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Description
The project will reflect the idea of Understanding, Living, and Developing Europe. The project has several parts, including: interaction between Norwegian and Czech students to learn about each other and their lifestyle, teaching partners about the country''s culture and history - Norway as a constitutional monarchy and Czech Republic as an ex-eastern bloc turned democratic state, and how that has affected their political processes, and finally, discussions about the European Union and how these two countries fit into the future of Europe.
Participants from both Czech Republic and Norway will be secondary school students aged 16 to 18 years old, with twenty students from each school given the opportunity to partake in a week-long mobility exchange program. Students will stay in host families and attend school and activities designed in order to connect to the culture as much as possible. Two staff members from each school will also take part in job shadowing mobility programs to observe teaching methods and learn new skills.
During the year, students will engage in online discussions about themselves, their country and history, and current events and policies.
It is expected that our project will have a positive and enriching effect on the entire educational community and that the knowledge acquired will be the starting point of a new educational approach for all its participants. On one hand, we hope to encourage our students to become more motivated in the long term to learn foreign languages through an insight into the culture, lifestyle, point of view, and main concerns of other countries. On the other hand, the impact on our teaching will be valuable and inestimable. We hope that student discussions about and interest in current events as well as cooperation between the Czech Republic and Norway will continue into the future.
Summary of project results
The project – Understanding, Living, and Developing Europe – between Norwegian Olav Duun vgs and Czech Gymnazium Vysoke Myto set out to improve communication between two countries, stimulate students to learn about their own country as well as Europe in general, practice English, and experience travelling abroad to a country quite different from home. 21 Czech students discussed various EU topics, communicated with 20 Norwegian students, went on mobilities where they lived in families to exchange cultures, went to school lessons to see each other’s education system, and explored the town where the exchange took place. Through this cultural emersion, they were able to see life in another country, which is important for their future careers and maintaining open-mindedness. Additionally, two Czech teachers and two Norwegian teachers were able to travel to the other country for job shadowing, as well as two Czech and two Norwegian teachers were student chaperones during mobilities. They could also experience and compare the school systems of the two countries and exchange ideas. Dissemination activities included using social media, local newspapers, and the creation of a website with lots of pictures and a blog, as well as school events that presented our project to students and teachers at our school and the general public. As a result of this project, there are many benefits. Lifelong friendships were created, and some students were even able to visit again (privately) in the summer. Some Czech students went on to study pedagogy and may use some of the Norwegian methods in their careers. Current teachers that went on job shadowing are already using some methods that were learned now. Everyone had to communicate in English, which posed some difficulties when students were trying to explain concepts but had a huge impact on their vocabulary, writing, and communication skills.
Summary of bilateral results
Both Czechs and Norwegians were in a completely different environment through the snowy and rainy months of March and May. We hope that the long-term effect is that more exchange/mobility projects will be undertaken in our town as well as throughout the two countries because it is so important for students to be able to travel, speak, and experience other cultures and practice English. We have started planning some future cooperation through other projects and funding already.