Children Making the World a Better Place

Our Students – Future European Entrepreneurial Citizens was a two-year Comenius project in 2011-2013 coordinated by the Primary School of Orivesi Centre. Six primary schools from England, Ireland, Italy, Austria and Finland participated in this multilateral project.

The project was founded on the basic principle that good life is based on acknowledged rights and responsibilities, shared values and mutual respect. The focus was on the students, creating a possibility for them to learn to know each other, learn about other countries and cultures, and develop their information technology and communications skills. The main contents of the project were the understanding of children's rights, responsibilities and our shared values as well as various participatory learning tasks, dealing with art, traditions, voluntary work and the culture of the partner countries.

In addition to that, quite a few students were able to visit the partner countries in order to learn about other European cultures, explore similarities and differences between their own lives and those of their peers and share their experiences with their schoolmates.

The project helped our pupils to develop the skills and values needed to promote active citizenship and overcome situations of injustice and discrimination. Some of the schools in the partnership, located in very deprived areas, created opportunities to encounter different cultures for pupils who may otherwise never be able to travel.

More about the project and its outcomes on the English website of the Primary School of Orivesi Centre.

Integrating math, science and technology in an international project

My good friend, Finnish eTwinning ambassador Tuija Lindström, has been involved in new ways of teaching and learning for quite a few years, first in GOAL (Go Outside and Learn) and then in MOE (Maths on Earth) projects.

Maths on Earth is both Comenius and eTwinning project. It focuses on the use of mathematics as a tool to study real world phenomena and to lead students to mathematical and scientific problem-solving in everyday situations.

Many of the project activities are carried out outside the classroom in the nature, museums, workshops and companies. Mainly, participatory teaching methods, such as short inquiry-based projects, experimental arrangements, games and brain-storming, are used. The idea is to connect everything that is studied in students’ everyday life. The partner teachers design learning materials and workshops to be held jointly together, thus widening and deepening their own understanding of teaching and learning.

The students aged 13-15 are extremely motivated to carry out the tasks. Their communication and social skills have developed. Especially the girls have benefitted from the new holistic approach to math and science.  The communication between students from different countries in an authentic virtual environment supports foreign language learning. Students have the opportunity to design their own learning and work. In this way their own initiative is encouraged and their self-esteem and self-organizing skills are developed. The results of the students’ work are published on the net.

Tuija outlines her own experience:

As a teacher I’ve developed and widened my views. Sharing and learning together with teachers and students from different cultures has been rewarding.  My relationship with my own students has developed as my role as a teacher has changed. The students’ uniqueness and diversity as human beings has become more evident day by day while working together with them, side-by-side.

MOE - project website