Context: Just like many other schools in the EU our schools are dealing with a growing diversity of pupils. We are facing many challenges like the prevention of discrimination, the inclusion of people with a different cultural background and the inclusion of people with disabilities. We also try to encourage our pupils as much as possible to study and not to drop out of school too early. All of our schools have made great strides with dance education within our all-day school offers. Dancing offers, no matter what nationality, social background or intellectual skills, the possibility to develop specific skills and to work together. The “Lernhaus im Campus”, the “Colegio Juan Comenius” and the “Escola de Danca Lugar Presente” work together in the Erasmus plus-project “Learning through dance” since 2018. We profited from this project in many ways. With our “learning through dance” methods, we were able to improve the intercultural competences and the inclusion of pupils with learning disabilities. However pupils and teachers who were directly involved in the project benefitted the most. To transfer the project into our regular lessons, we are currently developing a handout for teachers. But we can already see that the handout will not be enough to integrate the methods for our classes on a regular basis. This is the reason why we want to keep working with our partner schools. In addition to the handout, we want to make a film for the better understanding. Furthermore, we want to involve our pupils in the implementation of the dance project even more. Aims: Our three schools would like to learn from the specific experiences of their partner school by performing the dance project with the topic of basic needs of people. Together we want to achieve the following aims: - improving the participation of learners with fewer opportunities by developing methods of dance pedagogy in regular classes: implementation of the handout in addition with the film - fighting against early school leavers and discrimination with the possibility of success for all learners including the ones with a migration background by strengthening the collaboration between teachers and artists - Support in the development of social and cultural competences through the development choreographies and the preparation of dance presentations Participants: Each of the schools offer specific competences for this project: The secondary school “Lernhaus im Campus” has gained years of experience in using dance projects for the promotion of pupils with migration background and for the promotion of educationally disadvantaged pupils. The “Colegio Juan Comenius” from Valencia organizes activities and classes in a way that teenagers with different disabilities can participate. The “Escola de Danca Lugar Presente” from Viseu is specialized in the cooperation of artists and teachers. The secondary school “Stad & Esch” has specific experiences to link projects and regular classes. The number of participants from each of the three schools are as follows: 240 pupils aged 13 – 18 (therefrom 144 also in the mobilities), 28 teachers (therefrom 8 also in the mobilities) and two dance choreographers. Activities and Methodology: Five international meetings are planned. An introductory workshop for teachers with the topic “motivation” as well as four international meetings with the pupils where the pupils will perform dance projects with the topic “Basic needs of humans": Freedom – home, work – recreation, equal rights and protection, love and creativity. The pupils develop a dance choreography together with the teachers and dance choreographs and rehearse them. On the fifth day, the pupils present their performance in public. In between the meetings, the pupils will work independently on their parts of the choreography. Results and long-term considerations The planned film documents the central steps in the development of the choreography and the rehearsal as well as parts of the performance. This film includes recommendations, instructions and examples of how to implement “learning through dance” and motivates other teachers and schools. The film will be used as a basis for transferring the result from the workshops into the teaching staffs and further schools. Therefore, this project contributes to a greater implementation of methods of dance pedagogy and offers a new integral access to learning especially for disadvantages pupils. With regards to the discussions about the topic “basic needs for humans“, the results will be evaluated by each of the schools thoroughly. If necessary, measures will be taken to enforce basic needs of humans at the schools.
Background / project context The Secondary School Learning House in the Campus, the Colegio Juan Comenius and the Escola de Dança Lugar Presente have been working together in the Erasmus plus project "Learning through Dance" since 2018. We have benefited from this in many ways. Through the use of dance pedagogical methods, the intercultural competences and the participation of disadvantaged learners could be improved. The students and teachers who have been directly involved in the project have benefited most. In the current project "To be or not to be", the Dutch school Stad & Esch also participated, which further enriched the project as a whole. A handout on the use of dance pedagogical methods in the classroom for the general public, so to speak, has not yet been produced. However, the 4 participating schools are in a position to continue to organise and carry out dance projects; they also plan to include this firmly in their curricula. As can be seen from the project results platform, there are various videos that give an impression of how the 5 days to dance projects can work. All schools are also available as contact persons for interested schools at any time, so that projects of this kind can be multiplied well. A future cooperation of the 4 schools is still planned; we also intend to get a so-called accreditation with Erasmus in order to be able to finance mobilities for dance projects, for example, in the future. In the design of the dance projects that were carried out, it was possible to involve the pupils more than before in the development of the dance choreographies. Aims: Through the implementation of the joint dance projects on the theme of basic human needs, the three schools have learned from the specific experiences of the partner schools and jointly achieved the following goals: - Improving the participation of disadvantaged learners by further developing the use of dance pedagogical methods in regular classes. - Tackling ESL and disadvantage with enabling success for all learners, including children with a migrant children, by strengthening collaboration between teachers and cultural practitioners (this would need to be validated by independent externals). - Promoting the development of social and intercultural competences through the development of choreographies and the joint preparation of dance performances. - The dance project contributed to the development of intercultural understanding, social inclusion and creative self-expression. The young people had the opportunity to share their cultural backgrounds and learn from each other. Through direct contact and cooperation, prejudices were reduced, while understanding and prejudices could be reduced, while understanding and appreciation for other cultures were promoted. Participants: Approximately 260 13-18 year old pupils (of which 150 participated in the mobilities), 26 teachers (of which 8 also participated in the mobilities) and two dance choreographers took part in the project. Activities and methodology: There were 5 international meetings: an introductory workshop for teachers ("Motivation") and four international meetings where 5-day dance projects were carried out with the students on different aspects of the basic needs theme: Freedom - Home, Work - Recreation, Equality and Protection, Love and Creativity. Together with the dance choreographers and teachers, the students developed and rehearsed choreographies on these sub-themes. A public performance took place on the 5th day. Between the meetings, the students continued to work on parts of the choreography largely independently. Results and longer-term benefits: The planned film(s) mainly document excerpts from rehearsals and performances. It is intended to motivate other teachers and schools to use dance education and to provide them with vivid suggestions. In this way, the project contributes to opening up new holistic approaches to learning, especially for educationally disadvantaged pupils. The results of the examination of the topic of basic needs were carefully evaluated. The schools reviewed together with their students how central basic needs can be better met in everyday school life. For the young people, the experiences made in this project will remain unforgettable and formative, especially since most of them have never been abroad before. They got to know different cultural characteristics of the participating nations, friendships developed, they helped shape creative and social processes and thus also experienced self-efficacy.