Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter 6 2016 | Page 78

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2016 Newsletter

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------challenges and opportunities presented by specific
situations. The topic, in our specific case, required
the students to adopt the proper behaviour to face
the challenge of acceptance and inclusion. At the
beginning it was not easy to decline the theme in a
way that could capture young students’ interest and
motivation. So we decided to start from their
common life, with the question “Why do people
move?”. This question led them to talk about their
school trips, their favourite sport and open a forum
on how sport can be a powerful means of
acceptance and integration. Then we compared
data and statistics about migration in our different
European countries and played with Kahoot to see
how much young people know about the European
Union.

But the most significant impact was the meeting
with two young refugees, from Burkina Faso and
Nigeria, who told us their frightening voyage to
Libia first and then to Italy
(https://youtu.be/gf61TsUNW-I). All students were
really touched and moved by their stories. We
shared the video with our partners and with a
tricider and other shared videos proposed possible
solutions to help; an investigation on existing
humanitarian associations and NGOs followed. We
also read an article, with a video inside, on the
Syrian refugees, and realized the strict link between
the war, the climate change and the lack of water.
Some of the most striking sentences were selected
and shared. Then students went back again to their
private life and jumped back in history, telling
stories of migration in their families, perfectly
understanding that we are a nation of migrants, not
only to other countries but also from South to
North.
The final step was a collaborative activity, in which
6 transnational teams, of 6 students each, debated

and agreed on proposals and suggestions to be sent
to local authorities of each single municipality of the
partner countries. The value of the project is mainly
the enthusiasm and the interest the students
showed in the various phases. They worked hard
until the very end of the school year with a high
level of personal and group involvement. Moreover
the project turned out to be a favourable context to
practice not only values, such as human dignity,
human rights, cultural diversity, but also attitudes
and skills. Among the attitudes we could mention
openness to cultural otherness, respect, civicmindedness, responsibility, self-efficacy, and
tolerance. They had the opportunity to learn
sensitivity towards cultural diversity, views, beliefs,
values and practices which differ from their own;
curiosity and interest in discovering and learning
about, other cultural orientations and other world
views, beliefs, and practices; emotional readiness
to relate to others who are perceived to be
different; a sense of civic duty, a willingness to
contribute actively to community life, a willingness
to participate in decisions concerning the affairs,
concerns and common good of the community, and
a willingness to engage in dialogue with other
members of the community who have a
responsibility.

Students could also practice some transversal skills:
analytical and critical, weighing up the pros and
cons of the available options, resource analysis and
risk analysis (understanding and assessing the risks
associated with each option and how they might be
managed); skills of listening and observing, paying

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