ERASMUS+ PREJUDICES AND REALITY
UPCOMING EVENTS
The main objective of our project is to contribute to the consolidation of our European Identity. An active European citizen has to understand that our similarities and differences are due to our historical background, but also to natural conditions. Knowledge and intercultural education and dialogue are necessary to produce understanding and tolerance, which will enable us to appreciate one another first as human beings and then as citizens of Europe. When we learn to appreciate the differences, we can create new ways. together. Our project "Prejudices and reality" will improve the students' and the teachers' critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem solving, risk assessment, decision taking and constructive management of feelings.
In this project students and teachers of the different countries will get to know how they are seen from outside. This is an unusual angle of vision. At the same time they have to think about themselves, their nation and culture, which is not usual for somebody who lives his daily life in familiar surroundings, but usual and even necessary for people with an international professional career. In front of “strangers”, normal life becomes something that depends on specific conditions. Students and teachers will learn that similarities and differences are the result of a historical and cultural process in a changing environment.
Unusual are also the communicative means that have to be invented. The students have to communicate thoughts, feelings and facts in a very careful, subtle, creative and innovative way – with a lot of humour – because they must avoid to hurt the feelings of the others. They have to broaden the range of their communicative means far beyond the level of their daily routine, and nevertheless they have to be clear.
The project will permit us much more than we could ever achieve in a “Normal lessons”. We will have the possibility to get to and know and explore five countries of the EU, situated far away from each other in different parts of our continent over a two year period. These countries reflect the diversity of European landscapes, of European nations, their cultural, historical, political and economic development.
The meetings in these countries and the work in international teams are absolutely necessary. Students and teachers will be directly confronted with the inhabitants and the reality of the host country. In an immediate exchange of information and observation of real life they will better their knowledge on the way of living and thinking that otherwise would be reduced to secondary literature or pictures and information from the internet. The meetings will also be the best way to discuss ideas and opinions with students and teachers from other countries about “prejudices”. Producing a “show” and publishing knowledge and thoughts will improve self-confidence and self-awareness of our young European citizens who are at the same time citizens of European Nations.
In contrast to other projects, in which the partner schools already participated, this project does not only reveal similarities and differences but it will try to explain them. The participants will understand the difficulties but also the possibilities of having at the same time a National and a European identity.
In a former project some of the partners achieved basic skills in certain communicative technologies (film, photography, radio, magazine, computer, ITC…). This project will reinforce the acquired knowledge by leading to its main products.