Comenius
School partnerships improve pupils' and teachers' skills
A new study on the impact of partnerships between schools in different countries has found that pupils - particularly at secondary level - significantly improved their skills, including cultural and social skills, IT and foreign languages. The impact of the partnerships was strongest on pupils who visited partner schools. Seven out of ten schools said that the partnerships had a strong to very strong impact on pupils' cultural awareness and expression as well as social and civic competences. This was followed by computer skills (54%) and communication in foreign languages (52%). The partnerships were funded through the Comenius exchange programme, the schools' equivalent of Erasmus.
Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, said: "School partnerships enable young people to acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for personal development, future employment and active citizenship. Comenius also helps pupils and staff to get to know different European cultures and languages. These partnerships will continue to receive support under our new Erasmus for All programme in 2014-2020."
The study also found that the scheme benefits teachers and schools within their local community. Teachers said partnering a foreign school improved their knowledge of other education systems and strengthened social skills, as well as helping their language skills.
Two out of three schools claimed that the partnership had improved their image and 80% said it strengthened their European dimension. Teaming up with schools abroad also helped develop closer ties both within the school and with local authorities.
Comenius partnerships have a comparatively greater impact on teachers and on schools and their environments in pre-primary and primary schools because it is easier to mobilise and involve an entire school and to integrate new ideas and activities into curricula at this level. In contrast, the impact on pupil skills is stronger at secondary level.
For many schools in remote parts of the European Union, partnerships financed from EU funds are the only opportunity for pupils and teachers to get involved in a project abroad. 85% of schools covered by the study said they intended to apply for funding for future partnerships.
The study surveyed 50 schools in 15 European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom) which received grants from the Comenius programme to set up partnerships running from autumn 2009-2011. Monitoring the schools over the two years, and beyond, the study examined in-depth how the partnerships affected pupils, teachers and the school.
Study of the impact of Comenius school partnerships on participating schools
This study provides an analysis of the impact of Comenius school partnerships on participating institutions.
The results of the study show that these types of school partnerships have a highly significant impact on the school community as a whole: in 75% of cases observed, it was perceived as being “quite strong”, “strong” or even “very strong”. It was on pupils themselves that the impact was greatest, followed by teachers and then by the schools and their environment.
GLOSSA – Advancing the teaching and learning of less widely taught European languages
GLOSSA is a European Union education project under the LifeLong Learning Program. The project is for language educators and authorities across Europe. It is building methodologies, practices and courses specifically to help develop language learning and teaching for the less widely taught languages of Europe.
This is being completed by:
- Building methodologies for learning in online environments (advanced levels & autonomous)
Developing a Greek e-learning multimedia courses at C1 & C2 (CEFR)
Creating transferability to other European languages
Developing a common European professional profile for language teachers
Adapting an accreditation tool for non-formal and informal language teaching skills
- Creating courses for the less widely taught and learnt languages, including Greek. What courses are available do not utilize the possibilities of today's Internet (multimedia) and often use outdated methodologies
The project has now developed a Greek e-learning multimedia courses at C1 & C2 (CEFR) http://www.actione-learn.eu/glossa/mainHome.php#
You can find much more information on the project website at: http://www.ellinikiglossa.eu/
Apprentissage basé sur les tâches et TIC : des activités créatives dans le cadre d’un projet européen
Le présent article décrit deux activités proposées par l’équipe italienne illustrant parfaitement l’esprit de ce projet. Même s’ils sont différents en termes de longueur des activités, de contenu abordé, de type de tâches proposées et d’outils TIC utilisés, les exemples décrits présentent tout de même certaines similitudes. Dans les deux cas, les élèves ont dû créer un produit en fonction de leurs centres d’intérêt et de leur expérience et ont dû cibler un public hors de la salle de cours, et donc réel. Dans les deux cas également, il leur a été demandé de faire preuve de créativité. Les élèves étaient totalement libres de mener l’activité comme ils l’entendaient, ce qui leur a réellement permis de se sentir acteurs, responsables de leurs propres résultats. Les deux activités peuvent facilement s’adapter à diverses situations éducatives, leur efficacité dépendant davantage des idées sous-jacentes que des produits créés.
Ce n’est pas tant en raison de la méthode ou de la technologie employée que ces activités sont innovantes qu’en raison de la façon dont elles ont été utilisées. Ces exemples montrent que travailler de manière inventive peut réellement se révéler efficace, sans pour autant s’avérer difficile ou coûteux. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, les enseignants doivent faire preuve de créativité dans leur planification pédagogique et apprendre à regarder les outils de tous les jours avec un regard nouveau.