Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2013 Newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Portugal is not different… in 2012 national
examinations were introduced in primary education
for Grade 4 students, an approach only used by
Indonesia and the United States, according to OCDE
indicators (2012).
Times were tests were to provide both teachers and
students information about what’s going on, kids
weren’t ranking and there was a lot of cooperative
work and cooperative projects which encouraged us
to study, ask challenging questions (Falcone,2012)
seems now a mirage…
So where does eTwinning fit in all this scenery? As
a language teacher in a lower secondary school, I
regarded it no longer as a reality! After developing
eTwinning projects since 2007, I was left with no
other option than leaving aside the eTwinning
community. At the beginning of the year I had
before me two options: if I used the three 45’ class
a week for developing eTwinning collaborative
contents, I would not be able to embrace the 5th
and 6th years grades curriculum; if I asked pupils to
produce materials at home that I would then post in
the TwinSpace, then they would not be developing
real cooperative and intercultural exchange, the
basis of eTwinning vision.
Saying all these, is eTwinning in the brisk of losing
its soul and become just a mere instrument of
European policies?… in fact I have no numbers or
studies to support the above statement. However I
believe, at least in my country, that two plots are
likely to emerge: either eTwinning mentors demand
upon who has responsibility in Portuguese
education policies that project and cooperative work
is again considered in the curriculum or the action
will soon be a result of singular pieces of work not
linked by the four pillars of education recommended
by Delors (1996): learning to know, learning to do,
learning to live together, learning to be.
And that I would not like to witness!
References:
[1] Minder, R., (2013). Search for cuts puts
Portugal’s schools on chopping block. The New
York Times - Europe. Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/world/eu
rope/portugals-education-system-fa cescuts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). Last access
29/06/2013.
[2] Falcone, D. (2013). Noam Chomsky on
democracy and education in the 21st century
and beyond. Truthout. Available at:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/16651noam-chomsky-on-democracy-and-educationin-the-21st-century-and-beyond. Last access
29/06/2013.
[3] OCDE Indicators (2012). Education at a glance
– country note - Portugal. Available at:
http://www.oecd.org/education/CN%20%20Portugal.pdf. Last access 29/06/2013.
[4] Delors, J., (1996). Learning: the treasure within
– report to UNESCO of the international
commission on education for the twenty-first
century. Available at:
http://www.unesco.org/delors/delors_e.pdf.
Last access 29/06/2013.
Helena Serdoura from Portugal is a teacher of
English as a foreign language and of Portuguese as
a mother tongue, at a lower secondary school with
children aged 10 to 14. Master’s dissertation in
“eTwinning action: strengths and weaknesses in the
promotion of competences in learning foreign
languages”. (2011). Braga, Portugal: University of
Minho.
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