CONTEXT The STORY VALLEY project uses oral history as a driver for preserving cultural heritage and enrich it with oral history and heritage of other cultures. We want local students, students with migrant backgrounds and students abroad to learn (each other’s) oral history, language and literacy in an engaging and creative way. STOREY VALLEY addresses 3 EU VET priorities: 1. Raising awareness of the social and educational value of European Cultural Heritage Telling, writing and reading stories has been a common tradition all over Europe for centuries. The stories are told and passed on from generation to generation. This oral history is valuable because it shaped our communities: our intangible cultural heritage. 2. Strengthening key competences in VET Basic skills of literacy have a major impact on life chances, being positively associated with a range of important economic and social outcomes both for individuals and countries. They are very important in vocational education and training, as jobs require basic, transferable skills as well as occupation-specific skills. 3. Social inclusion: supporting integration of people with migrant backgrounds STORY VALLEY includes students and other people with migrant backgrounds and their oral history, to stimulate intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding. We believe that inclusion and integration starts with understanding each other and the belief of having things (stories) in common. OBJECTIVES STORY VALLEY lets oral history meet with innovative and creative techniques of literacy to interpret the stories using visual, sound/audio and digital materials across disciplines. The programme is developed in a way that students strengthen their key competences literacy and language in an engaging way of learning: *Students learn about their oral history, the oral history of peer Europeans and people with migrant backgrounds to stimulate inclusion and integration. They are stimulated to read, write and speak in different languages resulting in stronger social, language and literacy skills. They research their oral history by using different types of sources to turn it into a creative production. *Teachers learn how to integrate language, literacy and oral history in an engaging way in their curricula and to better deal with other cultures. *Colleges are sustainably linked to the local knowledge network in the field of literacy and language. PARTICIPANTS & METHODOLOGY With school partners, UNESCO City of Literature organisations, knowledge partners and specialist in literacy and the creative industry on board we transnationally join forces to come to innovative and universal support tools for VET schools to use across European regions and beyond. STORY VALLEY will be launched by and with our project partners in the UNESCO Cities of Literature network. The ideal breeding ground for our project as their top-priority is beating illiteracy and opening up heritage. They will ensure a broad uptake and a sustainable link between VET and the UNESCO City of Literature organisations worldwide. The partners P1, Friesland College NL (lead) P2, Learning Hub Friesland Foundation NL P3, New Noardic Wave NL P4, Edinburgh City Council SCT P5, Edinburgh College SCT P6, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature UK P7, The National Literacy Trust UK P8, Ljubljana UNESCO City of Literature SI P9, Srednja Medijska in Graficna Sola Ljubljana - SI ACTIVITIES & RESULTS The project involves 3 intellectual outputs (IOs) as well as the horizontal activities required for successful project execution: management, impact evaluation, dissemination. IO1 – STORY VALLEY Student Programme and Teacher Pack will provide teachers and students with all that is needed to reach the objectives. It’s the training programme for school teachers including the methodology, lesson plan and evaluation plan, loaded with practical tools. IO2 – STORY VALLEY Online Community and Platform will provide a teaching, learning and collaborative network for students, teachers and specialist in the field of literature, literacy and the creative industry. It is the (virtual) place where everything comes together and is also the main legacy of the project. IO 3 – STORY VALLEY Policy Advice will ensure that VET is at the forefront of development in the language & literacy sector, specifically targeted at the 39 UNESCO Cities of Literature organisations worldwide. It will give VET institutions better access to these networks they can reach out to in order to improve their curriculum in the fields of literacy, multilingualism and cultural heritage (oral history). IMPACT & LONG TERM BENEFITS With STORY VALLEY, we shape an inclusive culture for better mutual understanding and global citizenship while preserving our communities’ cultural heritage. Young adults will start their working lives more professional, with stronger social, language and literacy skills and an open mind towards other cultures and people.
The objectives of Story Valley are: For students to: 1. learn about their oral history, make them proud and give a sense of belonging while sharing and learning about oral history of peer students abroad and people with migrant backgrounds in order to stimulate a better mutual understanding, enhance inclusion and integration; 2. stimulate students to read, write and speak in different languages resulting in stronger social, language and literacy skills; 3. research their oral history by using different types of sources, collect and process information and use their creativity to turn it into a production of creative expression. For teachers: to integrate language, literacy and oral history in an engaging way in their curricula and lessons and to better deal with diversity/other cultures. For colleges: an enhanced vision (regionally, internationally, real-world & interdisciplinary) and an expanded network and outlook. VET at the forefront of developments in the language & literacy sector (the latter specifically targeted at the 39 UNESCO Cities of Literature organisations worldwide).
ALL ANNEXES HAVE BEEN UPLOADED ON THE ERASMUS+ SHARE POINT DRIVE. Literacy fundamental skills significantly influence individual and national economic and social prospects, being crucial in vocational education and training, where both basic and specialized skills are needed (OECD ‘16; Hanushek et al., ‘15; Grotlüschen). However, about 68 million Europeans only attain basic literacy and numeracy skills, vital in job performance (The Riga Conclusions EC). Recent PISA survey data unveils a rise in students struggling with writing, reading, and math - one in every five European pupils is underachieving. Story Valley leverages the educational potency of history to bolster European Cultural Heritage and enhance key student competencies in VET education. It merges oral history and innovative literacy techniques, utilizing diverse media to facilitate understanding and expression across various domains, aiming to aid all students, including those with migrant backgrounds. ! All annexes are uploaded in sharepoint. Because of the high number of annexes, we only added the English versions. However, all materials are available in Eng, Dutch, Slovene on the website.