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During
the third week of November, Hilary Jackson and Raquel
Rodriguez attended a meeting which turned out to be the
beginning of an interesting educational project. The event
took place in the capital city of Andalucia, Seville; a city
known, amongst other things, for its splendid weather and
laid-back approach to life. Nevertheless this myth vanished as
the week passed by; the host school, I.E.S. Triana, did their
best to keep us busy!
During that week,
representatives of six different countries: Spain, Italy,
France, Greece, Hungary and Ireland met to discuss the scheme
of work for the forthcoming Comenius Action 1 Project. This
challenging European Educational Project, which will begin in
September 2004 with a duration of three years, has as a theme
"An education for living incorporating multiculturalism".
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 While all work meetings ran
during the mornings, cultural, literary and heritage
activities were organised for the evening time e.g. a
Cervantes Literary Walk, the historical Barrio de Triana,
a boat trip on the Guadalquivir River... |
The aim of Comenius
Action 1 is to enhance the quality of teaching, strengthen its
European dimension and promote language learning in a
multicultural framework. Since the launching of European
Educational Projects in 1995, 150,000 teachers and staff and
over 2 million pupils have been involved in the activities of
the Comenius school partnerships.
Co-operation between
schools contributes to the quality of education by inspiring
innovations. Pupils and teachers acquire new knowledge about
Europe, language skills and intercultural competences, leading
to an improvement in tolerance and respect. For the
pupils, project activities support
the development of skills and attitudes useful in their future
personal and professional careers.
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Projects stimulate
the development of new learning environments, have a
positive impact on the school climate and culture and
contribute to the motivation of learning.
Comenius, the
Czech philosopher from the 17th century who lends his name
to this EU activity, held the view that ‘schools must open
themselves to the outside world’. In the light of this
aim, we hope that Comenius projects will continue to
inspire, stimulate and teach many generations of European
pupils. |
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Raquel Rodriguez and Hilary Jackson
Wesley
Comenius Home Page |
