The two schools from Slovakia and Iceland, very distant and yet very close to each other, both seeking to broaden the horizons and awareness of their teachers and students, and raise the quality of the education provided by them cooperate together in the project The Intangible Heritage of Legends, Sayings and Stories used in Classroom. They offer each other their strengths and together they mutually help to reach their goals. The national heritage of both countries serves as a tool to prove that modern forms of education, modern teaching methods do not weaken or deprive the quality of the lessons and learning process. On contrary, students learn more if they are taught in modern classroom environment, by using modern teaching methods and being given responsibility and space for self- evaluation. Furthermore, the project helps the students to regain the lost or disappearing pride in their national cultural heritage. The objectives of the project were to increase the satisfaction of the parents with the schools, to raise the interest of the students in their national culture and heritage, to modernize the teaching methods and school curricula and to show the importance of language and IT skills when learning, teaching or living in the 21st century. There are teachers and students among 42 participants of 4 mobilities that took place twice in Slovakia and twice in Iceland between September 2020 and February 2022. During this period the both schools work on monthly tasks " appeals " to study the legends, myths, stories or proverbs in detail and in this way they prepare the programme for the activities (mobilities). When the representatives of the schools meet, they present their work and research, they visit the places studied or described in the presentations in person. Both schools study legends, proverbs, saying, myths from a scientific or historical point of view and analyze the origin, reliability or the possible future of the stories. They use interdisciplinary relations and combine the knowledge from various subjects, e.g. Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Social Studies. They cooperate with museums, castles, experts, universities, teachers to make their research unique. Simultaneously, the teachers of both schools have an opportunity to switch their schools and students and teach the students at the partner schools, then to discuss and compare their experience. The same social or professional experiment is to the students who join the classes at the partner schools and learn in a new environment. The students afterwards share their feelings and impressions with the teachers and students of both schools. They clearly determine positives and negatives of the lessons at their schools and the lessons they experience while " learning shadowing ". The project uses modern teaching methods such as CLIL, project learning, IT technologies, interdisciplinary relations, teaching adjusted to the students´needs, the methodology of so called " classroom of the 21st century " , modern EU platforms to share the results within and beyond the partnership. The project brings first of all qualitative changes and improvements in both school´s methodology, curriculum, international cooperation and the credit of the schools. It also deepens or raises the students´awareness of their national heritage. Secondly, the project results in numerous printed or online material for teachers, students, school institutions, tourism institutions, local authorities representatives- brochures, leaflets, maps, lesson plans, methodology brochures, calendars, dramas, videos, trailers. The partnership changes the schools once and forever- the schools open up to new opportunities to cooperate internationally, they expand their teaching practice and competences, they move into a new higher level. The teachers learn that modern enjoyable forms of the lessons do not hurt the guality of the lessons. The teachers see that students can be given responsibility to manage the learning process and classroom work. The teachers realize that parents are their assistants, not supervisors. IT tools and facilities become teachers´ blessing, not a curse.To sum up, the schools leave the 20th century classroom and move to the 21st century. Although the project lasts for 18 months, the partnership and new relationships go on even after the project is over. We plan to cooperate on new projects, expand the KA2 partnership with new members and fields of study, e.g. environmental issues, social or international affairs, apply for new KA1 projects by both schools, keep cooperating through eTwinning and other EU platforms to share the lessons and school life. We consider this project just the beginning .
Two partner schools from Slovakia and Iceland, very distant physically and yet very close, try to expand the horizons of their teachers and students and to increase the quality of education. During the work on the project they offered each other their strengths and together they achieved the set goals. The national cultural heritage of both countries was a tool to prove that modern teaching methods contribute to the quality of lessons and the learning process. In fact, students learned more in a modern classroom environment, through modern teaching methods and space for self-evaluation. In addition, the project helped the students regain their disappearing pride in their national cultural heritage. The goal of the project was to increase parents' satisfaction with the schools, to increase students' interest in their national cultural heritage, to modernize teaching methods and school curricula, and to show the importance of language and IT skills while learning, teaching or living in the 21st century. There were 48 participants of 2 mobilities in Slovakia and Iceland from September 2020 to December 2022. During this period, both schools worked on monthly tasks and studied legends, myths, stories and proverbs. This is how they prepared the program of the mobilities. When students and teachers of both schools met physically, they presented their work and research, personally visited the places described in the presentations during the workshops. Both schools studied legends, proverbs or sayings from a scientific and historical point of view and analyzed their origin, reliability and future. They used interdisciplinary relationships and combined knowledge from different subjects, e.g. biology, physics, chemistry, history, social sciences. To make their research unique, they coworked with museums, castle experts and universities. At the same time, the teachers of both schools had an opportunity to exchange school environments and compare their experiences. The same social and professional experiment was experienced by students who joined classes at the partner schools and learned in a new environment. Then they shared their experiences with the teachers and pupils of their home schools - they clearly identified the positives and negatives of the lessons at their home schools and the lessons they experienced during their mobility. The project used modern teaching methods such as CLIL, project-based learning, IT technologies, interdisciplinary relations, teaching adapted to the needs of students, the methodology of the so-called class of the 21st century or modern EU platforms. It primarily brought qualitative changes and improvements in school methodology, curricula, international cooperation, and schools credits. At the same time, it raised students' awareness of their national cultural heritage. The result of the project was material for teachers, students, school institutions, tourism institutions, representatives of local authorities - in the form of leaflets, maps, lesson plans, methodological tutorials, calendars, dramas, videos, video trailers. The partnership changed the partner schools once and forever – they opened up to new opportunities for international cooperation, expanded their teaching practice and competences, and moved to a higher level. Teachers have learned that modern entertaining forms of teaching do not decrease the quality of teaching. They saw that students can be involved in classroom management and that parents of students are their assistants, not supervisors. IT tools have become a blessing for teachers, not a curse. In short, schools have left the 20th century and entered the 21st century. Although the project was originally intended to last for 18 months, the partnership and new relationships will continue after the project ends. We plan to work together on new projects, expand the partnership with new members and topics, e.g. environmental issues, social or international affairs. We would like to apply for new KA1 projects, continue cooperation through eTwinning and other EU platforms. We consider this project just the beginning.