The Project
GREEN S.E.E.D.S. aims to break the isolation of small, decentralized schools located in the mountains and in smaller island; trying to counter the risk that their geographical isolation might lead to their cultural deprivation. To this extent, the project will connect pupils who, although geographically distant, share similar socio-environmental contexts and needs. Following teacher training, specifically designed to meet the project purposes, the classes will work on their environmental common background, thus implementing on a transnational scale, by the use of ICT, the methodologies of shared teaching and extended learning environment. The results of their work will be addressed to pupils in urban schools, who will be joined in remote peer-to-peer mode through twinning.
Breaking isolation means also networking at European level, to promote and support planning and exchange of experiences, but also to affect policies in order to change these schools from "problem" to "resource" and fostering their survival, as a primary factor for countering depopulation. For this reason, the "European Network of Mountain and Minor Isles Schools" will be established: the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding" will be the first step for the Project sustainability.
AIMS
- Connecting primary and secondary schools in different Countries, encouraging their students to work together
- Connecting decentralised schools with urban schools through twinning
- Empowering teachers, increasing their attitudes and competences: motivation, planning and managerial skills, new teaching methods, communication and relational skills, digital skills.
- Raising pupils’ environmental awareness and their basic knowledge of EU policies on environment, thus involving them deeply in the European dimension.
- Spreading awareness of the social, cultural and environmental value of small schools, which lies in the strong relationship with their community and in their link with the natural habitat. These are the premises for the protection of local culture and environment, which are, in turn, part of the European cultural and environmental heritage.
WHY THE ENVIRONMENT?
The choice of environment as the topic for the pupils’ work:
- relies on the common bond with their natural surroundings as a common dimension of life;
- is in line with the current historical trend, as adolescents from all over Europe have been acquiring awareness and have been activating for the planet safeguard.
Their work on the topic will therefore bring along not only knowledge but also civic awareness.
Outputs
- GREEN S.E.E.D.S. for Environment
- Didactic units developed by the students of the Partner Countries and addressed to pupils in urban schools, who will be trained in peer-to-peer mode through twinning between schools.
- Toolkit: GREEN S.E.E.D.S.
- Training course built on the needs of teaching and learning in schools at risk of isolation. To cope with greater complexity and uncertainties, teachers need to combine innovation and didactic methods, overcoming what is often a more extemporaneous approach than a rigorously planned one. Designed to train teachers in view of the work in the classes for the production of the second output, the training units are intended as a model for any other possible experience of remote sharing teaching between distant regions.
Partners
