Humpty Dumpty was one of four European schools taking part in a Comenius partnership project from 2004 -2007
The project was supported by a grant from The International Programme Office. www.programkontoret.se It is a Comenius Project (*1), part of the Socrates Programme(* 2)
*1 Comenius The Comenius action is the EU's schools programme with opportunities for pupils, teachers and other educational staff as well as trainee teachers. There are several different sub-programmes with development opportunities for all groups in pre-schools, compulsory schools and upper secondary schools. An application can be made for support for projects concerning co-operation with schools in other countries, for further education, work linked training for students, and also for exchanges with other countries in the EU if you are a student or teacher. Comenius aims at enhancing the quality of teaching, strengthening its European dimension and promoting language and learning mobility.
*2 Socrates Socrates is the EU's framework programme for enhancing the quality of all education within the EU, the EEA, and candidate countries, for students, young people and adults. Socrates aims at increasing co-operation between the countries of the EU at all levels of education. It is a large programme and has many different sub-programmes, called actions, and complementary programmes. Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth interact through a series of joint actions.
A Year in Europe
Our partner schools in the project were
Kita Otto-Brenner str. Hamburg, Germany www.kita-obs.de
Small Hands Istanbul, Turkey www.small-hands.com
Farkvamen Barnehage Orsta, Norway www.orsta.kommune.no
The aims of our project were:
to become acquainted with each of the partners, by using seasonal factors such celebration and traditions as a starting point. In this way we aimed to strengthen our intercultural awareness. Through the process of professional exchange we also aimed to deepen our knowledge of bilingualism and intercultural pedagogics.
Methods:
Regular staff conferences, in each of the partner countries, allowed us to continually plan and evaluate our project. Activities involving children, teachers and parents were included in the project spreading the opportunity to enjoy intercultural contacts and learn from our experiences.
The project was divided into three stages, followed by each of the schools. During year one, (A year in our schools) we followed the traditional celebrations and seasonal changes in our respective schools. We created films, tapes, booklets and documentation packages to share with partner schools. In year two we extended the scope of the project (A year in our families) to include information about siblings’ schools, our homes and leisure activities. Once again booklets were produced and exchanged between schools. The final year of the project (A year in our community) concentrated on our communities. From Stockholm we shared information about the city, concentrating on education opportunities and cultural heritage. We produced an extensive package of resources with the theme Astrid Lindgren.
Several side projects were developed, a particularly popular one being the exchange of travel buddies, between schools. This involved each school sending a small typical toy (Stockholm elk, Hamburg seagull, Norway lamb and Turkey a donkey) on a ‘trip’ to a partner school. The children in that school took care of the toy, and kept a diary of the activities in which it was involved and finally returned the travel buddy plus diary to the home school.
Evaluation.
In a final evaluation all schools felt that the project had been an exciting and inspiring addition to their curricula for the past three years. Contact and visiting other schools had increased understanding of other countries and their education systems. Children had become aware of differences and similarities between our schools and cultures. Teachers had gained insight into alternative pedagogical methods and directions. Teachers had also created strong professional and personal bonds within the group, which continue to be valuable.
The final project documentation was approved by the International Programme Office in October 2007.