Comenius project

The Comenius Project entitled "The Time Machine" consists on a series of travels to the past, the present and the future. Through these travels, the students will learn the common past of the participant countries, the influence of the past on the present and the possible future consequences of present behavior. This project presents a cultural twinning through which participants will learn different historic, literary, scientific and artistic aspects in an original and creative way. Each participant country will choose a relevant period of time in the past or the future and they have to transform the educational community to this specific period of time. Then they have to compare it to nowadays explaining its present influence. Here is a list of the periods that we are working on.

• The Classical period (Greece)

• The Middle Ages (Ireland)

• The Renaissance (Italy)

• The early Modern period (17^th-18^th centuries) (Turkey)

• The late modern period (20^th century) and the contemporary period (Spain)

• The 23^rd century. (Spain)

Objectives of the project:

a) To identify the most relevant physical and geographical features and learn social, cultural, historical and artistic traits of the participant countries.

b) To learn about the European Union and to analyze social, cultural and historical similarities and differences between participant countries.

c) To analyze the importance of the past to understand nowadays’ society. To study the causes and consequences of relevant past actions. To examine the possible future consequences of any current behaviour.

d) To use the ICT as a means of communication, source of information and working tool.

e) To include the European framework in the school curricula by means of regular contact and cooperative work among teachers and students from all participant schools.

f) To foster artistic competence, imagination and creativity.

g) To promote student participation in the management and planning of the different tasks.

h) To offer a quality education based on the European scope and adapted to nowadays’ needs. To develop the basic competences in all subjects involved in the project.

Methodology:

During the academic years 2011-2013, we will be working on our Comenius Project. We will have a website and blogs where students and teachers can upload our activities and projects, so the students from other countries can benefit from the work of others. We will also foster the mobility of students by visiting all the participant countries. These visits will take place throughout the two years that our project will last .(see following planning)

Each of the visits will represent a trip to the past. For instance, when we all meet in Greece, we will be living in the Classical Period. This means that the high school will have to decorate their facilities and organize activities which were typical at that period of time. In the preparatory visit, we will plan which country represents which period of time and what activities will be done during the visit.

Subjects involved: this project is multidisciplinary. This means that we will try to include as many different subjects as possible. However, the main focus will be on art, drama, literature, history, art history and philosophy.

European Added Value:

All the educational community will benefit from the experience of breaking ground to Europe in the following aspects:

1. Students will improve English language skills and their social abilities. They will enhance their ICT knowledge, learn different cultural and social aspects from the different participant countries, increase the European Citizenship feeling and help other people learn about their own country.

2. Teachers will have a greater knowledge of the countries and cultures of the participant countries. They will also establish an international network that will help enhance their professional development in that they will learn new educational approaches, strategies and techniques.

3. Concerning school management, principals and study assistants will have the opportunity to share the different points of view and strategies to develop their work as maximum exponents of an educational centre. This will help them enhance their work performance and learn new administration techniques.

Apart from these impacts and benefits, The Time Machine also aims at the following objectives:

• Favour cohabitation, generosity, and group work.

• Avoid any possible cultural, racial o sexist prejudices.

• Learn different ways of life in different participant countries and teach other people about one’s own.

• Build up links between teachers and students that can last for a lifetime.

• Favour personal and academic enrichment.