The aim of our cooperation in the project was to introduce innovative and diverse pedagogical practices. We tried to increase their motivation by learning in an outdoor classroom and to show that the knowledge obtained this way was long-lasting (due to the increased motivation). Moreover, we wanted to raise the students’ awareness of how important the competences of the 21st century (creativity, innovativeness, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and cooperation) are. Furthermore, we wanted to teach them some very important skills, such as communicative skills, ICT skills and the ability to carry out research.
Sostro Primary School is located in the suburbs of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. With 802 pupils it is one of the biggest schools in Ljubljana. There are the central school in Sostro and 4 district schools scattered on the sunny hills around Sostro. So far, our school has participated in three Erasmus + projects. We believe each project has contributed a lot to the dynamics of the school and the knowledge of the students. Therefore, we decided to apply again. Moreover, we applied to take part in the project to introduce certain changes in our pedagogical practice which we believe is a key factor and influences the students’ interest, motivation and learning outcome. By using innovative and diverse teaching forms and methods we wanted to contribute to the learning process and outcome. Furthermore, we wanted students to learn new skills which are indispensable in the world today, such as digital skills, competences of the 21st century and foreign language communicative skills.