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Description
“The Baltic without barriers” is an educational project that uses innovative teaching methods for natural sciences associated with the marine environment. The goal of the project is to develop and implement modern teaching methods and educational program in the area of the Baltic protection, broadening knowledge and implementing inclusive education. The project focuses on marine sciences, which are highly interdisciplinary and attractive for the youth, also due to lack of elementary knowledge about the marine environment in the core curriculum. The programme will be developed by formal and non-formal education experts from various Polish and Norwegian institutions.The programme, once ready, will be verified by teachers and pupils also with various degrees of disability during workshops and trainings (the total of 34 days of classes, 345 pupils, 167 teachers). This new teaching tool will enable teachers to strengthen the potential of pupils and develop their proenvironmental attitudes.
Summary of project results
Although access to education is universal, there are still differences in the quality of education resulting from social conditions or place of residence. Insufficient school education in the field of problems and threats affecting the Baltic Sea makes the knowledge among children and young people in this area unsatisfactory. The consequence of this is the lack of understanding and thus difficulties in persuading the public to take action to protect the marine environment. In line with the needs, the project developed and implemented an educational program in the field of marine education for non-formal education (together with educational tools and materials) for children and youth aged 10 to 19 with mild intellectual disabilities and visually impaired. In order to obtain a program tailored to the needs of recipients, students, teachers and educators (a total of 1,784 participants) were included in the project (in addition to the team of experts), expanding their knowledge at the same time.
The main result of the project is the developed educational program in the field of protection of the Baltic Sea "Baltic Sea without Barriers" containing tools and educational aids, in particular: presentations: 42 pieces, worksheets: 44 pieces, online interactive tasks: 40 pieces, experiences: 42 pieces, games and fun: 12 pcs, maps: 5 pcs, educational boards: 3 pcs, educational podcasts: 5 pcs.
The program developed by experts was verified by teachers/educators and students during workshops and training organized during the project implementation. The second result was a report on the assessment and effectiveness of the implementation of the developed educational program along with recommendations for stakeholders.
During the project implementation, 4 training courses were conducted for a total of 93 teachers (one 1-day and three 2-day), 6 workshops in Hel for a total of 179 people (138 students and 41 teachers) and 15 field workshops to special schools and special school-school centers. -educational (902 participants).
The educational program on the protection of the Baltic Sea "Baltic Sea without Barriers" is a universal program intended for non-formal education, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education. It is fully possible to implement the Program during classes at school. The Program presents adaptations for students with intellectual disabilities and visually impaired students. The program is largely consistent with the core curriculum of general education in the following subjects: biology, geography, physics, chemistry. The Program takes into account subject correlations. It also covers content that goes beyond the core curriculum in the above-mentioned subjects. The program uses modern methods to activate students'' work and includes adaptations for students with intellectual disabilities and visual impairments.
Educational materials in paper and digital versions as well as materials for practical classes can be used long after the end of the project as an enrichment and extension of educational activities. The program was also implemented into the curriculum of classes conducted at the Blue School in Hel.
Summary of bilateral results
The cooperation of the Project Promoter and Partners allowed for very good implementation of the project thanks to the substantive preparation and involvement of the participants in accordance with the project assumptions. Thanks to the exchange of experiences and knowledge of the Partners, the achievement of the project goal, which was to develop a high-quality educational program, had a significant impact.