of further rules and regulations of “Fair Play”. At the same time, the playful aspect makes the young participants’ interaction less “serious” and theoretical. Young students of the above mentioned age group must be positively encouraged and supported to find fair rules for themselves now and in their future lives. In many member states populist and nationalist parties are on the rise that have simple answers to complex problems. Young people need to continuously shape an awareness of urgent questions and issues in order to positively engage in a decision making process. Rules of Fair Play are to help them on this journey to work on an open-minded Europe that practises solidarity. Our project was carried through during the worldwide Corona pandemic which led to a never experienced insecurity. Therefore, our project had to be postponed and started slowly and carefully in February 2021, with everybody wearing masks and following safety rules. The students nevertheless were very relieved when being able to travel and being able to meet young people from other countries after so many months of isolation. The happiness and relief after such a drastic experience of a lock-down and confinement to the home even intensified the international exchange and the common experiences. But on the positive side, digital skills of the young people were enhanced due to this time, which facilitated our project work and keeping in touch with each other. Also, Europe has now become the framework that increasingly influences the lives of young Europeans, as flying abroad to other continents has become much more expensive and is also frowned upon by many young people. Young generations today are much more ecologically aware and responsible than the generations before them. They righteously criticize former and current climate policies of their countries and demand to fight climate change in a more pressing way. As a last point it must be emphasized, that rules of Fair Play shall be taken up in their future life at university, their work place and on a personal level. The experiences gained should motivate the pupils to shape their cooperation in other contexts according to the rules of fair play. Implementation The implementation of our project required numerous activities being carried out before each mobility: - First meeting of Turkish teacher (with the most experience in Erasmus+ activities) and the two coordinating German teachers in Germany to inform about prerequisites - Several online meeting of the responsible teachers from Turkey, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Poland (agreement on dates, activities, finances, contracts, results such as podcasts, videos, theatre performances and ways to distribute the results even further); due to Corona restrictions further online meetings to reschedule dates. - Online meetings of responsible teachers to define the group of students that are about to participate: 15 – 18 years old; good language proficiency in English and acceptable knowledge of German; inclusion of students with special needs; diverse when it comes to gender and ethnic, migrational or social background The implementation of our project included the following activities during our meeting: - The set-up was as followed: 2 teachers engaged in the Erasmus+ project accompany 4 students to the visited country. - 7 to 11 February 2022 to Tenerife, Spain - 25 to 29 April 2022 to Witten, Germany - 19 to 23 September 2022 to Helsingborg, Sweden - 12 to 17 March 2023 to Lublin, Poland - 08 to 12 May 2023 to Konya, Turkey All our project partners are teachers of German in their countries. At the request of our partners the project language is German besides English which is required to be spoken by each participant. As the focus is on the acquisition and use of foreign languages in addition to the playful and sporting components, the students are supported by their foreign language teachers of their respective schools. Activities The here presented activities during our programme’s exchange week are of course only a selection of the carried out activities. 1st meeting in Tenerife (Spain): The focus of our first exchange lay on learning something about each other’s countries (PP presentations) and the meaning and significance of our project’s motto “Fair Play”. Sportive activities with playful elements were carried out to enhance team spirit and to create an awareness what the project is about. Group games were played in a historic town to further learn about the island’s situation as a tourists’ destiny and in another sportive game (plogging at the beach) the students’ awareness of Spain’s challenge due to overtourism and climate change were further enhanced. 2nd meeting in Witten (Germany): As the Ruhr area is home to very many theatres, the focus lay on a theatrical performance and role play to explore misunderstandings (for example due to language barriers) and solution findings. For this activity 2 professionals (a light and sound technician and a theatre educator) were hired to accompany the rehearsals and the performance. As a location, a local theatre and culture venue was rented. 3rd meeting in Helsingborg (Sweden): One focus of this week’s activities were on the establishment of rules in sports (talking to a successful football trainer of women’s soccer) and in political decisions (Immigration to Sweden and diversity). The students interviewed local residents, teachers and other students and made podcasts. 4th meeting in Lublin, Poland As the concentration camp Majdanek is very close to Lublin and as Lublin once served as one of the most important centers of Jewish life and culture in Europe, it was only a natural consequence that the activities centred around history but also the current situation of a huge number of Ukranian refugees in the city. Furthermore, other group activities focused on games in the big forests surrounding Lublin and also of the commen composition of a song, which was recorded and published on youtube. 5th meeting in Konya, Turkey The responsible Turkish teacher is very experienced when it comes to Erasmus+; thus a wide variety of activities concerning Fair Play were carried through (Turkish sports games in a gym and also outside in a huge outdoor area). The main activity nevertheless was the rehearsal and colourful performance of traditional Turkish folk dances, practised and supervised by a famous Turkish folk dancer. Results The following results were published after each of our meetings: Spain: The Spanish teachers are responsible for the documentation on etwinning and further social media sites. The description of the project (incl. videos, testimonies and a video) have been uploaded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h59JdWjQnnc Germany: The students’ theatre performance was partly recorded and shown in a video, released by the Turkish teacher. https://youtu.be/VIOx7t9_Kis?si=9BGDKdvh4fKZNaYR The students’ testimonies about their experiences were added to the etwinning site. Sweden: The created podcasts have been uploaded on etwinning. Furthermore a camera crew of the Swedish national television reported on the Erasmus+ project, interviewing the responsible Swedish teacher about its goals and filming the students’ activities. This report was broadcasted on Swedish national TV the same night, helping to give the project an enormous attention and distribution. Furthermore the Turkish teacher published a video about the exchange in Sweden on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGYdYNxC8K0 Poland: Testimonies about reflections on war and persecution have been published on etwinning. The same is true for the song which was composed and performed by the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJqU8QXpU34 Turkey: Images of the colourful dance performance in traditional costumes on the stage of a prestigious institution have been uploaded on etwinning. Also, a video of the week in Turkey has been published on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kCLjCiBhrM Impact All in all, the project was an extremely positive, regarding and inspiring experience which led many students and teachers to keeping up the contact and the friendship. Students are still visiting each other in their holidays and some even consider to study or to do an internship in one of the countries involved in the project. The teachers have also been highly motivated to keep up the cooperation and the application of future Erasmus+ projects. Job shadowing at our new colleagues’ school is another project we have been planning, together with accreditation and the application of more students’ mobility activities. The various results of our games and activities had been documented on the above mentioned platform etwinning which momentarily is not accessible any longer. Nevertheless a lot of rules and experiences have been documented on our homepages and are accessible to students and teachers of future generations. For example a theatre educator had been teaching the young students rules of role play while rehearsing a theatre play to be staged or an instructor of traditional Turkish folk dance taught the youngsters several dances which required interaction.