European Schools Cooperation

Lifelong Learning Programme

“The European Commission has integrated its

various educational and training initiatives under a
single umbrella, the Lifelong Learning Programme.
With a significant budget of nearly €7 billion for
2007 to 2013, the new programme replaces previous
education, vocational training and e-Learning
programmes, which ended in 2006”.
Intercultural cooperation in education

the communication process between the participants

of different cultures
the cross-cultural communication - focused on
features of the participants, their common and
diversifying qualities
Intercultural cooperation in education

does not only expand the awareness of other

cultures, but also causes a better understanding of
one’s own culture by exploring its implied and
explicit sense
it also helps to communicate efficiently both verbally
and non-verbally and purge the accompanying
stress, eliminate or reduce conflicts arising on
cultural background
and finally, to create a pathway to the self-
consciousness of an individual
 Part of the curriculum

There are several reasons for the intercultural

education to become a part of national curriculum at
schools:
globalization and global citizenship,
increase in problems affecting many nations such as
environmental or health issues,
more visible existence of earlier not recognised
cultures and minorities (Räsänen 58)
 Teachers

Teachers are seen as enablers and ethics educators,

from whom an example comes, as children build
their vision of the world on the behaviour of adults.
In schools focused on intercultural education
students learn to accept variety in their environment
and learn a golden rule
„treat others as you would like to be treated
yourself”
(Räsänen 57, 61)”
 Teachers

both leaders and participants

the initiators of the cooperation
their task is to write a project and find a partner and
constantly supervise their students’ work
they have to cooperate with the teachers and
management personnel from partner schools and
work in teams.
eTwinning as a part of Lifelong Learning
programme
 eTwinning virtual tour

 http://www.etwinning.net/shared/data/etwinning/vt/play.cfm?lang=en
 Language

The basis of the programme is electronic media

cooperation between students and teachers in partner
schools across borders, however, the participants must
be able to held it in a common language.
Lingua franca of eTwinning is English, which illustrates
the world’s preference nowadays; English is the most
widely taught and known language in Europe. German
appears as the second language used in projects.
Surprisingly, Polish is on the third position, which
indicates its importance among Slavonic languages
The duration of projects and the educational level
and the age of learners

most of the projects last app. 1-2 school years

the partnerships are the most popular among lower
secondary school students (13-16 years old)
(Gajek - Kawecka)
 Statistics

students from 3 – 19/20 years old can take part

a statistic young person will spent about 50
thousand hours in front of the computer by the age
of 21 (Gajek - Kawecka 83)
 Types of cooperation/Tools

group work of students

individual/pair work
letters or emails exchange

computers
Internet
digital or video cameras

technologies are not the aim itself, but appear as means

of experiment in the school class - they make the
cooperation vivid and bring measurable benefits
 Products of using hypermedia

PowerPoint
Blogs
Audio/Video conference
Websites
Video clips
Chats, e –mails
MP3
 Challanges

the increasing number of participants may have a

negative influence on the quality and originality of
used ideas
the existing prejudices and a fear of “the other” –
other culture, other people, other language
technical obstacles, lack of sufficient ITC equipment
and not adequate ITC knowledge among teachers
low trust in online/distance forms of education
 Challanges

Western countries have never diminishing

popularity, whereas Balkan or Baltic nations are in
minor interest.
This problem is most likely based on still remaining
belief, that “Western means better”, albeit, those less
fashionable countries usually offer more original
ideas.
 Benefits for students

Language benefits
ITC skills development
Personal development
Group work/team work
Breaking stereotypes and conventional ways of
thinking
Changes in attitudes towards “other”, growth of
cultural consciousness, openness and tolerance
Satisfaction and pleasure from the contact with other
students and cultures or friendships that are built
 Benefits for teachers

Improvement of managing skills

Increase in motivation in everyday work (becoming a
part of a greater event)
Closer connection with education actions of the EU
and therefore, with the idea of a united Europe itself
Internal cooperation and teamwork between teachers
in the same school (Gajek - Kawecka 86)
Professional development and career opportunities

Ambassadors Scotland
 Conclusions

 “After an eTwinning project we learn to love and worry about

someone in other country. I really think it´s important to approach
people and that students feel near each other, because younger are
our future!” (Fernandes).
 “When learning is achieved through cooperation on a regular basis,
students can turn from “lonely learners” into “colleagues who learn
together”, reaching levels of academic competence both in the group
and as members of teams. Groups that learn through cooperation
focus on maximizing the academic success of all the group
members” (Vasilescu).
 “That experience, (…), was a good opportunity for our students to
learn how to identify cultural similarities and differences, about new
customs and values and how to gain intercultural experience. (…) we
think now that Europe is not just a "strange place" but an open gate
for making friendships” (Marin).
 Useful links

http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/
http://blog.eun.org/etwinning/english
http://www.etwinning.net
http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index
http://www.britishcouncil.org/etwinning.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm