Opening Windows to European Communities

Our project blog contains everything about the project during years 2009-2011

http://openingwindowsforesd.blogspot.com/

The title of our project was Opening Windows to European Communities. Although the group was formed under the umbrella of ENSI (Environment and School Initiatives), we wanted to widen the concept of environment more to the social and human direction. Therefore culture and traditions were our main viewpoint, but we did not forget the ecological aspects either.

We had partners from the following countries: Sorrila school from Finland, the coordinator, Mahnala Environmental school from Finland, Our Lady of Lourdes primary school from London UK, Colegio Público Sant Rafael, La Nucia, Spain, Agios Maronas Elementary SchoolSwitzerland Utsira skole, Utsira, Norway., two schools from Switzerland were our ‘silent partners’: Bern Rossfel and  Düdingen It was found by ENSI-contacts from Norway because an ENSI/Support conference was planned to be in Bergen during our project. We formed a group of great diversity. Sorrila and Sant Rafael were quite big schools, Mahnala and Our Lady of Lourdes in between. Utsira was situated in an island and the whole school had as many pupils as one class in Sorrila for instance.

There were schools form the countryside, small towns and big cities. But we all shared the same objectives, which were:

• Our aim is to get to know and respect each others’ cultural traditions and habits and encourage students to become active citizens.
• To encourage for cooperation with local authorities, families, local people, NGO’s.
• To promote sustainability in its widest meaning.
• Find a common way to communicate.
• Address the problem of loosing one’s own culture and language by stressing the local identity.
• Find the roots and share them with others.
• Address the gab between different generations by cooperation of various kinds (grandparents, senior citizens, old peoples’ homes).
• Enhance the pupils’ ability to communicate actively.
• Share experiences and activate other schools in the community.
• Help each other to find the connection and affection to their home region.

Our aim ‘whole school approach’, means that the whole school will take part in the activities and the project will be a shared learning experience for all. Other approaches are student centered learning, experiential learning, enquiry based learning, learning from the real life situations, integrative learning and interdisciplinarity. Using ICT as a tool is not the aim but the tools (Skype, email, videos, photos, DVD, web pages).

Our main tasks are to contribute to the climate campaign Co2nnect and reduce consumption and use local traditions in a creative way in art, music, dance, food, crafts, rhymes and stories.


What we saw by looking through each other’s windows:

For the London meeting (June 2010) we studied local food. Some schools made cookbooks, some  studied the route of grain, potato or milk or school and home meals. During the whole project we wanted to share with each other the different or similar ways of celebrating festivities (Christmas, Easter, Kalevela).

We came from many different cultures, for instance our Nicosian partner was a special school for Maronites, Arabic minority in Cyprus. At the  Cyprus meeting (November 2010) we introduced our eco-activities by videos or booklets.

For the meeting in Norway (March 2011) we produced Comenius wordbooks in all our languages. In the meeting teachers taught easy games to the students in Utsira.

For the final meeting in Finland (May 2011) we learned from each other a traditional dance.

During the whole project we collected a ‘travelling notebook’. Every single meeting was also a wonderful opening of windows for the teachers attending it. Each school had great programme for us to show and by the meetings we were able to get acquainted with the culture and environment of the partner country and region. The evaluation was made during the project. At each meeting we looked back, what had been a success, what could be developed. We changed the plans by common decision.

Most of our schools had pre-school education as well as special needs education, in most cases integrated into the basic education. That’s why our target group was all learners, from all primary year groups and all kinds of learners. We learned from each other and shared the things to the students in our schools the best we could. Our blog was the best way to share things we had done to our students.

Senior citizens in the neighbourhood were a special target group in our project. We visited old people’s homes, interviewed them about old times and they helped us in traditional crafts.Our project was for a widened school community.

For the first partner meeting held in Spain (November 2009) we concentrated in traditional crafts. In the winter we took part in the climate campaign Co2nnect, researching school transportation and promoting environmentally friendly choices: by bike or on foot.