Before a child speaks, it sings. Before they write, they paint. As soon as they stand, they dance. Art is the basis of human expression. (Phylicia Rashad) Creativity is a precursor to innovation and the cornerstone of entrepreneurship. By encouraging and building creative capital among our pupils and igniting their personal motivation, interest and persistence, we will foster their creative drive, stimulate innovative thinking and generate implementable new ideas vital to the life-long learning process. The expressive arts - both as a stand-alone subject and integrated into the curriculum – must be an integral part of a 21st century education if our pupils are to succeed in a global economy. Evidence-based research findings demonstrate that pupils deeply involved in the arts are more likely to receive better grades, stay in school longer and have fewer behavioural problems than pupils who are not. In recent months, teachers have been faced with challenges in education rarely experienced before. Overnight, schools closed and teachers had to deliver online lessons from home, often without the resources to do so. Our pupils, the so-called digital natives, also lacked the materials and skills needed. With the emphasis on pupil-centred learning, teachers had not been trained to interact with their pupils in cyberspace. Struggling to get through each day’s lessons and the core curriculum, creativity and the arts took second place in many teachers’ planning. This project aims to place creativity at the centre of what we do. Through a well-planned programme of activities, young people will improve basic skills in literacy, the expressive arts, ICT and robotics. Through imaginative projects designed to make them think creatively, they will develop problem-solving strategies and improve their digital competencies. Teachers are not forgotten. Working together, they will share good practice and become more confident in using the wide range of apps and software packages at their disposal. Six schools from six countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and the UK) will work together to provide their pupils with this opportunity to work transnationally. Although the main target group is children aged 10-13, activities will also include younger and older pupils in spin-off project work. Over the two-year project, up to 1000 pupils will be directly involved through embedded class activities, with many more included in other ways. The activities range from simple introductory eTwinning tasks to the creation of unique works of art inspired by other artists or by the natural landscape. Creative solutions will be required to compete in our RobOlympics races. Young people will work with artists and craftspeople in their local communities and will learn about the importance of cultural heritage for European citizenship and as a potential route to employment. Soft skills acquired – communication, teamwork, empathy – are important in the world of work. The final results will include eBooks, a virtual exhibition and onsite exhibitions, a heritage tapestry, an eTwinning site. The impact on young people comes in many forms. The improvements in creative expression, in digital skills, in foreign languages are measurable. The enjoyment that they have from problem-solving, from teamwork and from international linking is visible. Participation in an Erasmus+ project brings considerable longer term benefits in the worlds of education and work as the Erasmus+ programme is highly regarded by universities and employers. The adults involved will benefit from the exchange of good practice, the exposure to new ideas and working in a multinational and multilingual community of like-minded teachers. During Lockdown, pupils commented on how much they had enjoyed eTwinning with their friends in other schools. They may have been sitting at their desks at home but they felt a real connection with young people in other countries who were in the same situation. This had a direct impact on their mental health as it helped to combat the sense of isolation. This Strategic Partnership will allow our pupils to build on this experience and our teachers to build a community of educators ready to face the challenges that the 21st century throws at them. Together, we can be Europe – on the move!
The main aim of this project was to rebuild confidence and skills in our young people together with a sense of community. After almost two years of disrupted education with learners being isolated from their classmates for months, we observed a deterioration in social skills and in emotional development and we wanted to provide a safe environment for them to regain some of what they had lost. Although experts in social media and gaming, we observed that our learners often lacked the digital skills required to use computers in a learning environment. We wanted to introduce them to apps, web design, programming and software packages to give them the skills that they will require for their future learning and the workplace, together with critical awareness of the importance of online safety and the dangers that exploring the digital world can bring. By linking digital learning with the creative arts, we hoped to encourage an appreciation of the importance of imagination and creativity, of the arts and craftsmanship as these drive forward innovation. We also wanted our pupils to experience the joy of working together with young people from other countries and to take their place as European and global citizens.
We applied for this project to address the needs of our pupils which arose during the pandemic. Although considered to be ‘digital natives’, lockdowns showed that our young people often lacked the skills needed to function safely and critically in cyberspace. As teachers struggled to deliver the core curriculum, creativity and the arts took a back seat in planning. By placing creativity and digital skills at the centre of Europe on the Move!, the project allowed our young learners to learn about art and poetry, music and movement, theatre and cinema by collaborating with their peers Europe-wide. The development of digital skills underpinned this project and our pupils learned about safety in the digital world, they were introduced to software for film making and editing and they discovered robotics and programming with Lego Spike through our RobOlympics materials. By being able to work with experts in their fields, participants saw how the skills they have been developing are used in the workplace. Through the mobilities, our pupils developed independence, communication skills and teamwork skills. They lived with host families in other countries and, through living together, discovered what it is to be a young European.