Cross-curricular by Nature: (eTwinning) Learning Projects in Spotlight

As one result of the new curricula in Finland the goal of learning and a school culture is to enhance cooperation and to apply more diverse perspectives on contents that are being taught. When phenomena are studied in their real life context, complex concepts and formulas feel real, and even the most complicated problems/ideas become understandable and relevant. By nature, authentic learning leads to exploring things as part of the world, using a multidisciplinary approach and looking at thing from the vantage points of different school subjects.

Contrary to common belief, cross-curricular approach brings more time and space for implementing the curriculum as it provides an opportunity to learn many things at the same time. When, in typical textbook-based learning, we tend to proceed in accordance with the objectives of one subject at a time, in multidisciplinary project learning many different subjects can be studied and goals be pursued simultaneously. For example, the results of surveys designed and carried out by the students (math) can be combined with significant social phenomena (civics), ethical reflection (R.E. and philosophy), as well as linguistic expression, interaction and presentation (native and foreign languages, art, ICT).

In practice, therefore, learning process should start with, together with the students, choosing a theme, problem or phenomenon to be studied in the project. After that you can start thinking which subjects and what kind of learning activities are to be included. When the process begins to take shape, you should take a look in the curriculum and find the corresponding objectives and contents of the school subjects, as well as the objectives of different transversal competences (e.g. ict, critical thinking, communication, team work, creativity etc.) and explore which concrete objectives this learning project supports. When you write them down in the project plan, it becomes obvious that the objectives of many different subjects are mutually supportive and are more natural to learn simultaneously than successively.

Topics Relevant for Global Citizenship Education

One example of a very topical issue and a possible theme for project learning is gender equality. In Finland, all schools are required to have an updated equality plan, which entails studying gender equality related themes, exploring and revealing attitudes and stereotypes as well as enhancing equality-based school culture. Gender equality is a very topical theme also from European and global perspectives, as recent studies have shown that differences between the sexes have, somewhat alarmingly, begun to increase again.

Last fall, I designed and built a multidisciplinary education project plan Girls are Playing Home, Boys Are Driving Cars? to support education for gender equality. It was planned, in particular, to be used in eTwinning projects. However, the project kit can be applied to different age groups and implemented with or without European partners. The learning project can be carried out in a couple of weeks or during a longer period of time. Instead of carrying out all the different activities, you can also choose just some of them. You can find the project plan here: Girls play with dolls, boys play with cars?.

Another interesting integrative theme in relation to the new Finnish curriculum is language education in the sense of multilingualism, language awareness and the language dimension in all subjects and areas of knowledge. This aspect is being raised in Girls are Playing Home, Boys Are Driving Cars? project plan (gendered words), but even more strongly in Many Stories of the World project kit. In it, the objective is to learn to see the world from different perspectives and critically examine our own interpretations, which are culturally determined and shaped by our own language(s). During the project, different activities are carried out to illustrate how the spectrum of interpretations of the world are produced by languages and cultures expressed in the shared stories of the surrounding society. The Danger of a Single Story video has a particularly eye-opening effect. It elucidates how strong and biased interpretation one single story can give and how unaware we can be of the bias. You can find the project plan here: Many Stories of the World 

Multidisciplinary approach opens a new world for the teacher as well. When it is combined with the multi-cultural dimension developed in international co-operation, transversal competences and expertise develop by leaps and bounds: thinking skills, interpersonal and intercultural skills, multi-literacy, ICT skills and feeling of inclusion and engagement. Our new curricula in Finland open paths into the future and meaningful learning.

Read more about language awareness:
Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (by European Centre of Modern languahes) - key concepts
Language Grid by Grade (CARAP/FREPA) - development of language awareness

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.

Promoting cultural awareness and understanding

Last week I had great news. The eTwinning project Intercultural dialogue through fairy tales, drama and art was awarded by the Mevlana prize for connecting people across borders. I had the pleasure of being one minor part of this huge project comprising students and teachers from 35 different schools in almost as many countries.

During the one year project students first chose a traditional fairy tale of their own country, translated it in English and illustrated it. After that they made a drama video of one of the partner countries’ fairy tales. The process of students working together was documented. All the project products were published on a shared wiki containing an eBook of the fairy tales called Once upon a Time in Europe and a video book containing the students' performances. 

It’s inherent for eTwinning projects that the activities involved are integrated in the school curriculum and support achieving its goals. The best projects are typically cross curricular, so that many different subjects and skills are developed. In this project our students learned Finnish, English and art and, especially, communication and media skills, creative use of digital photography and videos, team work and cooperation. Their awareness of different European countries and cultures developed and their horizons widened while reading the fairy tales, watching the videos and writing cards and sending greetings to their partners.

Once a year excellent eTwinning projects are rewarded at a prize giving ceremony at the annual eTwinning conference. This year it will be in Lisbon on the 14th of March. It's a wonderful opportunity for many of the teachers who worked closely together for a year to meet face-to-face for the first time. The winners of 2013.

"Participating in an eTwinning project means that you wish to (…) offer your pupils the possibility to exchange, to share, to cooperate and to broaden their horizons. (…) By running this type of project you are making a specific contribution to improving the quality of teaching. (…) The practices you carry out in your projects (…) are teaching treasures and techniques that deserve to be shared, and should be made known and recognized by the whole of the European educational community."