The idea of starting the project "Be smart–give peace a start" comes from the need in our schools to socially integrate all pupils and to promote the values of peace, respect for difference and multiculturalism. These principles are reflected in all mission statements of our schools. The intercultural project involves three schools from Portugal (Cinfães), Spain (Ronda) and Germany (Bad Essen). All participating schools are secondary level schools of general education facing pupils having a weak social background, learning difficulties or coming from families with migration background. The key question of our project is “How can students of different cultures, lifestyles and attitudes, with prejudices against fellow students from difficult social formations live together in peace in everyday life?“ Cultural diversity is one of Europe's most valuable assets but we need to support young people to build the necessary skills and competences to be a peaceful part in it. The objectives of our project are to foster cooperation between pupils from different cultures, to promote acceptance and respect for other pupils’ cultural heritage and to strengthen the sense of unity in Europe. The project aims on the development of key competences that will ensure pupils to improve their social skills, apply learned "tools" (e.g. behavioural options in case of conflicts) and get along better in daily school life. It aims to strengthen cross-curricular cooperation and to develop innovative learning approaches. All schools intend to train their students for a proactive citizenship, based on respect for the European values of peace and cooperation. 16 students from each country, aged between 13 and 15 years, will directly participate in the LTTA, as well as 4 teachers, in a total of 48 students and 12 teachers. Indirectly, the entire educational community of the schools, families, and local communities are expected to take action in the activities. In all LTTA we establish a topic priority to develop the project and achieve the objectives. The first LTTA in Portugal puts emphasis on activities to let students understand the importance of good interaction such as a communication training and a workshop on dramatic expression. The second LTTA in Germany underlines the thought of team spirit and applying communication skills. An example for that is an Art-Workshop to promote multiculturality, solidarity and peace. The third LTTA in Spain intends to widen the students’ view on their cultural heritage and how important cooperation is to develop as a human being: a workshop to research into lifestyles and technologies of prehistoric people helping to understand the importance of cooperation and teamwork to advance in the future. Between each LTTA every partner school has their own or shared activities (educational/cooperative games, cultural events focussing on acceptance, etc.) which intend to develop our project aims. Our focus to achieve the project’s objectives is starting practical student activities and actions during all LTTA, which help students to understand that diversity is a chance and not a burden of conflicts, fosters cooperation and respect for difference. We further intend to teach them tools and methods how to avoid conflicts to use in the long run. These instruments will be implemented as working tools at their schools. In each LTTA we aim to create an overall positive impact of the curricular and social interactions among our students. Interaction will be the key to creating a “universal culture”. International education projects offer the most effective channel for bringing youth of different cultures together. By interacting with people from different backgrounds, beliefs and cultures we can exchange views that foster friendship and promote a healthy intercultural relationship. We use the Twinspace to communicate with each other, work out a project plan to prepare and disseminate each LTTA, involve students in surveys to be sure that the LTTA activities meet their interests and document all project steps. The foreseen activities end up in results such as a shared creation of works of art symbolizing peace visible in the schoolyard or school building, or students can take home as a symbol of shared ideas and an ebook as a peace journal and shared product on project activities of all students. As every partner school establishes a priority during the LTTA an important result is the competence development of every student with regard to the ability to deal with conflicts and have a constructive approach to communicate with others. Furthermore, students become aware of the importance of being proactive in terms of good attitudes and values. The rates of discipline, respect and cooperation will certainly increase, an aspect that can be measured by analysing the evidence in terms of their behaviours and attitudes. Good practices will spread to students' families, with long-term benefits in local communities.
Project Context: The "Be smart-give peace a start" project stems from the need to socially integrate all students in our schools and to promote the values of peace, respect for differences and multiculturalism. These principles are reflected in all the mission statements of our schools. All schools educate their students to be proactive citizens , based on respect for European values of peace and cooperation. The intercultural project involves three schools from Portugal (Cinfães), Spain (Ronda) and Germany (Bad Essen), with each school sending 8 students with 2 teachers to the respective LTTA in one of the partner schools. All participating schools were general secondary schools with students from weak social backgrounds, with learning difficulties or from families with migrant backgrounds. The key question of our project was: "How can students with different cultures, lifestyles, attitudes and prejudices towards fellow students from difficult social backgrounds live together peacefully in everyday life?" Cultural diversity is one of Europe's most valuable assets, however, young people must first acquire the necessary skills and competencies to be a peaceful part of it. This is what this project was designed to support. Project Objectives: The goals of our project were to foster cooperation between students from different cultures, to promote acceptance and respect for the cultural heritage of other students, and to strengthen the sense of belonging in Europe. The project aims to develop key competencies that will enable students to improve their social skills, apply learned "tools" (e.g. behavioral options during conflicts) and get along better with each other in everyday school life. It aims to strengthen cross-curricular collaboration and develop innovative approaches to learning. Activities Conducted: Each LTTA had a thematic focus so that the project objectives could be achieved. The first LTTA in Portugal featured numerous activities that taught students the importance of getting along well with each other, such as communication training and a (...). The LTTA in Germany emphasized the idea of team spirit and the application of communication skills. An example of this was a music workshop to promote multiculturalism, solidarity and peace. The LTTA in Spain broadened the students' view of their cultural heritage and demonstrated the importance of collaboration for human development: a workshop exploring the lifestyles and technologies of prehistoric people helped to understand the importance of cooperation and teamwork for progress in the future. Between LTTAs, each partner school conducted its own and collaborative activities (educational/collaborative games, cultural events focused on acceptance, and others) that helped achieve our project goals. To achieve the project goals, we focused on launching hands-on student activities and actions during all LTTAs that demonstrated that diversity is an opportunity, not a burden for conflict, and fostered cooperation and respect for differences. We also provided them with tools and methods to avoid conflict that they can use in the long term. Overall, despite manageable numbers of students sent, we achieved that the entire educational community of the schools, families and local communities participated in or perceived and accompanied the activities. Project outcomes: The planned activities resulted in numerous community experiences such as the joint creation of artworks symbolizing peace to be displayed in the schoolyard or school building in the long term, or for students to take home as a symbol of shared ideas, as well as a designed e-book as a joint product of all students' project activities. As each partner school set a focus during LTTA, one of the most important outcomes was the competence development of each student in terms of being able to deal with conflicts and having a constructive approach to communicating with others. In addition, students became aware of the importance of being proactive in terms of good attitudes and values. Discipline, respect, and cooperation are sure to increase, an aspect that can be measured by analyzing behaviors and attitudes. Best practices transfer to students' families, which will have a long-term impact on local communities.