This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein
basic information
THE INITIATIVE PROMOTER’S PERSPECTIVE
This information was collected during a face-to-face meeting with Loredana Botezatu, coordinator of the Amazing Europe project in Romania and (at that time) head of the school participating in the project.
The motivation for participating in this project was triggered by the teachers wanting to give children an opportunity to share intercultural experiences and be exposed to a range of educational systems from Europe. At the same time, the project was also developed as means for giving teachers from all countries a taste of other educational systems except the national one.
The project target groups are thus children aged 15 to 18 and teachers.
The project target languages are: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese
The main objective of the “Amazing Europe” project was to implement a series of language-related activities with the children from the partner schools which will enable them to travel and become aware of the differences in culture and education in the partner countries. Another objective (deriving from the first one) was to increase intercultural sensitivity. For the teachers, the aim was to enrich their experience and contribute to their professional development by getting into contact with the methodologies, problem-solving strategies and priorities of other educational systems.
The project was based on a series of activities that involved working collaboratively on a series of national and international activities with the goal of developing common products
The project products were accessible to all pupils involved in the project and the most useful one was proved to be a dictionary with the project languages.
Why the European Label?
The school from Romania decided to apply for the Label for ensuring greater visibility of the project and for giving teachers and children the possibility of their success being acknowledged. They found out of the distinction from the County Board of Education which is the governmental body in-charge with education in all 40 counties in Romania. This was also the institution that recommended them to participate and encouraged them.
The dictionary developed during the project is still available in the Romanian partner school and is used by the foreign language teachers as material in class.
The European Label distinction was received in Bucharest where the project was presented by two pupils who acknowledged the importance of the event for themselves. The distinction also gave the project and the school visibility at national level.
The Romanian project coordinator strongly recommends other project promoters to apply for the Label as it is a great opportunity for their efforts being acknowledged and for having the results of their project mainstreamed. As it was in the case of the “Amazing Europe” project, it can also act as a motivation for those involved to continue working in the project field and to become better.
THE NELLIP NETWORK’S PERSPECTIVE
The NELLIP Network selected the ”Amazing Europe” project for its consistency with the political priorities of the European Commission in the field of language learning. In particular, the ”Amazing Europe” project has been chosen because of its consistency with the following priorities:
- Promotion of multilingualism. The project promotes the learning of 8 different languages, focusing on general language of interest for highschool learners
Comments on this Case Studies
Date: 2014.10.14
Posted by Barbara Moore (Ireland)
Message: This project opens a way to understand difference as a positive characteristic. Very interesting.
Date: 2014.10.02
Posted by Carmen Antonita (Romania)
Message: The idea of the project is very interesting, because it promotes cooperation between the participating countries and increases intercultural sensitivity.
Date: 2014.03.24
Posted by Enache Silvia (Romania)
Message: I really appreciate the main idea of the project - promoting European Citizenship and cooperation between participating countries for sharing culture, art, history and traditions through cooperation between schools, students, teachers and communities from all over Europe.It is very useful to advance language related activities and to be part of different kind of educational systems in order to develop new objectives and aims in your own country.From my point of view, as a teacher I believe it can help me enrich my experience and contribute to my professional development by getting into contact with the methodologies, problem-solving strategies and priorities of other educational systems.
