EMBRACING EUROPEAN VALUES THROUGH TALES
ERASMUS+ PROJECT NO. 2018-1-RO01-KA201-049310
MID-TERM REPORT
- The beginning
It was late August 2018, when we were informed by Mrs Gabriela Udrea, the coordinator of the project that the Erasmus+ KA201 application entitled “Embracing European Values Through Tales” had been successfully selected by the Romanian Agency.
In September, with the beginning of the school year, we informed the school council about the project and asked for permission to participate. After we were given the signed permission, we signed and submitted the mandate by which the coordinator school acts on our behalf in matters related to the project implementation. In addition MrsUdrea created a whatsapp account for easier and faster exchange of information. Of course the e-mail also was used for formal documents.
In October we started informing the teachers and students of our school. We uploaded information on the school website, qualifications needed and application forms, and we set a date for interviews with the students and their parents. The English teachers of our school devoted teaching time to give helpful information about the importance of Erasmus+ and invited students from previous projects to share their experience.
In November we finalized the teachers and students participating. The idea of the project was very attractive and so we had to select among a big number of students and teachers. Through constant contact with the coordinator and by studying the application form of the project we managed to set the right qualifications. Our school, 2nd General Lyceum of Amaliadas (2nd GEL Amaliadas) is a high standard school for students aiming at passing the University entrance exams. So we aimed at students of the first year, when their studies focus on general knowledge. The second and third year focus on specialization. Thus triggering students to analyse and study European Values is the key to maturity and the realization of their needs in the field of study.
- The dissemination and activities.
Since the beginning of the project we set a specific time and place to meet with the students and teachers after the lessons (every Friday 2-4pm)
During our meetings we decided to create a board, to display our activities and we asked our students to make a research on Greek traditional tales.
After our first transnational coordinating meeting in Bacau, Romania in December we prepared and presented our students with feedback on EU Values and asked them to form questions for the questionnaire on EU values. This is the link to the questionnaire we created.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LWNIC4scfc181l3BgMVKNbhx90GHd-PDnKhMjyIH6x4/edit
After the questionnaire was finished, we started working on our traditional tale. The first stage(selection) was the hardest. When we decided to use a local tale, we organized a field trip to Castle Chlemoutsi where the tale actually takes place, in order to fully comprehend the period/time and the ideas behind the story.
Then we had to work on the presentation of the tale and of course the translation into English. The students chose to use a mix of dramatization and ppt presentation.
In February we filled in all the necessary information for our 1st short exchange of groups of pupils in Warsaw, Poland. We selected the two students who had contributed the most in terms of work and were always present for our meetings.
In March (18-22) we travelled to Poland to take part in the meeting. Each country presented their tale in original ways and we decided on the work to be done for the second exchange in Greece: identify the European values in our tales.
After our trip to Poland, the students who had travelled prepared a short video summary of the trip and a talk on their experience for their fellow students. The video was uploaded on the school website and the group facebook page and an interview was published on the local newspaper.
During our meetings with our students in April we extracted the main ideas of our tale and identified Values in them. We analysed characters and completed our presentation. Greece also had to present the results of the questionnaire on European values, which was answered by 90 students from each participant country, and it revealed what young people believe today about the functions of EU and the values of life.
The students also prepared an article for the school newspaper.
In addition the teachers had to prepare the hosting of the 2nd exchange of groups of pupils. We studied closely the application on the requirements of the hosting and we decided on the cultural visits first so as to book the archaeological sites. Then we had to organize the activities, so we invited two authors to help with the workshops, where the students were able to create characters and prepare presentations in transnational teams. They had to work together on a common topic in English.
We sent the appropriate documents to invite the participant countries to Greece as well as the programme of the meeting. We also organized a meeting with the host parents, we talked about their responsibilities and asked for their help.
In May (6-10) we welcomed our partners in Amaliada. We had three days of presentations and workshops in the cultural centre of Amaliada
And two cultural visits.
During this meeting we decided on our next task. To make up a new tale based on values. In Turkey in October we are going to write the first part of the story. Furthermore we decided on the length of the story for the audio CD.
After the hosting, we prepared a shortened version of our tale in English and Greek and we booked a professional studio for the recording. Our recordings were sent to both Romania and Poland before the 1st of June.
Finally, with the cooperation of the archaeologists in Chlemoutsi castle, we contributed our version of the tale to a festival held in the castle, dedicated to tales originating in the castle. This is the link from the local newspaper:
- Grant management
According to the financial agreement we split our expenses to two categories: 1) Travel and Accommodation (TA) expenses and 2) Project Management and Implementation (PMI) expenses. In the first category we include expenses for flights, hotels, meals, insurance, bus fares and museum visits in the country of venue. In the second category costs have to do with digital equipment, hosting, printing material and souvenirs for our partners.
This is the work we have done so far in the 2nd General Lyceum of Amaliada for the Erasmus+ project “Embracing European Values Through Tales”.
Amaliada, 7-8-2019
Project Coordinator: EvgeniaDrakopoulou
Collaborating Teachers: AmaliaKatochianou
Agni Bali
George Gorozidis